Life On The Lake on July 1

It's a gorgeous July 1 at the lake and I'm enjoying it. Twenty years ago when I was sort of a young man I saw my neighbor sitting outside on a recliner looking at the lake. He had a magazine on his lap and every so often closed his eyes and took a short nap.

It was then that the thought hit me, "Why would a person drive X miles to do nothing"?. He could have been in a kayak, boating, fishing; a myriad of other things rather than sitting. After all these years I've figured him out. He was relaxing!

At the age of 73 I've learned, I think, how to relax. Oh, I could walk to our boat at the end of the dock. I could go golfing. I could even play a game of solitaire if I desired. The problem is, and I've recently learned this, in doing so one is required to exert themselves. It's much easier sitting in a lawn chair, the lake breeze hitting your face coming out of the west and closing ones eyes for what's called a cat nap than it is getting in the car and driving, or boating or playing solitaire.

It is now three days prior to the 4th and the cabins are beginning to fill for the week. We've been blessed with wonderful neighbors except for one who has, count 'em, six dachshunds. These neighbors are fabulous. Their dogs not so much. Our pooch won't go near they're yard. Would you if you knew you'd get your ankles bit constantly? Four years ago these same people had a dachshund that drove it's fangs into my leg. It was bitter sweet for me in that they put the dog down. Well, not so much bitter.

It's normal in northern Minnesota for animals, other than the deer, to stay in the deep woods. This spring as it was all across the U.S. there have been massive rain storms. This causes me to wonder why the bears have been roaming our back yard. How do I know there are bears? Because our neighbor on the south side of us saw one mid-afternoon. Hey, if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone-------unless they're really, really hungry. The animals I hate most are porcupines and one is nesting a quarter mile down the road. Those critters climb our large pine trees, eat sap from the top, then the pine tree dies and I'm stuck with a $600 bill to have the tree(s) cut down and hauled away. I went online to see how to safeguard against this problem. I'd have to purchase a 3 foot high fence border around the tree at a cost of $100 a tree. One of the guys at Swanson's Bait Shop in Hackensack had a better idea. He told me to shoot 'em. I told him I didn't think my bb gun would do the job.

This blog piece has sort of tired me out. I do believe I'll take a nap.