Busy July Days

I think the days in between these blogs are getting shorter or I am getting busier. I know that the lodge has been running pretty full lately and there have been lots of people stopping by for meals. In fact last night, I even had to take a couple of orders in the bistro myself. With a little help I managed to get the orders properly entered into the computer. Delivering food to the table was easy. I managed to make one drink and pour one beer. The stickler was getting a bill out of the computer and correctly entering the receipts. At the end of the night I had to participate in doing my “shift report.” Luckily Angy was there to show me the way. It is another part of the computer system that I have yet to learn.

Our days have been a mixture of rain and sunshine. This morning started out with thunder and rain. Now it is just puffy white clouds. It is not going to be a really hot, hot summer but the kids still gravitate to the lake in the afternoons. Every day we have a bunch out trying their skills with some little kayaks we have on the beach. With a PFD and a few minutes of experience almost any child can make these kayaks go all over. Part of the fun is that each one is in control of their own boat.

Bruce and I are looking forward to the second week in August. The managers are kicking us out and we are going on a 4-night canoe trip with our friends, Tom and Melissa. It has only been the last few years that we have taken canoe trips but they are addictive. Each year we try to pick a little different route. This year it is going to be west of Seagull Lake in the BWCAW. It will take me at least one day to get back into the paddling mode. Bruce and Tom are responsible for providing fish for dinner. Tom hauls water and collects firewood. Bruce cooks. Melissa and I do dishes. It is amazing how fast we settle into our camp routines. Everyone has a chore and no one gets overworked.

Our days in the northwoods are already getting shorter. I know that they regularly get shorter the same amount each day but it isn’t until about now that you start to notice a difference. Of course by December it will be full dark between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. while full daylight won’t come until 8:00 a.m.

A few raspberries have appeared but not enough to pick. Bruce and I are still trying to get a few hours in picking blueberries. Our freezer does not have a single berry in it. It is hard to have blueberry pancakes with no berries. Hopefully next week we will get out a bit.