Re-dunk-u-lous!

I have a love affair with this little 2-lane highway
that stretches between 131 and 37.
The fall colors,
as we neared the "teaming" crossroads at Big Jackson,
were simply re-dunk-u-lous!


But Calvinists, don't get too slap-happy.
Life is not all Kodachrome colors
and pastoral landscapes.
Alas and alors .... just around the corner
(or in this case, down the road a piece)
there's this grim reminder
for the back-slidden
to straighten up and fly right.


So .... ahem,
we were going on a little autumnal
fishing jaunt in October.
The light was amazing, the colors, as we said,
redunkulous, and the temperature mild and,
well,
perfect.
Plus, no bugs.
We put in at M37 behind the Red Moose Lodge.

Drew did a fine job of navigating us down the PM
which included lots of shallows
and low-hanging branches (see above)
and mighty-tighty twisty turns.
Very Robert Louis Stevenson
and here's what he had to say about it:

"Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me.
Give the jolly heaven above,
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river,
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life forever."

Okay, the stars weren't out yet
and we didn't dip bread in the river,
but we did have pita bread
dipped in ranch dressing.

Once again I will wax profoundly:

"More than Spring's bright uncontrol
Suit the Autumn of my soul."
Alexander Smith

The feeling's mutual, Alex!


This is Dale in his float boat
looking like a human water-skeeter.


And this is my house that I will own one day.
(By the way, when the "trout guide" says
you can get out at Green Cottage
to use the facilities, just be aware that
other than this beauty, all of the cottages are green.)



With the aura of Trout Fishermen Past
surrounding the kids
they set off to slay the mighty mighty salmon
(actually, no wild animals were harmed in the filming
of this venture ... not even a worm).



This is Drew instructing Lauren
on the finer points of hanging on to
a Monster Salmon.



This is the Monster Salmon thinking it will
hide in the roots of the trees along the river's edge
and totally tangle up the line.


This is Drew having to cut and retie the line
so as to extricate the Monster Salmon.
Some reinforcements arrive but
everything is copacetic.

This is the Monster Salmon.
He is rah-ther heavy so Drew gets the honor of
displaying His Monstrousness.

And finally, the demonstration of the
catch and release technique.
Apparently you can't just let a fish go
(because they will simply lay there
and then flip belly up, giving you the fish eye
and making you feel totally depraved).
Who knew?

And this is why it's imperative that
you get out at Green Cottage
if nature is calling.

Fishing utilizes its own unique
algebraic field of study.
For every minute of driving time, eg.,
it takes 5 minutes to drive from M37 to Green Cottage,
multiply by one hour for paddling/fishing time, eg.,
it takes 5 HOURS to fish this same stretch of river.
People, you are never too old to learn
these important life lessons.