Wrestling, Cookies and Geocaching

 Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, from my crazy family to yours!

By Allan Olson

It was another one of those weekends with a lot of stuff going on, and it became a divide and conquer kind of thing. On the home front, there were tasks that needed completion in the house, and on the work front there were things I needed to be at. And then there was a family cookie decorating event, too.

Saturday morning found me wishing I could sleep in, but for some reason that became an effort in futility. I had too much on my mind, and there were things I wanted to do, including a book to read. Maybe I’m just getting old… I can go to bed earlier but I can no longer sleep in. 

I can’t say I was overly productive on the home front Saturday, but at least I did get the garbage hauled. I also got my book finished; now I’m down to eight books to read, with only about three weeks to finish them all. 

I headed into Cass Lake for the afternoon to watch the championship matches of the 2018 Big Bear wrestling tourney and grab a few more photos for this week’s paper. Eventually I made it back home again and spent the evening doing little except splitting two games of cribbage with my wife. I tried reading again, but my brain wouldn’t focus on the pages so instead I opted for a series on Amazon video. I found something I could watch without really caring much about the actual story line. Once I got tired of watching that I fixed my focus issue and just went to bed – probably too early again, which is why I couldn’t sleep in again on Sunday.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I got up and did some work stuff until the rest of the family got out of bed – only aided slightly by me telling them to get up, since we needed to get on the road and head north. The grandkids were needed to decorate cookies with some of their cousins and grandma, so at 10 a.m. we were northbound. I dropped them off with family and headed out to do my own thing – geocaching, of course. After all, I certainly wasn’t needed to decorate cookies. 

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of geocaching opportunities left for me in my hometown because I’ve either hid them or found them all, and I don’t have the right credentials to get across the border. However, I knew that there were still two I had yet to find at Zippel Bay State Park, and they were my targets on this trip. The dog and I arrived at the first spot at about 12:30, and less than 15 minutes later I had the cache in hand. We drove to the next location, collected the coordinates I needed for the 2/3-mile walk, and by 1:30 p.m. I had found the only two caches in Lake of the Woods County that I had yet to find. There was still plenty of time to go to my parents’ for a brief visit.

I dropped some stuff at the old home place in preparation for the upcoming Christmas celebration, and after a visit with my parents I headed back to check on the cookie decorating project. When I arrived it was clear the kids weren’t ready to leave yet. I got to sample a few cookies and frosting and visit with two nieces, a nephew and a great-nephew, so it wasn’t a bad thing.

Then came the long drive home – long and boring – and for those who have driven that route, you know what I’m talking about. For those who haven’t, it’s 60 miles of pretty much nothing but bog.

That evening I made supper and prepped two meals for the busy upcoming week, when the kids have to fend for themselves at night due to everyone’s busy work schedules this week. Prepping meals would make most weeks go easier, but it’s not often we do it, so hopefully the kids will take advantage and dig in, rather than just eat toast.

Our weekend plans have a Christmas theme to them, with the first of two Christmas celebrations coming up. It’s going to be a busy few days, but hopefully it will allow for some reading and relaxation as well. Also in the works is another geocaching outing – this time in the Paul Bunyan State Forest with about four other friends. It should be a great time.

Let me close by wishing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

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.