Another Winter Weekend

Another Winter Weekend

By Allan Olson
Winter is taking a reprieve for the moment. The air has warmed up nearly 40 degrees, with the daytime temperatures around 20 above. It’s been nice enough that the kids are no longer complaining about not going outside because of the cold; now they just get their stuff on and head out.
Saturday was a busy day; we got up early and headed to Bagley to make a delivery to a friend. While there, we visited their ponies, but soon found that while the temperature was warmer, the brisk winds had some bite and so we made that visit a short one. 
As long as we were already out and about, I decided (surprise!) it would be an ideal time to find a geocache. I looked for one that appeared easy and winter friendly, and asked my wife to navigate us to the location. Upon arrival, we walked a couple hundred feet, and after a strong nudge in the right direction, Alivia spotted the cache hanging in a tree. We jotted our signature in the log book and set course for home. 
After a few stops in Bemidji, we finally got home around 2 p.m. I decided that it was time to clean up the email files on my computer, and so sat in my chair working on that enormous task and at the same time watched Robin Hood – Men in Tights with the kids.
It took me the entire length of the movie and a little more to remove about 4,000 old emails from my aging computer. I cringe to hit the Delete All option, but after scouring my inbox for some I knew I wanted to keep, I deleted all my sent messages and all my previously deleted files. Now I’m sure I will be looking for something from those files and won’t be able to find it because I deleted it. Such is life.
The kids decided to take advantage of the conditions outside after the wind died down. They called the neighbors to see if they could come play, and they got all bundled up, grabbed their sleds and who knows what else, and headed out to play in the great white outdoors.
My wife made the dough for my caramel rolls that evening, and in the process our 11-year-old mixer decided to give up the ghost and shut down for good. I bought it for my wife’s birthday and it has served us well since, making numerous cakes, cookies, breads, rolls, bars and many, many other goodies for our pleasure and others. I suppose since my wife’s birthday is fast approaching, I had better plan on buying her a new one if I want to continue feasting on all the delicious food that it helps create.
Thankfully, the old mixer waited until this batch of dough was completely mixed before biting the big one, and I was still able to make my rolls (which turned out pretty well). It wasn’t my best batch, but they were still quite tasty.
Sunday, it was a leisurely day for us; we got some work done, but didn’t over-exert ourselves. We enjoyed a nice egg bake for late breakfast, then skipped lunch and had a late supper of fish. Thankfully during my wife’s recent fishing trip they caught enough to send some home for a meal, and Sunday our schedule finally worked out to provide us the time to enjoy it. Mmm, it was good!
Plans for this weekend are still up for discussion, but I might find myself searching for some geocaches on the Cass Lake islands with a few friends, if it comes together. I’ve always wanted some good winter photos from Star Island, so hopefully this will pan out.
Thanks to everyone for reading and as always, please be safe while enjoying your favorite outdoor recreational activity and on the lakes, and remember to take pictures to preserve a lifetime of memories. Remember to drive safely, and watch out for those buses carrying our children. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.


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