Sun and Sand

Eryn was very disappointed that we weren't going to the beach yesterday (we went to X-men instead), so after school today I took her to Schultz Beach for a few hours to hang out.  Holy hannah was it hot.  The guy next to me managed to get a piece of shade from an umbrella, which was good, because he only had one arm.  And no legs.  I was worried he might roll out into the hot sand and cook like a piece of bacon.

I bought myself a copy of Your Shape for the Kinect, thinking it might be nice to get some non-bicycling exercise in so that I'm not all legs and nothing else, like the guy in The Triplets of Belleville.     Obviously, I'm not used to calisthenics.  The parts where you lift your knee up to an elbow at chest height over and over again makes my legs feel like jello.  It doesn't help that I went for two 27-28 mile rides over the weekend and gave myself a nice base-level exhaustion.  The ride on Sunday was up the high bridge in St. Paul, and then up Cherokee behind Tall Brad's house, which was just more up and up.  The scenery by the Bruce Vento overlook was nice.  Not that I checked out the overlook, there was just a very pneumatic, smiling, blonde jogging by the overlook as I bicycled past.  Then I went down, down, down, almost to the river, and then back up, up, up.  A little over 600' of climb, which doesn't seem like much, but is significant if you're pedaling around the cities.  I should be ready for Bike the Border regardless of what they throw at us (other than flood waters).  Ming talked me into taking the Thursday before the ride off for traveling, so we'll be able to take it easy and get a good night's sleep before we hit the pedals.

Beach Observations

Eryn and I went to Schultz Beach yesterday for a few hours because she'd missed a big chunk of water day at school (and just because the beach is nice). I offer some observations:

1. If you have a fleur de lis tattoo where it's not normally visible except when you're in your bikini, it doesn't look like your French, or royalty. It simply makes it look like you've been nailed by a Boy Scout.
2. Immigrants who bring their children to the beach and all the boys go in the water and the women have to sit on shore in their full length outfits...that's just strange. I haven't quite figured out how you rationalize to your daughters all the other girls swimming with their brothers, or to the boys all the girls who get to swim while their sisters do not. I expect it's just "that's the way it is" because of religion or culture, but damn if that doesn't seem like it's going to bite you by the time they're teenagers.
3. Board shorts for girls. As the father of a daughter who's rapidly getting older do I ever approve. When the grab-assing starts, it seems a bit more constrained. And it looks just fine with a bikini top.
4. Young lady on the beach closest to my chair. That was less of a lotioning and more of a one-woman show, what with the arching of the back and the hands in all sorts of risque' places, although perhaps you're just really unself-conscious and extremely thorough. I'm happy for you that your nipples won't burn through the fabric.