New Dummy In Northeast Wisconsin - 08/15/17 11:30 PM
My Dad's folks bought the property up north with the five acre pond in the late 40's. They spent their retirement living there. Then Dad spent his retirement years there. They've all moved on to the next life and left it to my brother and I. We're grateful for it and thank them for our little slice of heaven on earth. The pond has given us fond memories over our entire lives. Swimming, catching frogs, fishing, first rides on snowmobiles in the winter. Our Grandparents great big sheepdog loved to chase the Evinrude Skeeter so Gramps made a harness for him that he hooked a red plastic sled to and we got the best dogsled rides ever. Same 12' Sea King aluminum boat from the 50's is what we use to fish today, same old weathered oars too. Fishing isn't quite what it was back when we were boys but it's still good. The past year or so we've been studying the pond and behavior of it's inhabitants quite a lot. Did some work to improve conditions early this spring which appear to have been beneficial. Decades ago there was a "beach" area Gramps cleaned up for swimming along with a boat landing area that also had a clean bottom. Over the years the older folks didn't have strength or energy to maintain the pond and it has declined. The muck covered the beach and boat landing areas. Once my brother and I along with our cousins got to be driving age, got girlfriends and jobs we spent less time up north. Wasn't till our middle thirties we began to realize what we'd been missing and how the precious time was passing too quickly. Fortunately we spent valuable time with our elders and did what we could to look after them and their place. Our Dads passing from leukemia at the young age of 74 has changed the way my brother and I look at life. We spend more time up north together and make as many improvements as we can. We'll continue to do more in the hope of restoring the pond to it's former glory in the coming years while we try and relive our childhood as best we can. Gramps was like a big kid right to the end never losing his sense of wonder, Dad too. Thankfully they passed that trait on to my Brother and I. Just this past weekend I felt like a thirteen year old kid again each time my bobber went below the surface and I reeled in a fish. My Brother was smiling like a silly kid too. What better way to spend a weekend than up north with my Brother in a peaceful place we've known all our lives acting like a couple school boys catching fish. We can thank the pond, and our Dad and Grandparents who left it to us for that.