I’m not sure if this counts, but it’s a yearly event. My neighbor sat out on his front porch with a buddy of his, and raised holy hell with a fifth of Whiskey. I remember last year on the first day but I didn’t write it down. Next year, I’ll be able to check.
Archive for March, 2007
Seasonal changes
Saturday, March 31st, 2007An email from Mike Ellis
Saturday, March 31st, 2007 Today I received this from Mike Ellis, he’s the author of “Apollo Rises” and a friend of mine from my Navy years. I have no idea what instigated this nor do I care, I just thought it might be something to kick around. He know’s of my web-site and probably figured I’d do what I’m doing, so if you feel like voicing your opinion, have at it.
Do you know people who feel like they are victims, but cannot identify their victimizers? Well, I have a solution. The following is an example of a victimizing situation, followed by a list of possible victimizers to choose from.
Situation: The husband and wife have three children, and the wife is pregnant again. Both are high school graduates, but have no marketable skills, and the husband is the wage earner. He just lost his minimum-wage job at Wal-Mart, because on average he missed 60% of scheduled work to stay at home and take care of sick children and to take care of his wife who is having another difficult pregnancy.
Possible Victimizers:
1. Wal-Mart: Because Wal-Mart should pay people for missing work, regardless of the reason. Also, because Wal-Mart should have social programs to aid those who have procreated themselves into poverty. Also, because Wal-Mart does not have free, all-encompassing family healthcare for employees. Also, because Wal-Mart does not pay $60,000.00 per year to employees who just stack boxes and stock shelves.
2. Republicans: Because The Republican Administration are heartless bastards who support evil companies like Wal-Mart by not forcing Wal-Mart to have those social programs listed in 1. above.
3. Democrats: Because Democrats they did not force evil Wal-Mart to have those social programs listed in 1. when they held the White House and the majority of congress.
4. Local and State Government: Because they allow Wal-Mart to exist in the community instead of a caring, sympathetic, and compassionate company with social programs to aid victims.
5. The husband’s second cousin, Wilbur: Because Wilbur is a high-paid stock broker who is not willing to have his taxes raised to provide free everything to the husband and wife.
6. God: Because God has the power to control all that happens and all that exists.
7. The husband and wife: Because they had the choice not to marry before they could adequately support themselves; because they had the choice not to procreate themselves into poverty. And, because they had the choice to become more skillful by attending trade schools or college, but choose not to.
Mike
Seasonal changes
Friday, March 30th, 2007Two things happend yesterday, I heard the ‘Spring Peeper’s’ for the first time, and two motor cycles drove by the house. The first one I love to hear, and the second…not so much.
Seasonal changes
Thursday, March 29th, 2007I spoke with a couple different people yesterday about this and they’ve all said the same thing; “I’ve never seen it where the entire lake loses it’s ice on the same night”. Normally, the south arm of Lake Charlevoix will lose it’s ice first, and then 3 to 7 days later, the large portion will. Not only that, it usually loses it’s cover in mid-April, not the 28th of March. Could Al Gore be right about global warming, could we be doomed? Hell no, we just got lucky.
Mark and I took a walk down to “The Zone” for a beer two nights ago and I saw my first vulture of the year. When we passed the funeral home, the Amelanchier’s were starting to swell as well as the Linden trees further down the street.
Seasonal changes
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007I’ve been doing some traveling but it was all North of here, and this is what I’ve seen since getting back.
On the 24th I heard my first Red winged Blackbird, and the next day I saw it. The ice was very dark, which is a mark of it’s impending doom and today it was open water all the way down to Elm Pointe. Last night I heard the ’spring peepers’ for the first time and today I saw that the maple tree I spoke of earlier is blooming. Doug was just here and he heard the woodcock calling up in the valley. There are daffodills sprouting up in various gardens around town and this morning the grass started to green up. Two nights ago, we had one hellacious thunderstorm so that’s what got the grass going. The Steelhead are running hard at the mouth of the Boyne River and the Suckers are in heavy off the town dock.
On the road
Monday, March 19th, 2007Hello Everyone, I’m going to be on the road for awhile, and I don’t know where the road will lead. Think of me often and with kind thoughts and pray for me, please.
Seasonal changes
Sunday, March 18th, 2007I was on my way up to Charlevoix yesterday when I noticed that the willows (Salix Babylonica), and across the street, a group of apples (Malus pumila) had begun to change colors. The bark of the willow’s were turning yellow, and the apples were turning red. I also saw yesterday, my first Cormorant of the year. It was swimming at the mouth of the Jordan, doing it’s level best to eat every fish it could. Today, on the way over to Glen’s Market, on Water street, are a group of Silver Maples (Acer saccharinum) who’s buds are seriously starting to swell. I suspect they’ll bloom on the next warm day we have.
An email from Don
Thursday, March 15th, 2007Well….I went Steelhead Fishing this morning Mike. I was wading in the water at 7:17 a.m. The temperature was a “snappy” 18º and the wind was aggressively ” Gnawing ” at what little amount of skin that was exposed to it ,by the way, “Mr. Wind” as I like to refer to him, was kickin’ chicken from his home in the North.
So….I was using a #9 Swedish Pimple(single hook) tipped with a medium sized Shiner. My first cast went about 50′, I couldn’t maneuver my fingers as well as I would have liked to, for the simple fact that I couldn’t FEEL them, I fumbled a tad-bit to feel the reel handle, closed the bail and P-O-W!!!! Holy shit!!! I half-heartedly set the hook and the fish was on….and so was the fight!!! For safety sake I set the hook one more time and that did it, the fish that was on the other end of my line was PISSED OFF!!! The Ol’Boy was heading to “The Beavers”. The fish was peeling out line like 10 muthas’, the drag was set way too light, so I attempted to tighten it a little bit. Well….I shoulda’ just left the drag well enough alone, I couldn’t feel a fuckin’ thing because my fingers were so fucking cold, I thought I only tightened it a little bit but no….S-N-A-P!!!! That’s all she wrote.
First cast….Fish on!!!! 30 second fight….All over but the Jabbing pain in my frozen fucking hands on the drive back home!!!
God I love fishing.
Seasonal changes
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007Two days ago (03/12) I listened to the Grackles singing again, and today, I saw a Robin walking across my front lawn. I’ll have to look in my field book as to which sex it was, but the males are usually the first to return.
The ice on Lk Charlevoix had a gray hue to it yesterday afternoon, when I took Jan to work at 4. There were two guys fishing about 2/3 of the way across, walking out from the swimming beach. Must be that’s where they dumped the silt, the last time they dredged the mouth of the river. The temperature then was 62º, with a hazy blue sky.
Today, it’s 43º and cloudy. Winds out of the South about 15mph and the baromiter is 30.10 and rising. Most of the snow is gone from the lawns around town and the snow banks are lookin’ like hell. There’s a lady that lives right across M66 from Glens, and yesterday she was out front shoveling what’s left of her snow bank onto the road. That lady is about 80 years old and she likes winter worse than I do.
Word has it that the Steelhead are running up the Boyne River and they’re catching them at the mouth. This afternoon I saw a couple guys fishing for suckers on the marina pier, and we’re having some success. Doug just called and asked me if I wanted to go fishing on St. Clair this weekend, but I’ve put my winter fishing gear away.
Weekend fishing report
Monday, March 12th, 2007Saturday morning Ralph and I met Doug and his brother Ed, on St. Clair Lk near Ellsworth. Ralph and I had been there a couple days before, and we’d both caught a couple small perch and one bluegill each. We’re both a little limited on how high a bank we can climb or how far we can walk to fish, and this is our best choice. Doug and Ed had been there about 20 minutes before we walked up and they already had a couple small ones on the ice.
The ice was the length of my ice scoop deep, which put it at 15″, and 10 of it was blue. It had got a little cold Friday night, and at 7:15 when we showed up, the ice was still making. That’s always a nice sound to hear whenever your out there on it, especially in these chain-of-lakes. I was sitting there staring at my bobber when I heard a resounding boom, and the water level started bouncing up and down in the hole. Oh, and the ice level above the water line is about 4″ high. That’s something else that changes when it starts to go out, the ice starts to sink. There have been a couple years where Doug and I have gone out and it’s almost level, which is a little spooky. One year, we went out and it bounced as we walked, that’s kinda neat too.
We brought along wiggler’s, wax worms, mousies, and perch minnows for Crappie. When you can find a school of Crappie and they’re hungry, you won’t be, for very much longer. I always start out with minnow’s in the hopes of getting a few of those, and I ended up getting one small one. When they quit working, I went to wigglers to see what else was around. Wigglers have got to be the best bait in the fresh water world. If there’s anything around and they’re feeding, it’ll work everytime. If they are feeding, I move on to the wax worm’s and hope they work, they’re a hellava lot more durable than wigglers. If they don’t take the wax worm’s, I’ll try the mousies.
Bobby Jones and his son Nick, came out an hour or so after we got there and they set up a couple tip-up’s. I think he said he used ‘grays’ and he got them at the new bait shop in Elllsworth. It’s open from 6am to 6pm, 7 days a week and it’s next to the “Nugget” bar. It’ll be nice to go to a bait shop that’s opens when it’s needed. The one we have here in town is run more like a hobby than it is a bussiness, and I think he’s about to get a lesson in free enterprise. Bobby got one undersized pike a little later on.
The wind came up to a breeze once the sun started to work, and I was glad I brought along my camp chair instead of using a bucket. It eventually got into the high 30’s, but it didn’t feel like it until we got back to shore around 11. Everyone caught perch and bluegill, but I think I’m the only one who cleaned any that night. 4 ‘gills and one perch.
When we got back to the shore we talked about the next day and decided to get there earlier and give the crappie another try.
Sunday morning, we got there at 7am EDST, and the sky was just getting pink. Doug was already there, he’d come a half hour before us, and had 5 nice crappie on the ice. Ralph and I went around and spudded a couple holes from the day before and immediatly started catching fish. The first one I had on I only got a glimps of as it rolled over in front of the hole and dissapeared. It was the largest crappie, I’d ever seen. All I could see was it’s markings and scales as it passed across the bottom of a 10″ hole. After tieing on another jig I put another minnow on, and sent it to it’s doom. The bobber never had the opportunity to bob, it contined down and headed for the bottom. This one was a lot smaller, it was only 13″, and I got it up. Five minutes after that, I got a pike. it was only 15″, so it went back, and then a small Largemouth, and then it quit.
As soon as the wiggler hit the bottom it was inside a bluegill, and on his way up. Lotsa little ones, and they were hungry. It’d been a good day to have a kid out there. Speaking of that, Bobby Jones came back out with Nick, and a buddy of his.
Ralph ended up with two nice crappie and a couple bluegill, I got that large one and a couple ‘gills, and Doug had 7 or 8 crappie and a lot of bluegill. That guy is a two fisted ice fisherman, and he wears me out just watching him. Sometimes catching fish is a by-product of fishing. Bob was still there when we left about 11 so I don’t know how he did.
