Trautz' travel saga: September 2019

YOLO summer June 2019

Karen's little fishing boat, sitting at its mooring block on a calm day.

We were a bit late getting the boats in the water this year. It had been a very cold winter in Higgins Lake, so we weren't in any hurry to get into the cold water too soon. We manhandled the hoist from the backyard into the lake and set it up first. Jason needed to trim the cross beams so they wouldn't rub on the trampoline of the Hobie Cat. Here, he has his electric saw on the dock to cut off the corners of the beams. Electricty and water? Yep, I had my phone handy, ready to dial 911, but Jason tied off the cord so it wouldn't get into the water.

We had to rearrange an entire garage of stored stuff and shelves to get to the Hobie Cat to get it ready to launch. At the last minute, as it was backing off the trailer into the water, Jason got his finger caught and pinched between the bow of the boat and the trailer and it ripped a nasty slice in his finger. A trip to the emergency room the next day was an exercise in frustration, but he couldn't move forward with prepping the Hobie until this was healed.

The normally clear water turned a lemony brown for a few days. Not sure why, but perhaps the tannin-rich waters got moved our way for a few days. It then went back to being gin clear.

We drove our elderly neighbors up to Kingsley for their grandson's graduation. They had a pig roast barbeque and it was delicious. Here, the pig is getting trimmed and ready for serving.

If you like pork crackling, you'd be horrified that they took the skin off and chucked it all on the ground as garbage.

The current view of the lake cottage from the end of the dock.

Finally, the Hobie Cat got its mast stepped. Now we could actually use it.

This was the cottage as it looked when we first bought it in 1997. Lots of trees have since been removed or trimmed.

We cleared off over a dozen trees the first year we had the cottage to get a bit more sun and remove big trees that were dangerously close to the home.

An old view from the end of the old dock. A photo of an old photo.

We've been having issues with shoreline erosion from high water and folks have been arguing over the proper lake level. I was looking at old pictures to compare our shoreline from then and now. If you could see this original, Jason still had dark brown hair!

The inside of the cottage hasn't changed at all.

Jason convinced the Road Commission to add a bit of road material in front of our house so the rains don't all wash down our driveway into the front yard. We are a low spot on this shore and we get huge puddles in the yard that never quite go away. The extra dirt/clay/sand mix helped.

Jason enjoying a fire in our firepit.

The boats and dock ready for use.

YOLO August at Higgins Lake 2019

August is usually the warmest month here at the lake, but it's been a cool summer for the most part. Here is a morning mist, with the cool air making wisps of fog in the sunrise.

Jason being domestic and hanging laundry on the lines to dry.

The fog over the lake makes the entire far shore disappear. So still and grey.

This tiny bunny was injured and just sat in the front yard. Dogs came to sniff it and it just stayed put. Poor little guy died later on, but he sure was cute.

Our first tiger lily bloom of the year.

This squirrel is about at his limit of stretching to reach the suet cake in the holder. Silly squirrel.>ven if he gets a bite, he's gonna drop once he lets go.

Another foggy morning in the hills along the highway.

Jason and I sewed the cover for our friends' pontoon boat. It had ripped its entire length along two seams. It's good as new now.

We saw this truck try to make a turn and just plow into the stop sign/street sign and up onto the pole. He'd just bought the truck and was driving with a medical boot on so he claimed he couldn't hit the brake pedal properly. Jason helped push him off the pole and we called the cops to report it so the stop sign got replaced.

The pileated woodpecker, the largest in the world, frequents our feeder. He can knock a big chunk of suet out of the feeder and makes quick work of a full cake.

This great grey heron came stalking across our front yard one morning, too.

He's a good-sized bird.

With a long beak. He's supposed to be at the shoreline catching little fish with that thing.

Already a touch of red in the swamps around here.

Autumn won't be far now, as these trees are starting to show a bit of color already

Our illustrious road commission decided to move the power lines across the street and put up new poles instead of burying the lines. Dumb. And they then proceeded to cut back 50' of perfectly healthy trees and chip them into tiny pieces so they could plant new power poles. What a travesty. This machine drags full trees to the chipper.

And this chipper grinds up trees up to a foot in diameter and shoots the bits directly into the back of this semi truck to take to the chipboard plant.

YOLO July at Higgins Lake 2019

July had a family visit from Jim, Holly, Scotty, and Abby from Colorado. Abby showing off her first two-piece bathing suit in the fishing boat. She could pull those oars when she wanted to.

Karen, Jason, Abby, and Scotty, just before they left. We think they had a good time and we hope to see them back again next summer.

Jason has worn out another pair of shoes.

A black squirrel looking up at the bird feeder.

A break in the music at a free concert by the high school steel drum band. That's Jean and Herb on the right, our neighbors.

Karen messing around on the steel drums during the break. This group plays rock music on them, not island music.

That's not a giant donut Jim is trying to eat. He's blowing up the floatie ring for the kids to play on in the lake.

Abby, Holly, and Scotty in the hammock.

That's not the Unibomber, it's Abby and Jim in the hammock. The hammock was a hit.

Scotty and Abby play with their iPads together. They play together pretty well for brother and sister.

Our first day lily, such a pretty orange.

Jason getting ready to take Jim and Scotty for a sail on the Hobie.

Gotta get that sunscreen on that young skin.

Jim sporting the 'big diaper look', wearing the trapeze harness for hiking out on the wire on the Hobie.

Scotty in the old-fashioned horse collar life jacket.

Jason showing off his new eating plate/bib combo. Actually, Holly bought us a new toilet seat as the old one broke while they were here. This model has a 'soft close' feature.

A cool air mass moved over the lake, creating the fog in the morning.

Our neighbor, Herb, finally got one of his ancient ATVs working and took it for a spin down the road.

The neighbor's colorful Hobie cat. I used to take Kenny fishing when he was a young boy; now he's grown up and sails his own Hobie.

A big crawdad we found dead in the lake after the waves had been crashing onto the shore.

Our neighbor, Bob, graciously offered to take us for a ride on their pontoon boat and to give us rides on their hotdog floatie toy. Jim and Scotty get ready for the first ride.