I'm Back

I would've said I'm back with a vengance, but that's not exactly true. It's been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. The Garretson project house is finished, spit-shined and sold! Never again will I buy a house at auction over the cell phone. It really turned out nicely in the end, but what a lot of work. I learned something about myself though- I'm not a slow carpenter- I'm not a fast carpenter- I'm a half-fast carpenter. (say it fast, you'll get it) But I got the job done and in the end, that's all that matters. It was a fun holiday season, I can't say I'm sorry it's over. After a month of non-stop holiday frivolity, it gets to be a bit much for an old curmudgen like me. AND, I still have outside lights to put away but at least they don't get turned on anymore. AND, the days are getting longer already, which gives me hope that the blisteringly muggy days of summer will return soon.( but as we like to say, it's a wet heat) So, I'm trying to wile away the short days and long nights of winter by engaging in my new winter hobby, ice fishing. Now I never was a fisherman, but I finally relented to go one day last year, just to shut up my friend's relentless nagging. Long story short- I was hooked. (There are few things I enjoy more than a good pun) So last weekend, after a morning of showing property in Sioux Falls, I headed north, to Waubay Lake, to meet my friends for what we hoped would be a weekend of harvesting perch in the comfort of my friends borrowed ice house. Oh yes, no more 4'x6' portable canvas shacks. This was to be the real deal. And I suppose in 1942 when it was built, it was. Let your imagination be your guide- 5 1/2' wide, barely 12' long, 2 bunks, a fold down table, full set of cabinetry obviously robbed from a mobile home that had gone to the happy hunting ground, microwave, coleman propane cook stove and coleman camping lantern that hung swaying from the ceiling, giving the constant impression of being lost at sea in a dinghy, a crank-up antenna attached to a 9" color TV with amazing reception. For your comfort, a ventless propane gas garage heater, meant to heat a 24'x24' garage, not a lawn shed filled with kitchen appliances and fishing equipment and 4 grown men. The heater was complete with thermostat as well- ON and OFF. So the night was spent intermittantly getting up to kick open the door, stagger out into the PITCH BLACKNESS without falling through a fishing hole, to cool off . Then later on, waking up again to realize that frost was forming on your nether regions, you couldn't feel ANY appendage on your body, and stumble through the bodies, amidst much cursing, to re-light the blast furnace. Yes, it was an absolute riot. No, we did not catch any fish.