the return of hunting season....

Even though autumn is my FAVORITE time of year, I pretty much hate when it comes around. It's started already.... Mike comes home from work much later than his usual time. I ask what the hold up was, and he gives a vague answer. Then it clicks-- he was scouting for geese or ducks or whatever winged animal he plans on shooting in the coming days! Grrrrrrrr! And, then there's the times when he'll be mowing the lawn or doing whatever else outside in the evening and then just disappears. I'll look outside and he'll be there and 30 seconds later the truck will be gone and Mike's no where to be seen. That took some getting used to because he just takes off when he sees a flock of geese and won't come back until he spots where they land.
This weekend begins the 5 a.m. alarms on Saturday and Sunday mornings for goose hunting. I can't ever fall back to sleep after Mike rummages around for clothes and boots and guns and jackets, so I'm up just as early as he is. I very much dislike it!
I've gone goose hunting three times in the past and have never had to shoot anything, much to my liking! My sister and I took a firearms safety course last spring, so I can join Mike hunting if I ever feel like it. I guess it's like the old adage goes: if you can't beat them, join them. Since I rarely see him in the fall (ok, that's a mild exaggeration), I may as well keep up!

Annual family vacation-- Birch Lake, MN

Each year during the last week in July my entire family (on my mom's side) vacations together near Ely on Birch Lake. We take over all of Matilla's Birch Lake Resort and have tons of fun fishing, boating, relaxing and drinking-- all within good taste, of course!!

This year we didn't have the greatest weather, in fact, I think I may have lost my tan on vacation. It was rainy and cloudy off and on all week. We did get two days of sun and warmer weather, but not like in the past when it's been 85 degrees and sunny all week. Fishing wasn't good either. It's just a bad time of the year to catch fish on Birch Lake, and we always say that we want to try a different time of year, but never do. Mike and I brought the canoe this year and portaged to three other lakes to try the fishing there. We tried Harris, Perch and Whisper Lakes and did better on them. Mike caught his first musky, though it was small. It's definitely a challenge to fish from a canoe. I was always very careful not to move suddenly or too much because I didn't want to get wet!

We have theme days each year while we're on vacation. This year our themes were Mardi Gras and Halloween. The twist with Halloween was "Secret Monster," much like "Secret Santa," where we picked a name and dressed that person. So, I had no idea what I was going to be wearing. The only rule was that it had to be PG-13 because of my little cousins! It turned out well; Mike was a cheerleader and I was a pregnant woman (the only time you'll see that, by the way!). Mardi Gras was all about the decorations and food, which was delicious.
I never want to come home after vacation, and this year Mike had softball tournaments about 15 miles away, so we stayed Saturday night at the resort again. That was weird. It was quiet because no one else had come in, so we walked around the resort and took a sauna and packed a little and went to bed. We got up on Sunday and loaded the boat and left for home. :(