Yeah, I didn't get around to laying the floor 'til spring. Too much else to do and I was bone tired. Finished the walls and did the moldings with pine poles I'd cut and peeled. Threw 'em in the pickup and had Roy quarter and dry them down at the mill. Said he'd never seen the likes of using skinny logs as moldings but said they'd work just fine. I figured since there was already a tree standing in the middle of the cabin, why not make a forest? They weren't perfect as far as moldings go but the way they looked more than made up for a little gap here and there.
Ted and I did get in a canoe trip. Sure wasn't what I'd expected but I did get a couple of bags of wild rice out of the deal. Seems the ricing was late last fall and Ted was able to catch the tail end if it. Helped that he was Ojibwe. Had relatives over in Bena on the Leech Lake Reservation who knew where we could still find some to harvest. Most years Ted helps with ricing but things had been hectic up at the mill. Left him standing in the rear of a canoe with a long pole in his hand and the short end of the stick as to the rice. Up ahead he had a rookie kneeling in the middle of the canoe batting rice off the golden stalks. Ted said on a good day we could've had three, maybe four hundred pounds of the stuff by day's end. This year our day and a half yielded less than half that. But it was enough. Parched and winnowed, Ted got plenty to last him and his family the winter. Now all I had to do was figure out how to cook it. A moment's thought told me my old buddy butter might come in handy. Butter's good.
Our fishing trip wasn't long as far as miles go. The hard part came on the first day. Crossing big Lake Saganaga at the end of the Gunflint Trail was a bear. The wind was near roaring. Spent most of the first day sitting on our backsides waiting for a let-up. Mid-afternoon we got our break but lacked enough daylight to complete the crossing. Didn't even set up the tent that night. Ted said I was a candy-ass for blowing up my air mattress but it sure beat sleeping on rocks. Slept under the stars in our bags with a tarp thrown over to keep the dew off. For the rest of the trip we used the tarp as a lean-to in place of a tent. Chilly at night but chilly kept the bugs away. I figured they'd flown south to Okeechobee in Florida to await my arrival.
The portage from Cache Bay on Saganaga's Canadian shore took us around Silver Falls. Wasn't a long carry but made up for it with a treacherous, rock strewn path. Falls was beautiful as was the walleye fishing below. Saganagons is also a big lake. Not huge like its sister to the south, but big enough to have big fish. Ted and I boated our share and then some.
Was nice to sit in the bow seat for a change. Got to see fresh water first and caught so many walleyes over five pounds my arms got tired. Ted, being a man with an eye to the future, never let us keep more than we could eat. Fine with me. Most we ate were landed from our campsite. We'd catch 'em, Ted'd filet 'em and I'd fry 'em up. Good food and lots of it. All fresh except for my bannock. Ted said he'd had better, or at least figured he had as he couldn't remember when that was. Maybe when he was a kid and it was his grandma's. Took that as a compliment. As I did his moaning when he set to a buttered slab.
We spent a week on the lake. Ted said he wouldn't leave 'til we spent at least half a day trolling for lake trout along a reef he knew of. Took it slow and long-lined big red and white spoons. Would have used silver but didn't have any. As it was we did fine. Tired of being out fished on walleyes, Ted hooked up with a laker close to forty inches. Thought it'd pull the canoe under should his drag stick. Ten minutes of bent rod cranking would get 'er to the surface. Then she'd turn tail and dive straight down. Did that five or six times like a twenty-five pound yoyo before it was fagged out enough to paddle measure it.
Early in October the boys from the mill paid me a visit to see how the cabin was coming. They brought along a couple of sacks of donuts, I fired up some fresh coffee and we sat on the floor. Outside of two camp chairs, planks and saw horses, I was without furniture. Guess I needed to go shopping. And I eventually did. Bought a couple of modern style, Swedish armchairs, four table chairs to go with the table I built and, dear Lord, a real mattress. Made a bed frame out of lumber scraps. Ain't pretty but'll do 'til I make something nice.
Continued to cook on the Coleman, read by kerosene lamps and eventually learned to bake with the Franklin stove. When cold weather moved in, water became a problem. Figuring the pump would eventually freeze up I kept five milk cans filled. When the real cold set in I made runs to town to fill them. Life in the northland.
Come spring I need to build a shed, maybe a carport for the truck. Inside there's shelves to build, a few kitchen cabinets and some kind of closet. Maybe a bumpout for a bathroom and kitchen sink when the electric comes in. Also considering building a window seat I can use as a bed up in the Lookout. Though I like the whole building, life's best up above. Even saw a moose the other day. You'd think up here off any kind of civilized road to speak of there'd be animals everywhere. And there are. Just that it's rare to see them. I've found tracks and scat, all over. Coons, fox, porcupines, bear, bobcat, deer, possibly a wolf. But see any? Maybe they're invisible? Maybe I'm not paying attention or am too easily seen myself. That's what the Lookout's for. Up there in the cat bird seat I can see without being seen.
When I started, the idea was to get everything perfect. Square, plumb, level and every joint tight. Came close on all counts though none was dead on. But she doesn't ship a drop, all the doors and windows work and a marble laid on the floor will stay put. What more could I want? Oh yeah, the stove keeps the place toasty cold on evenings so long as I keep it stoked up.
As you can see there's lots to do. By next fall I should have most of it tied up. Or I won't. Should I have electricity next year, I'll try wintering over. Or go to Hawaii and learn to eat poi. Can't be any worse than ludefisk.
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