October 24, 2011 -- At Leech Lake

Today is my final full day at Leech Lake for this visit, which means most likely my final day at Leech Lake in 2011.

It was cold again this morning, 31 degrees at 9:00 a.m., but there was little to no wind. It was sunny out, but the sky was filled with high clouds. As the morning progressed, a fog or haze settled in over the lake, but by noon it had burned off as the temperature increased to 43 degrees.

John took his small boat out for about an hour, but I decided to stay inside and focus my time on cleaning the house. The fireplace had to be cleaned out and vacuumed, the floors throughout the house needed to be vacuumed, the bed linens needed to be washed, the refrigerator needed to be cleaned out, and dozens of other little chores required my attention.

About 3:00 p.m. I did meet up with John and we stored his small 14-foot boat in the garage at the cabin. I doubled checked to make sure I could easily park the truck in the garage, and there was plenty of room for the truck and the boat. John's bigger boat, or my Lund, couldn't fit in the garage while the truck was in it too, but a small boat like the "Blue Fin" fit fine.

I paced myself and did numerous chores throughout the course of the day. I also made time for a walk in the woods which evolved into a walk down to Paulsens' and back. In all, about a 3-mile trek. It felt great and I actually got a bit hot with a sweatshirt on. The temperature had risen to 45 degrees, there was no wind or even breeze, and it was sunny despite some very high, wispy clouds.

About an hour before sunset I decided to take another walk in the woods. I love being here on Ottertail Peninsula, be it in our woods hiking the trails, out on Leech Lake fishing or boating, or just sitting in our living room looking at the lake. But the beauty of the sight and smell of the woods in the Fall I find particularly enjoyable.

I tried to keep things simple and finish off the little food I have left rather than make a big dinner. I still have a few more areas to clean, but I'll attend to those in the morning.

As for this blog, this will be my final post that chronicles this visit. Normally I like to make one final post on the day I'm leaving, but tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Lake Country Power will be shutting off the electricity to this area so they can perform some routine maintenance, which means that most of the time leading up to my departure -- at 11:15 a.m. -- will be spent with no power. What little time I do have left with electricity will be spent closing up the house and cabin, such as setting the thermostats, the security alarms, shutting off the well pump, etc.

So let me say goodnight and goodbye from Leech Lake. I'm sure I'll write some follow-up posts with some of the pictures I took during this visit, but I won't be writing from the shores of Leech Lake until sometime next year; most likely around Walleye Opener in May.

So long...