I have often mentioned there are times when I have the urge to head north to the cabin in the dead of winter just to spend a few days hanging out and ice fishing. This past week, my grandson Trevor had been trying to get a couple of his friends to go up for an extended weekend of fishing. 

Trevor had always talked about heading up there in the winter and had finally decided to give it a try. The plans eventually fell through and I could tell he was a little disappointed, but he is young and there will be plenty of opportunities ahead for him.

Yes, I’ve often thought about spending time there, and I actually did so last April when a friend and I went up for a few days to do some work on the cabin. While we were there we received about 8 inches of new snow. 

It rained first and then turned to snow which caused a power outage. It didn’t affect us though as we had no electricity. It did cause a lot of trees to fall under the weight of the ice and snow so we literally had to saw our way out because of trees blocking the road.

I’ve been at the cabin in April a couple of different times but never to do ice fishing. Last year, the ice was actually off most of the lakes by the time we went in April, so going a little earlier might be better if I want to get in any ice fishing. This is still a dream of mine; Trevor and I just might make that trip in March.

I would really enjoy sitting in the cabin on a moonlit winter evening watching the fire blazing away in the woodstove while the wind is busy moving the fallen snow from place to place. This is what I’d call living my dream but that, however, is a story to be continued later.

If you are not all that excited about venturing out onto the ice this winter, there is an alternative that may turn out to be a very rewarding experience. Trout fishing in the Southeastern part of the state is open now and might just be the fix that most open water fishermen are seeking. With that said, the Minnesota DNR has issued the following news release:

Southeast trout streams offer alternative to ice fishing

If the thought of sitting around and staring through a hole in the ice doesn’t exactly jibe with the idea of fishing, take heart — there’s an alternative even in the coldest part of the year.

Winter trout fishing opened on Jan. 1 and continues through March 31 on about 135 miles of trout water on 38 stream reaches in southeastern Minnesota. Fed by warmer groundwater, many streams there remain relatively ice free all winter, and the trout living in these streams more often than not cooperate with anglers to provide excellent winter fishing opportunities.

This winter’s trout season may find DNR fisheries staff conducting an angler survey. Anglers may find a postcard questionnaire on their vehicle at the end of a day’s fishing, or they may encounter a clerk asking a few questions.

Until next time, go out and enjoy the many things that make winter a special outdoors. Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason that we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

"I’m worried."

"What are you worried about?"

"My wife left a message telling me not to get the items she told me to pick up and I can’t remember what items I shouldn’t get."

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: the best parts of storms are the stories.

I’ve learned

1. Calendars are half-off now. Mayan calendars are way off.

2. When you make a mental note, make two copies.

3. Help wanted signs in fast food restaurants indicate a strong economy.

The news from Hartland

Mallard induckted into Waterfowl Hall of Fame.

Photos of the winners of past cat and dog shows line the walls of city hall. It’s reigning cats and dogs there.

Local business changes name to "Building for rent."

Mr. Fix-It

A friend made 32 wallets out of duct tape. I think he plans to win the lottery. I’ve never been good at making anything other than a mess.

I thought about that as I put on work gloves. Doing maintenance or repairs outside in January makes things interesting. The cold slows a job so much that it makes me rush.

I paused to think about the glove compartment of my car. I keep many things in there, but it never holds gloves.

My father and my brother Donald excelled in fixing things. I know they’d learned those skills, but their abilities seemed inborn. My job, when helping them, was to hold the light.

I put on the gloves and boldly went where I had gone before.

Those thrilling days of yesteryear

It was a time of the year when we prepared for the future. Produce was stored for winter. I heard, "One potater, two for later." I had a difficult time gathering eggs. The hen fruit kept moving out of my reach. It was a case of restless egg syndrome.

During the time when I hung out with Wally, Eddie, and Lumpy, the hottest spice found in our home was catsup. A minister I met when I spoke in Texas was fond of his homemade hot sauce. He loved the stuff so much that he carried a bottle with him. He offered me a spoonful. I took it. When I was once again able to form words, I managed to gasp, "I've heard ministers preach hellfire, but you’re the first one I've met who passed out samples!"

Did you know?

"Chugwagon” was once a popular U.S. slang for an automobile.

According to a survey by Georgia-Pacific, 31% of people make their toilet paper into a "snowball" and 28% fold it into squares.

Customer comments

Kathy Paulsen of Geneva sent this, "Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth."

Nature notes

Paul Schwab of Owatonna writes about a hawk looking for a meal and becoming a meal, "A hawk flew by our feeders, scattering birds. Unfortunately, one hit the window. I thought I'd go out and put it in the recovery bag. The hawk came back, picked it up, and flew away. I think it was a goldfinch and a sharp-shinned hawk. The next morning, I looked out and a Cooper’s hawk (juvenile, the eyes were yellow) had captured a sizable victim. Got the binoculars and it had taken a sharp-shinned hawk. It could not fly away with it. It plucked away feathers and began feeding on it. In three more attempts to fly, it only covered thirty feet. Finally, the Cooper’s hawk did get the sharp-shinned hawk airborne. Do they come back and eat more of a large prey or not? Or do they just leave when full and kill again when hungry?" The answer is "yes" to both questions. It depends upon the hawk, its needs, and whether it feels secure in that location. These two hawks are difficult to tell apart. A sharp-shinned hawk has sharp corners on the tip of its tail. The tip of the Cooper's hawk’s tail is more rounded like the letters in Cooper’s. The Cooper’s is built like a football player, with a thick, tubular body with a low center of gravity. The sharpie has a broad chest and narrow hips like a cross country runner. The sharpie’s eyes appear about halfway between the front and back of head. A Coop’s eyes appear to be closer to the front of the head. To me this makes the sharp-shinned look cute, the Coop fierce.

Meeting adjourned

W. Jaynee Carolus of Lewiston, PA sent this, "Kindness is just the tip of the niceberg."

Nothing really surprises me as a teacher anymore. I’ve heard and seen it all when it comes to those eye-opening experiences that make you wonder what some people are thinking. A few things have jumped out at me this year and given me cause to rattle the cage and jump on my soapbox for a bit.

I tell my students that excuses are like bellybuttons: everyone has one, and they don’t do you much good anymore. Yet, I hear some outlandish excuses from parents and then I don’t have to wonder anymore where the kids get their talents.

I’ve heard everything from, “My child is very good and wouldn’t cause trouble intentionally,” to, “I couldn’t possibly take TV away as a consequence,” to, “It’s your job as a teacher to make sure my kid does his homework when he gets home.”

What? Really?

These got me thinking about responsibilities of parents. Let me be really blunt. 

I wasn’t there when your child was conceived; that was a choice you made. You don’t get to run away from the responsibilities that go along with that action just because you might not have been thinking about a child being the possible outcome of the scenario.

Here are the rules of parenting:

1. You are responsible for raising your child with good morals and values. They will become what you make of them. 

If you swear and get drunk and cheat in front of them, they will do the same things as they grow up. If you complain about how much you hated school back in the day, your child will develop that attitude as well. 

In today’s economic climate, your child needs a good education and a good work ethic to have some success, and even that’s not a guarantee. However, it is a good start.

2. You are not your child’s friend. Stop trying to make your child and all of his or her friends think you’re the coolest parent around. 

There were times growing up that I disliked my parents. Why? Because they didn’t let me do whatever I wanted and made me responsible for my actions. 

Looking back, I’m very thankful they did. Sometimes I feel like I don’t do as good a job with my own children, but I know there are times Jayna and Anton aren’t pleased with me. That’s okay.

3. You must sacrifice your own desires for your child. There are plenty of evenings where I would rather do anything other than sit at piano lessons or a 4-H meeting or make an extra trip to church to pick the kids up after Sunday school. However, these are important to them. Just as important is helping your child with at least completing their homework. 

Looking at math pages every day just about makes my eyes pop out, but Anton needs me to check over them. When I coached junior high sports, there were parents I never saw at a game. Be there for your child, even if you would rather be somewhere else.

Being a parent is the biggest responsibility there is, and it doesn’t end once the child is potty trained and can walk on their own. It never really ends, even after the child leaves the house. I may not be perfect as a parent (none of us are, really), but by following these rules, the world can become a better place instead of one where making excuses is the default.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is malingerer, which means one who fakes illness to avoid work, as in, “The child was a noted malingerer since his parents continued to call in to school saying he was sick, when everyone knew he was home watching Spongebob.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs were perplexed when the temperatures dove into the double digits below zero on Sunday night and Monday, then failed to rally on Tuesday as predicted. Will we see light at the end of the tunnel or just the train coming? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs of 10 – 15 and lows near 5 above. Mostly cloudy for Thursday with a modest chance of snow. Highs near 15 and lows around 5 above. Partly cloudy for Friday and colder again with a slight chance of snow. Highs around 10 and lows near 5 below. Partly cloudy on Saturday with highs of 15 - 20 and lows around 10 above. Mostly cloudy and warmer for Sunday. Highs near 30 with lows around 20. Mostly sunny and warmer for Monday with highs of 30 - 35 and lows of 15 – 20. Mostly sunny again for Tuesday with highs again of 30 - 35 and temperatures falling to 10 above for overnight lows. The normal high for January 25th is 23 and the normal low is 4. With the cold temperatures the scurs are starting to think it’s January or something. Oh wait, it still is.

The Full Moon for the month falls on the 26th and is known as the Full Wolf Moon as the wolves would set up shop near the Native American tribes as they were hunkered down for winter. It has also been known as the Old Moon and the Moon After the Yule although this year we’ve already had one of those. The Ojibwe knew this as the Great Spirit Moon and the Sioux called it the Moon of Frost in Teepee. At the ranch it has gone by several names over the years including the Full Ice Scraper Moon, replaced by the Glad the Garage is Heated Moon.

On the winter precipitation front, we continue to boast of a January that through the 20th anyway has produced no measurable snow at the ranch. At least there has been some precipitation, the majority of it falling as rain. Last week saw more rain although it was only a trace amount. Aside from some scattered flurries, snow has been hard to come by. With each thaw we experience, snow has become limited to fencelines, road ditches, groves and other sheltered areas. Frost should have moved deeper very quickly after the most recent cold snap and hourly soil temperature data info from the SROC in Waseca would tend to bear that out. Good time to be sure the well is banked with bales for the remainder of the onslaught otherwise known as winter.

Martin Luther King Day, like Columbus Day, is one of those holidays that really isn’t a holiday for most of us. As a result the daily pattern of human behavior that becomes ingrained expresses itself. It would be fun to know how many people grab the Post Office door or walk out to their mailbox on those holidays only to find that trip was for naught. Invariably I usually forget although this past MLK Day, I found myself grimacing and doing my best James Tiberius Kirk impression: “must…..not…go...to the mailbox.”

Last week saw the completion of the wetland deepening project. It almost didn’t happen except for the efforts of the Steele Co. SWCD and a contractor who was willing to give it shot with an excavator. There was about 16” of frost in the basin area where they were working and as a result there were large blocks of frozen soil to be dealt with. An additional 2’ of soil was removed in an area about one-quarter acre in size. This should allow water to remain during all but the very driest of years. It’s amazing when one starts messing with water how fast it gets the neighborhood’s attention, even if done under the cover of darkness. Within minutes of the excavator moving soil, David’s grandson was bouncing over the soybean stubble trying to get a glimpse of what was transpiring. Moments later, another neighbor text messaged, wondering if I was putting in a hog lagoon. One can’t get by with anything anymore.

Last Saturday meant we needed to travel north in the afternoon for a wedding so I called in the Dubya cavalry to deliver a round bale in the morning head of the cold spell. There was nothing mentioned about the time so after chores, I completed some small projects and went in the house for breakfast. No sooner than I had finished and Ruby began barking, with good reason: there was a round bale headed up the road in our direction. I quickly grabbed my coat and hat and was working on the frozen down gate as the forage delivery service arrived. No need for text messaging when the Border Collie alarm system is working properly. Sometimes the triggering mechanism needs adjustment though when set off by the bodily functions of said neighbors a half-mile away.

Some have lamented that they don't hear much about the little fat buddies anymore. This is their lucky day! The wedding we attended was a veritable little fat buddy reunion tour! I had the honor of riding shotgun with one of my little fat buddies (we’ll call him “Slim”) as we trekked to the church in the Twin Cities. Somehow we managed to be over an hour early which almost caused the father of the bride (also a little fat buddy) to see if we were real or just a figment of his imagination. 

As early birds, we decided we should probably leave the wedding party to their toils and head somewhere for a libation. As we walked in the door of the establishment, much to our surprise: more little fat buddies and their spouses! After that, even more little fat buddies at the church and reception at Blaisdell Manor that followed, all regaling one another with tall tales and their rapier wits. Best of all we could count calories just by looking at the stains on Slim’s shirt. Talk about a reunion tour to end all reunion tours. Now if only Led Zeppelin would get back together.

See you next week…real good then.

Identify FROSTY and win some cash!

Prize money totaling $1,250 is waiting to be won. FROSTY is a Waseca County resident chosen to be an ambassador for the Waseca Sleigh & Cutter Festival. Follow the clues and guess FROSTY’S name.

Grand prize is $250. If you are at the official unmasking at 9:30 p.m., on Friday, February 8, 2013, you will win an additional $50. Unmasking is at the annual Sleigh & Cutter dinner and dance at the VFW Club Room, 113 West Elm Avenue, Waseca, MN. 

First correct guess from Janesville, New Richland and Waseca win $100; and if you are at the unmasking you will win an additional $50. Four lucky winners at the unmasking will win $75 each. Another four names of people who correctly guess FROSTY’S name, but are not attending will win $50 each.

Contest rules:

The hunt is underway for the Waseca Sleigh and Cutter Medallion, and the prize is big.

The lucky finder will receive gift certificates valued at $1,250.

The Medallion is hidden on public property within the city limits of Waseca.

If found, the Medallion should be turned in at Charlie’s Hardware in Waseca. Sponsors of the contest are Waseca Hy-Vee, Charlie’s Hardware, Waseca County News, First National Bank and KOWZ/KORN Radio.

Readers, be sure to print the verses each week and keep a copy of this ongoing saga, as it builds in suspense from week to week. Good luck in your search for the Medallion!

Medallion Clues for week 2

The outlaws had raced through Elysian

On the tracks going south they were freezin’

They parked their steeds late

In a shelter of eight