Lake Ice

Winter weather came with December. On Thursday the 3rd it was real cold in the afternoon and I watched ice forming along the edge of the "Big Lake", by sundown we had ice as far as I could see. By Friday morning we were iced over past Goose Island.
November temperates were the third warmest on record. December is the 3rd snowiest month of the year with an average snow fall of 8.6 inches. The average temps start on December 1st at 29 degrees and by the 31st its 19 degrees.

The following is a story by CJ Fairbanks, daughter of Frieda Fairbanks who grew up out on Oak Point. The story is entitled: My Encounter with the Caretaker?

On a balmy Saturday evening, as I sat chatting with my favorite Auntie, a notion hit us, "Let's go set Net!" Setting net is a Northern Minnesota Native American Tradition. We have been doing this for centuries to supplement our food supply. We set our nets in the early dusk to avoid the boaters running around the lake. We leave the nets out all night and pick them up in the morning. But this encounter happens after we are done setting our nets.

We were forced to row out to where we drop net where we fish in the Narrows because the boat with the motor refused to be involved in our plans. As we were rowing back through the ever-darkening night we noticed a round light shining brightly over Goose Island. I pointed this out to my paddling Auntie and she said it was Venus, the first star that shines at night. I thought how smart she is to know that. "Well," I said "Auntie, the light is getting bigger and brighter." She said to "keep rowing." I told her I think it was an airplane. We kept rowing and the light kept coming closer and closer. Pretty soon it was right over us. We didn't hear a sound, just a bright light illuminating us like we were on Broadway. We quit rowing and sat in stunned silence.

From out of nowhere a huge launch came flying toward us. We were dead center in the middle of the channel. The launch was sure to hit us if we weren't under the glare of the light. Apparently, the launch saw us from afar and was able to go around us. We were alive. The caretakers light just disappeared. We don't know where it went and we didn't notice it when it disappeared. All we knew was that it saved our lives! We paddled as fast as we could to get back to shore and to this day I think about my encounter with my caretaker.

The old ones used to say that dead members of the tribe were put in the trees on Goose Island instead of being put in the ground. That is why I say caretaker, or should I say caretakers?

I enjoyed this story because it links the past to the present and it's about my local environs of the Narrows, Goose Island and Oak Point.

We went Christmas tree shopping out in the Chippewa National Forrest. For $5.00 you get a permit to cut your own tree.