The Most Depressing Day of the Year

Yesterday was the most depressing day of the year.  We closed the cabin for the winter.  It's a lot of work, but we've been doing it for over 20 years now, so it has become a bit of a routine.  Pull the pontoon boat out of the water, winterize the outboard, load up the deck furniture, and haul it down the road to the neighbor's pole shed, where we store it for the next 6 months.  Hook up the ATV to the dock and pull it up on shore.   Cover the air conditioners, strip the beds, put out D-con and mothballs to keep the mice under control, make sure no food is left anywhere, and last, but not least, drain all the water out of the system to prevent frozen pipes.  Oh the joys of having a cabin in Minnesota, where the winters "up north" can bring temperatures of 20 degrees below zero.  The summers make it all worthwhile, though. It's loads of fun sitting on the deck in June, trying to shoot down the dive-bombing mosquitos with a 12 gauge shotgun. I can't wait until we open the cabin up again next spring.  I wonder how many more years we'll be doing this. 

Photos From the Train

Toy Trains are Still More Fun

Last Saturday the whole clan took a drive to Osceola WI to take a ride on a real train. I thought the boys would like to experience a real train, as they so enjoy playing with their wooden Brio and Thomas train set. Elise is kind of young to understand what was going on. Unfortunately, it was unseasonably cold ( below freezing) and the train cars were not heated. It was a short trip ( about an hour and a half) from Osceola, across the river to Marine on St Croix MN, and back again. I think Grampa enjoyed it more than the kids, but all in all it was a fun day. I think Jack was more excited about coming to Gramma and Grampa's house afterwards than he was about the train ride. The plan was to have the kids nap while the adults had lunch, but Jack and Wes were too excited to sleep, so they played until it was time to go home. We thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Norwegian Pride

I hesitate to talk about politics on this blog, but I can't help myself this morning. I am stunned beyond belief over the Nobel committee giving the peace prize to BHO. For what? A couple of speeches filled with naivete and maudlin rhetoric? A European vacation at taxpayer expense to apologize for all the perceived evil that America has done in the past? For not being George Bush? For being an empty suit?
I'll bet BHO has never even tasted Lutefisk!

I used to be proud of my Norwegian heritage, but this has taken away a big piece of that pride. I may choke a little on my lefse next Christmas.

When my grandkids are old enough to understand, I can reassure them that it's OK that they are thousands of dollars in debt before they are old enough to know what debt is. It's OK that they will not have the same standard of living that their parents and gradparents had. It's OK that they can't find a good job or a good doctor. That's all OK so long as BHO has won the peace prize and that he is praised as the Messiah in our public schools and liberal media. What hypocrisy!