A final weekend of summer fun

Cousins Kaylene, Alivia and Abigail helped out with the deer stand repairs.

By Allan Olson

According to the calendar, summer is not over for a few more weeks. However, for those with children in school, Labor Day weekend marks the end of the season for most (for some it’s even earlier). For us, this was our final big weekend of fun – and we extended it a day longer than planned.
We headed north on Saturday morning, intending to return home by dark on Sunday, so we all packed light. Of course, we ended up staying an extra day. 
We left home around 9 a.m. on Saturday,  a couple hours later than originally planned after my wife and I took in a late movie with some friends on Friday evening. It was a fun outing and even though we didn’t get home and in bed until nearly midnight, it was worth it.
Our plan for the weekend was to spend it outside, working on deer stands. My oldest brother suggested that because of the unusually dry conditions in our hunting grounds, which meant we could drive any of our vehicles or ATVs pretty much wherever we wanted and not having to worry about getting anything buried in the low lands. Last deer season, some of our hunting area was so wet, getting even the off-road vehicles in there was nearly impossible, and if our boots had holes in them, we found out quickly.
We got to my parents’ at about noon on Saturday, ate lunch and started getting things ready for the weekend – including the requisite Ranger ride with all my kids. By the time we were done with our ride, my brother and his boys arrived with a truck and trailer full of supplies for the weekend. Our first order of business was to build a new stand, which required some scouting by the two of us to determine the best location for it.
Before long we were hauling supplies out to the woods. He drove his truck and trailer as far as he could, and then the rest was hauled with off-road vehicles and by kids. The kids started the process by using posthole diggers to make the holes for the legs, and then the building began. It took a few hours, but we got a good start on it before we called it a day on Saturday.
Early Sunday morning, my wife and I and our kids went for a drive and visited her father’s grave on his birthday. Then we made a brief visit to her grandfather before returning to work again. By the time we got there, my brother and his kids were already back at the new stand, and we set to work helping again. My youngest brother showed up, too, and so we decided to split forces – his son, Marcus and myself went with him to work on another new stand at another location while the others worked to complete this stand. Eventually we were joined by others and the work on that stand was finally completed about 5:30 p.m. Back at the house, we enjoyed another meal prepared by my mother – and my wife and niece (who had just arrived) tried to convince me to stay another day. So we did.
After supper, we went back to put some finishing touches on the second new stand, and then we all enjoyed a campfire.
Instead of sleeping in at home, I was up before 8 a.m. on Monday, helping my dad and oldest brother with breakfast. After that it was right back to work – it was supposed to be a quick “move,” relocating another stand, but four hours later the stand was in rough shape after the “almost” move and we decided to give up and start over on another day. We all headed back in for lunch.  
After lunch, my dad and younger brother connected the tractor to the brush hog, and the rest of us took off for the corn maze. We didn’t get lost in the corn maze, but it had just finished raining, so we certainly got a little muddy. Still, everyone had fun. We returned to my parents’ one last time for the weekend, ate supper and then we all took off for home after a fun, exhausting weekend in the great outdoors.
We accomplished a lot, but to get all our deer stands back in prime condition we will have to make another trip. At this point it is uncertain when that will be, or even if all of us will be there together, but there is at least one stand that needs to be rebuilt and a few others that could use some work.
It was most definitely a fabulous final summer weekend. All the cousins had a great time playing together, and not a cross word or any “unplanned” wrestling matches occurred. There was lots of laughter and teasing by all, and many great memories were made once again.
Our plans to spend Monday catching up on laundry and other such things were pushed off for another day. This weekend might just be one where we will have to stay home. We will this week – especially with me running from meetings to games all week long – including the first home volleyball and football games of the season. Go, Panthers!

With classes resuming at CL-B (and elsewhere across the state) this week, please remember to watch out for the buses that will be 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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Hunting Season to Remember

Image
A Hunting Season to Remember By Allan Olson The orange clad army headed into the woods this past weekend in search of the mighty white tail to attempt to fill the freezer with some tasty venison and I was no exception to this party. I too was clad in orange and out on the mighty hunt. Every year there are new stories to tell, old ones to bring up and memories made, some deer seasons for me, after over 20 years of hunting have faded into the background, one year blurring with another, not remembering which year I shot what deer or if I shot a deer. Of course there are a few years  stand out more than others and some are just a blur altogether. However, I find it hard to believe that anything will top this year’s remarkable deer season. This year, I had the honor of bringing Nikolai with me. Not just to sit in the stand, but to actually hunt, he was going to have the ability of harvesting a deer also. Recently he completed his gun safety certification and he wa...
Read more
Image
Thank you for being our friend Frey Olson May 19, 2018 - April 26, 2024 By Allan Olson 4.26.24 Thank you for being our friend, thank you for making us your forever home, if we could’ve saved you, we would’ve. Losing our four legged friends is never easy, in our house they aren’t “just a pet” they are our family. Frey, our nearly six year old English Mastiff came into our lives in August of 2018 and crossed over the rainbow bridge to be with others before him on April 26, 2024. Frey was our gentle giant, he was our protector, our laughter and most importantly I think it’s more than safe to say, he was Alivia’s best friend. Have you ever seen a teenager and a Mastiff sharing a twin size bed - or perhaps more aptly put the teenager getting what’s left of the bed when he’s in it. Or perhaps a giant of a dog, staring at her from the doorway of the bedroom saying, “it’s bedtime,” while she’s playing a game or watching something.  He was taught to react to “who’s here” or the alert of the...
Read more

Thankful for Family

Thankful For Family By Allan Olson published 11-24-10 Cass Lake Times Eat until I can’t eat anymore is the plan for me this Thursday. This is likely the case for many others as well. The food that will be prepared is just one of many things to be thankful for this week. I can honestly say I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life. I’m especially thankful for my beautiful little family. Do I always feel overwhelmed with joy while dealing with the everyday tasks of working and raising four children? I would be lying if I said yes. My children are great kids. They are great at making me smile with their questions and antics. However, they are also great at driving me up a wall. Asking them to help clean a room sometimes and it’s like you put them in a torture chamber by daring to ask for a little help cleaning up the mess they made. Other times they are willing, eager partners ready to help with whatever task you need them to. Of course, there are also those times when ...
Read more