Friday, August 21, 2020

The plan tonight is to have another walleye dinner so, after breakfast Ben, Jason, Fitz and I head out to make that a reality. We barely leave camp when Fitz realizes he forgot his pole. He says I should just troll as we paddle back to camp. No sooner does my hook hit bottom than I snag up, and then, trying to extricate it, my rod inexplicably snaps in half. In the other canoe, right off the bat, Jason loses his anchor. We’re off to quite the start! Eventually we get things straightened out and manage to catch enough walleyes for supper tonight.

It’s a bit humid so, after returning with our catch, we lounge in camp throughout the early afternoon. Father Brandon vociferously announces who won 2 games of Ticket to Ride while we were out fishing. He says as pastor it’s his job to teach those in his flock humility, although I’m not sure if it’s humble pie or crow that Bill & Joe are force fed. Sam, who won the 3rd game, is quiet as a church mouse about his victory. Apparently, the odd duck out among these 3 other ‘humble’ Christians?

As our chairs rotate in correspondence to where the shade is throughout the afternoon, there is some splashing down at the lake that is undoubtedly the walleyes we have on the stringer. Both Fitz and I presume it’s a snapping turtle trying to get a free lunch but, we are both flabbergasted when we discover it’s a garter snake. It’s about a foot and a half long and, while the walleyes are certainly not world beaters, it’s quite a stretch to imagine that this garter snake could do much with a 14” walleye.

It’s an afternoon of small talk as most of the crew just linger in camp or take a short swim. Ben has a special knack for stimulating conversation so there is rarely a lull. However, in one attempt to keep things moving, he asks Father Brandon a seemingly innocent question. “Father, you’ve been on a number of trips, what’s the most memorable fish that’s been caught on one of your trips?” Before he can respond, a snappy reply comes out of the crowd, “Because we know for certain which is the most memorable fish that DIDN’T get caught on one of your trips!” However, most of the conversation isn’t quite as coarse and, throughout, I notice how Jason speaks about his wife. It’s not that he is shouting from the rooftop a top 10 list of why she’s the greatest but, I really get a sense of just how much he cares and wants to do right by her in just the seemingly mundane comments he makes about camping trips and experiences he has shared with her. The way he’s subtly articulates his fondness while speaking about her is, in my experience, a rare trait that exudes not only his love but, how well he is living out that aspect of being a Christian husband. Once again, several prime examples of iron sharpening iron.

Curiously, Ben begins creating songs about our recent adventures. Mainly focusing on Bill’s fishing acumen, inability to distinguish English muffin tops from bottoms so and so forth. Although, he annoyingly uses the melodies from traditional Christmas songs, and soon a few others begin sporadic Christmas caroling. As I inquire as to where and why the Christmas themes seeped into the group consciousness, it’s ‘Genesis’ can be traced back to Fitz who has been lowly whistling the Peanuts Christmas tune for most of our stay, and even identifies a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in camp. Mind you it is mid-August; and I thought Halloween was crazy early for Christmas songs to surface?

This evening our evening fishing foray isn’t quite as memorable as last night but, we still find plenty of Crooked Lake ‘gold’. Since we already have what we need for our fish fry, they are all returned to live another day. Back in camp, it’s another sumptuous, satisfying meal that puts a bow on another fine day in canoe country.