Christmas Traditions: old & new
December marks the start of our “down time”. I worked at the print shop on the 1st while Wayne used his day “off” to shut down the last of our open cabins. It involved turning off water and draining lines, gathering up laundry, and cleaning so the cabins would be ready to reopen when needed.
We set up our Christmas tree on the 2nd; and strung 500 tiny white lights among its branches. Selecting ornaments of white and “gold” from our large collection, the 7 foot tree offered a warm glow in the dining room once we finished decorating it. I used the remaining ornaments to decorate garlands over each of our dining and living room windows. Each window had a unique theme based on the ornaments used…”Sweet Treats” (Nana’s handmade ornaments collected over the years), “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (a collection of hand carved and hand crafted Santa ornaments), “Woodland Critters” (loons, bears, moose ornaments), Fishing (hand carved fish, fly boxes, and bobbers), “Relaxing by the Woodstove” (a collection of miniature book ornaments), etc. I added a few colorful glass balls to create a festive and shiny look to the garlands. Adding white lights and strings of red and gold wooden beads to the garlands around the dining room entry ways, red pillar candles on end and coffee tables, red table cloths, gold paper mache reindeer with white and gold ribbon around their necks set on the dining room tables and the old log lodge looked very festive and ready to open for our Christmas dinner parties!
We set up our Christmas tree on the 2nd; and strung 500 tiny white lights among its branches. Selecting ornaments of white and “gold” from our large collection, the 7 foot tree offered a warm glow in the dining room once we finished decorating it. I used the remaining ornaments to decorate garlands over each of our dining and living room windows. Each window had a unique theme based on the ornaments used…”Sweet Treats” (Nana’s handmade ornaments collected over the years), “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (a collection of hand carved and hand crafted Santa ornaments), “Woodland Critters” (loons, bears, moose ornaments), Fishing (hand carved fish, fly boxes, and bobbers), “Relaxing by the Woodstove” (a collection of miniature book ornaments), etc. I added a few colorful glass balls to create a festive and shiny look to the garlands. Adding white lights and strings of red and gold wooden beads to the garlands around the dining room entry ways, red pillar candles on end and coffee tables, red table cloths, gold paper mache reindeer with white and gold ribbon around their necks set on the dining room tables and the old log lodge looked very festive and ready to open for our Christmas dinner parties!
We'd gotten so caught up in trapping season that muzzle loader season for deer passed right by. Wayne never got that elusive buck still running the ridges in Pennington.
We hosted Christmas dinner parties for Ricky Saucier and his staff (and celebrated Ricky's birthday too!), Dr. Daigle and staff, Chopper One (Ray Blair) and his logging crew, and the Roy family. Our guests love Wayne’s cooking (rosemary roast pork loin, sirloin steaks on the grill with his "secret" rub, Aroostook herb roasted potatoes, maple glazed carrots and my famous apple crisp are favoites) and the rustic holiday atmosphere of our log lodge. They linger long after dessert has been served and share the spirit of Christmas.
We hosted Christmas dinner parties for Ricky Saucier and his staff (and celebrated Ricky's birthday too!), Dr. Daigle and staff, Chopper One (Ray Blair) and his logging crew, and the Roy family. Our guests love Wayne’s cooking (rosemary roast pork loin, sirloin steaks on the grill with his "secret" rub, Aroostook herb roasted potatoes, maple glazed carrots and my famous apple crisp are favoites) and the rustic holiday atmosphere of our log lodge. They linger long after dessert has been served and share the spirit of Christmas.
We learned a new "game" during the Chopper One party. If ever asked to play this game, beware…Ray “initiates” rookie members of his logging crew by inviting them to participate in an age-old wood cutter’s tradition. It is based on a competition among loggers where they attempt to chop a log in the exact same spot with each swing of the ax. Since they are professionals, and to make the competition more of a challenge, competitors are blindfolded, asked to remove their shoes and socks to compete as the natives would, and kneel on a pillow. Once the blindfold is in place and as the competitor is assisted with lining up his ax, his socks are placed across the log (unbeknownst to the chopper). He is instructed to make his first chop – which of course falls across his socks! He is encouraged to make the second chop as close to the first as he can, and again the sock is chopped! This goes on for several chops, and his socks become shredded! His skills with an ax are praised and onlookers cheer at his remarkable expertise. His socks are removed from the log and returned to their resting place with his shoes before the blindfold is removed, then he is told he can put his shoes back on. Of course, he reaches for his socks first and discovers they are chopped to bits as the onlookers roar with laughter! We watched Ray conduct this initiation competition after Christmas dinner and I’ll have to say, his rookie was a very good sport, even after exclaiming, “Hey, those are my best socks!” as he inspected what he’d done with the ax!
We continued trapping fisher and pine marten through December. Our catches increased as snow piled up and temperatures dropped. I caught my first fisher on the 5th in a trap I set myself. Many of our other catches were from traps I’d set with Sandy. There was a sense of deep satisfaction in checking traps I’d set myself and finding a fisher or marten. When we’re not serving dinners, we use the lodge as our “trapper camp” for skinning. We share the evenings with Jerry and Sandy skinning, stretching, and drying our marten and fisher.
I celebrated my birthday on the 13th. Sandy and I struck off to check our traps that morning. We’d gotten about a foot of snow during the week so the woods roads were tough to drive over. The snow had compacted from driving over it the previous day and cold temperatures overnight hardened the edges of our tire tracks. Each time my tires would “bump” against the edges of the track it would grab the truck and pull it left and right making it tricky to negotiate hills and turns. We pulled two traps on a branch road and rather than drive further in to turn around, I decided to back out the 300 yards to the main haul road over our existing tracks. Backing out was going extremely well, until we were about 75 yards from the main haul road. All at once the truck pulled to the left, out of our existing track and toward the high shoulder of the road. Hoping the 4-wheel drive and increased speed would provide the momentum needed to drive the truck back toward the middle of the road I continued backing up…until the left front tire got too close to the shoulder. All at once the front end of the truck slipped right off the edge and we stopped perfectly perpendicular to the road, facing down a 45 degree, five foot embankment! I took a deep breath, summoned all my strength just to open the door at that crazy angle, and climbed out to inspect the “damage”. It appeared, miraculously, that the truck was sitting on all four wheels and not resting on its frame and that no rocks or logs had broken anything. There was hope of getting it out. With a vehicle in that predicament, there was only ONE person I could think of who might possibly get us out without calling in the heavy equipment…Ron Toussaint (whose truck fell in Eagle Lake while he was plowing three years ago – Ron recovered his truck using a self-designed system and no one got wet!) Sandy had a cell phone and we got service (which is unusual in most places we travel in the back country!) We tracked down Ron and his son Travis at church. They agreed to get Travis’ truck and a chain, and head in. Their ETA, sometime after 2 p.m. It was 11 a.m. by then. Rather than waste time, Sandy and I hiked down the road, pulled a few other traps, hiked back to the truck, gathered fire wood, and built a fire well away from the long shadows cast by the trees so we could enjoy a little of the sun's warmth along with the heat from our fire It was a very quiet and relaxing couple of hours – just what I needed after so many hectic months! We enjoyed the little fire’s warmth under a darkening sky while savoring our cold sandwiches.
Trav and Ron arrived around 2:30. Ron stepped out of Travis’ truck in to my tire tracks that were etched in to a foot of snow wearing his Sunday church shoes and black leather jacket! He assessed the situation and declared it was unlikely they could pull my truck up such a severe angle to get it back on the road. He suggested a skidder, or bulldozer… My heart sank. But being one to never give up without a fight, Ron instructed Travis on how to pack out the road, angle his truck, and attach the chain. They would at least “try”. It was soon apparent that pulling the truck up the embankment was not an option. Rather, they hooked on to my front end to pull the truck DOWN to the bottom of the embankment and parallel to the road before trying to pull it out. I got in, put the truck in 4-low, and buckled up for a rough ride! For all I knew the truck would end up on its side! I had already told Ron and Trav they would not be held liable for any damage! Trav repositioned his truck, attached the chain to my front tow hooks and started hammering. Ron coordinated our efforts and with all of us working together Trav pulled my truck in to position. Ron re-rigged the chain and Trav changed the pull angle. Trav’s truck banged and lurched forward, my truck shuddered and dug. We lurched forward, inches at a time, but it wasn’t looking good. We had one last chance before the shoulder angle and stumps and rocks would prevent our progress. Trav gave it all he had and so did I – his old Ford pulling my old Chevy – both in 4-low, and suddenly my truck made a big lurch forward. We both held our feet to the floor and our trucks dug and churned forward.... One last lurch and I don’t know how exactly, but Trav and Ron had pulled my truck back up on to the road AND both trucks were still drivable! As darkness set in, Sandy and I pulled a few more traps off that haul road – we were done in there and headed home, thanks to Ron and Trav!
We met Jerry and Wayne at the lodge. Wayne made a nice dinner for all of us and Sandy gave me a pretty pink birthday cake. We spent the rest of the evening skinning and stretching marten and fisher in between me taking birthday calls – thank you all who called and made my birthday special!
Below zero temps mid-month allowed the lake to “make ice” as slushy spots started to freeze. Although we doubted whether or not the ice will be safe enough on January 1, to start putting ice shacks out.
The weekend of the 22nd we continued pulling traps. Both Wayne and I worked on the 24th. Before leaving work I made all my trapping partners their Christmas gift - a collage of trapping photos I’d taken and mounted on foam core. I met Wayne, Jerry and Sandy at the lodge and we exchanged gifts. Sandy made us a beautiful quilt for our bed. Tyler Gagnon joined us in the evening as we feasted on fresh Maine shrimp, drank, and had a merry Christmas eve!
Christmas day Wayne worked but the rest of us checked and pulled more traps. Two storms left us with about 2 feet of light, fluffy,snow on top of the 18” already on the ground. Going was slow on our snowmobiles, breaking trail all the way. We spent more time digging our sleds out of the “fluff” than we did checking and pulling traps. We pulled everything except those along the soon-to-be-groomed snowmobile trail. Back at the lodge in the evening we called our families to wish then all a Merry Christmas. Wayne gave me two new ice fishing traps, Ed and Julie sent an assortment of gifts from Minnesota (conservation booklets, framed loon photo, and framed otter photo, fleece ear flaps to be worn with a ball cap – clever!) Mom and dad sent us warm socks, gloves, a candle and $. We enjoyed the peace of the lodge when only Wayne and I are at home, cozied up by the fire.
Jerry and Sandy continued pulling traps while we were at work and had them all out of the woods by the 30th. We’d had a good season – 50 marten, 8 fisher, and 28 beaver (plus a muskrat, about a dozen weasels, and a couple of raccoons).
With the butt end of 2009 in our sights, we invited over Steve, Shondelle, Chris and Alli Daigle, and Jessie and Heather Jandreau to celebrate with us, and to thank them for chipping in to buy us a cord of firewood to go with the other four cords we’ll have delivered next week. I stopped at Paradis on the way home to pick up some snacks and Heather brought snacks and a birthday cake for Shon. We ate and ate, and drank, and played cards all the way to 2010! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And as 2009 came to a close, Wayne and I reflected on the memories we made with our family, many friends (new and old), and our guests. May 2010 be a year of good health, peace, and prosperity!
We continued trapping fisher and pine marten through December. Our catches increased as snow piled up and temperatures dropped. I caught my first fisher on the 5th in a trap I set myself. Many of our other catches were from traps I’d set with Sandy. There was a sense of deep satisfaction in checking traps I’d set myself and finding a fisher or marten. When we’re not serving dinners, we use the lodge as our “trapper camp” for skinning. We share the evenings with Jerry and Sandy skinning, stretching, and drying our marten and fisher.
I celebrated my birthday on the 13th. Sandy and I struck off to check our traps that morning. We’d gotten about a foot of snow during the week so the woods roads were tough to drive over. The snow had compacted from driving over it the previous day and cold temperatures overnight hardened the edges of our tire tracks. Each time my tires would “bump” against the edges of the track it would grab the truck and pull it left and right making it tricky to negotiate hills and turns. We pulled two traps on a branch road and rather than drive further in to turn around, I decided to back out the 300 yards to the main haul road over our existing tracks. Backing out was going extremely well, until we were about 75 yards from the main haul road. All at once the truck pulled to the left, out of our existing track and toward the high shoulder of the road. Hoping the 4-wheel drive and increased speed would provide the momentum needed to drive the truck back toward the middle of the road I continued backing up…until the left front tire got too close to the shoulder. All at once the front end of the truck slipped right off the edge and we stopped perfectly perpendicular to the road, facing down a 45 degree, five foot embankment! I took a deep breath, summoned all my strength just to open the door at that crazy angle, and climbed out to inspect the “damage”. It appeared, miraculously, that the truck was sitting on all four wheels and not resting on its frame and that no rocks or logs had broken anything. There was hope of getting it out. With a vehicle in that predicament, there was only ONE person I could think of who might possibly get us out without calling in the heavy equipment…Ron Toussaint (whose truck fell in Eagle Lake while he was plowing three years ago – Ron recovered his truck using a self-designed system and no one got wet!) Sandy had a cell phone and we got service (which is unusual in most places we travel in the back country!) We tracked down Ron and his son Travis at church. They agreed to get Travis’ truck and a chain, and head in. Their ETA, sometime after 2 p.m. It was 11 a.m. by then. Rather than waste time, Sandy and I hiked down the road, pulled a few other traps, hiked back to the truck, gathered fire wood, and built a fire well away from the long shadows cast by the trees so we could enjoy a little of the sun's warmth along with the heat from our fire It was a very quiet and relaxing couple of hours – just what I needed after so many hectic months! We enjoyed the little fire’s warmth under a darkening sky while savoring our cold sandwiches.
Trav and Ron arrived around 2:30. Ron stepped out of Travis’ truck in to my tire tracks that were etched in to a foot of snow wearing his Sunday church shoes and black leather jacket! He assessed the situation and declared it was unlikely they could pull my truck up such a severe angle to get it back on the road. He suggested a skidder, or bulldozer… My heart sank. But being one to never give up without a fight, Ron instructed Travis on how to pack out the road, angle his truck, and attach the chain. They would at least “try”. It was soon apparent that pulling the truck up the embankment was not an option. Rather, they hooked on to my front end to pull the truck DOWN to the bottom of the embankment and parallel to the road before trying to pull it out. I got in, put the truck in 4-low, and buckled up for a rough ride! For all I knew the truck would end up on its side! I had already told Ron and Trav they would not be held liable for any damage! Trav repositioned his truck, attached the chain to my front tow hooks and started hammering. Ron coordinated our efforts and with all of us working together Trav pulled my truck in to position. Ron re-rigged the chain and Trav changed the pull angle. Trav’s truck banged and lurched forward, my truck shuddered and dug. We lurched forward, inches at a time, but it wasn’t looking good. We had one last chance before the shoulder angle and stumps and rocks would prevent our progress. Trav gave it all he had and so did I – his old Ford pulling my old Chevy – both in 4-low, and suddenly my truck made a big lurch forward. We both held our feet to the floor and our trucks dug and churned forward.... One last lurch and I don’t know how exactly, but Trav and Ron had pulled my truck back up on to the road AND both trucks were still drivable! As darkness set in, Sandy and I pulled a few more traps off that haul road – we were done in there and headed home, thanks to Ron and Trav!
We met Jerry and Wayne at the lodge. Wayne made a nice dinner for all of us and Sandy gave me a pretty pink birthday cake. We spent the rest of the evening skinning and stretching marten and fisher in between me taking birthday calls – thank you all who called and made my birthday special!
Below zero temps mid-month allowed the lake to “make ice” as slushy spots started to freeze. Although we doubted whether or not the ice will be safe enough on January 1, to start putting ice shacks out.
The weekend of the 22nd we continued pulling traps. Both Wayne and I worked on the 24th. Before leaving work I made all my trapping partners their Christmas gift - a collage of trapping photos I’d taken and mounted on foam core. I met Wayne, Jerry and Sandy at the lodge and we exchanged gifts. Sandy made us a beautiful quilt for our bed. Tyler Gagnon joined us in the evening as we feasted on fresh Maine shrimp, drank, and had a merry Christmas eve!
Christmas day Wayne worked but the rest of us checked and pulled more traps. Two storms left us with about 2 feet of light, fluffy,snow on top of the 18” already on the ground. Going was slow on our snowmobiles, breaking trail all the way. We spent more time digging our sleds out of the “fluff” than we did checking and pulling traps. We pulled everything except those along the soon-to-be-groomed snowmobile trail. Back at the lodge in the evening we called our families to wish then all a Merry Christmas. Wayne gave me two new ice fishing traps, Ed and Julie sent an assortment of gifts from Minnesota (conservation booklets, framed loon photo, and framed otter photo, fleece ear flaps to be worn with a ball cap – clever!) Mom and dad sent us warm socks, gloves, a candle and $. We enjoyed the peace of the lodge when only Wayne and I are at home, cozied up by the fire.
Jerry and Sandy continued pulling traps while we were at work and had them all out of the woods by the 30th. We’d had a good season – 50 marten, 8 fisher, and 28 beaver (plus a muskrat, about a dozen weasels, and a couple of raccoons).
With the butt end of 2009 in our sights, we invited over Steve, Shondelle, Chris and Alli Daigle, and Jessie and Heather Jandreau to celebrate with us, and to thank them for chipping in to buy us a cord of firewood to go with the other four cords we’ll have delivered next week. I stopped at Paradis on the way home to pick up some snacks and Heather brought snacks and a birthday cake for Shon. We ate and ate, and drank, and played cards all the way to 2010! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And as 2009 came to a close, Wayne and I reflected on the memories we made with our family, many friends (new and old), and our guests. May 2010 be a year of good health, peace, and prosperity!
Labels: December 2009
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