Random Thoughts - definitely not Deep Thoughts

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good. The weather was amazing to watch. Sunny sky one moment and full on blizzard the next.
I keep looking for good news. There are some tidbits out there. Everest is now visible. So that's cool.
Obama endorsed Biden in a speech that made me tear up as soon as I heard his voice.

Today will be an okay day. Work is keeping me busy. I have Compline tonight.

Be well out there - wash your hands and keep ya distance.

Watching the Weather

Who wants to talk about pandemics?
Not me.
I'm tired of negativity.

I want to watch the weather.
The wind scours the landscape as I sit at my desk watching the leaves.
Is it snow? Is it rain? Sneet?

Did I get dressed today? I did because I had a video call.
I wore my nametag yesterday.
I haven't worn shoes or driven my car for days. Soon weeks. Will it be months?

I didn't want to talk about the pandemic - but that's all I did.

Sunday Already?

Its Sunday.

After a crazy weekend - we have made it to the other side.

I worked a full week and then worked on Saturday as well.
My other half went to his 20 year class reunion and was gone all day yesterday and most of today.
Big thanks go out to family that stepped in to help us (me) out during this stressful time.

But now I am trying to get myself motivated to get back to work tomorrow.
I have clean clothes that need to be folded and a kitchen in a state of disarray complete with pizza boxes and dirty and clean dishes.

It was a beautiful day today. Cicadas were singing (in October!), sun was HOT, my youngest pulled a massive zucchini out of a garden, and I was surrounded by family and 3 cats for much of the day. This week is going to be a bit of a letdown compared to today but I have high hopes that we aren't on the downward slide yet to winter. I need to mow one more time at least - finish the spring garden clean out - pull out all the trees around the house... the list is never ending.

So I'm ready to get to bed a wake up ready to get to work.
Who's gonna come and help me?

Here we are again

And we're back.
Or are we.
Who knows or cares probably.
But someone close to me said 'You should write in your blog again' and I thought.
Yeah.
That actually sounds like a good idea.

What about?

Not sure.

Somedays I wish I would have documented my life better and then I think... why?
Somedays I wish I could write a novel but would I want to spend time doing that?

Lately my life has felt like it is racing forward and I can't catch my breath. Is that how it feels for everyone as your kids grow up and work feels overwhelming and the things you say you will do tomorrow wait for years to get done?
I don't want to take a day off from work to do those things - usually.

So here we are again... catching up.
Seems like a good idea.

Till we meet again.

Hallelujah - arranged by Shawn Kirchner

Verse One:
And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale,
And soar to worlds on high.

Chorus:
And I'll sing hallelujah,
And you'll sing hallelujah,
And we'll all sing hallelujah
When we arrive at home.

Verse Two:
O what are all my sufferings here,
If, Lord, Thou count me met
With that enraptured host to appear,
And worship at Thy feet!

Verse Three:
Give joy or grief, give ease or pain,
Take life or friends away,
But let me find them all again
In that eternal day.

~Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Sprinter

We survived winter... just barely.
I won't tell you how many times I thought the cold was over to be put back in the deep freeze again.

Tomorrow the weatherman is forecasting 80 degrees.
Really?!

Ugh.

Summer To Do list

I get home from work and immediately put my play clothes on.
I can think of many things I could do outside.
Weed the garden,
mix up the compost,
mow the lawn,
water the plants.
Just a few of the items on my summer to do list.

Winter is still months away.

Going back to School

Have you considered going back to school - in other words - getting a second degree?
Uff da.
My current job has morphed into this uber crazy position that is so pared down that all I get to do is the stuff that I have to do. Not fun. So after 8 months of this position - I am wondering if maybe a job change is in my future.

Have you gone back to school?
Did you have kids and a home to support?

My dream since I was pretty much done with my first degree is to be a librarian.
Maybe someday I will realize that dream or not.

Stay tuned.

Adding Professional Sports to the list

Growing up in a small town in a state that didn't have any professional sports - I never really became a fan of any teams - except maybe the Cubs. But didn't really even follow them - I just knew some of the more popular players.

Living in a large metropolitan area - I have recently been to two professional baseball games and *surprise* I enjoyed going! Didn't hurt that they won both games either.

Then this past weekend - I watched the PGA US Open on TV for the first time. I may even have a few players that I like. (I will save that disclosure for another time). But I thought I would try to find out when the next tournament is and am failing miserably. I am pretty sure it is the British Open but trying to find it on the PGA home page isn't working. Which probably goes to show how little I know about golf - right? Oh well. I will search for British Open and find it right away.

So far absolutely no interest in basketball or football or hockey (yuck!) but all are playing professionally in my current hometown. So stay turned for more amateur talk on sports!

It's February?

and I haven't written in months...

Excited about 2013.
I have a milestone birthday this year.
Can't believe I will be 'over the hill'.
Makes me feel like I have to get over some hill just to be a smart-ass.

2012 kind of sucked...
Job stress
Health stress
I have to drive in snow... :)

Looking forward to spring.
We are supposed to be done with the super cold weather  now.
My fingers are crossed.

Happy February.

From a recent wedding that MD attended

An excerpt from Plato's Symposium

Humans have never understood the power of Love, for if they had they would surely have built noble temples and altars and offered solemn sacrifices; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done, since Love is our best friend, our helper, and the healer of the ills which prevent us from being happy.

To understand the power of Love, we must understand that our original human nature was not like it is now, but different. Human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs, and two faces looking in opposite directions. There were three sexes then: one comprised of two men called the children of the Sun, one made of two women called the children of the Earth, and a third made of a man and a woman, called the children of the Moon. Due to the power and might of these original humans, the Gods began to fear that their reign might be threatened. They sought for a way to end the humans' insolence without destroying them.

It was at this point that Zeus divided the humans in half. After the division the two parts of each desiring their other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one. So ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of humankind.

Each of us when separated, having one side only, is but the indenture of a person, and we are always looking for our other half. Those whose original nature lies with the children of the Sun are men who are drawn to other men, those from the children of the Earth are women who love other women, and those from the children of the Moon are men and women drawn to one another. And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other's sight even for a moment. We pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need. And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called Love.

My sweet boys

She loves the baby snakes...

Warm Fall Day

BWCAW Day 5

Back the way we came...

Today we woke up to an overcast sky. It was windy enough that my anxiety was kicking in about the paddle ahead. We ate breakfast, got packed up, and headed out back to the entry point in Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake. 

The small island, just a few strokes from out campsite, had a few bushes with wild blueberries on them. So we stopped and ate a few. It was a good start to the day. We didn't see anyone as we headed out of the lake. The campsite that looked like it was pretty much right by the water was empty, so they must have headed out quite early.

Paddling in Green and Rocky lakes was tough but they were so narrow that the wind couldn't really get a good grip on the lake and whip up those white caps. We still didn't really find the campsite on Green Lake even though we carefully scanned the map and shore as we paddled past. I guess if we really wanted to camp there, a closer look at the shore would be needed.

As we walked to the end of the portage from Rocky to Oyster, the sky was still overcast. The lake looked like there were some white caps on it and as I sat waiting for the group to come back from the second portage, two things happened. A chipmunk shot out of the hole in the tree underneath me as I was sitting over it and about scared the daylights out of me. I laughed out loud as I thought about how scared that little guy must have been. The other thing that happened was another canoe came into view to my right along the shore line. I wasn't sure where they had been because the lake route would have brought them from the left. BUT the wind was pretty strong so I assumed they got pushed across the lake as they were making their way over here.

We got our canoes packed and chatted with the couple for a bit. They had taken over an hour to get across the lake and we were amazed at the stamina at the very least. So needless to say - I was not liking what the next bit of the day was going to bring. 

We decided to paddle to a sheltered spot on the lake and stop to get a snack before the paddle. R got out the nut sack, gorp, granola bars, and we each threw them around until we had our fill. Then after getting lifejackets on and securing our hats, we took off. It was a b*tch. That was by far the hardest paddle we had done on the trip. We had to paddle along a peninsula dividing the lake and we were getting pushed in the shore pretty hard by a good headwind. 

One thing that makes paddling so hard at these times, is that you always end up knocking you thumb HARD on the boat. At least I do. So not only are your muscles screaming but your hand is throbbing from hitting the gunnel.

As we rounded the corner of the peninsula - I let out a blue streak and then looked out across the big part of the lake and felt much better. We weren't going to be paddling into a headwind so we just needed to paddle hard across the waves. (Which is actually more dangerous because there is a better chance of being dumped by a wave pushing you over.)

We sited our portage and started across. R and D were quite a bit ahead of us and so I dug in trying to hit the tops of the waves so I could get a good stroke *in* the water. We did pretty well across this lake. We had to do a little bit of back tracking and cross the waves but after a little struggle - we found it and prevented the canoe from getting tossed into the rocks at the portage. I once again thanked the gods for my boots and jumped in the water to get us safely onto land before R & D got there and needed to land. 

This portage was the beautiful one a few days before but now I was so drained from the paddle that I didn't remember to look at it as I walked through. The difference of wind and no sun didn't help either. 

Earlier in the trip, we had decided to look for the portage into Lake Agnes from the river out of Oyster. We found it pretty easily today. The sun was starting to come out and we paddled into the portage and it looked much different from the other portages we had been to. It was really grassy and muddy. We did see tracks that looked like moose and maybe coyote poop so that was exciting. Its the little things right?!

The portage was interesting too. It was up, up, up and crossed about 6 little streams along the way that were flowing across the path. I wondered if it was many little streams or the same one crossing back and forth down the hill. It was a pretty hot walk because the sun was now back out and the breeze was not touching us as we hiked through the forest. 

We were finally all at the other end and started to talk about finding a campsite on Lake Agnes. We looked at the map and saw one just to the north of the portage and then three to the south on this side of the lake. We got back in the canoes and as we came out of the bay towards the campsite, we saw another canoe coming towards us and we thought we better hightail it to the campsite. As we got closer though we decided to ditch this site as it looked pretty exposed without a very good view. 

We rounded the corner on the next campsite and found that it was occupied. The next option was all the way in the bay and the last site was further down the lake outside the bay.  As we got to the site in the bay, we still didn't see the other canoe so D did a quick check and I got out for a second opinion. It wasn't great. Very terraced with maybe one good tent site and a few not so good sites for the other tent. It was also pretty narrow and exposed without a good spot to get into the lake for a dip. So R & D decided to take off for the next site and MD and I would stay here and keep this site in case the other canoe got there first. So MD and I stayed there for about 5 minutes, burning in the sun, and decided to take off anyway. 

When we got to the other campsite - R&D had decided that we should take it so we were glad we hadn't stayed any longer at the other site. The lake was pretty yacky all around, I discovered. The rock sloping down into the water was very slimy and made getting out of the canoe difficult at the landing. So swimming was definitely out for me and I was looking forward to getting into shorts and relaxing in the shade. 

More on Day 5 in my next post.

BWCAW Day 4

Day 4
Oyster Lake, Rocky Lake, Green Lake, Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake


Its Wednesday! The morning started with clouds but quickly got hot. Before we left on our trip - temps were predicted to be in the upper 70s and move into the low 80s as we got further into our trip. Most days felt pretty hot with clear skies and a little bit of a breeze.  Today we were paddling with the breeze at our back most of the time which made for a hotter paddle. 


The portages between Oyster and Ge-be-on-e-quet Lakes were noticeably different from the portages we had seen so far on this trip. They were noticeably narrower and they were up, down, up! MD calculated that we traveled about 50 feet up in elevation from Oyster to Green and then Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake was actually lower than Oyster. And that was just the lakes - the portages were even higher than that! 
NOTE: After looking at some websites with more detailed information, the elevation of the portages was closer to 100' up and 50' feet down and 66' up and 38' down.  


Rocky Lake was a nice small lake with bluffs and one campsite we didn't get to see. We also sang some Rocky Soundtrack theme music while we paddled through. Green Lake was very green. We had a hard time locating the campsite on this lake. I don't know if we ever really found it. There was some discussion that campsites are sometimes retired for a time. Maybe this was the case with this one.


Finally - into Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake. It is a gorgeous lake. Very deep in some spots with a few islands to add interest. We passed up the first two campsites as they were taken and then finally decided on one of the campsites on the far side of the lake from the portage we came into the lake. It was a nice site. There was a rock into the water and then on top there were trees with the kitchen area and there was a few nice tent sites to choose from. The bugs were actually pretty bad here - especially the biting flies which wouldn't move from your leg even if you were stomping. Yuck. 

The lake was clear enough that when I was in thigh deep water and in the sun I could see the bottom of the lake so I felt comfortable enough to get in a swim a little. Lake swimming is absolutely not something I do especially when I can't see in more than about a foot of water.


We had LOTS of chicken for dinner. MD trusted the butcher on portion size and really one breast would have fed two people - not one. But It made for a good laugh.


The food really has been very good this trip. We have oatmeal and coffee in the morning along with bacon one morning and 'trinkets' most other mornings.  Trinkets are muffin mix cooked like pancakes. So good! Usually I can't eat a trinket after I have had my share of oatmeal so we pack them up in a ziplock and I eat it on the lake as we are paddling to our next desination. They are a little wet coming out of the ziplock but still tasty. 


Lunches are usually tortillas with chicken or tuna or PB&J. Then we broke out the GORP, nut bag,  or granola bars and drink lots of crystal light flavored water. 


Dinners - Steak, Chicken, Chili, Wild Rice soup - all really good as well.


We usually ate lunch around 2p so that left the afternoon and early evening today free to do things around camp or go out in the canoe. We all did a bit of everything but late afternoon found us all in our canoes - fishing the shore. R&D headed south and MD and I headed northish. It was a fun bit of fishing. We were casting in toward the shore and as we were reeling out line in - we were getting glimpses of fish. 


We each had a really good hit on our line just a cast in between. I was reeling in and a big northern swooped in to get my lure just as I was about 2 feet away from the canoe. Scared the bejeepers out of me but it was SO cool! To see a fish come up out of the depths and right there next to me - very cool.  Then MD was pulling his lure up out of the water for another cast and another fish jumped out of the lake at his lure. I didn't see it but I heard it. It was fun to be getting some fishing action after lots and lots of casts at previous sites with little or no bites. 


We ended up heading back to camp due to some rolling thunder to our south. It seemed to be really far away but the sun was covered with clouds and the weather can change pretty quick up there so we thought we better get dinner going.  The thunder lasted a bit but we didn't get any rain so we ate our HUGE chicken breasts as best we could and then did a little more fishing/reading/swimming and headed into bed.  

After dinner the nice breeze we had that day disappeared and we really felt the heat that night.  It was about 80 degrees and it felt pretty tropical to me, especially when we got in the tent. The tent mesh is built to keep out really small bugs but it also kept out very light breezes. So we were laying on top of our sleeping mats in few clothes until about 3am that night. Then little by little it cooled off and I was in my sheet, then eventually unrolled my sleeping bag and through it over myself. 


The frogs sang all night too which I liked because it kept all the other noises from making me wonder 'What was that!?'. 

BWCAW - Days 2 & 3

Day 2  
Nina Moose Lake, Nina Moose River, Oyster River, Oyster Lake


We had a cold night last night. I also found myself sliding down the VERY small hill that our tent was pitched on. So sleeping wasn't very good as I was trying to keep on my mat  and keep warm. 


Breakfast was good. Coffee, Oatmeal, probably a trinket. We got packed up and headed out. We had a very light breeze this morning. As we paddled through Nina Moose Lake and into the Nina Moose River - it was pretty familiar. But we had decided before we headed out that we would head into Oyster Lake for something new. Oyster River was a nice paddle. Pretty twisty-turny again but deep water and a clear path. Blue sky overhead and a light breeze made it another beautiful day in the BWCAW.


We did one 70 rod portage, one 96 rod portage, a short 20 rod portage, and then ended our portaging with a beautiful 60 rod portage into Oyster. With a bubbling stream on one side and a nice wide path, pine duff, and open enough that you could look through the forest and see the stream. 


We paddled across the eastern side of the lake and saw that the site we were hoping to get for the night was open. R & D had paddled by on a previous trip and looked at it as they went by. It is situated on a peninsula with the lake on either side. We paddled to the rocky shore and landed our boats while D and I jumped out and took a look around. It was a very interesting site. On the side we landed on there was a grove with pine duff on the ground that was dense enough to be cool and shaded. Then further on there was the kitchen up on a rock and a open space that was in full sun and on the opposite side of where we landed - the other side of the lake.  We decided to stay.

Oyster Lake - Day 2 and 3

Getting camp set up is a pretty methodical process. Picking out the tent site and unpacking the packs, getting the fire going if dinner is within a few hours, setting up the hammocks, taking off the wet boots and socks... There isn't much to do and soon we were all ready to read a book, cast off the shore to catch a fish, or nap in the hammock. What a life. 


We were all ready for bed fairly early and after dinner we tried to stay out to watch the sunset and stars come out. We were successful in the first endeavor - the sunset was okay but once the sun was almost gone - the mosquitos came out in the hundreds. I kept wondering what the hum was in the forest and i was told that the bugs make the sound. It was amazing. One night as MD and I lay in our tent reading, the mosquitos were dancing in the light against the rain fly and there must have been about 50 of them.


Day 3
We decided to stay another day at this campsite since it fit us so well. The wind coming off the lake out of the south was pretty strong. MD's hammock was down in the pine grove and laying in it was very comfortable but got kind of cool after a while.  I read a lot of this day. We all played some 500 and did some fishing. I caught a northern which knocked itself around a little and finally spit out the hook. I think it was about 20 inches long. 


We were playing a game to make the fishing even more fun on this trip. Biggest, Most, First - I think was the game. I don't remember much about it because I never won any part of it. That northern was the only fish I actually landed. But MD did pretty well from shore. He caught a few bass at this site and R did as well.

The Back Country Pre Trip - Day 1

Usually my trips to the BWCAW are filled with excitement, relaxation, and lots of physical work. Getting excited about the trip was really hard this time around. The older I get, the harder it is to let responsibilities and worry fall away. I found I was worrying about factors that were either within my control but I wasn't going to change or outside of my control and not worth worrying about.  The trip was off to a rocky start. 


Saturday we traveled to my in-laws and our trip mates met us there to pack bags and consolidate those items like kitchen supplies. We ended up with 5 packs, 3 of which I could handle.  I packed a clothes bag that consisted of 3 t-shirts - 1 cotton and 2 polyester, 2 long sleeve shirts, one long sleeve poly shirt, one long sleeve fleece top, one pair of shorts, 2 pair of zip-off pants, underwear and socks for everyday. (In hindsight - I would have liked one more short sleeve poly t-shirt). The poly shirts are nice because they dry quickly.


Sunday we were on our way about 7:30a and drove through some of the areas that were experiencing flooding. Aiken and the surrounding areas had high water and while I had heard a lot about Duluth - this area was news to me. 


We made it to Ely around 12p and stopped for a quick Subway sandwich for the road, our permit, fishing license, and some odds and ends. We had to run out to the rangers station to get our permit instead of getting it in town due to their internet connection being down. The ranger station was beautiful. We also got were talked through the permit and rules surrounding being in the BWCAW instead of watching the dumb video which made me sleepy every time anyway.

Echo Trail to Entry Point 16

Back on the road - it took us about 45 minutes to get to our entry point. The road is mostly gravel and quite twisty-turny as you can see in the picture above. We met other cars coming from the other direction a few times and that was a bit scary sometimes as the road went down to one lane at some points. This trip we planned to travel in through Entry Point 16. Moose River, Nina Moose Lake, Nina Moose River and so on. We got everything out of the cars, packs on backs, canoes on shoulders, and double-portaged the first 160 rod portage. 

Before the Trip Starts
 at the top of the first portage

Here is a picture of us. I knew I should have worn my contacts and sunglasses. No one else is squinting into the sun! Plus it must not have been to warm that day considering I am in my t-shirt, fleece, AND life jacket. Whoa.


That first portage isn't so bad on the way out as it is downhill most of the way going in. But as the packs are at their heaviest and most awkward - it did make it a little challenging. This is when the packs are at their most awkward because we have kind of thrown everything in and it sometimes take a repack or two to make it set nicely. 


Nothing spectacular or noteable to report about the portages between here and Nina Moose Lake except the portage that isn't marked consisted of a beaver dam and small rapids and a very muddy 5 rod portage. The other canoe in our group pulled over the beaver dam and navigated through the rocks and we were able to canoe up onto the portage and pull through a spot and get back into the river about 1 rod into the portage. 


We ended up finding a site on Nina Moose to stay the first night. It was a northwest site on the lake facing east. I can't remember much about this site so it must not have been very memorable. But we took a picture. 

First Campsite on Nina Moose Lake

This ends the first full day of our BWCAW trip. 

A Quote

Remember back in the 70s and 80s when we would gather around the television for certain tv events like 'Wizard of Oz', 'Sound of Music', and saturday morning cartoons? Well - one movie that I saw more than once in my childhood was 'Slipper and the Rose'. It is a Cinderella story and I absolutely fell in love with it.
I was thinking about looking for another poem to post here but decided instead to post a favorite quote from a favorite movie. I am not sure if you can get this movie easily yet. I was given the VCR movie version many years ago and it wasn't cheap.

I suppose I shall simply have to rise to the occasion and do something spectacular, yet again. And spectaculars always take so much out of me... It was the same with Snow White. All the same, you young girls: never do as you're told! Men are MUCH easier. --Fairy Godmother in 'Slipper and the Rose'

Running off some energy

We shopped lots Wednesday night.
The kids were a bit much, but cute.
As MD was paying, I took them outside for a bit of running and picture taking.