Downtime

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Day 88- Wednesday

We have been having a very welcome rest and some family time here in Minnesota, staying with Connie's father and step mother. They have a lovely home here on the shores of LAke Owassa, about 15 minutes from downtown St Paul, twin city with Minneapolis , across the Mississippi river. Connie is the second of Rollie's 9 children, 8 of whom are girls, with names starting with "C". Mert has three additional children. There are 25 grandchildren, 20 of whom live nearby. Connie's 3 are the eldest, and the youngest is 5. Many of the children come here each day before or after school for care or car pooling with their cousins. There have been 6 here this afternoon and three mothers swung through to pick them up. So there is always a lot going on. Now Mert is off taking three of the youngest to piano lessons whilst a few of the older ones are at the church (Lutheran) for confirmation preparation class. So we have been down by the lake in the garden fishing. I have caught my first ever fish. Then Rollie was going to take Nora and one of the others to practice golf as well as overseeing one grandadughter's basketball practice in the front yard. Rollie is perhaps the only person ever to have played All American league baseball as well as basketball...four years of each! He is now 84 but still very active..plays lots of golf and jogs.

There are lots and lots of lakes around Minnesota. The garden here runs down to the lake and they have a jetty for fishing and swimming and a place to store the boat. The boat has already been put into storage for the winter. We are lucky...today is the first cool day when we have needed a jacket outside in the sunshine. The autumn leaves are just starting to tun and the Canada geese are lining up to fly south for the winter. I have been stalking a pair of loons on the lake, aided by a "loon calling ' device, in the hope of hearing the call so I can see if Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant had their loon calls correct in "Bringing up Baby". The loons have been teasing me by swimming on the lake just out of range.

Today we went to lunch at one of Connie's old school friends. On the way we stopped at the "Mall of America" ...the largest shopping mall in the world ( there is an identical one in Edmonton, Canada) , with a huge indoor fun park with roller coasters atc.. meant as a cold climate tourist attraction..keep the kids happy whilst the parents shop. Now tonight we are going out to a reunion party at another friend's house. Connie has been preparing foor. Last night I cooked roast leg of lamb and vegetables washed down with Australian wine.

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