Windsurfing in a large puddle
Well, Sunday Lake in Wakefield, MI is more than just a large puddle but I had to have a sensational subject. I went windsurfing today on a spontaneous moment because the wind was blowing rather fiercely and it was too nice of a day to pass up. I didn't want to go alone but the harder I tried to find someone the more alone I became. So against better judgment I went by myself.
The lake was too small to generate any sizable waves but the wind was blowing fiercely. It was awesome because it was almost too windy to up haul the mast! My arms got tired in a hurry and I wished I had borrowed the harness to help support the sail. I hardly took the dagger board up because some of the wind gusts really pushed me off balance. I never thought of wind surfing as a high speed sport but there were a couple times where I was thrown hard off the board.
Note to self: Having the sail lower on the mast makes it easier to up haul.
After a couple trips back and forth across the lake I took a break, cooked some bratwurst, and had a short nap. The wind was so fierce cooking over the open fire was like forging metal in a blast furnace.
After a respite I headed out again. The wind was starting to become erratic with more lulls between the gusts. It gave me a chance to practice sailing with the wind. It was easier without the large waves of Lake Superior but the strong wind made it hard to control the sail when headed away from the wind. If the breeze was just right I could catch the wind and sail well but any sort of a gusty or strong wind made it very difficult.
When the wind blows, does it ever get lonely?
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8 NIV
In my mind the blowing wind has a negative connotation. The blowing wind scatters, stirs up, destroys, and disrupts where it passes by. Yet the wind can be a helpful and important force, spreading seeds, changing the landscape, and cooling sun parched land. The wind is an interesting metaphor for someone born of the Spirit. Jesus used analogies in a challenging way to try and related Spiritual things to earthly things.
When I was out windsurfing the verse above came to mind. Is the wind synonymous with being lonely? Usually when two winds meet a storm brews and the winds are chaotic. So if the day is nice and the wind is blowing does that mean the wind is, in a sense, alone?
I'm not going to change my theology based on physical characteristics of the wind but at the time because of where the wind was blowing, what was in my heart, and that verse the question arose.
Comments welcome.
Wave after wave after wave after wave….
This weekend afforded me the chance to go wind surfing. The wind was adequate but the waves were even higher than last time. Considering I didn't want the waves to be any bigger than the last time I went this was going to be interesting. Windsurfing turned out well and helped build my dexterity on the board in rough water. I found that sailing with the wind was easier with the mast slid forward on the board but the waves caused me to sink when I went over a swell. Windsurfing in large swells with mediocre wind is doubly hard.
I finally have some pictures to show for the tired arms and achy back.
These were actually from the following day before the board was dismantled for the weekend. The waves weren't quite as big and the lake was starting to settle down.
Humans and zombies, the conflict continues
Humans!!! This game had "different" written all over it but it didn't meet my expectations. Don't get me wrong, its a fun game but it wasn't quite as different as I thought it could be. The stereotypical scenario is a zombie outbreak forces all humans (well, atleast the smart ones) to flee the zombie invasion and fend them off. This game wasn't any different except the humans were inanimate and you played the part of the zombie trying to get the humans - instead of the human trying to fend off the zombie.
My initial expectation of the game before I knew the rules was considerably different. I was expecting the zombies to be in the minority, trying to survive in a world full of ignorant humans out to destroy the zombie specie. I mean, come on, zombies are dead, they can't help it if they like to eat flesh and are infectious. There have been times were little kids are just as bad. Think, "You brought what disease home from school?!" or "You put what in your mouth? Yuck!". Yet many of us have children and our specie continues to procreate. At any rate, I digress. Instead of poor zombies trying to survive the onslaught of a human invasion it was just an all-you-can-eat buffet of flighty humans that you had to catch and either eat or infect.
The game was well balanced and it was difficult to eat or infect a human figure. If one of the other zombie players didn't trip you up then it was worrying about the human escaping.
BA, JK, WO, CC, MR and I all had a good time playing. There were a couple really funny situations and chatter that came up. BA was full of witty zombie monologue. Unfortunately that was almost a week ago and I don't remember much beyond who was there and enjoying the game.
More windsurfing adventures
To my dismay I still don't have a decent picture of me, or the windsurfing board. Sunday turned out to be an interesting windsurfing day. The wind was blowing and partly gusty. The lake was also churned up with 1 - 2' waves. Getting up wasn't a problem but I found it hard to move. I think most of the momentum was being snatched away by the waves.
I loosened the rope holding the sail to the boom. It made more of a pocket for the wind to blow over. This helped a lot but made it harder to snap the sail when I wanted to reverse course.
The strong wind also gave me some practice going down wind. Unfortunately the waves made it very VERY hard to steady the board, even with the dagger fin down.
This outing taught me that a consistent wind is better than a gusty wind and that waves over 2' aren't any fun.