Oh my, what a fun filled, exciting, relaxing, enjoyable ten days I just had with my brother Rick from Oakwood, GA and my sister Nicki (Nicolette), from Casselberry, Florida. Rick has been up to stay with us two times before, but this was Nicki's first time. She and I grew up surfing together on the beaches of Florida and she lives on a small lake, so I knew that even though she had never been fishing before, she would enjoy the water activities we have to offer here.
I went to Thunder Bay to pick them up at the airport and decided to stop at Kakabeka Falls on the way back since the water was high this year and figured it would be thundering over the falls. There are some new facilities at the attraction now making it very welcoming. We were all overwhelmed by what we saw and took lots of pictures.
Rick was chomping at the bit to get back to our place since his visit last year when he took his son down river with a canoe and caught probably 50 Pike just casting along the edges. It was a memorable time for him and the other four family members who came with him.
Since it was just Rick, Nicki, Joanna and myself this time, we took a boat and trailered to several different lakes to give them a better taste of the beautiful area in which we live. For our first fishing day, we went to Barrel Lake. Joanna caught a good sized Walleye and was holding it up for Rick to take her picture when all of a sudden it wiggled out of her hands and fell to the bottom of the boat.... right beside Nicki who was seated in a lawn chair. She let out a shriek, jerking up her feet and arms to get away from the flopping fish. It was one of those moments you wish you could have captured on video. I thought she was going to flip out of the boat. She's just not used to being around stinky, wiggly fish. But she ended up catching most of the fish during their stay and even learned how to put on her own worms. I was amazed when I went to clean the fish that Nicki wanted to learn how to do that too. I KNEW she was a pioneer woman at heart.
Our days were full of all kinds of activities like four wheeling down logging roads, picking blueberries, floating in tubes down the Lazy River ( the winding, sandy-bottomed river going into Mamieguess Lake), tubing the rapids under the bridge, bonfire with smores and lots of fishing. Nicki said she wanted to have lots of Walleye meals since she probably wouldn't eat it again till her next visit.
On their last evening here, Rick took Nicki out on Indian Lake to one of our favorite fishing spots which we call the Barrel. It's the end of the sandbar that juts out from the peninsula between upper and middle Indian Lake. The sun was setting in the west, the moon was rising from the east mirroring itself in the glassy calm water. They were the only ones out there. She said she had never known such stillness. It was perfectly quiet except for the occasional call of the lonely loon or caw of a seagull. What a balm for the soul!!
I'm so thankful for these special family times when we can reconnect and enjoy God's beauty together.
No comments:
Post a Comment