How did you spend Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day 2010 started off in a traditional way. I woke up to flowers and a card on the kitchen table 'from Jackson'. Chris arranged this at some point in the middle of the night. So sweet! Then it was a hot tea, the newspaper and a 6.5 mile run. A great start to Valentine's Day!

The second part of the day was not so traditional. The Stokes' went to Lake Winnebago to watch Lake Sturgeon get speared! Yes, Wisconsin has a season where people take their ice shanties (and vehicles) out onto a lake, drill a hole, bob a lure and wait for a sturgeon to come by to spear them (literally, they drop a spear. See link). This event has a long history in this State and is rooted in family tradition (as well as beer!).

Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)

You're probably wondering why we wanted to spend V-day watching this? Well, first off, we knew Jackson would love it. And second, I love it. Believe it or not, Lake Sturgeon and I have a long history. I did my master's thesis on them (economic slant, not biology) and volunteered at a registration station one spearing season taking their stats, post-mortum. If you know nothing about this fish I encourage you to learn a bit about them; they are fascinating. And it just so happens that Wisconsin collectively possesses one of the largest self-sustaining populations of lake sturgeon in the world. Ok, enough of the geek stuff, here are some photos : )