Another post for Grandma

 Hello again!

I'm trying a hybrid approach this time.  I think my mom might have photos of most of the same things, but I figured I'd put them here so they'd be in one place for reference.

First, here is a link that should lead to a little video I made tonight:

Intro Video

We had a pleasant Thanksgiving gathering in Minnesota this year.  Sarah was able to join us, and Casey and I planned a variety of things to do over the four days people stayed.  Thursday was centered on the food, and Casey outdid herself with many excellent dishes.

Friday, we took the family two hours north to Duluth, where Casey spent her college years.  We got some decent food, those interested partook in some beverages, and Casey showed us the old mansion where she used to give tours.  Duluth concluded with Bentleyville, a Christmas light festival that has humble roots and has taken on a life of its own.

Saturday, my dad and I played handball, then we gave plant advice to a friend, visited Casey's grandmother during an orchid trip, and snuck in almost a whole round of disc golf before it got dark.  The day finished with a screening of The Princess Bride with a soundtrack by the Minnesota Orchestra.  (Pizza was acquired beforehand with only a small amount of drama.)

Sunday, we went to a Christmas market, then played a few rounds of a new game that features growing plants.

Since Thanksgiving, I played in a handball tournament in Milwaukee, which didn't go quite as I hoped due to a lack of sleep the night before.  I had fun though, and feel like I'm getting back up to speed, which is always a challenge when I switch from frisbee to handball in the fall.  Casey also put lights on our house on the last possible day, because it was icy the day before, and we got a snowstorm the day after she put them up.  She bravely crawled out onto our roof through a window (while I was at work), but she's determined to show some holiday spirit, and the lights turned out nice.

Some other things happened, I'm sure, but that pretty much brings us to tonight, when Casey had a roller derby bout.  The rules are kind of complicated, but basically, one person from each team is trying to skate through the pack of blockers, and the more people they get past, the more points they get.  I have two clips to share.  The first is Casey's team being introduced.  Casey is #616, and her derby name is Bizzquick.  The video is two minutes, so feel free to skip ahead.  Her team is the Wednesday Warnings, named after the tornado sirens that go off on the first Wednesday of every month.  They have storm-themed cheers and a siren for their intro.

Casey's Team Intro

The second clip shows Casey (in the green jersey and grey knee-length shorts/tights) blocking.  She is the furthest to the right when the video starts, and the video shows her forcing the other team's point-scorer out of bounds and delaying them while her own teammate gets through and scores some points.  It's quite a spectacle!  (I've tried embedding the video, but if it doesn't work this link should: LINK)

That's all I have for today, but I hope things are going well!

Love,

Ryan

A post for Grandma

  Hi Grandma,

It sounds like we are having some technological issues, so I'm going old-school and writing a letter with some photos to give you a bit of an update with things in Minnesota.  I know my mom has a lot to talk about with the Boston trip they went on recently, so this is just a few snapshots into our life since the last time we got a message to you.

First up, the little plants we have by our wall erupted into an alien-looking forest, so I snapped a photo on our way back from one of our walks around the lake.

While I'm on the subject of our garden, we really liked this pink peony we bought this year.  It snapped off at the base early in the spring and still rallied to produce some beautiful flowers!

If you notice, the plant really lagged behind on blooms on the one side.  Tons of pretty flowers appeared on the side further from the sidewalk, and I was wondering why that would be.  Then I looked out our front door and saw this:

The shadow of the house means that the plant is basically cut in half for some of the important sunny time.  We might have to move the plant a bit next year to get it some more sun!

Just to the other side of the sidewalk is the continuation of our project that we hope we can wrap up yet this fall.  We put that new fence in, and we are working on a path to define some garden beds.  The first step was to dig out the path's route, which I just finished yesterday.

Maybe by the next time we update you, it will look a bit more finished!

With the dwindling daylight, our walks around the lake haven't been as frequent.  Maybe now that daylight savings time has changed things up, we can bundle up and get out for some morning walks, but it's hard to work up the motivation to leave a warm bed for a cold walk.

We do have an indoor alternative though to get some exercise.  We have some weights and a stationary bike in the basement that let us do most of what we would do at a gym.

Casey went to Chicago last weekend to play roller derby!  Here is a photo of her in action (in white with the blue helmet), blocking the other team's player (in purple) from going where they want to go.

And I got to watch from home!  The games were broadcast over the internet, so I snapped a photo of my phone's screen when I saw Casey (number 616 in the middle).

Unfortunately, soon after this picture was taken, Casey had some helmet-to-helmet contact with a skater on the other team and came home with a bit of a concussion, so she's been taking it easy for the past week.  If she feels up for it, her first games with her new team in Minnesota are this coming Saturday.  After things started opening back up from the pandemic, the league decided to re-draft the players onto four new teams, so she'll have new teammates, and it will be interesting to see how they all compete against new combinations of players!

The reason I couldn't go watch Casey in Chicago is I was playing a handball tournament here in Minnesota.  It was our state doubles tournament, and my partner and I got second.  The guy I usually play with had some strange heart issue that he's trying to figure out, so I recruited someone I haven't played with before.  We didn't quite click, so maybe I'll go back to only playing with my dad from now on...

Last but not least, the frisbee team my sister and I play for competed in San Diego.  I don't have any good photos of us, but here is a picture of the whole team.

One of our games is also on YouTube if you want to watch a couple of points:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc3hEqBkRVw&t=3860s

I hope the visit goes well and Mom has lots of good stories to share!

I'm off to make some pancakes before we head to the hardware store for path-making supplies!

Love,

Ryan