As I drove out North Bridge Avenue just the other day I passed over the “crick” where I spent many hours exploring nature as a kid growing up. The water was frozen over and snow covered the ice, making it look like a winding trail through the rushes of the slough. When I saw this it reminded me of the many times that I had walked home from exploring the slough with the frozen pant legs of my jeans banging together like a couple of boards.
Those were fun, learning days for a young prospective outdoorsman. As a youth I was always curious and eager to learn everything that I could about the outdoors. I spent a lot of my winter evenings reading outdoors magazines like Field and Stream, Sports Afield and Outdoor Life. I had always marveled at the sight of wildlife, whether it was on the water, beneath the water or afoot. Those were fun times packed with learning where spending time outdoors in the cold didn’t deter me from my search for knowledge. In looking back, I believe that the times that I spent exploring that slough, which seemed like a vast wilderness to me, were some of the most enjoyable times of my youth. I would always look for fresh critter tracks in the snow and as you walked on the ice that wound through the frozen bull rushes it was not uncommon to be startled by a pheasant that took flight when it felt threatened by my closeness.
Not all days spent walking the slough were eventful but more often than not something would happen to make sitting by the heat register trying to thaw out my feet almost worthwhile. If you have ever fallen through thin ice on a creek or slough or had to pour water out of your overshoe you may remember the tingling agony of a limb warming up as the cold slowly crept out of your body.
I can recall playing outside wearing my 5-buckle overshoes, a parka and mittens along with stocking cap with a scarf wrapped around my neck and covering my face. I think that a lot of the time the scarf wrapped around my face was more of a “catch all” for the sniffles than it was to keep my face warm. As kids we were almost oblivious to the cold while we spent hours playing in the snow and making plans for our next big adventure, whatever that would be.
There was always something magical to me when I played outside under the stars on a cold winter’s night. When we were younger we were not allowed to play with matches because we were told (by our parents) that we could burn ourselves. As we grew a little older we didn’t purposely seek permission to “play with matches” because it only took one over-protective (as we looked at it) parent to get all of us in trouble or at the very least spoil our fun. We eventually figured out ways to build a little campfire away from buildings and out of our parents’ sight. The fire would not melt much snow but it did warm our fingers if the older kids let you get close enough.
There have been many times when a person has asked me how I could embrace winter as if it were summer. I feel that it is because of the many fond memories, like the aforementioned ones, that make winter special to me.
As most of the folks who live in the Albert Lea area must know by now we are going to be hosting the 2019 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener. There is a need for fishing hosts to take media and guests of the Governor fishing and or take folks out on the lake not to fish but just to show them our lakes and what our great community looks like from the water.
I would encourage anyone who is a registered boat owner to participate in this great event. To sign up, go online to <http://www.explorealbertlea.com> and click on the Albert Lea CVB website. Then click on Governor’s Fishing Opener 2019 and click on Community and select “boat host” and follow the instructions.
This is our chance to showcase this great community that we choose to live in and one that we are proud to call home.
Until next time, I can’t believe that there were portable fish houses on the lake about as soon as a thin layer of ice appeared. The old saying is “The early bird gets the worm” and in ice fishing we have always been told that the fishing is better if you get on the lake when the ice first appears. I know that I’m getting old, but I really feel that staying safe and dry seems to work a lot better for me
Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason that we are able to enjoy all the wonderful freedoms that we enjoy today.