June 2005
June 22nd, 2005
Father's Day has come and gone again for another year. I got to spend the day with my son, who will turn 10 years old in a couple of weeks. We had picked out a tackle box on a trip to Bangor a couple of weeks ago. I kept trying to get him to give it to me early so that I could put some tackle in it. He would just shake his head and grin, "No way Dad, you have to wait" When he got up on Sunday he walked around with a big grin on his face. He was trying to make me think that he had forgotten. When he could stand it no longer he went in his room and returned with the box. He wanted to make a card for me the night before, but it was late by the time we were done for the day. He made the card Sunday morning and placed it in the bottom of the tackle box for me. He wanted me to be sure that I checked in the box to find his great card of Dad and Jed out fishing. Each year that passes I grow to love him more and more. He is such a great little guy!
Saturday was also a very special day for me here at Frost Pond Camps. Last fall one of our guests, who has been coming to Frost Pond longer than I even knew there was a Frost Pond, passed away while up here on his annual hunting trip. Chet died while out hunting, on a deer trail in the area that he loved. He had been telling everyone, for years I was told, that when he died, Frost Pond is where he wanted to be. What more can any of us ask for than to cross over, doing what we have a passion for, in a place of our dreams? Chet got what all the rest of the worlds population can only hope to achieve.
Saturday the family and friends came to Frost Pond for a memorial. Some of the family had not been here for years and others had never been here. The others were here hunting on that November day. They wanted to see the cabin where Chet spent a week each fall with his son, brothers and friends. They cooked lunch on the shore of Frost Pond and toasted marshmallows over a campfire. After lunch we went up to the trail where Chet will continue to chase the Whitetail Deer for eternity.
For the family to walk the very trail on which Chet's last footsteps fell must have left them with a feeling of wonderment. What were his thoughts as he walked this trial? Moving slowly, watching, listening, looking for the outline of an ear or nose of the buck of one's dreams. Noticing where a squirrel had crossed the path, hearing the wind being forced through the flight feathers of the Raven. All of this and so much more.
Yet when God beckoned, Chet followed, to leave the ones he loved and leave the things he loved doing. Was he given a choice of going now, doing what he loved, in a place he loved? Did God tell him that he could go back home to his family once again. to end up with a long draw out illness, not enjoying life as it is meant to be? The good lord and Chet are the only ones who know the answer to this question, as it should be. We are not meant to know all of the answers, not to this question and not at this time at least. Chet can rest and hunt on the ridge for the remainder of time. He will be able to hear the crunch of footsteps when the deer go by, hear the wind whispering through the tree tops and during the summer hear the loons wailing on the ponds and lakes that lie below the ridge.
I met a very special person on Saturday. It was Chet's little girl. Karen has been in touch with me via email since last November. We have talked back and forth on several occasions and we finally got the chance to talk in person on Saturday. I enjoyed this very much. These folks cannot know the honor I felt to be asked to go up on the ridge with them. They were and are, a part of who Chet was. For the past 4 falls I looked forward to when their group arrived. (The first year when they arrived my wife and myself were still in a daze from our first summer of owning the camps) I look forward to it again this fall. Granted, it will be different for sure, but there will always be a closeness for me to this group that only comes from something like this happening. As the years go by the memories will be of the good times and the hunts of years past. These memories will bring smiles to their faces and warmth to their hearts. As someone once wrote, the longest journey begins with the first step.
Now when I go up on the ridge, I know that if I have a problem of some sort, there is someone there to talk to and ask for help. For this I thank Chet's great family and friends. May God bless you all.
GT
June 18th, 2005
The fish are biting in the pond and on the river. I talked with some of our guests last night and they did catch a 5 lb. salmon. The caught plenty of small salmon as well. I have had guests catching 12 inch trout off the dock. The rain helped the fishing by bringing the fish back up in the pond. It has not helped the river as much and warmer weather is what is needed for the hatches. It is going to warm up again next week and the hatches will come off. Jed and I have been working on the road this week. We hauled gravel to do some repairs in the worst sections. He brought his fish pole to try his luck on Ripogenus while dad was working on the road. He did some of the raking on the rocks that I pulled out with the tractor. As soon as he had that done he asked if I had any other jobs for him. When I told him "not right yet", he said, "I'm going to go fishing in the cove". A young man must have his priorities! (He did finish his work first, I am proud to say) The other day we were down to a campsite visiting one of the guests and he comes up from the pond carrying a bull frog. I told him to keep it to take pictures of. We took a few pictures and then he put it back in the pond. Like I mentioned earlier, that boy can catch frogs. Last night he comes in with a Cray-fish. "This was the only one I found" was the words out of his mouth. He sounded disappointed that he only found one. This morning I sent him down to bail out a boat for one of our guests. He managed to get the boat bailed before he started catching Dragonflies. He came up to the house with his arm covered with the freshly emerged creatures. It is such an amazing process to watch the Dragonfly emerge from a bug (nymph) that lives on the bottom of the pond. As I set here writing the journal Jed just comes in with a hat full of Dragonflies! Pictures will follow this entry as he has brought in some of the nymphs that have crawled up onto shore to complete their metamorphosis! I will try to get pictures of this process and enter them. I remember the very first time that I saw this take place. My mother found the process taking place on a pond in the Lincoln area where we were camping. That my friends was many years ago, but I never forgot it. (Jed just informed me that he has caught 51 Dragonflies today) We rescued a little Goldeneye duck a day or two ago. It was wandering around the yard peeping for momma. Jed caught it and took it to the pond. Off is swam, peeping loudly for momma "come find me". This is only the second time since we have been here that we have found a baby duck up on land. Both were returned safely to the pond.
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June 10th, 2005
Moose, more moose, varying hares and a kid with his fish! Now what more in life could one ask for? The moose are doing a good job of looking like moose. Their fur is coming into their summer coats. They are looking much better now. The varying hares are all over the place. Jed and I went up to Telos camp the other night and saw a conservative number of 58! This is a distance of about 20 miles from here. They were everywhere. Every time we met another vehicle we did not see any of these "rabbits" for a short period of time. They must be getting smarter as I did not see any that "zigged" when they should have "Zagged"! Usually this time of year one sees plenty of "flat rabbits" along the road. Early morning and a couple of hours before dark is the best time to see wildlife up in these parts. (of course that is usually true for almost everyplace) Jed was the official counter of bunnies on our little trip. The higher the number got, the harder he looked. It is such a fun time to take the little guy out for a ride for an evening of north woods entertainment. We had to make a trip to town for some food and paint yesterday. When we got to the hardware store he spied the fishing tackle. He just had to have a few lures to try to catch up with the stuff that Dad has for tackle. After picking out about $30.00 worth of gear, Dad suggested that we just get a couple. I explained that until his new business starts paying a dividend, he was going to have to go slow on purchases! He now has his own money making deal. He sells worms, live bait, campfire wood and rents out his kayak! He figures that he will have so much money that by the end of the summer he will own every piece of fishing tackle that they make. When we got home and got the truck unloaded he promptly put on one of his new lures and headed to the dock. It only took him a few minutes to hook into this trout. He told me that he thought that he was caught on bottom, until the line started to move. I watched him come up across the lawn with the fish on the end of the line. He stopped to talk with one of our guests and then came up to tell me his story. He wanted to have his picture taken, as the last fish he caught kind of escaped. There was no way that this was going to happen again! The fish measured a good 16 inches and he cleaned it while I was preparing supper. (chicken, not fish) It will be interesting to see if he tells anyone what his secret lure is. Each day that I wake him up and each night when I tuck him in I realize how lucky that I am. He makes me so very proud. He will be 10 years old next month and he has a reasoning ability that will put many adults to shame. He is a caring and loving kid. He is curious and can ask more questions than you can imagine. The "how comes" and "whys" never stop. And then when he is walking past and just says "Dad, I love you" it just makes me realize how lucky that I am. He could not care where he is or who is present when these words come out of his mouth. Perhaps it is because his Mom and Dad both tell him how much we love him, no matter where we are or who is present.
GT
June 8th,2005
Jedidiah is now up here at camp for the summer. It is great to have the little guy here. Right now I have him doing his school work. Later today we will be on other projects. He wants a raft built, and it will be up to him to design and measure the whole thing. Yesterday we built a set of Cedar steps and landing for our resource/classroom. We use this room for the GPS and map course as well as for the inside stuff that Maureen does with the workshops. It will be nice to have an area to get folks together and talk when it is raining. It gets daylight very early this time of year. I have a hard time to sleep when the sun is up. The birds and squirrels, chipmunks and other critters must have the same problem as they are always up right after daybreak, or before. We have had a moose in back of the barn lately. The dog has quite a time having such a large creature that close to the house. She will woof a few times and then start pacing. I tell her that it is alright and to go find a spot to lay down. We have had a few camp fires in the evening. It is a time for relaxing and Mom and son sure do like to cook the s'mores. These things sound like they would be the greatest thing going, but I cannot get used to them. I eat one each year, figuring that they will start to taste better. It does not happen though, they are the same year after year! I have not been out fishing for awhile, but Jed is starting to insist that we go. Thank goodness for kids. I might not get fishing all summer if it was not for him. There always seems like there is plenty to do without going out to fish. Kids are only little for such a short while and it is so important to spend these good times with them. Values and life goals are formed at this early age and without some direction, things can turn out less than desirable. The funny part is that they do not even know that this is happening with them, they just think that they are having fun! We have one male Hummingbird that sits on the top of the feeder and keeps all of the others away so that he can have the whole thing for himself! The others keep trying to get food and he just pesters the daylights out of them. It is a good thing that I have 2 feeders up, there is no way that he can watch both feeders at the same time. Jed tells me that there are 2 eggs in the loons nest. He says that they are very pretty. He knows not to bother the loons and he paddled by while the parents were out getting their lunch.
GT
June 3rd,2005
So, what do you think of this hot weather? I thought that we were supposed to have some nice 65-70 degree days before the temps went up into the 80's! This has started the hatches and the trout are rising on the pond in the evenings now. I just have to take the time to get out the fly rod and go test the waters to see if I still have the knack to catch one of those lunkers. There has been a fair amount of people fishing the pond lately. They are doing very well. When our guests arrive the first question that I get asked is "How is the fishing"? The second question is "Where is the best place to fish on the pond"? Now many of our guests have been coming here for many years and do not bother to ask the second question. I always answer my guests with the best information that I have. Of course the first thing I tell them is, "You should have been here yesterday, they were really biting"!! (Not real original, but it is tradition) I rescued a Hummingbird yesterday. The little guy had run his long bill through one of the screens and could not get away. I had the door open and I guess he could not see the screen. He was a fluttering away trying to get loose. I removed his bill very gently and turned him loose. He took off like a shot! It was not long and he was back at the feeder, taking his turn with the other Hummers. I went for a ride the other evening. I saw 6 moose, 2 deer and a pile of rabbits. I tried to get some pictures of the moose but it was a bit too dark. I will get some pictures soon. The moose are looking much better these days. The best one was about 25 feet from my truck and eating leaves off the bushes along the road. He had grown antlers that are pretty good sized already. It is just amazing that the moose can grow a set of antlers that large each year.
GT
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