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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



Showing posts with label Pigeon River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pigeon River. Show all posts

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!

24 April 2007

Here's a cute shot of Tucker-Doodle from last Tuesday when we hiked down to the Pigeon. Maisy - the water dog (water hog?!) - always spends her time chasing thrown sticks and digging for rocks in the river while Tucker attentively watches from shore.

24 April 2007

I painted in the pantry from 9:45 yesterday until Tom got home shortly after 5:00. After being immersed in that stinky, oil-based paint smell all day I needed to clear my head! So, we decided to take our first spring hike down the trail Tom and my dad cut through our back 40 to the Pigeon River.

The river was flowing reasonably high given the drought we've been and still are in.

Here is a shot I took from the bench Tom made out of a beaver-downed birch tree a couple of years ago. I'm hoping that my feet in the picture will give you some size/space perspective so that you can tell just how close we are to Canada: that's it right across the river!

17 April 2007














I drove out to the helipad (rural helicopter landing area for emergencies - generally forest fires) for the first time this year last Tuesday. It's just over 2 miles from our house.

We're still a ways away from any green starting to show in the deciduous trees, but the colors were beautiful all the same. Here you see a swampy area just north off the Pigeon River (technically, in Canada).