June 29,2012 -- At Leech Lake

This morning Jayden came into our bedroom and woke up Kathleen and me sooner than we would have liked. As it turns out he was on a mission. My father, who along with my mother were set to leave for home in the Chicagoland area this morning, was waiting for us in the kitchen. He was there to tell us that sometime during the night, my mother rolled out of bed hitting her head on a chair and hurting her rib cage, and was currently lying in bed in some degree of pain.

Kathleen and I quickly got dressed and hurried over to the cabin where my parents are staying. My mother had a black eye and was holding onto her ribs in pain. Kathleen sprung into action getting ice packs made, giving my mother some pain medication and calling the hospital in Bemidji to see if we needed an appointment to have a doctor see my Mom.

We managed to get my Mom dressed, out the back door of the cabin and loaded into the car. I then drove her, me and my Dad into town to get her checked out at the Emergency Room (which was the hospital's recommendation).

Since Kathleen and I had planned to take Ashley, Melissa and Jayden down to St. Cloud today so a) the kids could see Kathleen's Mom and b) we could get Ashley to the airport by 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, plans had to be changed. Kathleen pushed Ashley's flight back to California out a week, called her family in St. Cloud to alert them to the change in plans and then start looking into alternate flights for herself; she was set to fly back to San Jose mid next week.

In the meantime, I got my Mom to the hospital where she was checked out -- including an X-ray -- and was found to have a badly bruised rib cage and black eye, but that nothing was broken or otherwise damaged. Good news. From the hospital, my parents and I went out to lunch since none of us had eaten before leaving the house this morning. Kathleen, in an effort to keep a promise to take Ashley and Melissa shopping, drove into Walker on the south side of Leech Lake for a day of fun. Dramatic change in plans, but all things considered, things worked out.

As for the weather today, it was another hot day in the Northwoods. The temperature at the lake inched up all day long to reach a high of 82 degrees, although it was nearly 90 degrees in Bemidji. The sky was mostly sunny with some high wispy clouds and the wind was blowing out of the WNW at speeds ranging from 10-20 mph. By the time we had returned from our Bemidji hospital trip, the wind was such that it was just a bit to rough on the lake for me to go fishing. And with Kathleen and the kids still in Walker, I decided it was best to stay on shore in case my Mom (and Dad) needed any assistance.
--------------
Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley and Jayden got home from their trip into town around 7:00 p.m. The temperature had climbed all day and was 82 degrees when I got dinner started. I had picked up a couple of pizzas from Great River Pizzeria on the way home from Bemidji. We all enjoyed Friday night pizza at the lake.

The cool breeze that had been blowing eventually calmed leaving the lake nearly still. My Mom, Kathleen, Melissa, Ashley, Jayden and I all sat out on the end of the dock and watched the sunset. My Dad, who was up most of the night worrying about my Mom, was tired and went to bed early.

Once the sun was down, the mosquitoes came out so we retreated indoors. My Mom, also tired, went back to the cabin to go to sleep. Kathleen called it a day early, while I stayed up a bit and read the paper.

It surely was an eventful day, with a trip to the Emergency Room and significantly altered plans, but all in all, things ended up OK. My mother was not seriously injured and we all enjoying an additional day at Leech Lake. Good night.