Three Months at Leech Lake

On the evening of May 10, I arrived at Leech Lake. I still remember that initial rush of joy when I first walked into our lake front house and smelled that familiar smell of the lake. There's nothing like it.

Today is August 10, meaning that I've been at the lake for three months now. It doesn't seem like I've been here three weeks, let alone three months. I've been fortunate enough to have many visitors here this summer. Kathleen has made two visits, once in late May/early June and again in late June/early July. My parents have been here, as have Tim and Sandy Coyle and their boys on two occasions. My friend Rick visited from Australia for several weeks in June. My granddaugther Ashley was here with Kathleen and I for nearly a week. And right now my son Joe is here at the lake with me.

I've also made three trips down to St. Cloud, each for several days. So my time at the lake has simply flown by.

During my stay the harbor restoration work was started and completed. All three of the out buildings at the house were painted. And too many other various maintenance chores and projects were done to even recall them all.

Of course some serious fishing was done as well. Numerous walleye were caught, most of which were released back into the lake, but several also graced our dinner table. Bass, northern pike, perch, rock bass and even a bullhead were hooked.

I visited with many of my neighbors, although most of my time with other "Leech Lakers" was spent with the Malays and Newmans.

I've taken many rides on the ATV all over Ottertail Peninsula, including one long ride up to Birch Ridge Resort to buy bait.

I've been blessed to encounter much of the wildlife that surrounds Leech Lake. I've seen eagles, loons, merganser ducks, mallards, Canadian geese, pelicans, herons, kingfishers, cormorants, orioles, finches, redwing black birds, hummingbirds, numerous types of woodpeckers, cedar waxwings, and dozens of other types of birds. I've seen mink, otters, squirrels, woodchucks, and deer. I've seen turtles, frogs, toads and snakes. The variety of wild flowers I've had the pleasure to see are too numerous to name. And of course the back drop for all of it is Leech Lake. The life source for all of the wild life in the area.

Now I'm just two weeks from returning to San Jose, a city of a million people in a region that is home to nearly 15 million. Here at Leech Lake, it's a 30 minute drive into Cass Lake, a small town of barely 800 people. It's just under an hour's drive to Bemidji, the closest "city" to Leech Lake, with it's 12,000 residents, many of which are college students at Bemidji State University.

The contrast from the remote, peaceful and relatively uninhabited area of Leech Lake to the megatropolis of the San Francisco Bay Area will be shocking. But that's one of the reasons all visitors to our "oasis on Leech Lake" love it here so much -- it's so quiet, so peaceful, so sparsely populated that one can literally go days without seeing or hearing another person. When people are here they are able to put the rest of the "real world" behind them, to let go and find an inner peace that is hard to attain when in the midst of a city. That is the true beauty of Leech Lake.

I've been very fortunate, blessed really, to have had the opportunity to be at Leech Lake for three months now. I try very hard not to take a minute of my time here for granted, or to fail to recognize the beauty that surrounds me. It will be hard to leave here, but I will forever be grateful for my time at Leech Lake.