Life in the fast lane

Marcus jumped over a log one too many times while we were out and about this past weekend and decided to take a selfie of his scratches to send to his mom.

 

By Allan Olson

Life in the fast lane… surely makes you lose your mind, as the song says.

That’s pretty much the way last week was for us. I think every day and/or night was filled with things I had or hadn’t planned, and some of those things included hitting the sidewalk, getting up early, and running more than usual.

The fun started Monday with a full day of things to do; it continued on Tuesday with a trip to Thief River Falls to cheer on the Panthers in the Sub-Section title game. Unfortunately, the home team was stopped short by the Red Lake Warriors, who are headed to state for the fourth consecutive year.

The hectic week continued with surgery for my youngest daughter on Wednesday. Thursday was quieter, but I still had things to do. On Friday, I narrowly managed to avoid injury (other than sore muscles) when the ice and the sidewalk decided to gang up on me. The resulting sudden impact did not feel good. Thankfully, by that time my day was half over so before long I was able to go home and take some pain meds and call it a day. Except, I really only managed to relax for part of the evening – I spent the rest of it on the game console playing bowling.

Finally, we get to the weekend. Saturday was going to be a day of leisure, doing as little as humanly possible. Except it wasn’t. I mean, I tried. My wife had some business to take care of in town, so I tried catching some Zs, because I really felt exhausted. I might have slept a little, but it seems like there was always someone who felt a need to interrupt me, or I would think of something that either I needed to get done or have done, and my brain just went on and on. So no sleep. 

That afternoon, we were back into town again, getting groceries and a gift for a couple birthday girls that are friends with Alivia.

Alivia was invited to a birthday party at the pool, but unfortunately for her, there was no swimming involved. Because of her surgery she didn’t need to get worn out from the physical activity, and so she settled for a little face painting and some hugs with her friends, and then we left. Alivia was understanding about why she couldn’t go swimming and handled it in a very mature manner; it was “…no big deal.”

On Sunday, my wife made a scone buffet for breakfast and I did some cleanup, I sat around trying to do some homework with Abigail until I couldn’t take the madness any longer and decided I had to leave. I was going to make Alivia take a nap, but in the end she begged me to take her along. She packed a lunch with a couple of frozen snacks – her entire meal plan for at least a few more days, and then we and Marcus headed off in search of some wildlife to photograph.

A local reader had informed me on Friday evening about an old abandoned boat landing on the Mississippi River near Lake Winnie because he knew of my interest in trumpeter swans and other wildlife. His directions were pretty good, but I still missed the turn. I came upon some area residents out walking, and after I described the location they pointed me toward where they thought it was. A couple miles back in the direction from which I had come, we found the old forest road. 

I was told that I could drive on it with 4WD, but after getting stuck earlier, I was cautious. Marcus tested the big, formidable-looking puddles in his water boots, and seeing that he didn’t sink boot deep, I decided it was fine to continue. The distance to the river was closer than I anticipated, and I could see a variety waterfowl ahead in the open water, so I parked and told the kids to stay put. I tried sneaking up to get a pic of all the ducks. Unfortunately, I got busted by another group of ducks I didn’t see, and they made all kinds of noise and took off squawking. I still got some photos, but it wasn’t quite what I anticipated. I waved the kids up, and the three of us enjoyed the noise of the waterfowl for a few more moments before heading home because dinner was ready an hour sooner than I had expected.

That evening, Marcus and I went out again in search of more critters, pretty much taking the same path from earlier, and still had no luck. On the way home, as I was crossing the Pennington bridge, I spotted a pair of Trumpeters relaxing by the shoreline. It took a little bit of work, but I was able to get a nice close shot of them – the best I have had all year.

From here on out, every weekend until May, the schedule has something that will keep me busy. It’s a combination of work and personal that will consume either a part of a day or a full weekend, some that includes kids and others that don’t. It’s going to be a busy stretch.

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.