Wow, it didn't take very long for people to turn on Sarah Palin. I'm recommending Jon Stewart because he does it with a smile... "Just so you know, Sarah Palin has been tagged and released back into the wild..."

Back to last weekend...Saturday morning.
K.C.'s Timbersports team from Lakehead was competing in Lindsay so Tamlyn and I decided to go watch. We arranged to catch a ride up with her parents Joanne & Blair and had to be at their place for 7:00am. I let Mac know someone needed to pick the boys up for their 8:30 practice and, since neither of them owned a watch with an alarm, woke them up when I left at 6:30.
The weather was amazing, that perfect fall day with bright sun and temperatures hovering between crisp and fresh. K.C.'s mom was filling bags with blankets, coats extra mittens and banana bread (for K.C.). I guess the last time they went it was bitter cold and she wanted to make sure no one was uncomfortable. Her concern proved well-founded. Lindsay was sunny but cold. In fact Tamlyn and I spent a big part of the day wrapped in their red Canadian Tire car blanket ($9.99!). Tamlyn even resorted to a make-out session with a coach in order to stay warm. More on that later.
These Timbersports events are some fun and reminded me of Whistler in a way, without the snow. Loud music blasting, lots of lumberjack-type people wandering around in interesting gear, the odd dog, and even a kitten (he was too small to leave home alone).

K.C.'s team was up for the Ducking competition pretty much as soon as we got there. This is a relay for 4 - one pair rolls a log down a ramp and then back up again, settling it into a notch at the top. Then they're teammates do the same. They can't touch the log with their body at any time. Fastest time wins.


Some teams had a tough time getting the log back up the ramp and you could see where the would struggle against getting their shoulder up under the log to hoist it up.



Lakehead had no trouble and finished the competition with the fastest time (although we didn't find that out until we were on our way home - no times are announced throughout the day).


We had to wait around for the vertical chop competition and from here on things fell way behind. Even though we had warm gear on, there's a lot of standing around so we were getting cold. Tamlyn and I grabbed a spot in the sun on the bleachers and I think we both actually fell asleep for a few minutes.


K.C. and her partners were pretty awesome to watch in the vertical chop and swede saw events but we were waiting for the Timbersports equivalent of senior men's war - the Water Boil.




By now, the sun was going down. I was pretty comfortable but Tamlyn was still cold. I had hiked back to the car to get my telephoto lens for the water boil and when I came back, found Tamlyn (or at least a person about Tamlyn's height covered in the red Can-tire blanket) with arms out, face first, full body pressed up against one of the team coaches... sorry, I should say bus but it's funnier the other way. Technically though it was a coach. She was right. After sitting in the sun all day, the metal sides of the bus were really warm so we hung out there until the final event.

The water boil gets pretty intense and the paramedics who had looked bored for most of the day, suddenly came to life. I could see why. What with close speed work with a hatchet, fire and boiling water, there were lots of opportunity for injury.
One guy, I think he was from UNB, cut himself through his leather glove with a misdirected chop, then basically lay in the fire while trying to get it hot enough to boil. I don't know if you can get a sense from this photo but this is him from behind, basically spooning the fire while he blows on it. A teammate patted out his smoking jacket and the medics waited until he completed the event to move in and take care of his hand.


K.C. had this one down to an art form. She was quick and economical with the time she spent on each part, splitting the log, shaving kindling, building and then stoking the fire. A large portion of time is spent blowing on the flames to get it hot enough to boil the water which is in a tin can with a bit of detergent (makes it more obvious for the judges to determine when it boils).


The whole day was fun and pretty interesting. Plus it was great to see K.C. mid-season. Her parents were a laugh on the drive.

Since I'd given my billets a key, there was tons of food in the fridge and pantry and I'd arranged for Mac to drive them home, I wasn't too worried about getting home a couple of hours later than planned. When I got there though, Ian was standing right inside the door. I guess he'd heard the garage door opener. I said "Hi, so you guys got some dinner for yourselves?" He said no. "So how do you feel about pizza?" Perfect. We ordered a couple of pies and watched another movie. This billeting thing was pretty easy! Of course, they promised to tell Mac I was providing them with well-balanced, nutritious meals!