Another Year Gone By.....

It seems like yesterday that my brothers and I were at the Countryside Golf Course in Mundelein, IL playing 18 holes and enjoying the sun, the fun, and the beer. That was actually a year ago though, and now we once again have found ourselves out on the course....lie'n about what we're lay'n......never care'n about what we're sayin, and talkin about our lives.

Golf really is a great game. It gives us all an excuse to get together and enjoy the sunshine, the green grass, and getting a year older. None of us are any good really, but every once in a while we'll hit a great shot, possibly get a par, and think to ourself.....damn I'm good, so I need to keep playing this game. The truth is none of us are very good at all, and we often lie about our score. The important thing though is that we keep on trying and keep on playing. We're all another year older now and probably deeper in whatever....but it makes no difference. The game of golf gives us all an excuse to see one another, laugh about our misfortunes, and remember that we all started our life journey together as very young boys, under the toughest of circumstances.

None of us are likely to improve as players of this game, but hopefully we'll continue to make time for days like this......because even the good lord knows, our days are numbered. When we get together, most talk is about the past and most of that is nothing but the good times. Somehow, we only seem to remember the good times. Somehow, the worst of times are automatically filtered out of our brains and out of our conversations. It is the good times that come to the surface.

It may only be once or twice a summer, but I am quite sure the three of us will soon play again. As for this day, we only got 17 of the 18 holes in but Bob and I are going to give John a pass on this one....because when he got that phone call at the 16th t-box and started talking about a need to get home all of a sudden, we all just knew it was time to go!

After being completely skunked on Saturday, we knew our luck barometer could only move in one direction. We fished again Sunday morning on Forest Lake. The fish seemed to be over the thunder and lightening and once again were ready for feeding. The sun came out, the day got hot, but we were still able to land a few in Wiseman's Bay. We ended up catching 24 decent size fish for the weekend. Had the storms not arrived, who knows what would have been possible.

What a Difference a Day Makes

After our fish fry dinner at Bents Camp we headed back onto the water, this time to our favorite Bass lake deep in the woods....Tower Lake. I could tell you exactly how to get there, but I then I would have to kill you as this is classified information. The night seemed perfect for fishing and we got there at just the right time, but thunder storms started brewing so canoeing too far from the launch made me a bit nervous. It seems the fish became nervous as well because on a night we would normaly have them jumping into the boat, we were only able to land 3 bass making it 19 for the day. The elaborate cloud formations, the thunder, and the cracklit lightening in the distance were enough to make me want to paddle back and pack it in for the night. We never actually got rained on but we knew (as did the fish) that "sumpin was up".

We made it back to the cabin for a late night campfire and as Billy would say, "some chillin". We couldn't decide what movie to watch before going to bed so Billy closed his eyes and grabbed one off the shelf. Ironically, it was Twister! As we were watching the cows and semi trucks fly through the air (and hearing a fierce rainstorm outside the cabin) we noticed water dripping off the wood stove pipe and trickling down the wall where the wood stove enters the chimmney. The water inside the cabin walls was a first for me. I attributed it to the unusual terrential rain that was now falling sideways outside.....and went to bed. There is something about sleeping to the sound of rip-roaring rain!

We woke up Saturday morning to sunshine, blue skys....and warm weather. I decided it was time to fix whatever was wrong with the lawnmower and put Billy to work. Side Note: If you've ever thought about owning a summer home, please keep in mind that they are only meant for people who don't think they have enough work to do around their main residence.
It turns out the mower wan't working because some of the local mice decided to do some new construction inside the air filer chamber. I will say they were well protected from winter weather as there wasn't one R-value of warm air loss going through that air filter when they were done building!

After cleaning the air filter and demoloshing the mice family home, the mower worked like a charm and Billy cut the grass for me while I checked out the water levels in our fishing boat and canoe. It wasn't long before we were fishing once again, this time on Forest Lake (not a bite), then on an un-named Lake (still no bites), then George Lake (still skunked), then Wood Lake (now wondering what the Hell as happended to our fishing). After 19 fish yesterday, I was reminded while fishing, that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. It appears that the thunder storms of the previous evening had completely spooked the fish into lethargism (if that is even a word). Let's just say they were not biting. On Saturday June 20th, 2009 we did not land a single fish.....and between the two of us, there had to be some 300 casts that day.

We did get a little sun burned though, and we did take some time out for a great dinner at the Red Man Inn. I never saw anyone clean 20 barbecue rib bones as well as Billy did on Saturday night. Despite no fish, we had a good time trying and we found a few new fishing spots in the process (good weeds/structure). I mentioned no name Lake above, not because I am trying to keep a secret, but simply because according to our maps, it simply has no name! After giving up at Wood Lake, we once again ended up at the campfire pit, where Billy had a new fire all ready to go. We both grabbed a drink, sat by the fire, listened to the loons, and wondered how bright the stars would look tonight. I told Billy I was surprised that he didn't ask me if he could bring one of his friends up north this trip....to see what it is like up here. I told him I was ready for that question and would have gladly let him do so if he asked, but he never even asked. He said he didn't ask because he thought I wanted it to be a "me and him" sort of thing. Somehow, not catching one fish today seemed just fine with me.

Some Things Never Change....Some Things Do.....

While watching all the problems in the office being dealt with on my blackberry (and not worrying a bit), Billy and I canoed around Joyce Lake Friday afternon. This lake can be found a few miles South of Hwy B. in Land O Lakes while driving on Hwy. S. It wasn't long before we caught our 9th fish of the day and that quickly turned into 10, 11, and so on. By the time we left Joyce Lake, we still had problems at the office, wet clothes from the rain, and no less than 17 fish either up to the canoe side or in it, for the day. We started catching them so often we just started shaking them off the hook and didn't even bother bringing them in the boat. Of all the fish we got, only one was a northern pike (Forest Lake), 3 were smal mouth bass (Joyce Lake), and then somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 or 13 large mouth (both lakes). The biggest of the day I caught as we were leaving Joyce Lake....a largemouth that must have been 3 or 4 pounds (see photo).

We sometimes wonder about the mystique of up north and why we return whenever we can. I think the reason is that things do not change there. The water may go up and down, but the little red cabin pretty much just stays there waiting for the next visitor. For every new store that ever appears in town, there is another that just shut down. I am sure many people drive through Land O Lakes and wonder whether it is being built up, or torn apart. While the town never changes and the lake life never changes, one thing for sure....we do change. I cannot tell you what a difference it makes when Billy stands up in the canoe here in 2009, when just a few years ago, you could not tell he was even in the canoe! And while making our way to the store called the Tackle Box this morning, I could clearly see that it looked very much the same as it has for years, but I still knew that the years have gone by however, because Billy was driving the truck when we parallel parked in front!

Well, time for a little rest, a little dinner at Bents Camp , a little time to fix the gas line, a little of watching Billy split wood with an AX, and we will then be off to Tower Lake for a little more fishing.

A Road Often Travelled

The truck was packed, the batteries were charged, and at 5PM Thursday Jun 18th, Billy and I were heading north on Hwy. 45 for the 47th parallel. If you check your world Atlas, you will find the 47th runs right through Eagle River, WI. We were heading north for yet another fathers day weekend of fishing and living the cabin life for a few days. The drive went much easier than I expected as we had dry traffic-less travel almost the entire way here. We wasted little time getting gas at one stop, a couple of burgers at another, and finally cream for the morning coffee at our final and third stop. We pulled into Andrules Hide-A-Way at 11:04PM and according to my GPS friend, we would have been here at 10:34PM if we never stopped at all. Then again, the GPS is not able to see my gas guage. We unloaded the truck, got comfortable real quick, and were sleeping by mid night.

Billy woke up about 7:30AM Friday morning to find the lake just a little lower, the pier a little longer, and the grass a little higher. We had some breakfast, got gas for the boat, bought the 2009 license, and quickly discovered why the 5 1/2 motor tank had no gas....the primer/pump in the gas line had dry rotted to the point a hole broke through. When I went to prime the gas line, the gas was spewing out of the primer all over. We quickly decided it was a good morning for canoe fishing. By 8:30 AM we were between the islands on Forest Lake and just barely making our way through the lilly pads when Bill caught the first fish of the year!

A Welcome Back....To Reality

We enjoyed many things about sailing on HAL (Holland America Line). We always tell people that we have no favorite cruise line really, because they all differentiate themselves by a collection of little things. One of the little things HAL does is that they allow you to stay in your stateroom as long as you like on dis-embarkation day, even after your number/color is called for leaving the ship. The other nice little difference on HAL is that they will still deliver you a room service breakfast on the day of dis-embarkation. Most other cruise lines have no room service on the last day. A difference of much larger proportion is the HAL beds, I think the matress on our bed was about 16 inches thick and perhaps the most comfortable of any of the cruise lines!

By 8:30AM, our number (one of the last) was called so Peg and I began to leave our sureal European experience. The airport Marriot in Barcelona was more efficient than expected upon arrival on the dock with their shuttle driver waiting for us / our luggage right outside the terminal (holding up a sign so we could find him). For 10 Euro each, the driver was bussing people to the Marriot by the airport (BCN). We dumped our bags in our tiny European hotel room (which had no normal electrical outlets for anything) and was about 1/3 the size of a normal hotel room.

Peg and I jumped on a free shuttle to the city center in Barcelona. The driver left us at Plaza Espanya (sort of in the middle of things). Ironically I was telling Peg how fun it was in London to take a double decker Red bus around the city when one of these busses pulled right up. We thought it would be a great way to see all of Barcelona by jumping on the Orange line for the east side of town and then transfer to the green line for the west side. I got some great pictures of churches and other architectural marvels including some of the facilities used for the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona. We walked down the Las Ramblas area where everything seems to be happening in the city except being Sunday, most businesses were closed. It was odd to see so many stores and shopping centers completely closed because it was Sunday! After shooting pictures all day we ended up in a small cafe enjoying some of the local wine and food (pizza and payeia....a seasoned rice dish filled with seafood in this case). After we had our dinner, we headed back to the main plaza and found hoards of people heading up to the local stadium for a footbal game (these people are more passionate about soccer than Amercians are about the NFL). We were amazed at all the people. In the midst of it all was a large group of young people dressed in goth / completely black clothing and weird wigs. We could not for the life of us figure out what these demonstrators were trying to say or what their point was. Even the locals looked at them weird.

We caught our shuttle back to the airport hotel and were now totally exhausted. I felt especially worn out just thinking about the 4:00AM wake up call for the 6:55AM flight to Paris and then the change of terminals / more security checkpoints / more passport station checks / topped off by our 8 1/2 hour flight to Chicago where we would fly ahead of the sun all day. Right now we are decending into the Chicago area and the local time is 12PM Non. My watch says 7:00PM still. As we fly over Lake Michigan, the monitor on the seat back in front of me says we have now travelled 4,082 miles since leaving Paris this morning, and we have about 60 miles to go!

We are definitely back in reality now.

Next Stop.....The Eastern Coast of Spain, Wake Me When We Are There

We sailed away from Italy Friday night traveling just north of of the island of Corsica. I have no idea what is there but I did notice a huge ferry in Livorno taking people and cars to and from Corsica. It is a large island just off the coast of Italy about 20-30 miles or so. I didn't know this of course until one day Peg and I were checking out the world map books on display in the ships' library. They had a special table set up for these giant world map books with two of them open all the time across the table for people to view. The books were 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide!

Saturday was sort of an odd day as cruising goes. We woke up to a day at sea as we crossed the Mediterranean heading for Barcelona, Spain. The day was odd because we were going to pull into Barcelona at 5PM that day and dock the ship for the last time of our cruise. The morning started with a special presentation of the ship crew members. No less than 300 of the crew from all walks of ship life got up on stage in the main show room as the crowd (and we) all cheered in appreciation for all that the crew had done for us in the past two weeks. The crew ended the presentation with a song about love and people from all walks of life.....and learning to get along together. The show was great and it was the crew's way of saying good bye to everyone. The theatre was packed and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that the moment was a bit emotional for everyone. It reminded me a bit about something we heard a performer say one night. It was something like, "how is it that people will come on to a ship as total strangers and make new best friends of almost everyone they encounter, but on the streets of a city....people walk by each other and wouldn't give you the time of day if you asked?". It is a strange but true observation.

After the lines were tossed and the ship was tied, many people headed into town to see Barcelona. Peg and I decided to relax and wait until Sunday morning when we actually dis-embarked the ship to go into town. We spent our final day / night on the ship going to special shows that were put together by the singers and other special entertainers of the cruise. We saw the Irish Celtic Band "Live Wire" perform once again and the tenner known as Drew Preston.... sing a few more songs. Saturday evening, just the 4 lead singers from the song and dance team performed a unique show called a tribute to Broadway. These 4 singers were perhaps the most talented we have ever seen on a ship. Each and every one of their shows was just filled with energy and spectacular performances. Saturday night was no exception. After the last show, we packed our bags, prepared for the early morning exit, and called it a day. Saturday was weird in that we sailed into the port and sort of watched our cruise come to an end....slowly but surely.

The Gateway To Tuscany

We left Rome at 8 PM Thursday and began sailing across the Tyrrhenian Sea for Livorno, Italy. By the time we woke up, the ship was already tied to the pier and people were disembarking the ship for tours to Pisa, Florence, and other spots in the Tuscan region. It seems Livorno is a gateway to Tuscany. Peg and I were too tired to take on anything real adventurous or involving additional travel today so after breakfast and getting dressed we just wandered into town and eventually came upon a tour boat operator selling rides through the canals of Livorno and telling all about the history. The boat was very much like a motorized Gondola and turned out to be fun.

This was a pretty low key activity so we paid the 10 Euros each and went along for the ride. I thought of it as a vacation from our vacation. The waterway took us all through the town and the guide told us all about the various buildings and the history behind them (including stories about which structures were damaged in the war and how some structures were never repaired...see the cracks in the walls of the fortress built to protect the town from the sea). It was a very relaxing day and we spent the entire afternoon back on the ship.

We later learned that while the taxi/tour operators wanted 100 Euros and more to drive the 15 miles to Pisa, one could hop on a local bus to the train station (bus #1 at the town square in Livorno) and the train woulld take you to Pisa, Florence, and back all for about 9 Euro.

Our french friend we met on board named Suresh did this with his wife Veronia and said it was very easy...and they had lots of fun. They got off the train in Pisa and went by the tower for a while, only then to re-board a later train that took them on an additional one hour ride through Tuscany to Florence. Suresh said the cathedral in Florence was absolutely amazing. I had no idea the train to Pisa was as easy to take as the one going to Rome (just a different direction). We did hear later in the evening tht some of the people who did the shore excursion through the cruise line did pay a lot for it and also had no idea it could have been done so much cheaper by train. In reading about Pisa, I found out that there has been some excavation work done at the base of it so the tower is actually leaning a little less these days (about 5" less). Engineers have excavated the base of the tower in such a way that they hope the base will continue to move and the tower itself will right itself by about another 15 inches! It did occurr to me that if the tower stops leaning all together, Pisa may not get all the tourists there to come and see it!

While we did miss Florence and Pisa, we enjoyed just hanging out on the ship for a day of relaxation. The people who did make it all the way to Florence (about 1.5 hours from the port) all seemed to just love it. Florence and Pisa are for sure on our list of future things to do, but it sounds like taking the train is the ticket!

We left Livorno by slowly pulling away from the dock and turning the ship towards Spain. Looking at the port made us realize that visitng the country of Italy was a sureal experience. Having only been there for the first time in our lives, who could say whether we would ever be back again? Of course we would love to return, but life truely is like a box of chocolates.

If we ever do return, I want to go back to the Straights of Messina and this time stop there to see the town. I talked to a crew member who has been sailing the Meditteranean Sea for 7 years now, he told me the stop in Messina on the island of Siciliy is his favorite place amongst them all.