Happy Halloween

Here's little Lindsey's first Holloween costume. Her parents brought her and her brother Kyle, pictured below as a Ninja Turtle, to see me before I left town because they knew I'd be gone over Holloween.

I especially like the tab on top of his head (the thing it hung on the rack from).

Fishing in Alabama

Yesterday I had the privilege of going fishing with Steve Davis. Jerry Katz arranged it (trying to reduce his guilt for not taking me to the Talladega race that he's promised me for several years).

It started out by me driving twenty minutes to met Steve at 4:30 am. It was very dark and very windy. I was a little apprehensive.

Steve had drove down to Opelika the night before to meet me. I later found out that he was actually checking me out to see if he wanted to waste a whole day fishing with "a girl from Minnesota that says she can bass fish". Evidently that sounded a little to far fetched for him. But I passed inspection when I answered a few key questions correctly (I don't even remember answering any fishing questions but I guess I did).

I met Steve at the Waffle King (right next door to the Waffle House...they sure do like their waffles). He bought me breakfast. He refused to let me pay. Super nice guy! Then we went to his house (another fifteen minutes) to drop off my car. Then we drove another hour to the lake.

We launched in the Harris Reservoir, also known as Lake Wedowee. It is a 24 mile stretch, 10,660 acres of back water off the Big Tallapoosa River, located on the East, Northeast border of Alabama.

We were on the water finally at 7am. The fishing started out awesome. Steve's first cast a fish blew up on. Right away I caught one on a top water buzz bait. Then another. It was just like I imagined it. The lake had dead stumps sticking out and we fished around them. The boat would hit them and scratch the sides from time to time. The wind was really blowing so we fished a lot of pockets out of it. Fishing slowed down considerably but all together we caught 17 fish. I was lucky enough to claim 12 of them. All but one largemouth were spotted bass. I had never caught one before. I had never even seen one. Some folk call them Kentucky bass. They look just like a largemouth but they have a rectangular tooth patch and a spot on their tongues. They also are a thinner, skinnier fish. They catch a lot like a smallmouth.

We didn't leave the water until 5pm. And by then the weather was sunny and bright and warm.

I will never forget this day. It was an incredible opportunity. I had so much fun. I have to thank Katz for setting it up, Sherrie Davis for borrowing me her husband for the day and providing me with a nummy, much appreciated lunch! And a big thank you to Steve who was one of the greatest guys I've ever fished with. He borrowed me his equipment, let me always have the first cast and was a true gentleman. I hope to come down here someday and convince him to take me again!

I don't know if you can see this very good or not, but there is a tree built through the roof of this house by the chimney. They just built around it. There aren't many homes on this lake. It's mostly undeveloped and beautiful. But once in a while there will be an area with homes that are obviously not your run of the mill pre-fab. They are incredible "estates".

Congratulations Grandma Sharon

My friend Sharon become a Grandma last Sunday. Here's a picture of Ryan Arlen Harris right after his birth. He weighed 6lb 9oz.


Proud parents Ryan and Pillar. Congratulations!

Alabama....what more can I say?

Here's a shot of me and Katz at 8th and Rail last night after having dinner at Cafe 123. http://www.opelika.cc/cafe123/

We dined with several folks, including Jimmy Johnson, the cartoonist of Arlos and Janis, not the race car driver. And Mr. James....... Robert T. James to be more specific, the most bizarre individual I've ever met.

Just like one might expect from the southern gentlemen of these parts, they are definitely showing me a good time here. Tomorrow night Katz has invited me to sit at his table at an event called On the Tracks. http://www.onthetracks.org/

There will be music, various food vendors with a sampling of their tasty treats, plus a beverage or two for sale. Sounds like a good time to me.

Kaylie's 5th Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated my granddaughter Kaylie's 5th birthday. She got a lot of My Little Pony stuff. The kids had a ton of temporary tattoos that they plastered all over their bodies. We had cake and ice cream, played pin the tail on the donkey and ate Tonya's nummy lazagna for dinner. The kids ran around and I got tired. Damn I'm getting old.

Kyle's last football game of the season

Here's my grandson Kyle (with the red/blue hat) during his last flag football game this past Saturday. He was really into it. I, on the other hand, was not that "in to it". It was about 30 degrees out and windy and I darn near froze to death. I think I became an animated cheerleader, just trying to stay warm.

Can you see Bambi?

Look hard ...he's there. I saw him while on a walk in Effie.


I'll zoom in to help you...............

Winter Camping in Effie

It wasn't intentional but it ended up to be a weekend of winter camping. Effie got between three and four inches of snow. The worst of it was the wind. It was around 30 miles an hour. It didn't slow us down much though. My friends Kurt and Robin built a wind break and kept the fire going. It was a fun time.

Congratulations to Grandpa Jerry Katz

My friend Jerry Katz received his first grandchild, Bryce David, at 8pm this past Saturday. Isn't he a proud Grandpa? Congratulations Jerry!

Here's my friends Sharon and Monty as we were having lunch one day last week in Reedsport. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside by the river and enjoy the sun.This is the Umpqua River that runs through Reedsport. It's an inlet from the Pacific. You pass over it's bridge on the infamous Highway 101 as you leave Reedsport heading North. The Chinook salmon (king salmon) were "running" (swimming up stream to spawn) while I was there last week.