Dog Creek

Being a bleeding liberal in a really, really conservative part of Iowa has its stresses. I guess I shouldn't need to say that (again).

So I have to try to find stuff to concentrate on that remind me of the good things about living here. One of those is Dog Creek County Park, just two miles south of the farm.


Featuring two small campgrounds and a beautiful man-made lake, it is a regular stop on my fair-weather bike journeys.








I recently chose a calm spring day (very rare here in Iowa) to take some pictures to show you of this lovely place. This is a view of my swimming course, from the beach across the lake and back. Can't wait for the water to get warm enough to start enjoying that.






And of course I had to baptize the Trek in the waters of Dog Creek Lake. This is my beloved bicycle, in whom I am well pleased.

You are all invited to come on down for a ride and a dip in the lake with me.

Omaha

What do you think of when you think of Omaha? Cow manure? Marlin Perkins getting mauled by an angry beast on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom?






I wasn't sure what to expect when we first went down to drop a couple of violins off for servicing at Nielsen's Violin Shop downtown. What I saw, and experienced the next weekend, completely changed my perspective on this wonderful Midwestern city.

The people who live and work in, and manage, Omaha have done a marvelous job over the past several years of transforming their city into a vibrant, progressive haven for lovers of art, history, culture, and fine living.


In a space of just over a day and a half, we stayed near, and greatly enjoyed, the Old Market area, ate an outrageously marvelous variety of foods, saw a world-class classical concert (Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the Assad Brothers) at the world-class Holland Performing Arts Center, toured the magnificent Joslyn Art Museum, hitched a ride in one of these lovely horse-drawn carriages, and walked the new Senator Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge across the Missouri River. Sensory overload to the max, and I was beat by the time we left to come back home. I can't wait to go do it again.

We didn't even leave the downtown area, this time. There's lots more to enjoy all over the city, which we are looking forward to many times in the future. If you ever find yourself around Omaha, don't worry about not having anything to do. They've got you covered, and then some.

(I've posted more of these photos on my MySpace page; follow the links.)