Fishing heaven...

Kramer's bachelor party in the great Northwoods was a rousing success, and I am hoping that we'll have a cd full of pictures soon. In the meantime, Brandon sent me a couple of pictures that I'll include of the 33 inch northern I caught. The weather was stormy, but the houseboat and captain (Justin's dad Rich) were true and we had an unbelievable time. The weather broke enough on the second day to see some sun, and then have a feast of a fish fry (my attempt at alliteration). Seriously, I might have eaten more fish in one week to equal the amount I have eaten in my whole life...it was that good. We saw a ton of Minnesota loons, eagles, and even a deer swam up to our small island where we docked the boat at night (This was initially a major issue because several of us rookies assumed that by renting a houseboat we would just float in the middle of the lake at night and drift off to sleep...umm, no. That sounds real nice and idyllic until you realized that there would be whitecaps busting against the boat at night and we would have rocked endlessly. Instead, we docked at night in a quiet cove off of one of the hundreds of islands and slept peacefully. At least, those of us who didn't get up at 4am every morning to go fish some more slept peacefully. Good call, Kramer).

Anyway, the trip was amazing...it was so good to have my fishing fix and it was a ton of fun to catch up with a lot of old friends. Overall, a great way to celebrate his upcoming nuptials. And everyone caught fish...walleye, small mouth bass, northern, even muskie. I am traveling again for work this week before heading back to Missouri for Festivus, so time is short. But I look forward to updating more pictures and then doing some additional fishing back on Uncle David's pond. :-)

Fishing in Canada...

Rebecca was nice enough to send along this photo of my dad so that I could include it, I believe the caption to the picture is "Bragging Rights." I've seen it before, but it's perfect.

I'm on my way to Portland, then to Seattle, and then Minneapolis, and finally I arrive in the Boundary Waters on Wednesday afternoon. Wish me luck!

Fishing-palooza

Okay, so next week is the big trip to International Falls, MN to go fishing on a houseboat for 3 days...how cool is that? It will be cold, and probably a little windy, but a once in a lifetime trip to the great northwoods to fish and explore the Boundary Waters. As I have been packing and preparing for the trip, I couldn't be happier...one of the greatest benefits so far, other than catching up with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in awhile, has been a little unusual. And I mean that in a good way. :-)

So, everyone knows that my Dad was a huge fisherman, although this particular gene didn't get handed down to me. I like fishing, but I don't have the same passion that was there for my father. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I went...ice fishing in Missouri, perhaps? Anyway, the coolest thing has been happening lately...I have been dreaming about fishing A LOT. And everytime I do, my Dad has been in the dreams with me. I have really fond memories of family trips to Canada to go fishing for walleye, and hanging out in a cabin in the woods for a week. One week, I went fishing everyday and didn't catch a thing but I still had a great time (although I think I complained a lot, but hey! I was eleven). But even though I have all these fun memories, they haven't really come up until I have been dreaming about fishing in the great white north. And my Dad is there guiding my cast, or joking about the whopper that got away, or frying up the catch from the day for dinner as we all sit around and play cards. By participating in something that my Dad loved, he has come back to me in a vivid way. Now, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of my father (especially now that I am a sales manager on the road like he had been for awhile, very ironic), but any time I can wake up in the morning and savor a little more of him...it's a great day. I still miss him so much, but the pain subsides for just a little while, and I'll take whatever I can get.

Who knows, maybe I'll get out the golf clubs next weekend... :-)

Where in the world is International Falls, Minnesota?

Real quick, I am including a map link of the location where I will be fishing next week...I am super stoked that I'm attending a bachelor party 3-day fishing extravaganza up near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. Evidently, the ice just melted off the lake a couple of weeks ago. A group of 7 of us are renting a houseboat for a couple of days, and seeing who can catch the biggest fish. Sadly, I know this will not be me...but I will hold my own in the cribbage tournament. Check this out, and I will add more later :-)

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/upload/RendezvousMap2006.pdf

On the road again, and Wal-Mart is bad for your health...

I am starting to get used to traveling every week, either for my job or just for fun. I always have traveled as much as possible for family, concerts, and vacations...but now that I'm on the road a lot for work it seems I am never home. Which means I haven't been updating the blog much. Or really at all. So I have a new pledge to blogging more often...which also coincides with my new workout regime. We'll see if one of these new ventures prevails, or if they will somehow cancel each other out leaving me back where I started (it's too optimistic to believe that both these new habits will stick, I am a realist).

The good thing about traveling in Oregon is that the scenery is amazing...I hope that I never take it for granted. There are certain beautiful spots I have visited in Colorado, Belize, and Norway that I will never forget, but I am discovering more about Oregon every day and loving it. And I haven't even been to a lot of the lighthouses or Crater Lake just yet...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24831118/

Please also visit the link above to read about the little girl who decided to go shopping at Wal-Mart the other day, only to have the gates of hell open and present her with a scorpion instead. Of course, the scorpion bit her. If you mess with the devil, you're going to get burned. It reminded me of "Clash of the Titans" where Harry Hamlin has to fight off the scorpions before cutting off the head of Medusa. This was, of course, before he learned how to cha-cha on Dancing With the Stars.

Are you kidding me? Words don't matter?

I'm sorry, but I'm going to get on my soapbox for a moment. I have been exceedingly frustrated by the argument made by Hillary Clinton's campaign for president that words and speeches don't matter. She has backed off this claim trying to frame the debate slightly different, and here is a clip of a recent speech:

"Tonight I want to talk to you about the choice you have in this election and why that choice matters. It is about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work, on hard work to get America back to work. That's our goal!" Hillary Clinton

Well, I'm here to tell you that words do matter, contrary to this argument laid before us. That's a ridiculous claim, and it only goes to reveal the shortsightedness of Hillary's campaign. And I won't even get into the fact that she spent $35 million dollars of her campaign on advisors who came up with this defense. Stating that words don't matter...speeches don't matter, is like saying music doesn't matter. Poetry doesn't matter. Language doesn't matter. I take grave offense to that, because I feel truly in my heart that words DO INDEED matter. Words may not mean much to our current president, who has callously tossed out phrases such as "axis of evil" not fully understanding the worldwide implications of such a statement. But words, speeches, and language do matter to people, and they especially matter when you are speaking to the uninspired. Because that's what America has been for quite some time...uninspired. And one of the reasons I can say that I feel inspired at the moment doesn't have to do with a policy stance. It doesn't have to do with an ad campaign. It doesn't have to do with right or wrong. It has to do entirely with words...and the hope, the faith, the unity that come from the language of this current political debate. These are the feelings that people should feel when they enter the political realm, but have sadly forgotten over the last 30 years. Words and language inspire the uninspired...and get people working for the common good that until recently have wallowed in sarcasm, apathy, and self-pity. The divisiveness that has plagued our country and our politics over the last several decades has only driven us further apart and left us feeling impotent about our future. And that has been unfortunate, because human beings are capable of so much more when we work together. Why do people say "I'm only human" when they are speaking about our failures and mistakes? Why don't they repeat that phrase when they witness an act of unbelievable kindness, or something that elevates us all? Because I believe we have lowered our standards. But no longer. It's time for us to raise our standards again...believe in the common good...and strive toward the unity we have been sorely lacking. Words, language, and speeches do indeed matter. Not only for their impact on the human spirit, but also on the will to create a better world for ourselves and our neighbors. Isn't that something we can all agree on? Let's work together for a change instead of against each other. It's the least we can do...we're only human.

Michael

Where's the camera?

Well, it's almost Valentine's Day and I have not yet unpacked and/or located my digital camera. And that's a shame because there have been some gorgeous days of sun here in Oregon puncuating the typical gloomy overcast days and I've only taken pictures with my camera phone. However, I did receive some Christmas pictures from Auntie Beccar which I will add to the blog. And at some point I would love to add some pictures from the Super Bowl weekend festivities in Phoenix. Kramer, Chrissy, and I had an amazing time hanging out with Jason, Dana, and all the Russells in Arizona for a couple of days. Sitting by the fire, roasting Smores and listening to the Wyclef concert in the background...good times. And the excursion to the Superstition mountains was cool...in the famous words of Big Worm: "What's the difference between a rental car and a 4x4? Nothing."