Fall arrives early at Fish River Lodge
Last time I wrote it was raining. It rained all day or we woke to rain or went to bed with rain right through the 20th of August. The gray days are indivcative of the troubling news we received from mom on dad's birthday (August 2nd). She has been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is when living so far from family is difficult. I wish I could be with her to lend support. All I can do from here is pray and keep a positive outlook because I know that half the battle is remaining positive. We ask those who read this do the same. I've learned the only way to confront adversity or fear is to look it in the eye and forge ahead. As I say, adversity is a "speed bump" that may slow you down for a bit but always look forward and never back...I know mom will kick her cancer in the ass - I didn't inherit the will to fight and win by accident! UPDATE: mom she started her chemotherapy on September 12th, radiation will follow. Say your prayers and count your blessings...
So heeding my own advice we made the best of an otherwise damp summer. We continued to fish, set up bait sites, and enjoy the warm weather even on wet days. I took lots of interesting photos of mushrooms, some varieties I'd never seen before, but then I'd never experienced such a prolonged stretch of wet weather either! We had to relocate some of our bear sites as they stood ankle-deep in water. Many of the roads we drive on in the woods and trails to our sites were nothing more than stream beds. But looking ahead we are hopeful for an exciting bear season.
When you run a hunting and fishing lodge summer comes to a fast end but we saw the same positive outlook from our guests who made the most of their summer vacations while dealing with adverse weather. On nights it didn't rain we had some camp fires at the beach, although the beach was quite a bit narrower than normal with the lake being so high from run-off. While families continued vacationing in August we were baiting bears and hosting moose hunters who were up scouting for the September hunt. John Murphy and Darren Page were up for a weekend to look for moose. John is a long-time North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) friend and Darren is an experienced hunter so there were many stories to share during their brief visit. Gloria Lebrecque and her parents Lou and Germaine Levesque vactioned right through the 14th. Germaine ended up in the hospital with stomach troubles and had shorten their vacation when she was diagnosed with a tumor and required emergency surgery. Again, we saw Gloria find the silver lining in her dark cloud when she reflected on the timing of her vacation with her parents and the "quality time" they were able to share during the past month. Last report Germaine's surgery was a sucess and she was recovering nicely...more prayers and positive thoughts...
We had a visitor on the 12th, not exactly an invited lodge guest, but a weasle! We've had a weasle in the lodge in the past but normally it comes in from the cold in the dead of winter. This time I think the wet weather drove it in, so like the ark, animals were arrving at he lodge but fortunately not two-by-two! I first noticed dirt and fir needles on the counter, like you would find after someone set down a cooler that had been picked up off the ground. After further inspection I found little muddly foot prints. They were left by that pesky weasle! It must have slipped in through the screen door in the night.
Wayne went fishing with Les Titcomb (Bowdoinham, ME) on the 12th and while the fishing was slow (as it often is this time of year) they had a very enjoyable visit, and boat ride.
On the 15th we adopted a new cat. He is gray and white and goes by the name "Trouble". He belonged to Laurie Jandreau who lives up the road. She had to find a home for him when she learned he was the cause of her allergies. At the same time we were looking for a lodge-cat to put to work keeping the mice population down, only because the weasle is not yet ready to become a permanent resident. "Trouble" is an excellent mouse hunter and is earning his keep. He is very freindly and likes to "help" me at in the office, I blame my "typos" on him.
Walter and Martha Leland returned for their month-long vacation, and Kathy Bednarz (Hopatchong, NJ) and Melissa Smey (Brooklyn, NY) brought family and friends to share the Fish River Lodge experience. The Bednarz family enjoyed the region's ATV trails and the Smey party enjoyed taking day-trips to explore the St. John Valley and look for wildlife. Suddenly it was 23rd of the month and summer for us was truly over! Our first-week bear hunters began arriving! Rod Lebrecque and Mary arrived first on Saturday. We took advantage of a gorgeous evening and sat by the fire with Rod and Mary and friends Dave Kelso and Linda Engelhardt. We had a cook out and watched the constant parade of boats until senset. We realized it was the first good weekend we'd had in over a month! While sitting around the fire, out of the darkness we heard a series of moose calls, we called back, and it called back, and we called back, and the calling continued...for a good 10-15 minutes! We couldn't imagine who was out on the lake at that hour making moose calls. A boat emerged at the edge of our fire light...it was Ron and Margaret Soucie, Mike and Geneva Michaud, Rocky, Peggy, and Jessica Bard! They'd been out on the lake, saw our fire, and decided to have some fun with us!
As the fire burned down and we all drifted off to bed Wayne and I couldn't help but reflect on the summer that had slipped by so quickly. It seemed like just last week we were celebrating the 4th of July and yet tomorrow our bear hunters will all be in camp and we will begin our fall season.
So heeding my own advice we made the best of an otherwise damp summer. We continued to fish, set up bait sites, and enjoy the warm weather even on wet days. I took lots of interesting photos of mushrooms, some varieties I'd never seen before, but then I'd never experienced such a prolonged stretch of wet weather either! We had to relocate some of our bear sites as they stood ankle-deep in water. Many of the roads we drive on in the woods and trails to our sites were nothing more than stream beds. But looking ahead we are hopeful for an exciting bear season.
When you run a hunting and fishing lodge summer comes to a fast end but we saw the same positive outlook from our guests who made the most of their summer vacations while dealing with adverse weather. On nights it didn't rain we had some camp fires at the beach, although the beach was quite a bit narrower than normal with the lake being so high from run-off. While families continued vacationing in August we were baiting bears and hosting moose hunters who were up scouting for the September hunt. John Murphy and Darren Page were up for a weekend to look for moose. John is a long-time North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) friend and Darren is an experienced hunter so there were many stories to share during their brief visit. Gloria Lebrecque and her parents Lou and Germaine Levesque vactioned right through the 14th. Germaine ended up in the hospital with stomach troubles and had shorten their vacation when she was diagnosed with a tumor and required emergency surgery. Again, we saw Gloria find the silver lining in her dark cloud when she reflected on the timing of her vacation with her parents and the "quality time" they were able to share during the past month. Last report Germaine's surgery was a sucess and she was recovering nicely...more prayers and positive thoughts...
We had a visitor on the 12th, not exactly an invited lodge guest, but a weasle! We've had a weasle in the lodge in the past but normally it comes in from the cold in the dead of winter. This time I think the wet weather drove it in, so like the ark, animals were arrving at he lodge but fortunately not two-by-two! I first noticed dirt and fir needles on the counter, like you would find after someone set down a cooler that had been picked up off the ground. After further inspection I found little muddly foot prints. They were left by that pesky weasle! It must have slipped in through the screen door in the night.
Wayne went fishing with Les Titcomb (Bowdoinham, ME) on the 12th and while the fishing was slow (as it often is this time of year) they had a very enjoyable visit, and boat ride.
On the 15th we adopted a new cat. He is gray and white and goes by the name "Trouble". He belonged to Laurie Jandreau who lives up the road. She had to find a home for him when she learned he was the cause of her allergies. At the same time we were looking for a lodge-cat to put to work keeping the mice population down, only because the weasle is not yet ready to become a permanent resident. "Trouble" is an excellent mouse hunter and is earning his keep. He is very freindly and likes to "help" me at in the office, I blame my "typos" on him.
Walter and Martha Leland returned for their month-long vacation, and Kathy Bednarz (Hopatchong, NJ) and Melissa Smey (Brooklyn, NY) brought family and friends to share the Fish River Lodge experience. The Bednarz family enjoyed the region's ATV trails and the Smey party enjoyed taking day-trips to explore the St. John Valley and look for wildlife. Suddenly it was 23rd of the month and summer for us was truly over! Our first-week bear hunters began arriving! Rod Lebrecque and Mary arrived first on Saturday. We took advantage of a gorgeous evening and sat by the fire with Rod and Mary and friends Dave Kelso and Linda Engelhardt. We had a cook out and watched the constant parade of boats until senset. We realized it was the first good weekend we'd had in over a month! While sitting around the fire, out of the darkness we heard a series of moose calls, we called back, and it called back, and we called back, and the calling continued...for a good 10-15 minutes! We couldn't imagine who was out on the lake at that hour making moose calls. A boat emerged at the edge of our fire light...it was Ron and Margaret Soucie, Mike and Geneva Michaud, Rocky, Peggy, and Jessica Bard! They'd been out on the lake, saw our fire, and decided to have some fun with us!
As the fire burned down and we all drifted off to bed Wayne and I couldn't help but reflect on the summer that had slipped by so quickly. It seemed like just last week we were celebrating the 4th of July and yet tomorrow our bear hunters will all be in camp and we will begin our fall season.
Labels: August 2008
posted by Unknown | 6:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home