This Is The Time That Tries My Soul

Civilization in northern Minnesota stops at Pequot Lakes. It's forty miles south of our cabin. Maybe that's why I go stir crazy and can only handle being her six weeks maximum. Henry David Thoreau would love it here. He could listen to the Loons call their mates or marvel at their screeching sound when an eagle soars overhead prepping for an attack on their chicks . The wind rushing through the pine trees and the crashing of the waves against the shoreline rocks is the answer to a good nights sleep. Our lake, Ten Mile, because it is spring fed, is one of the clearest in all of Minnesota. It's possible to plumb bob a sinker twenty feet below waters surface and still see it's shape. And guess what? I'm bored. Isn't that a shame?
Lizzie didn't make the trip this time. There will be nine of my high school classmates arriving for four days beginning on Thursday. By then the activity level will have picked up dramatically. I don't really think The Queen would appreciate being around a bunch of old guys burping and passing gas even if it would be unintentional so she was left out of the mix.
It began raining and thundering last night at 10PM. This happens frequently in this state. It's where the colder weather from the north meets the warmer of the south. For the last 19 hours this weather pattern has continued. My dock is 100 ft. from the cabin. There have been times today when it is nonvisible. If this continues I expect to see animals in pairs walking down our gravel road.
I am not one of those people who can entertain himself. It needs to be done for me. Our television picks up one channel and one channel only except for two weather channels. Those I do not need. All I have to do is look out the window. I'd drive five miles into Hackensack but I'm too lazy so my dinner will consist of some pretzels, a Pepsi and a couple of baked potatoes with peas and onions as garnishment. Oh, I forgot to mention the catsup and dijon.
There is the possibility of going north three miles to the Indian casino. That seems like a waste of car fuel because if I wanted to lose money I could go out into the middle of the lake and throw my money in it. I've never been very good at gambling and since I don't know how to play blackjack I sort of figure the odds are stacked against me. I can play video poker with the best of them, though. I'm a lot better at luck than I am at skill. I did try blackjack at a casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan once but was kicked out. It wasn't by the dealer but by the folks at the table. They told me how bad I was and I was screwing up their game. Not a problem. I'd never see them again, anyway.
There are some books in our cabin library. Maybe I should find one to read. Do you remember the Reader's Digest condensed books?They stopped publishing them around the time Eisenhower took office. I might thumb through a couple of those. One of them has a story about a fella named Jonas Salk---when he was a kid.
There's another problem with being this far north and that deals with my computer. Most wifi systems are with AT&T, Verizon or Comcast. My system, especially when it storms, goes out fifteen times daily and I have to reboot. Our provider is called Arvid. I'd never heard of Arvid before we settled here. To me, Arvid is the first name of a farmer in LeMars, Iowa.
You can probably tell I'm stretching the time, waiting for a rerun of NCIS. That's what a person does on a rainy day at Ten Mile Lake.