Lessons from the good old days

This past week I was having a little problem breathing, which I attributed to congestion in my chest. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought about what to take to get some relief. I then thought about my time as a kid whenever I had congestion, my mother had a remedy. She saved old flannel sheets and when they became too worn out to use she would cut them into strips and grease my neck with Vicks or Mentholatum and wrap a strip of that sheet around my neck and secure it with a safety pin. I had some Mentholatum on hand, so I tried greasing my chest with it. It didn’t take long for me to fall back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I felt much better. I guess that some of the old remedies still work today, thanks Mom!

 

With the cabin being officially closed up for the winter, I only have to winterize the boat and put it in storage for the winter. I usually wait until November, but I don’t see me using it again this fall. I didn’t get on the water as much as I would have liked this year. I still consider this a very good year because I got to go up north with both of my sons. My oldest grandson, Trevor took me and his dad to Lake Superior fishing for Lake Trout. I caught my first and second one on that trip which I can now cross off of my bucket list.

 

I would consider the year a very good one. Trevor took me out fishing a few times this summer and that really made me feel great. Not only that, but I actually caught some fish. We fished a few area lakes this summer and had good luck on all of them. We fished Beaver, St. Olaf, Fountain and Albert Lea Lakes and caught fish on all of them.

 

To Trevor, it is more about the catching than the keeping. He keeps what he will eat fresh out of the lake and doesn’t like to freeze them.

 

I can remember going up north and catching fish, putting them in milk cartons and freezing them. The next spring I would usually find one of those cartons in the bottom of the freezer that I had forgotten about. I don’t let that happen anymore. Eating fish fresh out of the water is the best.

 

Until next time: Myre-Big Island State Park wastewater system rehabilitation for park and campground infrastructure (October 2025) (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/get-out-more/modernizing-camping.ht...)

 

Project design is complete on the capital investment project that will connect the park to the City of Albert Lea’s wastewater treatment system. Construction will begin in 2026, and the project is expected to be complete in late 2026 or early 2027. In addition to collaborating with the City of Albert Lea, DNR staff worked closely with Dakota Tribal Historic Preservation Officers to ensure design plans are appropriate given the cultural significance of Big Island to the Dakota community.

 

Please take the time to remember our troops that are serving now and those that have served before them. They are the reason that we have all of the Freedoms that we enjoy today.