Feels like Goin' Back to School

Today kinda feels like going back to school in the fall. It's nice to have a somewhat-set schedule again. Tom's started a gig that he'll be at for a while (except it's about 56 miles away!), and so the alarm went off before 6:00 AM this morning. Ugh. But, a pot full of strong, percolated coffee and a big bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup & cream helped. Speaking of that, I need another cup o' java. Hang on.

While I made an unplanned but necessary there-and-back trip to town yesterday (not so "quick" when you live an hour out, but it's all relative, isn't it?), Tom took the dogs down to the international border river for a hike. I urged him to take a digital camera with, and these are some of the pictures he took.

Here, you can see how the path is starting to grow up again.
It's always SO hard trying to stay ahead of Ma Nature!


Even tho it's super shallow, it's great to see that the river
seems to stay so nice and wide where our path empties into it.


Here, Maisy transports a large rock into Canada.
Hope you have your passport, dog!


Tucker's never enjoyed swimming, but, in the last year or so,
he's come to appreciate cool water on a hot day!

Yesterday being Tom's last "free day" before this new work gig began, we definitely sloughed off, but what a day it was to do so! Once I got home, we threw (okay, grunted & groaned) the canoe to the top of the Subaru and zipped down to "our river". It was a HOT day, but there was a strong wind which made it a truly lovely day to be on the water. And, truth be told, it was actually a MASSIVE wind. The highest wind gust was 22 mph, and I challenge you to try shoving a heavy, old Grumman (canoe) upriver against that! Yesterday's paddle was definitely the hardest we've ever had to work out there. BUT, it paid off in spades!


After figuring out the correct lure (Tom knew what to use right off the bat, but we only had one of those; it took more trial-and-error for me to find something suitable), we could not keep the fish out of the boat! Oftentimes, we both had one on our lines at once! But . . . riddle me this: in northeastern Minnesota, the prized fish is walleye. A fish no one fishes for (but us) because of the hugely massive amount of bones is the northern pike. Why is it, then, that the limit for northern (which, I repeat, FEW fish for) is only three . . . while the limit for walleye (which EVERYONE fishes for) is six???? Shouldn't it be just the opposite: that the over-fished species has a LOWER limit? Please, someone explain this one to me.

The wild rice is beginning to hang from the stalk
in readiness for the fall harvest.

Anyway, we had a GREAT day on the water and didn't pull in until just after 8:00 when the sun was down and we were getting chilled. And, after some truly unpleasant hot, hot, HOT days this past week, the mercury dipped into the 40s last night for sleeping. Ahhhh, heaven!

Okay, on with my day. Dirty dishes are screaming at me from the kitchen sink.

P.S. Oh! Do you know fireweed?


Each blossom opens from the bottom of the flower up in succession,
and woods lore says that the day the top bloom opens, so, too, will arrive the first frost!


Yikes!