Time Flies as We Wait for Snow to Melt - April 28, 2008

Where has the month gone? Our Minnesota friend, Ed "Seagull" Dallas, is looking for more news from Fish River Lodge...

April 3rd we "retired" the old dog truck I used to haul my dog team a few years ago. The long story is: I was headed to Caribou to attend an Aroostook County Tourism Board meeting and discovered my "new" truck had a flat tire soon after leaving the lodge. I backed home to retrieve the "dog truck" (a.k.a. "plow truck") and struck off again for Caribou. In New Sweden I was stopped by trooper Espling (I thought for speeding, he tells me my inspection sticker had expired) and then said, "Did you know your truck is overheating?" I glanced across the hood to see steam billowing and the temp guage maxed out! He kindly offered to meet me at Northland Variety so I could safely park the truck and then deliver me to my meeting in Caribou. After the meeting I announced I needed a ride north. Allain Ouellette of Fort Kent came to my rescue and delivered me to my truck and offered to follow me home. The truck overheated again in New Canada so Allain came to my rescue again and delivered me at my next stop...Paper Signs, Ink so I could pick up the World's Largest Snow Plow Parade posters. I called Wayne and he picked me up there; we returned to the truck (which had cooled off) and limped it back to Eagle Lake so Ricky Saucier could inspect it and fix the overheating problem. We learned that the cab mounts and frame were too rusted and too costly to fix. We will now use the truck on the property only.

April 4-6: Presque Isle Sportsman Show weekend. Alli and Grace met us at the top of the driveway with faces full of porcupine quills on the 4th, as we returned from putting up parade posters and before setting up our show booth in Presque Isle. I pulled the quills as quickly as possible and we struck off. Drizzly weekend, "snow eating" fog, good show attendance. Saw deer in Portage and a dozen or so robins! We enjoyed the annual "social" in Lila and Carroll Ware's suite after the show on Saturday. Carroll made a touching toast in memory of Maine's legendary Wiggy Robinson.

4/7-11: Wayne installed new dining room light fixtures; I returned lots of calls and emails, and sent out guide school confirmation letters. We're cleaning out the freezer (which means we're eating lots of moose meat!) We unpacked and stored our show gear for another season. Robins have arrived in Eagle Lake, and sun streams through the living room window in to the lodge - in the winter the sun never clears the hill so we only receive indirect light. Still about 3' of snow on the ground, but it is melting...Wayne chipped the ice dams off the roof, for the last time we hope. My dear friend, Linda Engelhardt, returned from Texas and is staying in cabin 2 until she finds a place to settle down.

4/12: Wayne and I drove down to Brewer for the annual Maine Professional Guides banquet. It was snowing when we left; we had a "white knuckle" ride to Ashland before snow changed to sleet and rain. We had a chance to visit with many friends in the industry at the banquet and were treated to a key note address by Doug Painter of the National Shooting Sports Federation. His message in a nutshell: kids who hunt and fish become adults who hunt and fish - they are our legacy so get them out hunting and fishing! I was presented a Marlin .45-.70 guide model gun for selling $1500 worth of raffle tickets. It is a beautiful lever-action with the MPGA logo and "2007" engraved on the stock. I will proudly display it at the lodge and someday present it to my grandaughter, Acadia.

4/13-18: Filed state's quarterly lodging and meal taxes. Revenue down 40% this winter - OUCH! Gas prices and snow throughout New England really hurt our winter business. More "spring cleaning" in the lodge and cabins. Wayne stacked "lost" wood that has surfaced as snow continues melting. Stored winter stuff that accumulated on lodge deck...ice auger, pack baskets, ice fishing traps, snow scoops and shovels, snow blower, snowmobile oil, etc. Time to remove the plastic from windows and wash away grime. Wayne plowed back the snow banks to open up the driveway now that the snow has softened. Spent a few afternoons on the deck in shirt sleeves as temps climbed in to the 60s! Song birds feeding on the mountains of seeds under the feeders. We have juncos, red-breasted nuthatches, chickadees, red winged black birds, starlings, grackles, blue jays, mouring doves and house finches. We hosted a very nice dinner party for Dr. Karen Roberts, arranged by Kate Mulrenen, on Friday. Guests enjoyed a liesurely dinner that lasted until 10:00 p.m. Dave and Linda helped us out with serving and doing dishes.

4/19: The World's Largest Snow Plow Parade!!! Started shuttling 150 balloons from Paradis' (Hannaford) to the court house on Market Street. Entrants arrived as early as 11:00 a.m.! They kept streaming in as Darlene Kelly-Dumond and I watched in amazement. We had NO idea what to expect. We could have a dozen entries, or none, or many more. We had 85 entries ready to parade at 2:00 p.m. There were graders, plow trucks of all sizes, snow blowers (both large commercial trucks and the kind you push - one by a guy wearing snow shoes!) We had a Harley Davidson motorcycle with a plow, a peddle-bike with a plow, "Brotherly Society of Beer Swigging, Big Snow Bank Shovelers" from Sly Brook (snow shovel drill team!), kids driving their battery operated "Jeeps" with plows, and trucks full of snow and decorated for the occasion. Ron, Travis, and Casey Toussaint (Eagle Lake) brought three plows - Ron's father's truck (which sank in Eagle Lake while plowing in 1969), Ron's truck (which sank in the lake in 2007), and Ron's restored Oliver tractor. We even had a "Plow Queen" (Kim Paradis of Fort Kent). The Sly Brook Shovelers and Quigley's "Fun by the Ton" took top honors. Darlene and I lead the parade - she dressed as a trapper, me dressed as a porcupine. The significance of our costumes is known only to the Acadians - I hope to learn what it is! Wayne and Tony Dube ("The Burger Boys") served burgers and hot dogs at the end of the parade route where spectators were able to view many of the entries. We were overwhelmed with the success of the parade, the joy and smiles shared along the parade route, and the spirit of the people of the St. John Valley who came together on a gray April day to celebrate winter! Thank you one-and-all who made the parade a success. We WILL do it again next year!

4/20-27: More spring clean up. We're able to rake the spots of bare ground that grow bigger every day. There's still about 1 1/2 feet of snow in the woods. The lake is very slushy and on 4/22 we could see open water at the mouth of the river. Kaitlyn and her friend Brittany were up for a visit this week. Wayne finished spring-cleaning the cabins in preparation for our guide school which begins 4/30. Tony Dube plowed away the snow in front of the cabins so the ground can start to dry out (wishful thinking?) I received a copy of "In the Shadow of the Eagle" from my friend Donna Loring. It is her account, in journal form, of her experiences serving as Penobscot Nation Representative during the 119-121 legislative sessions. I hightly recommend this excellent look at Tribal issues and Maine Tribal relations. We've enjoyed mild temps for the past two weeks. Wayne and I drove to Allagash and on to Dickey to see the remnants of last weekend's ice jams. I bought two beautifully handcrafted log chairs from Armand Scott of St. Francis. They have become a welcome addition to our "library" seating area in the lodge.

By 4/28 the river was opening up in front of the lodge (thanks to a stiff breeze all day). Ed Dallas has given me a collection of books (The Wisdom of Nature Series) written and illustrated by Douglas Wood. Doug is a naturalist and wilderness guide who has written a collection of inspirational books containing quotes that can mean different things to different people. Some of my favorite quotes: "Accomplish things the way an apple tree accomplishes apples", "save time with forgetting about saving time", and "tie strong knots". Two more of Doug's books arrived today from Ed: How Does Your Garden Grow and The Thing with Feathers.

I continue working part-time for Northern Maine General. It helps us make ends meet. I wish I could spend more time at the lodge helping Wayne. He has certainly carried much of the load himself lately. But we do what we have to. No matter how busy we are trying to keep up with runing the lodge, and no matter how tough times get, we both agree that this lifestyle suits us just fine...we are trying to "accomplish apples"! We will spend the next couple of days preparing for the arrival of our guide school students, and wating for the ice to go out and last of the snow to melt. It truly is spring time in the Valley! Until next time, I leave you with one last Douglas Wood quote, I think it is especailly appropriate for the season..."When the earth wants to smile, it grows a flower."

APRIL FOOLS?

It's spring in The County, and it's SNOWING! April Fools Joke? Nope, just more of the "same old, same old" this morning. The good news is, by mid morning it changed to drizzle, then rain, and our high temp was nearly 40, so spring really is coming to us here in the north. You might think we're all tired of the snow, but no, we are celebrating - we have SHATTERED the old snowfall record of 180" and have now received over 220" of snow this season! To celebrate and officially say good-bye to winter I am working with Darlene Kelly-Dumond (Bee Jay's, and Fort Kent Muskie Derby) to plan The World's Largest Snow Plow Parade. It will feature every kind of snow removal equipment imaginable from as far away as Allagash, Portage, Madawaska, and points in between. The Fort Kent Lions Club is sponsoring a cookout following the parade. Between now and then, who knows what other whacky fun stuff will be planned! The parade will begin at 2:00 p.m. on April 19th, on Market Street in Fort Kent.

So, what does one do to celebrate spring when there's 5' of snow on the ground? Start getting ready for another season! We got a great deal on dining room chairs at Mardens; the price was too good to pass up so we bought 25; they're cushioned with red "pleather" on a black metal frame. I've ordered new tablecloths to compliment the red chairs, green plaid curtains mom made, and "honey toned" logs of the lodge. I painted the bar "barn red". Wayne will be installing new globe light fixtures soon - we'll cover the brass finish with flat black paint to compliment our wrought iron lamps and other metal elements (we've been watching too many home decorating shows!) Finally, we'll replace the bartop with a slab of heavily urethaned wood and remove the old carpet. We hope we can simply sand the floor boards beneath and urethane them for a fresh, new look in the dining room!

We spent all last weekend cleaning the kitchen, from top to bottom! It's an annual event we look forward to...we scrubbed, swept, vacuumed, mopped, weeded out junk, and orgainzed shelves. A winter's-worth of dullness has been washed away. The kitchen is now sparkling clean for us to prepare meals for our spring fishermen...next up...the living room...

Another sign of spring are the various sportsman shows being held throughout New England. We attended the Pine Tree State show in Wilton, ME over Easter weekend. We had a ball visiting with friends and clients from "down state": Northwoods Sporting Journal staff; NAVHDA Sebasticook Chapter members; Arnold Rice and "the boys" from the Phippsburg Sportsmans Club; Dave Paquet (Allagash Sporting Camps); Jim Carter (Munsungan Hunting and Fishing Club); Lila and Carroll Ware (Fins and Furs Adventures); Bill Saiff and his crew members Larry and Dave (Bill Saiff Charters, NY); "Max Trap" family; Russ and Carole Dyer (Ruffed Grouse Society, Bowdoinham, ME); Glen Rodgers and Gerald York (Bailey and Great Islands, ME); Don and Janice McPherson (Mexico, ME); and many more! We were blessed with a booth directly across the aisle from the Phippsburg Sportsmans Club - the guys made perfect moving targets when Wayne returned to our booth with a "blow gun" that shoots marshmallows! Arnold, DUCK! I gave a presentation on hunting bears over bait. We celebrated Larry's "156th" birthday, or something like that. He is often selected (embarressed) by fellow diners when we request waitstaff sing him "happy birthday" - it's an annual event after a day at the show. The weekend of April 5th and 6th we will be exhibiting at the Presque Isle show.

Wayne has shoveled all the snow off all the roofs again in anticipation of rain. Of course this is the 5th or 6th time he's done it this winter! But rain is a sign of spring so he happily completes the chore, hopefully for the last time.

Alli (our German shorthaired pointer) had lost weight over the last few weeks of winter. We were concerned...until we snowshoed up the hill, following her well-worn path, to discover she's been up there chasing rabbits! She's run herself ragged for hours at a time in hot pursuit. We almost missed the fir trees in the meadow; they are burried. All we could see as reminders of their presence were little clusters of buds sticking out of the snow. I'm looking forward to walking up there with Acadia this summer to show her how high the snow was.

Squirrels have exhausted their winter cache and crows are more active now. Daily, we watch a pair of crows carring twigs for a nest. Last week the dogs chased a red squirrel in to the lodge when they spotted it feeding on bird seed! They chased the squirrel across the deck outside just as Wayne opened the door from inside...the squrrel ducked in, between Wayne's legs. He shut the door just in time to close the squirrel in and dogs out. He "hunted" it down in the lodge for 20 minutes...under furniture, behind the TV, up the logs, across the beams...before cornering it in my office (which explains why I came home to find pictures down and papers scattered!)

We're looking forward to hosting another Guide School, beginning April 30. We contract with Lila and Carroll Ware to instruct the course. We provide meals and lodging. Every year we make new friends and watch as another group strive to become Maine Guides and hopefully wear "the patch" with pride.

As I update the journal this evening, the lodge is shrouded in fog. We can't see much beyond the windows and it is much like being in a blizzard. But tonight it is not blinding winter snow obscuring the far shore and Oak Point from view... The days are longer, our snow is wet and heavy now, icicles drip in the mid-day sun...These things all mean "spring" to us, and a dwindling supply of wood...