After I had attended this years Governor’s fishing opener in Grand Rapids I headed back north to enjoy a few more days at the cabin which is a little over 30 miles from there. I guess I could almost call this my “quality time” with only the critters for company I got some work done and was able to go fishing on one of my many “favorite” lakes in the area. With so many beautiful little lakes to choose from it is hard to single out just one. The one I chose to fish has a small rustic camping that has been area set aside by the Forest Service. It is first-come first-serve with no fees charged. Going there on a weekday can pretty much ensure that you will have this little lake to yourself. It is pretty much a northern lake but then that’s primarily what I fish for most of the time. There are plenty of small pike to be had and occasionally you will have a “big one” on. The day that I was there I did have two fish break my line and I was using a leader, which I don’t normally do.

Spending a few hours on this quiet little lake wasn’t without its challenges. After trolling for a short while I noticed something trailing the boat that looked just like my anchor rope, just then my motor quit and, of course the rope had slipped out of the boat and tangled in the prop. With the rope fastened securely to the front of the boat and tangled in the prop there was no way to lift the motor. Alas, I had to cut the rope from the front and slowly untangle the rope from the motor. Finally it was free and I was on my way again in search of another challenge.

Even with a few minor glitches the time spent up north was indeed my quality time. I have a couple of bird feeders set up outside the cabin that Brian and his family gave me for Christmas. I have never considered myself a bird watcher but without television bird watching at the cabin has replaced the need for that electronic pacifier. Sitting on the steps watching all the different birds plus a couple of red squirrels and an occasional chipmunk I almost felt like I was doing an imitation of Grizzly Adams.

I awoke one morning to a different sound than what I usually hear coming from our lake. Normally it is the sound of the resident loons or even a beaver slapping its tail on the water but on this particular morning the sound was strange and loud. As I walked towards the lake I could see them as the flapped their wings and flew just above the water across the lake. It was a pair of Trumpeter Swans which was great to observe and also to hear. I had hoped they were going to nest on our lake but after spending most of the day they moved on.

Yes, watching wildlife is an important part of my life and there is always something fulfilling about observing nature at work. I guess that is what I like most about being on the edge of the wilderness – you never know what you will see next.

The one thing about enjoying wildlife is that you don’t have to go way up north to observe it. I like to take early morning walks because there are less people out and about at that time. I used to walk after I had finished work and I even walked on the Blazing Star trail when it was still a gravel path. Once it was finished and the trail was made “user friendly” it became like it is today a place for roller bladders, bikers (non-motorized), walkers and joggers. What a great asset to have in our city. We have since expanded and added a trail by Bookside that extends behind Pioneer Park and is a great addition for those that walk around the lake.

With all the improvements comes more and more traffic which is what you want to see, people taking advantage of all these opportunities. I am a person that likes things simple and sometimes walking on one of the trails in the afternoon can be crowded with an almost mall-like atmosphere. This is why I like the early morning walks which have another advantage, wildlife. The waterfowl abound at this time of year and there are many little critters to been seen. Over the years I’ve seen of course the usual squirrels and rabbits but even an occasional woodchuck. Just the other day there was a whole flock of turkey vultures down by the access at Frank Hall Park. When I saw one of them circling overhead I was hoping this was not an omen, as you get older you start noticing those things.

The fishing in the area has been less than great and we can attribute most of that to the unstable weather we have been having. Not too many walleye have been caught so far and the crappies bite was pretty good early but is in a bit of a holding pattern right now. Hopefully we will get some stable weather and normal temperatures to get the season shifted into high gear. Bass fishing opens on Memorial Day weekend and musky season follows a week later.

Until next time; lets get out and enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors and do a little camping and fishing!

Remember our brothers and sisters who are proudly serving our country so that we can keep enjoying the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

“My cousin is having his tonsils put back in.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because his insurance will pay for it.”

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: Congress is where someone speaks, says nothing, nobody listens, and they all disagree.

Things I’ve learned

1. I don’t believe in astrology. I think it’s because I’m a Pisces.

2. I had all of the answers once. Now I have all of the questions.

3. If you want someone to hear his or her name, whisper it.

You’re getting older

1. If by the time you get used to a change, it has changed again.

2. If you’ve never forgotten an important thing — at least not that you can remember.

3. If you carry more than you should because you worry that if you make a second trip, it might not be a round trip.

The perils of painting

I remember when, “Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” was a cute saying, not a warning. My mother said that before tucking me in each night. In the winter, I nestled comfortably under an aged quilt the weight of an army tank in a room nearly as cold as the outdoors. The windows in my bedroom grew frost so thick that they made better doors than windows. I grew up in an old farmhouse built without such niceties as insulation or central heating. My mother didn’t see a new house in her future, so she painted the old one repeatedly. After a restful night’s sleep, I would stumble downstairs to a living room of a different color than it had been the night before. I’m not sure when she slept. She was perfectly capable of coloring her own world, but I sometimes helped my mother paint a room. She favored a white paint of one of 2,143 varying shades of white offered at Einar’s Hardware. I wore white clothes to match the paint. I needn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have employed a brush for long before whatever color clothing I was wearing would have become white. I was an enthusiastic but sloppy painter. I needed flesh-colored paint to match me.

Café chronicles

I ordered the special and drifted off into a pleasant state of salivation as I waited for the meal to arrive. The waitress returned with bad news. They were out of the special. I was Charlie Brown about to kick the football. She was Lucy, pulling the football away at the last moment. She recommended another meal. The replacement food was divine and I enjoyed epicurean delights of the utmost degree while other diners talked on cell phones. Jimmy Fallon said, “A new study found that the average child is more likely to own a cell phone than a book. I guess that would explain why he's average." I am a cell phone user and a book lover. A woman in the booth adjacent mine was talking on her cell phone when it slipped from her hands, fell into her coffee cup, and dumped the hot beverage into her purse. I felt sorry for her, even after I heard her exclaim, "Oh, no! Not again!"

Nature notes

“What are those webbed things in the trees?” Eastern tent caterpillars construct silken webs in the forks of deciduous tree branches, especially fruit trees such as apple, plum, crabapple, hawthorn, chokecherry, and cherry. The hairy caterpillar is bluish-black with a whitish-yellow stripe running the length of its back and is two inches long when fully grown. Eastern tent caterpillars normally emerge in April or May. During the heat of the day or in rainy weather, the caterpillars remain within the tent. They emerge to feed on leaves in the early morning, evening, or at night when not too cold. The feeding disfigures trees but typically doesn’t result in permanent damage unless the feeding is severe. Populations fluctuate with outbreaks occurring every few years. An easy non-chemical method to manage eastern tent caterpillars is to wait until evening or rainy days when the caterpillars are in their webbing, then pull it and the caterpillars from the tree. Then destroy the insects. The adult moths appear in June and July.

“I’ve seen mosquitoes as big as eagles, or at least an inch long. Are they dangerous?” They may resemble them but they are not mosquitoes. They are crane flies and do not suck your blood or kill mosquitoes.

Meeting adjourned

The kind word that could change a life or settle a dispute is often unspoken.

Seven very good fishermen fished “Up Nort” on and off for a week at Leech Lake, Walker, Minnesota. Bob Goetz, Paul Proft, Colin Proft, Ray Thompson, Caleb Lange, Eric Funk and Bob Hanson were the most feared fishermen of the week as per the Agency Bay walleye survey conducted by an area school of walleye.

We had two boats with Bob Goetz captain of one boat, and Paul Proft, captain of the other. While fishing with Captain Bob, I caught a nice 8 lb., 2 oz. beautiful fish, (the largest of any we caught). Only problem was it was an eelpout! Not to be outdone, Captain Paul asked me to fish with him. Twas then I caught a 27-inch, 8-lb. walleye. The walleye was of the fast-growing variety, which means by the time you read this, it will be at least 28 inches and 9 lbs.

We fished Sugar Point, Stony Point, Sandy Point, Rock Point, Ottertail Point, Stormy Point, Liars Point and all points in between. Liars Point was the best for dogfish because you could hear them barking before they bit.

Ray is one tough Norwegian. He is battling health issues, yet he issued a mission statement that he would be slab crappie fishing with us. Not only did he accomplish his mission of slab crappie fishing, but he caught the most the evening we fished crappies. Our reaction to this was “Uffda.”

Caleb lives in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin which is on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border at Lake Pepin. This creates a license problem when fishing as to which state license is needed. To solve this, a resiprocity license was created showing Bret Favre as a Viking on one side, and as a Packer on the other side. Thus you don’t have to buy a second license.

It was very interesting fishing with Eric and Colin, because of their height they had to be very careful of low flying loons when they stood up in the boat.

This was our 36th annual fishing trip to Leech Lake, always staying at Ivanhoe Resort on the southwest end of the lake. As I drove away, headed south, I said those famous words, ‘I’ll be back.’

Bill and Mary DeVries, owners of Ivanhoe Resort are fanatics of the TV show “Deal or No Deal.” Call them at (800) 962-2842 to make a deal. They use your money to take ski vacations most of the off-season at various locations. (Spending the kids’ inheritance.)

In summary, fishing wasn’t as good this year as the previous four years. Because we’re all very good fishermen, we did better than the average fisherman.

When traveling “Up Nort” on Highway 6, notice the boat dealership in Crosby. The business name is enough to make you stop. “Oars and Mine” is the name.

On Highway 6 you must take Cottontail Drive to get to Rabbit Lake. By the way, no rabbits are allowed at the summer turtle races in Longville.

If you fished Beaver Lake this May, and didn’t catch any fish, it is due to your fishing license. Hold it up to a light and if you see a lemon, purchase a new license!

 — — —

Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. This is the Hanson’s 36th summer at Beaver Lake. They leave the lake in mid-October to go south — to Albert Lea — and return in April. Bob says if you enjoy his article, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of Wisdom: There is always room for God. 

The scurs’ crystal ball become cloudy once again on Memorial Day, but the rest of the week was pretty much as advertised, cold. Will we finally break out of our cooler-than-normal trend? The scurs are thinking we will. Starting on Wednesday, mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy by evening with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs near 75 and lows around 60. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning, becoming partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs around 80 and lows of 70. Warmer on Friday under partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of an overnight thundershower. Highs of 85 and lows near 65. Saturday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a morning thundershower. Highs around 80 and lows near 60. Partly cloudy and slightly cooler on Sunday with a small chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the overnight. Highs of 75 – 80 and lows near 60. Monday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 80 and lows near 65. Partly sunny and warmer on Tuesday becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms. Highs around 85 and lows near 65. The normal high for June 1st is 77 and the normal low is 52. On June 1st we will have 15 hours and 15 minutes of daylight, with only 13 more minutes to be gained by the summer solstice. The scurs will be bottling some of this heat for January. 

Crop growth was relatively slow last week, but this week should help to make a dent in the lagging progress. Some two-collar corn was observed and soybeans that had been planted a week to 10 days prior were emerging. It should come as no surprise that we are somewhat behind what we’ve come to expect in recent years. For starters, in May at the ranch, rain was measured on 16 and what will likely be 17 days out of the 31 by the time this reaches print. In addition, there were six days where trace amounts of precipitation were detected. This is getting to sound like a broken record as the same thing happened in April. Lots of cloudy, cool days with precipitation and as a result only a narrow window of time during which the ground was semi-fit for planting. There are some areas of fields this past week that were definitely not fit as witnessed when a local farmer planted soybeans through a wet corner. As I went by the newly planted area, there was water standing in the planter tracks already. Within 20 minutes, it was raining. Not a good sign. We are fortunate however. Most of the crop has been planted so there is plenty to smile about. 

There are lots of changes finally in the garden at the ranch. The potatoes are almost entirely emerged now, making a solid row to follow from one end to the other. The peas, carrots and lettuce are coming along nicely as well they should. This has been some decent weather for these cooler-season crops. The Indian corn is emerging finally, as is the sweet corn. It’s a little uneven, but with the heat and a little rain it should be fine. One good thing about the sweet corn is it can be planted for several weeks yet if it fails to emerge. The pear trees are taking advantage of the warmer recent days and the leaves are really starting to pop. While there are some small pears on the Patten tree it’s doubtful they’ll amount to anything. Still, it’s good to see them. Makes me hopeful that we will someday enjoy fresh pears. The peach tree also seems to be making up some time as the new growth in just the last several days has about doubled in length. It won’t be long and peach farming will become a way of life in greater Bugtussle and environs. 

Lawn mowing has become serious business across the landscape, what with Memorial Day and numerous graduations. No one wants to be known as the neighborhood slob so just like clockwork, when the sun comes out the hum of lawnmowers can be heard far and wide out here in the country. Oh yes, I suppose one could plant it all into native prairie or something so it would be low maintenance. It would be except for the fact you still have to control the weeds as well as putting up with the vermin that seem to enjoy having cover as they dig tunnels and dens around the foundations on the buildings. Think I’ll keep mowing, thank you very much.

The birds were active this past week. Not a lot of new arrivals, although we did have a male cardinal on May 28th that graced us with his presence and song while he was at it. He cleaned up under the feeders and helped himself to a little of the orioles’ grape jelly. Speaking of the orioles, the orchard orioles appear to be staying around as both a male and female are coming to the feeders yet. Nest building for the Baltimore orioles was in full swing so I decide to supplement their raw materials with some of the cotton strings we generally discard from the feed sacks. Cut into 8” – 10” lengths and placed on the woodpile. They had the string all picked up by the time we were done with chores the next morning. Found some more string and decided to see who was taking it all. A rather dull colored male oriole appeared and wadded several pieces in his mouth and departed for what was likely neighbor David’s yard. Hopefully he doesn’t end up with lots of 8” long pieces of string stuck in his lawnmower.  

It was about a year ago I made a trip to Illinois to pick up our new red and white Border Collie Ruby. Seems like only yesterday she was a little eight-week old ball of fur. Ruby’s a small Border Collie weighing in at a little over 30 lbs. She makes up for that small size with the same intensity and tenacity she demonstrated even as a puppy. On the ride back from Illinois, she took down an older male puppy almost twice her size that I was delivering to another buyer. It’s been a fun year and her vocabulary is larger than some people I know. Just ask the squirrels. Recently she’s learned how to shake hands, one of the talents a dog must have if they’re going to be a member of our family. Now if I could just teach her how to type.

See you next week…real good then.

Veterans organizations will celebrate Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2011 in accordance with the following schedule. Please set aside time to attend one of these featured events in commemoration of those who have and are currently serving our country in the military. As citizens of the United States of America, we especially pay tribute to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice of life so we may experience freedom in the United States of America.

Ellendale Area — American Legion Post #296 and VFW Post #8941, along with the Ladies’ Auxiliaries, will provide Memorial Day Services on Monday May 30, 2011 at the following times and locations, weather permitting:

8:30 a.m. - Holy Trinity Cemetery, Litomysol

9:15 a.m. - St. Aiden’s Cemetery, Bath

10:15 a.m. - Geneva Community Cemetery, Geneva

11:15 a.m. - First Lutheran Cemetery, rural Ellendale

The American Legion and VFW Posts will provide an honor guard and firing squad at all locations. A message fitting the day will be delivered at the Geneva and First Lutheran Cemeteries by Jody Wynnemer, United States Navy, Retired. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon. 

Beulah Ann Rohde, age 85 of Waseca died on Monday, May 23, 2011 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester surrounded by her loving family.

 Born on July 19, 1925 in New Richland Township, Waseca County, Minnesota she was the daughter of Michael and Josephine (Weber) Weydert.  Beulah graduated from New Richland High School.  She was employed at the E.F. Johnson Co. in Waseca until her marriage to James Rohde on August 27, 1946 in New Richland.  After getting married, she worked nights at Birds Eye Division of General Foods in Waseca and she later worked in the cafeteria at Sacred Heart School for many years.  Beulah also worked for several years at the Waseca County Assessor and Recorder’s Offices until her retirement in 1986.