August 15, 2026

"There's a little bit of a quicksand feeling."

Althouse enters Lake Mendota for the first time after all these years.

Meade, who's great at instigating variations on old rituals, made the video.

34 comments:

Curious George said...

When did you walk in quicksand?

Iman said...

I spent too much money, I looked far too glad
Now I have so little of what I once had
I had too many parties I had too much time
I got so lazy and fell well behind
Now the summer’s almost over I can count the cost
Footprints on the beaches’ll soon be
Footprints in the frost
The summer’s almost over I can count the cost
Footprints on the beaches’ll soon be footprints in the frost

h/t Difford/Tilbrook

Meade said...

“When did you walk in quicksand?”
You don’t remember when she played the Rawhide character, Anna Bell, Rowdy Yates’s love interest, in 1961? She was waiting for him at the end of the drive every week.

Meade said...

Cut 'em out, ride 'em in Ride 'em in, cut 'em out Cut 'em out, ride 'em in:

Peachy+2 said...

I like it.
I enjoy removing my shoes for a soak in a cool mountain stream after a hike. Sometimes the water is so cold - it numbs the feet. (not this year, tho)

john mosby said...

Meade, why didn't you add one of your soundtracks? Give Me Some Water by Eddie Money comes to mind.

Or his Walk on Water.

Or Marty Robbins's Cool Clear Water.

Or the Standells' Love That Dirty Water.

Of course, as soon as someone mentions quicksand, I think of Spinal Tap....CC, JSM

Curious George said...

My mother's father was name Roland. When we were kids we would sing the Rawhide song but substitute his name:

Keep Roland, Roland, Roland
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them doggies Roland
Rawhide

lonejustice said...

Next time go swimming!

Lazarus said...

Blogger Althouse fails to walk on water. Cult dissolves.

Comedian John Mulaney said that quicksand was so much a part of 1960s television that when he became an adult he was surprised that he never saw quicksand or met anyone who had seen it.

Not an oldster. said...

Yeah meade, ride her hard and put her away wett...
What a cool guy u r.
Quack quack. 🇺🇸

Peachy+2 said...

OT - I was just looking at the radar - Hawaii is about to smacked hard by a hurricane.

bagoh20 said...

We have a 3 year old girl living with us, and yesterday when we had a downpour, she had never seen that before, so we went out and just ran around in the rain. She was jumping in puddles and just running around in a state of bliss. An essential experience of life that connects us to the planet and each other.

Peachy+2 said...

Bagoh - ah.yay.

Rory said...

MacArthuresque.

Quaestor said...

Is the lake bottom organic silt or something with a higher mineral content?

Quaestor said...

If you want to experience a real "quicksandy" feeling, try wading when the bottom is pulverized coral rather than quartzite sand, such as in the Bahamas.

Meade said...

Here ya go, John Mosby—
https://youtube.com/shorts/6QnJ_9WCfpY?is=fcspiXU3C-lpPrw2

Rabel said...

That's duck poop squishing between your toes.

Quaestor said...

The ducks protest! That's coot shoot.

john mosby said...

That Martha song is great! I never heard it before. CC, JSM

RCOCEAN II said...

Those lazy crazy days of August.

RCOCEAN II said...

Is that Mendota mud
Between my toes
I suppose
Who knows?

Josephbleau said...

There is nothing more fun than watching happy people to little things.

I found dome quicksand once canoeing on the Wisconsin River, which unlike the Baraboo has a sandy bottom. There was an upwelling spring that was fluidizing the sand and you could stand in it and sink, but it was easy to climb out of.

Josephbleau said...

Some. I saw no dome in the sand.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Thank god you survived. Meade's boss, but even he has zero experience in quicksand rescues.

Narr said...

A short without shorts.

Dave Begley said...

"Blogger Althouse fails to walk on water. Cult dissolves."

What is Ann's aversion to entering the water? Afraid she will melt?

RCOCEAN II said...

God knows what's in Lake Mendota. I'd no more go swimming in it, than I would the East River or Lake Eire.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Dave B, Ann's made of spun sugar, didn't you know? At least, some of the outer parts. But I've heard rumors regarding the possibility of electrified titanium internals. Use caution.

boatbuilder said...

Bagoh--about 30 years ago my then 3 year old daughter called a similar storm a "pourdown." We have used the term ever since.

Aggie said...

Does rolling up the cuffs count as wearing SHORTS?

Political Junkie said...

On a Sunday, first time, water....baptism.

Tina Trent said...

When I first bought acerage, I landed in actual black mud quicksand once. Lost my boots, slowly spread out my torso, arms and a leg at a time until I could grab some privet to escape. My dog sat at the shore, excited, and happily took my walking stick away from me as I tried to get her help as I sunk. I had to crawl through a mile of briar with no shoes to get back to the house. Too exhausted to climb to the porch, I sat there until the stoned mailman showed up and said something like, *dude, you ok?* Nice of him to notice, as he usually ignored stuff like street addresses: I was caked in sandy black mud, half a shirt and no shoes. It would make a great workout under controlled conditions.

Tina Trent said...

The entire time I was stuck, I kept thinking back to a (possibly imaginary) episode of Gilligan's Island that involved quicksand, or was I hallucinating that? I did know from some tv show how to starfish out my torso and fingers and arms and work one leg at a time to get out. Was that Gilligan's Island? Baa Baa Black Sheep? I don't think it was a James Bond. I can't count the times dumb television has saved my life. But I also read serious nonfiction, legal briefs, and bearable law reviews. I don't think I got it from a law review.

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