Another weekend outdoors


Another weekend outdoors
Alivia focused intently on
getting the screw into the
board by herself, proving
that she really didn’t need
dad’s help with the deer
stand repair.
By Allan Olson

Just when a person thinks they have their plans for the week figured out, something else comes up and your plans change.
This last weekend I had plans to stay near home and do some geocaching and other work that needed to be done around the house – instead we found out that our nieces confirmation was on Sunday – and not Nov. 1 like we were originally informed. After some discussion with my wife we decided that we would go up for the day and then back home, then I found out my brothers hunting plans for the weekend had changed also and he was going to be at my folks working on deer stands, so once again we changed plans and decided to scrap my other Saturday plans and head north in the morning.
So that’s what we did, we hit the road on Saturday morning about 30 minutes later than I intended but still a good time. We stopped in Baudette and my wife met her brother and mom and went to help them with a project while the kids and I headed to my folks to work on deer stands. Once we got there I contacted my brother and he said, they were almost done fixing one stand and would be heading to another one shortly. We waited around the yard for a little while before I decided that we would just head out to the next stand in line. The kids and I did some initial inspection before we the rest of the crew caught up with and we determined that this stand primarily just needed a little support and some brush clearing.
My dad held the support board up while I tried to help Alivia with drilling in a screw – she didn’t really need my help as she grasped the drill in one hand and held the screw with the other and started drilling. She successfully sunk the screw into the board and together we did the rest of them. While in the stand I also directed the clearing of some brush and a few pesky trees that have gotten in the way of a good line of fire. Soon it was nearing lunch time and some of the crew headed up to the house for meal preparation while Alivia and I stayed back and I used the chain saw to clear more brush and the ranger to flatten some before we headed to the house.
After lunch it was time to do a little shooting – Nikolai had his brand new rifle and a very nice donated scope to sight in for the first time and the rest of us needed to check to make sure our rifles were ready to throw down some lead at the big buck that we hope will stand in our sights in a couple weeks. It took a little longer than I thought to get everyone done and the clock was ticking fast and daylight fading even faster and since Nikolai and I were done sighting I started hooking the trailer up for the next destination.
A stand that we dubbed 4-Deer stand because my dad and brother shot four deer out of it in one season had succumbed to its years and crumbled since the last season and according to my brother this stand was priority over the other one we needed to fix.  We got to the location and then after some scouting determined that the spot the original stand was in was about the best location so my dad and youngest brother went in search of some long mostly straight tamarack trees to serve as the post and we set to work salvaging some other wood and digging holes.
The kids helped with some of that work and then went in search of their own fun – Nikolai and my niece Saren decided to build a “bridge” in a swamp and even though I asked Abigail to not go over there because I knew what the outcome would be she decided she was bored of helping us and decided that helping her brother and cousin would be more fun.  So of course Abigail being herself managed to fall in a hole and get wet head to toe. Thankfully it wasn’t really cold out so I didn’t need to run her back to my parents, I just provided her with some alternate warm clothing and she stayed in the vehicle for the next 45 minutes until we finished.
On Sunday – we attended the confirmation service of our niece Angela – went back to my wife’s mom’s place after church enjoyed lunch and then made our way home. Once we got home – my wife headed to town for groceries and the kids and I started some cleaning.
My plans for this weekend – include geocaching, my “find” stats are behind from last years and with winter coming I don’t foresee anyway of catching up – unless I can convince the family to hit the trail. My wife however sees other plans in the weekend forecast – cleaning for an upcoming birthday party and Thanksgiving and some other work – so hopefully we can find a mutual satisfying compromise – one that involves geocaching.
Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.


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