Getting ready for the winter

Well last night we turned the clocks back an hour to go off DST. This time of the year is when you know that winter is just around the corner. It gets dark at 5:30 pm, so you really can not do anything outside after supper any more. The colors have pretty much faded, and the leaves are falling to the ground. I guess since I have lived in Wisconsin all my life I am used to the changes. With the wood shed full and most of the things outside that need to be winterized done,I now start looking ahead to X country sking and ice fishing. I feel it will be a few weeks yet before we see any major snowfalls. I have seen a few bucks with their horns on and out of velvet, new scrapes are becoming a common sight. The birds have been flocking up to go south for the winter. We are drywalling at the Habitat house, if all goes well the family will be moved in for Thanksgiving. It has been a lot of hard work but the end result is well worth it. In the hard times that we are in this is something that brings joy to my heart. Well until next time, live life to the fullest,but take some time to look around. Life is too short to do it any other way.

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

Well since my last post a lot has happened in my world. I took an online course for a builders licence in the state of Wisconsin. We needed it to build our next Habitat house. Took the test and passed. We started the house number 12 on September 14th and this weekend they put the windows in and started on siding. We went from a hole in the ground to under roof in 14 days. As I have been driving to and fron the job site, I have been watching the fall colors begin their ramp up to peak. I have worked in the woods as time permits getting the wood shed filled and taking care of winterizing camp. Last week the temps started to drop and now it really feels like fall. On Sept 25-27 the Bay- Lakes Council Boy Scouts of America and other councils celebrated the cenntenial of scouting with the Great Lakes Cenntenial Jamboree at the EAA grounds in Oshkosh, Wi. The attendence was 10,144 scouts and scouters from 23 councils, from as far away as St Louis, Mo. A good time was had by all. They are talking temps back up to the 50s by the end of the week. Tomorrow there is talk of rain/snow in the forcast. I spent all day out in the sunshine and fresh air with the chain saw and splitter making firewood. Now I am enjoying the fruits of my labors by sitting in the recliner in front of the fireplace with a cup of green tea. Life does not get much better than this. I feel so alive. Tired, sore but alive. Until my next post ENJOY!!

Settling into Fall

Ah Labor Day,
I spent the evening just before sunset paddling the canoe around Big Twin Lake. The summer people have gone home for the week ahead. The quiet on the lake is so serene. A few fisherman, the geese and a neighbor or two. Cooked out on the grill,belly full so life is good. I see some of the trees starting to show their fall colors. I am putting wood in the shed like a squirrel gathing nuts,knowing well of the cold to come. I am starting to get the urge to build fires in the fireplace and sit in the easy chair in the living room with the paper or a good book. Cool evenings and mornings have really become the norm. I really enjoy waking up in the morning and sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee to think about what the day will bring. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place. Wish you were here.

Well,with the coming of Labor Day weekend thoughts turn back to school and where has the summer gone. I have been building a wood shed for the last week. The last three nights have dropped down into the low 40s. Can smell the wood smoke in the air from the neighbors stoves and fireplaces. Have been picking blackberries, rasberries and putting up produce for over the winter. Driving down the road the other day I saw the first maple turning. So I have to believe that Fall is truely on the way. Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons. I wake up in the morning to mist hanging over the hollows and cool sweet air. I have spent the last 3 days beginning to fill that wood shed. Out in the sunshine and the woods. The deer, geese, ducks are all beginning to get ready for the winter ahead. Fall reminds me to slow down and take a breath. In the coming weeks the color show will begin anew. So take time out of a busy life and slow down awhile in the Fall.

Life since Bay View HS

Hello to all. This first post is for all the people I have not seen or talked to since BVHS. I was driving a school bus for Joy Farm and delivering pizzas for Pizza Man on Oakland and North Aves. I got a carpentry apprenticeship in 1975 and have been working in construction ever since. I worked for Chicago and Northwestern Railroad for 10 yrs as a Bridge and Building carpenter. In 1977 I fell in love and got married, we had a daughter who just turned 31 in July. We ended up getting divorced in 1980. About a year later I fell in love again, But this time we just lived together. We also had a daughter who will be 28 in November. With this realtionship we moved out of Milwaukee to Pipe, Wi on the east side of Lake Winnabago. I have not lived in Milwaukee since. The person I was with wanted to better herself, she was tired of dead end jobs for low pay. She decided to go back to college so we ended up separating. We are still good friends today. I was on a traveling crew for the Railroad after that. I moved to the Wautoma, Wi area because I had alot of friends and family in this area. In time a lady that I was dating from the Pipe area moved in together. We are still together to this day. We have two sons together. Steve is 21 and Dean James or DJ is 9 going to be 10 in October. We moved to Sheboygan for 9 yrs, then decieded to buy a house in Neshkoro south of Wautoma. We lived there for four years. In 2002 I was offered the position as a caretaker for this camp I live at now. When we first moved here the job was not a payed position, we got our housing, electric, heat furnished as part of the job. So I went to work for a Heating and Air conditioning, Refrigeration contractor in Waupaca,Wi. In mid 2005 they made my position a full time Ranger's job. I love doing this type of work. I have alot of freedom here that I would not have in other jobs. Also I carried with me a lot of "Demons" with me from that stage crew accident in school, I was pretty messed up mentally. In 2000 in finally did some thing about it. Life has been real good since then. Before that it had been quite the roller coaster ride. So there you have it, maybe more than you wanted to know, but I don't hide things anymore because it just screws things up.