Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

The recent visit to Lake Minnewaska by an ice boat group was pretty interesting.

Ice boats used to be more common on Lake Minnewaska. I’ve seen pictures of some taken over the years and some pictured were pretty large.  Think there is one picture in the Lakeside dining room. The Pope County History Museum posted a picture on Facebook recently also. But to see them in large numbers, like over 40 the first weekend in December was quite a sight.

The ice was perfect and the wind steady propelling those lightweight devices across the ice at some pretty high speeds. Ice boats can easily exceed the speed of the wind. Watching them from a distance on the shore they were moving across the ice very fast. I was guessing 40-50 miles an hour , the actual number was apparently much higher.

I saw license plates of ice boaters from Ontario, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Minnesota and a friend told me he talked to a boater who had come from Sweden.

The group ended up here as a last minute switch from a lake where there was a snow covering.

One can see that the timing of such an event is really tied to weather. Too far into the season and the lake is covered with snow, ice houses, cracks and ice ridges. That means there is a narrow window from freeze over to the time snow and other lake uses compete for space on the ice.

For a variety of reasons the Starbuck location proved a really good fit. One was the fact that the boaters could get all their trailers and vans close to the shore which makes it easier to put the boats together and grab parts when needed. Another was that there was plenty of public shoreline where people could park their vehicles and watch the process of working on the boats and sailing around the lake on them. The boaters were also really good about explaining what they were doing and how things worked to spectators.

Apparently the ice boaters had a good time. The ice was so good that some stayed as late as Monday to get time on what they called “Hollywood ice.” Maybe their visit here will merit a return if the ice permits. I’d sure go watch them again!

Earlier this fall Bloomberg BusinessWeek had an article about crypto currencies. Well, actually the article took up the whole issue, something like over 40,000 words spread out over 92 pages. It was the only article in the entire issue.

I’ve never understood crypto currencies and after reading the entire 92 pages I’m not sure I understand them now. They seem to be based on whatever people think they are worth, which makes their value very volatile.

Recently another issue of the same magazine detailed the failing of one crypto exchange, FTX. That firm and another related firm filed for bankruptcy and it appears that people who had money in the exchange may have lost all or most of it.

Those crypto currencies are currently unregulated but after reading 92 pages and not even coming close to understanding them I don’t know how you would define them well enough that words could cover the rules.

Some people have made millions playing crypto markets, others have lost millions. Crypto looks pretty risky to me.

The opening of the Highway 29 bridge over the railroad tracks north of Glenwood has brought a number of people to Glenwood to see this wonder. We have a number of people we know in Alexandria and they have come to see the bridge and they were impressed. Several of those people crossed the bridge while a rail was going underneath and considered that a thrill of sorts.

OK, count me guilty of finding going over the bridge with a train passing underneath interesting, too!