2/13/12 TELLING LIES AND SHOOTING GUNS

CLEAR AND FRIGID SATURDAY MORNING

LOTS OF PRETTY COUNTRY

TOM'S CABIN

VENISON IN THE PAN AND ON THE HOOF

FRIENDS

GOING TO CHURCH SUNDAY  MORNING (SORT OF)

Monday, 8:00 AM.  16 degrees F, up from 11 an hour ago. Wind WSW, very light.  The sky is clear but the barometer predicts snow.  The channel has been freezing over at night and melting or blowing out again during the day.  The barometer predicts snow.
        Our trip to Langlade, Wisconsin to visit old friends Tom and Tim Moran, and Tom’s son Duffy was a short but very good visit filled with nostalgia, good conversation, good food and wildlife viewing.
Tom had invited us for a weekend of "telling lies and shooting guns," and we did plenty of the former but not much of the latter.
        Langlade is on the Wolf River, one of Wisconsin’s most wild and scenic, and Tom’s  place is on a small lake in the Chequamagon-Nicolet National Forest.  The drive there is about 200 miles, mostly through forest, farmland and small towns, all very pretty country.
        Saturday was cold and bright the entire trip, and Saturday night was frigid.  There was a good deal of snow along the way and at our destination, despite the mild winter, and ice fishing and snowmobile activity were evident everywhere.
        We saw eagles on Highway 51 both directions, and a number of deer at Tom’s place along with a few turkeys.  The mild winter should be a boost to all our wildlife populations.
        Tim brought a generous amount of venison, which we feasted on Saturday night, and we all went to breakfast Sunday morning in a charming converted church in White Lake, where the food was good, plentiful and inexpensive.  It was so very good to rekindle old acquaintanceships, and the weekend emphasized to me, who probably all to often mentions alcoholic beverages in this blog, that such are not at all necessary to have a good time and enjoy the company of friends.
        Buddy had, I think, the time of his life, as everyone doted on him and fed him treats until he was satiated.  He slept all the way home.  I have to say he was an enthusiastic member of the group, and comported himself extremely well, probably more so because there were a lot of very fine guns to look at and heft and he got excited every time one was picked up.  I shall be obliged to make him into a good gun dog, since he obviously has it in him.  The greater challenge will be to keep my old joints moving and my old eyes sharp enough to do so.
        Poor Joan had to content herself with several days of all male companionship, and as always she was very adept at that since, unless extremely provoked, she keeps her opinions of us guys to herself.
        I am very interested in the lawsuit being brought in federal court against the State of Nebraska and a number of brewing companies by the Ogallala Sioux Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation, but I need some time to think about the case and the social issues it represents.  We  drive through the Pine Ridge Rez when returning to Wisconsin from Denver, and are also familiar with the conry from living in Nebraska, so more on that later in the week.