Marking the days…9/29

I’ve got a calendar and it’s loaded with marked off days… x-ed out. Some days I’ve noted, many not, that have a lot more meaning than others. Some of you would call them red letter days as they are marked in red ink. For the past three years, I’ve had one day in the fall marked and something has always come up. As I’ve approached the date somehow I’ve founded myself looking at the wrong end of a surgeon’s knife.

This day is coming up again on Monday and it should be a simple operation compared to my other zippers. As a kid I messed up my knee and after four operations of semi-repair athen being hobbled for 40 plus years it’s time to get the knee replaced. I just can’t chase around after Rosebud anymore.

Unlike my heart by pass and shoulder surgeries, I am really looking forward to getting back to my youthful activities of watching the world fly by and trying to be apart of it. This time around with a new knee there will a limited amount of water ski jumping, snow boarding and mid night swims with paint cans too put potta dots on sometplace where they don’t belong. I have it in my mind to almost ground myself, no high flying after 1 p.m.

Could this be a sign of maturity?
Nope, I already gave maturity for Lent last year.

So what’s coming up is a four day hospital visit and some rehab (6weeks). You will simply have to put up with my absence, for awhile. This time away will help me refuel my blog subjects for I must admit my tank is 9/10ths empty… ta ta 4 now!

Beefy Dazes 9/28
Out the window the sugar maples are now a blaze of bright red, the poplars are yellow and the birch trees are a deep gold, throw in the brown and tans of the oaks with the bright green of the pines and you have nature at it’s best.

All these colors will be on display for five to seven days. It’s our northwoods artist’s pallet. This week and our short summer are the reasons we all put up with seven months of winter and two days of spring.

This splendor is what our area calls Colorama. To go along with it the local merchants cook roast beefs and have a town party this the last weekend of September. The roasts are then all turn in, cut up and at 3 p.m. Saturday people line up to purchase "low" cost heart healthy beef sandwiches.

The smell of charcoal cooking beef fills the town air…. Of course while all the is going on the merchants are out hawking their wares as are the saloon keepers. It’s their way of saying thanks, have a sandwich and by the bye ‘buy some of our fall stock so we don’t have to carry it over till next spring and then have to try and sell it at normal price.’

This will be a special Beefy days as our first grand child gets slammed dunked in a baptism fount on Sunday… So beefy sandwiches and some of the family at home for the weekend, just another weekend in paradise. I know some of you can’t make it up here for Beefarama so I’ll have an extra beefy for you.

Double notes…9/26

This past weekend I got nailed twice. We have a thing up her call the Lakeland Performing Arts Association. Some kind folks twenty years back thought it was a grand idea to bring a little culture to the northwoods, something other than going to the Lakeland Cinema Friday night and watching the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Part 2.

For the first fifteen years it went something like this… "Geeees... Rosebud, do I really have to go tonight, Michigan State is playing N.D. and it’s on TV!" But off we went and to watch the New Glarus , Wisconsin, Swiss Yoo-del-ers for two fun packed hours. Another performance that stands out was a guy with a dumbie and you could see both of their mouths move, the guy was a very bad Edgar Bergen impersonator who also happened to be dead.

So this months selection was the Wisconsin 1st Brigade Band. This group is another Civil War enactment but these folks, 50 in all, were really good musicians. They had real McCoy instruments from the 1850’s plus they were dressed in custom made military threads of the day…they looked and sounded like the real thing of 140 years ago and pretty loud.

The band are amateurs that are real pros and were well worth the price of admission. That was Saturday eve and then again they played at our Sunday church service. Fifty people blowing on horns raised the roof in a very small area, and once again my ears are still rining.

No, they didn’t sound like Bob Seger or the Grateful Dead…they were better for it was live and this is from a guy that likes good sounds no matter the era.

IT’S FINISHED !!!! 9 /25
Three years in the making and what others said could not be done, is, a hand build garage addition which is now a reality. At the start it didn’t look like much. I built it from rat-toothed lumber and other unwanted stuff. It really looked like Hoosierville or ‘this is the house that Jack built’ for very long time.

I followed the rule that old-world craftsmen work very slowly. It sat for awhile due to a lack of finishing funds but I hit it big at the LOT, Lake of the Torches Casino, allowing me to purchase another box of nails.

Now the eye sore isn’t… it’s sided, has a roof and doesn’t leak much. Amazing what you can do with outside help. Rosebud insisted that I hire someone who knew "exactly" what they were doing. But now comes the hard part, clean up.

Actually this project has been like all of my other attempts at doing something. It fell a little short of great exceptions. But it’s amazing what two gallons of paint can cover, a multi-number of sins. However, years from now when future generations take a look at my garage addition, they will wonder…What in the blue blazes was great, great grandpa thinking?
Anyway so be it, the damn thing is done.

Each day is a Highlight… 9/22

As a kid you thought of another birthday with delight , presents, cake, family and friends. As an adult you look at them with an oh-well attitude, that there is nothing that can be done about them. They just seem to be coming a little earlier every year. As an OLDER person they seem to pile upon one another every other day. It’s like a lead ball rolling down a hill, they sure gain speed at the bottom.
To heck with birthdays they should only be for kids. Once you hit a certain age that’s it, pull the plug. However, this would put Betty Cocker and a few candle makers out of business.

Here’s an idea, lets cancel the name birthday after the age of 22 and rename it cake day. And why only have a limit of only one cake? There are other days of the year just as important as the day you were born.

There could be haircut day honoring the day you got for first buzz, that calls for a cake. There is tooth day the day you first went to the dentist reason for another cake. How about graduation day that could be at least three of four days per year…kindergarten, junior high, high school and when you got your Ph.D. that’s another four cakes.

Just think of all the highlights in your life that call for a cake. Ok, there goes my Blog of several days ago about turning over a new leaf and trying to get into shape. Maybe if we just cut back on the size of the cake(s) and have non-fat ice cream on the side we could pull this thing off. All in flavor say, I!

Growth…. 9/21

It’s not what you think it is for growth is good and bad depending where it happens. It’s good when it’s about your brain and your using it, bad when you don’t. It’s bad when your doctor shakes his head about that thing your are sitting on, good when you have a better understanding of others.
Good food leads to bad effects on your waist line. But when prepared correctly all is forgiven.

We, my brothers, use to measure our upward growth on the refrigerator door. Certain crayons colors marks were for certain brothers. It marked our upward growth but not in proper stature. It was competition between us to see who could grow to the height of the top of the freezer door. Now a days going anywhere near the refg leads to outward growth, the waist line which is bad.
But back to what counts…

Now through a battery of testing concocted by the brains of the world we can measure the development of the brains of students. It all started with the old American competition theme of whose leading and getting the blue ribbon and the winner’s crown.

Second place? Who cares who comes in 2nd place. Do you remember the runner up of Miss America in 1956? Or who lost the Super Bowl in 1998. The Packers again? No one remembers the losers except themselves and their mothers.

However, there are many ways to gauge growth. Some keep score on the Dow Jones average, others by the number of Rolls parked in their driveway. But for those that have a few gray hairs in the temple, it’s the number of true friends that are called friend in return... So as you look around and start counting friends and if you come up with only 3 true buddies, it’s time to start planting other friendship seeds then watch it grow.

Snagged… 9/20

It’s a double hitch that I tied. The knot is fail safe. You can’t bust it. Using 6 lbs. test line should assure you of at least a 20 pound fish. It’s through the hook eye twice then 6 wraps and then through the double loop, then pull tight. There is no way a fish can break this simple knot. The line will give before the knot breaks.

Last night I was in a hurry when I got home for there was just enough daylight to spend 20 minutes to see if some fish wanted to commit suicide. It was a very calm eve so I rapidly tied on a surface lure and with the help of my springer guide dog started along the shore fishing the lily pads. Third cast boom, the water boiled. Out went my line and lure.

Time to set the hook and snap the line went limp. A lost fish, how could that be? I hauled in the line got my glasses out and looked at the line end. Sure enough the line didn’t break… the knot slipped.

I looked further and could tell I had only taken the line through the hook eye once. So grandma was right… haste makes waste. We had hot dogs for supper, ever try and fillet a hot dog?

I am thinking about….9/19
High impact bumpers, low compression golf balls, child proof lids, easy to read directions, adult proof containers, left handed pencils, right hand bow ties, tail-less kites, broken strings…

Flood levies, 10 minute meals, pain relievers, endless summers, shorter winters, the friendly skies when they were friendly, baldness, hair growth in the wrong spot, wind falls, old lotto tickets, broken fishing lines, keyless ignitions but where are the house keys?, any finished project – just one, fall without leaves, Friday night football…

Finding my left handed work glove, I set it down to to itch something and it walked away. What in the world am I going to due with one glove, maybe the dog eat it ?

Is there a rhyme or reason for the above list?

Of course, it’s what occupies my pea–sized brain in the morning.

Just as I am waking, coming out of the morning fog, there is a flood of things that parade across my empty skull in the early am, no different than you. But the one thing that’s always there is how our youngest deals with what she has for her entire life… she amazes me and all of us that know her.

So now, the small stuff that I was thinking about like replacing like my car’s hi impact car bumper really doesn't mean a thing. When your mind is spinning out of control then maybe the spinning will stop and you can focus on the REAL stuff.

As for tomorrow? I pledged to stop thinking, period!
for who needs a littered mind?

Just say no…9/18
Too much watermelon, way too many baked beans, and the charcoal burgers kept coming all summer. So did twist-off bottle caps. The out come of all the summer over "doings" is a waist line that’s like our shore line, it’s way out there. Now is the time to start on last year’s New Year Resolution… ‘ On being the new me or you, that is if you are you.’

Time to kick it in gear like we said we would. It’s been months, make that years, when the real you or me could get all of ourself in a full-length mirror. I really had a chance to get the cart rolling when the doctors put a new zipper in me. He pointed a finger at my chest and said, "There, now it’s up to you."

Diet and physical activity these are the two things that would do it! We all think about these two things and most of us somehow avoid putting them into practice. Well, raise your right hand and swear along me…. " I (state your name) swear on great father Mort’s grave that I will cut the crap. I will stop my junk foods cycle and try my best to speed walk past all vending machines."

When offered seconds I’ll kindly tell my host to go fly a kite "No thank you, but do you have a doggie bag?". Then you and I will lace up our sneakers and go for a speed walk… so help me Snicker Bars.

There how does that feel? We’ve started!
Now as the Nike commercials start, Just do it…?
Gee, I just noticed it’s raining outside, maybe I can start being the new me tomorrow.

By the way….9/15

" by the way…" is always used as a stopgap, a hiccup when there is a mental p===lapse of thought. So by the way, I just can’t believe we are sitting here in front of a monitor reading stuff that amounts to a hill of beans. I could suggest that you read a good book rather than go on with this but then that would put you to sleep, same old same old.

The thought for the day... is time well spent. I just came home from a sad time, a funeral for a father with seven grown adults children and many grandchildren. They were a close family and still are. His passing left a hole in their number and their hearts as well. Their family is similar to ours, a very caring lot that leans on one another. We should all be as fortunate as they.

Half of our little town turned up for the church service showing the high respect he was held in. Put it simply he was a friend to all, moments with him were time well spent.

Bill was a man that you could turn to and come away with some type of an answer as well as a smile. So in the short term there are no light 'by the ways’. Many a time I’ve let things pass without comment but I learned from Bill Ross that it good to be open and by the way, this is too heavy and I’ll lighten up for tomorrow, promise?

Farewell Bill, see you soon.

A mixed stringer…9/14

It’s a mid September Sunday afternoon or was it a Saturday morning in August? We were out on the big water worming it with a mixed bag. The bag being my fishing partners or more like family. In general the we were two close friends, a son in law and a daughter whose married to my other son in law. Confused? It gets worse.

This is September when it’s quite a bit nippy in the morning, it’s not water skiing weather, more like sweatshirts and windbreakers. So rather than sit around and eat donuts all morning we stopped at the bait shop and picked up live bait rather than dead bait. The sales staff also suggested using minnows… so naturaly we went with the night crawlers.

So what’s out there? Fish of course and it’s walleye season so we went for smallmouth bass. My son in law is a big sports fisherman and knows the water of northern Minnesota cold cock but this northern Wisconsin. So what’s the difference other than the spellin’? You got to know the local waters…the when’s and the when nots.

The first hot spot wasn’t, it was luck warm. The same with spot two and three, there were fish but…. we were working with a new toy , an underwater TV camera, hi-tech, peek-a-booo. It was showing us what we were not catching.
Nice weeds! Great rocks…

Finally, our two guides, my good buddies had had it. "I’m bored" said Fred our pilot. "Me too." said Tom the guide. We were headed in and I talked them all into one last stop…..bingo.

The smallies were packed in this spot just waiting for our arrival. They were jumping into the boat. Then Tom-moose hooks into a snag that starts taking his line out, this turned out to be Big Bertha, a 6 pounded!
Fish story you say? No way, we have pix and I’d post it here but… it’s Fred’s camera and he’s not talking .

A big fan… and I don't mean the width of your seat...9/13

There is nothing better than cheering on your favorite team(s) during a football game. It doesn’t matter what side of the field you are sitting on or what schools colors they are wearing. Here enters the problem, I generally cheer for both sides. It’s a genetics thing for me. My Pop would do the same thing. He’d sit in the stands with us and cheer on both sides making the people around us think that he had a screw lose.

I remember many a game in Iowa City where Pop would cheer on the Illini then cheer for the Hawkeyes driving home town people nuts. But that was my Dad… he had good reason to be multi-team orientated. My Dad attended to two different colleges, the University of Missouri and U. Cal Berkeley. Both of these schools were known for something other than their power house football programs. It’s as true today and all the way back to the 30’s.

Dad’s course of study was journalism and upon graduating he went to work as a sports writer. To be a good sports writer you placed all bias aside and looked at things objectively and Dad carried this with him in many ways. There wasn’t a bit of homer in him with one acception… Bradley University basketball.

His whole outlook and nature of things was not taking things "too seriously", looking at things from a distance. This outlook fell into my lap and fits very nicely. So if you see a person in the stands cheering both sides on, either the fellow is a sports writer or yours truly, a person with a split personality that should be locked away...until the stout lady sings.

and remember Chris it’s only a game! ...but 26 to Zero?

Bird Season… 9/ 12

There is a sharpness in the morning air, moisture in the slightly turning leaves. Each morning our English Springer really gets a bouncing on our morning walks. You can tell that it’s her time of the year. Time to case after upland birds.

Woodcock and grouse are the main birds that live in our back lot. They are there all summer quietly living on the fat of the land and on our morning summer walks do think our springer would get in the hunting mode? Lord no.
She’s a stick, rock and golf ball hound. Birds are the furthest think on her small mind. But in someway or another certain dog breeds flip on their fall hunting mote switch no matter how badly they were trained as pups. Our dog was a shelter dog four when we saved her from a fate I don’t like to think about. So this time of year scents drift in the air catching her attention and bingo up go their ears and its off to the races.

This am Katie (the dog) and I took our morning walk along the lake shore. Above the mist the early morning sun was bouncing rays off several of the tree branches that have just started turning to their fall colors. When we left the house the temp read 45 and there was a slight nip in the air. Usaully Katie turns over stones and messes around with small sticks, not this morning. There were strange new sniffs in the air. Ahead through the mist were strange small sound of aminals, up like us out on the town early.

Vision was only several yards for the mist was thick lakeside. Then as we rounded a bend two large antlers shown above the mist line. A large buck almost meet us head on. Katie would have non of it and off she went chasing the buck up into the woods. I tried calling her back but… then thought she ‘d be home dinner time but as I called she returned, amazing! She’s learning who feeds her, the boss man.

Later, we left the lake and walking into the woods looking for other big game, lions and tigers. Ahh, this nature stuff is grand.

It’s out… 9/8

The great Labor Day struggle is over, the dock and boats are out. I a prior blog I happen to mention the annual event that makes everyone on our lake stop and ponder. Either in the past forty years you either learned a little and start using brain cells over brawn or you visit the chiroprater

The boat shore station which had settled into a foot of silt and takes 6 well trained athletes to remove was taken out took only minutes rather than hours… no it wasn’t magic but brain power, two come-alongs and long heavy duty chains.
So for three dozen years and ten in the cold waters of September the brothers four would bust their butts, fillling the air with swear words that would delight the younger family members with words like 'rat-a fats' while moving the big old thing inches at a time.

NO MORE… modern maturity has taken over and as Winger would say,
" Don’t force it, use a bigger hammer."
So bring on fall, the firewood is cut and split and the 5,000 lbs. shore station is high and dry. It’s time for some football… pass the chips, please.

Out to lunch today and tomorrow..
back Friday
and Friday's Blue Plate Special – Fried Cod of course.

Rush Hour… 9/4

We are lakeside, the family members in part. Some of us are looking at the task ahead, fall prep, docks, boats, skis and other water toys have got to be put away for the winter. Ya, it’s a slap of reality but it’s our calendar of life.

Out on the lake everyone else is getting in one last dose of summer. Our small lake has about forty other residents and all are using the water all at once getting in a last lick. It reminds me why we are thankful and living here and are not commuting on the Dan Ryan Expressway. Yet looking out on the water it rather looks like the Dan Ryan. This is also the BLT time of the year, thanks Tina and Bob.

This afternoon is the Great Event of our small town… it’s Whitman’s Good By Party. We year round folks bring to Whitman Saloon a lawn chair to sit around outside chatting with one another while having a corn roast waving at all the traffic headed south. Most passer-bys are flatlanders headed back to their own commute on the Dan Ryan.

The traffic slows on US 51 around Whitman’s while drivers and passengers wave back blowing their car horns in salute. So if you happen by during in our annual Hazelhurst Rush Hour… give us a honk or drop in for an ear, you can’t be in that big of a hurry.

Down the road…

I am just out of ideas. They were baked fresh daily. Now they are as stall as last week’s buns. The battery needs recharging. Things seem to be out of wack. The ship has run aground. No, I am not going to pull a Vincent, I like both my ears where they are. However, the mental gas tank is 7/8’s dry.

Last week Rosebud took a drive across the Midwest and spent some time with other family members. She came home bouncing. She had a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step. Not me… I got up this am and couldn’t shave and what I saw in the mirror needed a slap in the face. I tried and missed.

It’s time for a road trip before fall falls even if it’s a short one to the next county. No doubt for it will be for I am having a body part exchanged for a new one and the doctor is 150 miles south. A change of pace is required while I still have two legs that are both headed in the same direction.

I have only a problem or two with this idea, Tom and Fred, two friends that are lost without direction. They are up here milking summer for the last drop, Captain Morgan that is.

So this large trip out of town will only take a day or two covering a very short distance. Sometimes only a short jolt is required to charge a drained battery. This slight change of view should help and gain fodder for this blog sight!