Tuesday, Aug 10

It's been a few weeks since my last post....I got back Saturday night from a Canadian fishing trip. Three friends and I drove to Armstong, Ontario and flew to a remote lake from there. A week in the wilderness - very relaxing and a great opportunity to reflect. The 4 of us started with a few other guys in 1982 going canoeing in the Boundary Waters and Quetico. After about 10 years we started flying into remote outposts and have been going farther north each year. Sitting up there with the boys makes me realize that friendships like that are rare - nobody gets in each other's way, everyone takes turns with the dishes, cooking, etc. It was an outstanding week, as it is every year we go. We figured that we have gone north 22 of the last 28 years. That is a nice tradition to maintain. Last year we didn't go - I was fairly new to this job, and had no vacation or no money to go. Still have no money, but I scraped together my nickels and charged the rest. It is amazing what a trip like that does to your outlook - you definitely come back a better person, and like they say, the time spent fishing is not deducted from your time on this earth.
It was interesting talking to the outfitter and hearing how the slow economy has affected him. He said he has clients that just don't show up for their trip, and forfeit their deposits. His bookings are down in general. The discretionary dollars are the first to be cut.
So, it's day 2 back at work. getting back into the work routine and the discipline of the day. Good to have a job to come back to.
Hard to believe the summer is winding down.