October 26, 2009 -- Kathleen Leaves for California

As Kathleen did earlier in the day, the sun leaves Leech Lake in the western sky

At 10:00 a.m. this morning the temperature is 36 degrees, the sky is overcast and gray and the wind is out of the WNW at 8-10 mph.

Kathleen and I left the house at 10:35 a.m. to take her to the airport. I had the boat in-tow behind the truck. The truck thermometer read 39 degrees. We had a nice drive into Bemidji, but it was hard dropping off Kathleen at the airport and saying goodbye. I will, however, see her in three days in California. But we would both have preferred to stay here at Leech Lake for several weeks, or months, longer.

After saying goodbye to Kathleen, I drove from the Bemidji airport to Corner Sports to drop off my boat for winter storage. My goodness, how many goodbyes can a guy do in one day? Mike at Corner Sports told me that they would repaired the cracked dash area -- apparently the 2005-06 Lunds had problems with them cracking -- as well as winterize the boat, fix the gas vent cover and do a computer check on the Mercury Verado motor.

I left my wife and boat behind in Bemidji and drove back out to the lake. I got home at 2:15 p.m. under mostly cloudy, gray skies, a SSW wind at 8-10 mph and a temperature of 40 degrees.

At 5:00 p.m. I walked over to the cabin to make the beds and clean out the refrigerator. With those chores complete I took my daily 2-mile walk down to Paulsen's and back.

On my way back I again stopped at the cabin this time to remove the power cord that runs from the electrical outlet on shore out to the end of the dock to power the electric motor for the boat lift. I got that stowed in the garage then gathered up some firewood so I could have a fire in the fireplace tonight.

At 6:10 p.m., under partly cloudy skies and a temperature of 37 degrees, I walked out onto the end of the dock to enjoy the sunset. While I was out there I lowered the US flag for the season. It's in pretty bad shape after two years of Northwoods weather, so next year I'll get a new one and burn this old one in one of our camp fires at the cabin.

I had some salad for dinner, had a fire in the fireplace, listened to music and read the paper before going to bed. I'm trying to enjoy every last minute I have here at Leech Lake.