Eulogy of David Horst Sr.

David John Jacob Horst Sr.
May 6, 1928 - June 26, 2013

My family has suffered a tremendous loss.  We could see it coming from a long way off, but that didn't make it any less of a shock.  When the phone rang at 3:30 in the morning, it could mean only one thing -- what we thought was just days left with him turned out to be only hours.

Still,  I'm fortunate to have had him for 56 years.  Maybe he knew I was going to take that long to shape.   More likely it was that he knew my sister Jane would take nearly 60 years.

Most of what's best about me came from him.  My calm, my patience were his gifts.  That I know a crescent wrench from an open end and can use them to replace a fuel pump or bleed a brake line is his doing.  I got most of what we'll call his attention to detail.  Others might use the word perfectionist.   His blue eyes,  he kept for himself.  His instant and uncanny sense of direction I didn't inherit either. 

Spiderwort invasion

It's a good year for spiderworts.

Paddling Fox headwaters offers a twist

By David Horst   sandhill7@gmail.com

PORTAGE -- We stood there with clothes drenched and the rain beating down.

The landing on Swan Lake where we had taken a break for lunch offered no shelter, other than the mature trees. Still, I was defending the turtle.

I’ve told this story before. Early in the first season of the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Paddle in 2010, an Ottawa medicine woman spoke to us about native healing traditions. The weather was threatening that day as well, but she reassured us that she had turned over a figurine of a turtle and that would cause the bad weather to pass on either side of us. It did, and we have been turning over turtles ever since.

Our perfect record of no rainouts was on the line.

Though we got doused pretty good last Saturday, the paddle from Indian Trails Campground near Pardeeville, on the headwaters of the Fox, did continue on to its completion after the storm moved off. Turtle exonerated.

Wind and river give paddlers a push

By David Horst  sandhill7@gmail.com

SPRING GREEN -- Take majestic bluffs and a wide, tree-lined river. Add to that 80-degree temperatures, a 4 mph current and a strong tailwind and you’ve got the makings of a good day of paddling.

Better yet if you are with 20 friendly and interesting people.

That describes the second day of Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Paddle 2013. The first day wasn’t bad either.

May 18 we paddled the 11 miles from Arena to Spring Green on the Wisconsin River. The next day covered the 12.5 miles from Spring Green to Gotham.

The Arena landing is tucked down River Road off State 14 about 30 miles and a couple decades west of Madison. Fifteen kayaks and four canoes