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December 18th, 2008 - Walking on Water

Took a walk with Sharon and Happy today, down on the creek and over to Minnehaha Park and back.
It was really a test of the home-made snowshoe bindings I put on the shoes I got for $13 at the Minnesota Naturalists Convention silent auction this year. A classic pair of Tubbs - No. 200 modified Alaskan style, (10 x 40") from the old days when they used to lace them with rawhide in Vermont. They are a bit heavy, but I like the feel and the workout.
So far so good on the bindings. I woke up a few days ago with an idea in my head that I could cut apart an old pair of Sorels and mount the front half on the snowshoes with zip-ties, then come up with a strap system to attach the heel cups.
I am happy with the result, especially considering I didn't have to go out and buy anything to make them. I already see some tweaks I need to make though. Always with the tweaks.

I wasn't sure what to do with this picture of the Pergola I took today, it wasn't very different from others lately so I went after it with the Kaleidoscope and a few other tools from Paint Shop Pro. The thing I like about the result is that it looks like a sketch with a lot of line-shading used to fill in. Ironic that it came out vaguely snowflake-like, or maybe not. The blue is from the sun on the snow, the gray details are the Pergola all munched up. Takes me back to the Spirograph days, without the pins coming loose during the last few orbits and messing the whole thing up for you. 
A Spirograph and a Lite-Brite and the hours could fly by.

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