October 23, 2008 -- Neighbor's Day

Today was one of those days where I seemed to encounter more of my neighbors in a single day than I had in the previous month. Maybe because it was such a beautiful Autumn day that everyone elected to be outside, and we all ran into each other in the course of our activities.

The temperature today was near 50 degrees, it was a sunny day with clear blue skies and the winds were calm. A perfect day for outside chores. And in the Northwoods of Minnesota, there is always plenty of work to be done outside.

The day started when Clancy, the man from whom we bought our Leech Lake house, stopped by. Clancy and I went into the woods across the street so I could show him the trees that our neighbor's kid cut down. While we were identifying the type of tree it was (basswood), a neighbor of mine, Noel, showed up. He is somewhat of an expert on the trees in the area and confirmed it was indeed a basswood.

I invited Noel to dinner to try some of the venison stew I made a week or so ago, then froze. I also invited another neighbor, Rome, to join us.

I spent a good portion of the day blowing leaves off of the driveway. Being outside all day was great, and gave me a chance to see other Otter Tail Peninsula neighbors -- Duane Paulsen, Jerry Schiebe, Norm Hanson and my good friend Tom Malay.

No fishing today, but a great day chatting with our Leech Lake neighbors.


The leaves on the driveway before I cleared them away.