Autumn is a Beautiful Time of Year

 Coming back from Israel where all the buildings are white stone and the nearby desert is white, the rocks are close to a white color and there aren't a whole lot of trees or water, it brought pleasure to my eyes to be greeted with a feast of colorful deciduous trees alongside the deep green evergreens in our neck of the woods.  Add to that the placid waters of lakes and streams and you have the makings of a soul burst.  Autumn does that to me... stirs something deep in my soul, thanking the Creator for the beauty He gave us to enjoy. 

Fall is also a busy time around camp when all the cabins are empty and we hurry to accomplish renovation projects and other outdoor projects like repairing heavy equipment and vehicles.  John is quite a jack-of-all-trades.  It amazes me all he knows how to do.  Though he doesn't especially like to repair equipment or vehicles, it saves a lot of money, so he dives in to see what he can do.

Joanna and John are also busy training the sled dogs using our two four wheelers.  It's quite a sight to see a string of 18 dogs pulling Joanna on the fourwheeler.   She says they are doing great and love to be out running again.

I always wish autumn could last a bit longer, both to enjoy the beauty and accomplish more projects around camp, but I guess we'd burn ourselves out eventually.  We need winter to come along so we can take a LONG nap.  :)

The Steps Are Done

For all of our guests who have stayed in cabin 8 on the waterfront and been waiting for these steps to be completed, you can now celebrate.

For years John has been planning to make some stairs from cabin 8 directly down the bank to cabin 8 dock for the ease of our guests so they wouldn't have to walk all the way around via cabin 9 and then over to their dock.  It was on the list, but kept getting preempted by other more pressing tasks at hand. 

A few weeks ago the steps became a reality as John purposefully worked for three or four days laying them out and building them.  It's even a nice place now to sit and look out at the lake.  These steps will also be a big help to those who are elderly or have difficulty walking.  And John was happy to be able to cross this job off his to do list.  Now on to the next project!!

Trip to Israel

                                          Street in Old City of Jerusalem
 

                                         Church in Old City of Jerusalem

                                         Singing at Jaffa Gate with other folks from convocation

                                          Outer wall of Old City of Jerusalem last built by the
                                         Ottomans in the 1500's.  This wall was built and torn
                                         down twenty times in history by different people groups.

                                         My friend Colleen from Ignace who went with me to
                                          the prayer convocation.  We are at the conference
                                         place which is a Kibbutz with a large hotel and meeting
                                         center.  It overlooks Jerusalem.

                                          On way to Old City

                                             I.D.F.  Israeli Defense Force man in Old City

                                          Dome of the Rock- Holy site for Muslims. (Gold
                                           dome).  The only remains of the Jewish temple,
                                          the outer western wall, known as the Wailing Wall.

                                         Western Wall.  Jews come here to pray.  

                                          Desert just outside the Jerusalem city limits.  Bedouins
                                          live here and raise sheep or goats.

                                          Date palm trees near Dead Sea

                                          Dead Sea-454 meters below sea level.  Jordan is
                                         across the sea on other side.

                                            Sunset in Nazareth

 

                                          View from my hotel window in Jerusalem on Yom
                                         Kippur, the Jews most holy day of national repentance.
                                         They do not allow any driving on the highways.  Amazing
                                        the way they honor God.

                                         Sea of Galilee

                                          Colleen and I shared a meal of St. Peter's fish at
                                          the Sea of Galilee.  Pretty bony and not very tasty
                                          compared to Walleye.  Guess I'm spoiled.

                                            Beautiful bougainvillea near Sea of Galilee 

                                         View toward Sea of Galilee from Mount of Beautitudes
                                        where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount.

                                         Structure built at Mount of Beautitudes

                                           We went out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee

                                           Boats at Sea of Galilee

                                         View from Mount Carmel where Elijah proved 

                                          Last meeting together in an open air arena on the south
                                         end of the Sea of Galilee.  All the nations are holding torches
                                        signifying the carrying of God's light and salvation to their nation


What an amazing trip I had to Israel!!  I went with my friend Colleen from Ignace for two weeks in September.  The organization we went to be with is called Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations.  They have maintained praise, worship and prayer for Israel and all the nations for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, from their ministry headquarters on the Mount of Olives for at least 27 years.   Every year during the high holy days of celebration for the Jewish New Year, they host a convocation inviting believers in Christ to come as prayer delegates from all the nations of the world, convening in Jerusalem, the City of the Great King.   I'm still processing in my mind and heart all the challenging messages,  divine connections and encounters, new friendships with people from 150 nations, and the touring to the Holy Sites.

 Hearing what God is doing in each of these nations, the persecution taking place, the returning of Jews from all the nations back to their homeland,  all gives a person such an expanded perspective of history past, present and future.  God is faithfully fulfilling His word.  It doesn't matter what nations and rulers and authorities say they are going to do, God is sovereign and He will have His way.  And it all centers around Israel, the epicenter of the world.  The Bible says in Genesis 12:3  that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.  It is so important that our nation supports Israel, so that our nation will also be blessed.  How we must pray for our governmental leaders, that they will honor God, seek His wisdom, and bless His people.  It's the only way our nation will be able to be great again.

We are seeing that everything that can be shaken will be shaken.  There is chaos everywhere you look in the world.  Hopefully, it will cause folks to become broken and humble and seek the one true God, Jesus Christ the Messiah, Savior of the world.  He alone can take what's broken and make it something beautiful.  He loves us like no one else ever could, fulfilling our deepest needs.   May He fill our land with His glory. 

Birthday Fun

It's that time of year again when I turn another year older.  Even though I'm now 64, I still think of myself as being somewhere in the early 30's range in my mind for some strange reason.  However, my body lets me know my age after a hard day's work at camp. 

What a wonderful, relaxing, refreshing birthday I had this year.  It happened to fall on a Sunday which was a good thing because we try to abstain from doing much work on the Lord's day.  It started out being dark and cloudy, but by early afternoon the sun came out and it was downright warm in the low 80's.  

John suggested the three of us go out on the pontoon boat for a little fun.  Joanna brought Scarlette along too for the ride.  After putting up the river to the lake, we headed for the islands and landed at beautiful beach for a potty break. 

Heading out again, I climbed up on a cozy, comfortable seat, laying on my back and gazing at the interesting cloud formations, nearly falling asleep with the warmth of the sun soaking into my body and listening to the soft drone of the motor. 

For supper we barbecued some mouth watering steaks and topped the meal off with pumpkin cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sauce on top.  Decadent,  I know.  But soooo tasty.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Thunder Bay with a friend from Ignace to fly to Israel for a two week prayer conference.  We're both very excited looking forward to this great adventure.  You'll see some pictures from the trip upon my return.

What a Great Time of Year

Frankly, I'm amazed that more people don't come here to fish in August.  It's a wonderful time of year especially for fishing Indian Lake.  In the spring when most folks come, you have to get up very early in the morning before the sun comes up to have the best Walleye fishing since this is a clearer lake than most of the others.  You also have better fishing on Indian in the evening just as the sun is setting over the horizon.  In the spring, that is pretty late. 

However, in August the days are shorter.  You can get your work done all day and then about 6 pm launch the boat and head for your favorite fishing spot, which is just what I did yesterday.

It was a gorgeous evening.  I was the only one on the lake.  There was a bit of chop, but very little wind.  I anchored in my spot which feels like the middle of the lake.  Seagulls are screeching nearby and floating with a large group of migrating loons.  The sun is a bright red ball sinking over the horizon.  Such peace and quiet.  There's nothing like it.  I put on a jighead with a leech and dropped it over the side of the boat and sat and sat and sat.  Not even a bite.  A smallmouth bass leaped out of the water about 20 feet from me.  So I thought maybe I'd try a new lure that my brother from Georgia just sent me.  When he was here a few weeks ago, he had caught about five nice size Smallmouth Bass in this very spot with that particular lure.  I made about ten casts with no luck, so switched back to Walleye fishing with the jighead. 

This happens every time like clockwork.  Just as the sun is setting over the far hills, the Walleye start to bite.  Instantly, I felt a light tug, tug, tug.  I thought, "Wow, these guys are just pecking at it.  I'd better give them a few more seconds to really get hold of it."
Then giving a hard jerk to set the hook, I feel that wonderful weight at the end of my bent over rod and I reel up a nice 17 inch Walleye.  No sooner had I fastened him to the stringer, rebaited my hook and let it down before there was another nibble, nibble, nibble.  Jerk the rod... pull up another nice Walleye.  Another 17 incher.  This is really fun.

My next catch was a 21 inch Walleye that actually bent my little hook.  I threw him back to make some more babies since they are the best producers.  I lost another one that size and had many more bites.  I ended up taking home three good eating size Walleyes.  Not bad for about an hour of fishing!!

The pictures are of Brian and Laura Allick who camp here for about 11 days every August.  Laura's was 26 inches and Brian's 27 inches.  Brian has fished here since he was a kid, so he knows the lake real well.  Soon as they got here they landed these beautiful fish which was pretty exciting to them. 

So come on up and get in on some fun fall fishing. 

A Visit From Little Bro

My brother Rick from near Atlanta, GA came up for a visit recently and did we ever have a grand time!!   He has been here at least three times before and seems to really enjoy coming.  Of course we thoroughly enjoy our time with him because he is so much fun to be with and brings such levity to our household. 

My cousin Mary Lou and her husband Tim from Wildwood, FL accompanied him on this trip as well.  Though I grew up in central Florida, only about an hour away from Mary Lou's family, we didn't see them that often as children and after I married and left home, it was an even more rare occasion to see her.  It wasn't until my Dad's 90th birthday celebration in NC that I felt like I really connected with Mary Lou.  It gave me a desire to be with her and Tim more, so I invited them to come stay with us at camp.

They diligently studied our website to completely understand our environment and what kind of adventure they might experience.    The first day after their arrival we went to Heathwalt Lake and were met with strong winds and high waves.  There were five of us in the boat including Joanna and the 18 foot Jon boat was barely chugging along with a 9.9 hp Mercury.  It was a bit of a trepidatious  trip to the other end of the lake and into Goddin where we were able to find some calm waters out of the wind.  Immediately Rick hooked an aggressive Smallmouth Bass and was hollering to beat the band.  He especially likes to catch Smallmouth and Pike because they put up such a good fight.  In fact, by the end of his stay he had caught so many Smallmouth that his upper torso was aching.  Mary Lou suggested that he might need to lift weights in preparation for his next trip to camp. 

After we had all caught some Pike, Perch and Smallmouth in the calm waters, I wanted to venture over to the other side of the lake where Joanna and I had caught some nice Walleye before.  However, the wind was still howling and it was very difficult to try to control the boat, so eventually we headed back to Heathwalt.  A rain storm was approaching so we hurried to an island and crouched under some large pine trees to evade the worst of the rain.  After the clouds passed through, Rick did a little casting in the nearby weeds and caught a small pike.  In the process of removing the lure, the pike did a little twist and Rick winced in pain as the two treble hooks punctured his hand. 

I had recently purchased a small pair of pliers that were stainless steel and had a good wire cutting blade.  Rick was getting ready to try to jerk the hooks backwards out of his hand, but I quickly stopped him and instructed him to push the hooks through so we could cut off the barbs and easily pull them out.  That worked well and the issue was quickly resolved.  Needless to say, he became much more cautious when removing lures from fish.  It is not fun to get hooked.  Makes you feel kinda sorry for the fish.  We had a good amount of fish on the stringer, so decided to call it a day.

The following morning we headed to Barrel Lake.  It was ladies day as Joanna caught the most fish and Mary Lou caught the smallest and biggest fish.  Of course there was lots of fun and laughter.   Joanna had caught a small fish that when she released it actually ended up dying.  It was floating nearby when an eagle circled above us, then swooped down to pick up the fish.  I've seen that on youtube before, but never in person right in front of us.  At least the fish was not wasted.  We also got to watch a martin swim across the river close to us.  And did you know that squirrels can swim well too?  Tim actually captured a picture of one swimming across the river.  They had hoped to see a moose on their trip, but that did not happen.  Maybe next time.

I believe their most enjoyable fishing was on Indian lake where we mark the point that comes way out into the lake.  The walleye fishing is so good there in the evenings and Rick and Tim had a blast catching Smallmouth with their top water lures.   Mary Lou went ballistic when she landed a 26 inch Walleye.  Plus, the scenery can't be beat.  You're sitting in the middle of the lake with the sun setting in brilliant hues of orange to the west and the moon appearing above you in the east.  The seagulls and loons are singing their songs and the quietness pervades your soul with peace. 

I guess we didn't scare Tim and Mary Lou too much with our high wind adventures because they indicated they'd like to come back again sometime.   That makes us happy because we really had a good time with all of them.