DNR articles

I would like to share with you some information I read in some Articles from the DNR's website. The first story is about a man fishing on Clear Lake. The lake was still half covered in ice and this guy wanted to try his luck with the musky. The amazing part of this story is that on his very first cast he felt something pulling on his lure! Little did he know it would be a 47-inch 30 pound musky! Luckily the park ranger witnessed the whole thing so he can't be telling any fishy stories. The next story relates to me in a very direct way. Some pond owners have been calling the DNR about fish kills in their ponds. Let me explain how a fish kill works. During a hard winter, such as the one we had this year, a heavy blanket of snow may cover the ice. If this happens sunlight cannot penetrate the ice depleating algae growth and oxygen in the pond. Without oxygen in the pond many fish can die. This has happened to us with our pond a few years ago. It was a terrible experience. There were numerous dead fish lining the shore of our pond. I had no idea what was going on. My dad didn't like it much, and he searched around to find the answer to why all these fish had died. There is a way to fix this problem, and many people have done this to their ponds. You can put an aerator in the pond allowing it to stay open all year long. That way the fish have plenty of oxygen and you don't have to worry about them dying. This is what we did, and it works like a charm.

Weather

The weather on spring break is supposed to be like spring isn't it? I guess that's not true for Iowa. We have some of the strangest weather patterns in this state. You never know what the next day will bring for sure. The week before spring break had a few days where it got into the seventies, and it was extremely beautiful like spring. We get into our spring break and that disappears quite rapidly. The temperatures plummeted back to freezing, and the rains began. This was pretty disappointing for many people. Especially people like me who want to be outdoors. I did manage to do a number of things outdoors despite the cold temperatures. I did things such as camping, basketball, and tennis. However, I didn't get to do my favorite activity which is fishing. When the temperatures are as cold as they are, the fish seem to not bite as well. Cold fronts can be devastating in the spring time. They turn the fishing off very fast. I have proof of this. My uncle went to the Mississippi River on a day when it was about thirty-five degrees and they caught one fish. You might say that's still one fish, but the Mississippi River is known for producing much higher numbers than that. That river is actually my favorite place to fish. Anyway, that is why I think it's a good idea to wait until it warms up a little more to go fishing. I can't wait to get out and try it for the first time since winter hit. The weather plays a big part in fishing, and I hope I will be able to time it out just right. In conclusion, I hope next spring break is warmer, and I'm excited for the weather to warm up.

Spring Break

Spring break is a time for students to relax one last time before summer starts. It is almost over now, but I can tell you that it has been a great time for me. A few days ago my friend and I got the urge to go camping. We haven't been in a long time, and it sounded like a great idea. We knew it was going to be a cold night so we made sure to bring plenty of warm clothes. We packed up all our things and headed out to the campsite. It was located by the Wapsi River. This river has been good fishing for me over the years. I wanted to go fishing that night, but we didn't have enough time or daylight. The dinner that consisted of fish and beans. The fish was frozen from the fall, and it was about time to make a meal out of it. We put the fillets in a tin foil pouch along with butter and seasonings. The fire cooked the fish perfectly, and it was an awesome meal in a rugged place. The beans were also very good warmed by the fire. It was a very nice meal for us campers. With those tin foil pouches, you can put whatever you want in them and it will most likely taste good. Anyway, the fire was our source of heat. Without it I don't know how long we would have lasted out there. Our tent was filled with blankets and we were huddled in our sleeping bags like burritos. I must say it did get quite cold in the middle of the night, but I would rather have it be cold than hot. Atleast that way you can always put more blankets on. We had a few friends stop by and hang out for a while, and it was a good time. Iowa is filled with great camping opportunities. We did our part in keeping them that way by cleaning up after ourselves. Hopefully you will do the same on you next outing. Have fun and be safe.

Nashville

As you all already know I am a part of the show choir at Kennedy called Happiness Inc. During the first part of spring break we went to a national competition in Nashville, Tennessee. I want to share some of our experiences with you in case you ever want to travel there. We headed to the buses at 2:00 in the morning on the Thursday before spring break. It takes around 12 hours to get to the destination. We arrived in Nashville in the early afternoon. Our hotel blew most of us away when we first saw it. Personally it was most likely the biggest hotel I had ever seen. It's called the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The hotel was one of the neatest things we got to experience on the trip. It looked like a jungle on the inside with trees, a river, and waterfalls. The hotel also had a bunch of restaurants to chose from. I ate at a place in the middle of the hotel that was quite expensive, but very nice. They served sushi there and it was quite delicious. I ended up eating there again before we left. The show choir competition was held at the Grand Ole Opry House. This is a famous theatre that the most well known country superstars perform at. It was an honor to be able to perform on that stage. The results of the competition were not the most favorable considering how we were doing prior. We got 5th place which is still great, but I think most of the people in our group were to do a little better. Nonetheless we still had an awesome time, and I hope I get to go back to music city again someday!

Blogging

I have a number of different views about blogging. First off, I would like to say that it is usually fun. I like being able to express myself in a journal kind of format. I especially like sharing information about the outdoors. It comes natural to me and it's fairly easy to write about. It is also nice to be able to write about other topics that interest me. I don't always have to stick to the blog topic and that is good when I can't think of anything to write about. It is also cool to look back at early posts and see how I have progressed as a writer. There is one thing in particular that I do not like about blogging. My opinion is that we have to write too many posts per week. Three posts is a lot because I have a lot going on every week. For example, I have show choir practice, work, musical practice, and show choir competitions on the weekends. Add in some homework every night and I don't see a whole lot of extra time to write three blogs every week. Even if we just cut the amount of posts down by one it would help a lot. Two posts a week is much more reasonable, and would help the busy students out a great deal. I agree witht the word count restriction because if you didn't have one then peopel would just write a few sentences and call it good. It also makes it fair so some students don't end up doing more than others. Besides the number of posts, I think blogging is a great way for students to practice writing skills that will be useful in the future.

Show Choir Rankings

1-Wheaton Warrenville
220.00
2-Linn-Mar
212.00
3-Urbandale
208.00
3-Waubonsie Valley
208.00
5-Findlay
202.50
6-Cedar Rapids Kennedy
192.50
7-Fairfield (OH)
191.00
8-La Crosse Central
190.50
9-Franklin Central
190.00
10-Buffalo Grove

These are the top 10 show choirs in the nation. Happiness is lucky to be number 6! The rankings are done by a point system. Groups receive points for how good they do in competitions. The most points go to the grand champions of the competition, then 1st runner-up, then 2nd runner-up, then 3rd runner-up... and so on. There are also points for caption awards. Caption awards include things such as best cheorgraphy, best vocals, and best band. This is an accurate way to rank show choirs, in my opinion, because it is fair. Numbers don't lie and there are no biases toward groups. This is a great way to compare your schow choir to other ones around the nation. It just gives us more incentive to keep working hard and doing the best show that we can!

Iowa State Parks

Iowa's state parks are a thing of beauty. They provide campers with a number of different activities to do and sites to see. These wonderful creations need to be preserved. The state and DNR are working together to try and accomplish this. Beginning Feb 1, campers are allowed to reserve a spot in an Iowa State Park for the Camping Kick-off Weekend May 1, 2, and 3. During these days campers will receive a bonus package that includes a camping coupon good for one night of camping at an electrical site, a free issue of Iowa Outdoors magazine, recipes, camping tips and more in a reusable mesh trash bag (Iowa DNR). This is supposed to help promote being a green camper. Last year the State Parks Bureau spent around $750,000 on utilities of the parks, so this year they are providing information on how campers can reduce the amount of water and electricity used in the campsites (Kevin Szcodronski, chief of the State Parks Bureau for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.) "We will be encouraging the use of the reusable trash bags to collect trash around the campsite, recycle what we can, and put the rest where it goes, then keep the mesh bag for reuse," said Kevin. During the past few years, Iowa's camping numbers have been around 700,000 in the 53 state parks that offer camping (Iowa DNR). As you can see Iowa is full of great camping opportunities. The parks are located on focal points of the areas. Throughout the years Iowans have stayed close to home during rough economical times, and we can expect the next few years to be the same. This will increase the number of campers because it is a good way to relax without speding you whole wallet. I am hoping to get out to at least one of these great parks this year. They really are a place where anyone can go and have a good time. So let's keep them that way. If you do decide to take advantage of these parks just remember to keep them looking healthy and beautiful.