Grouse Hollow Journal for the week of
May 15, 2014 by Greg Koelker
I just got in from picking up
night crawlers - before breakfast. Last night's .4 inches of rain
left them stranded on the driveway and road out front by the dozens;
I actually worked up a sweat (maybe the humidity had something to do
with it). The real reason I was up so early was because El and I got
up to see Ben off. He was heading back to Colorado with our other
two mountain kids, Mark and Whitney, after a whirlwind weekend of
family events.
Last week Whitney dropped out of the
sky on Tuesday and Ben and Mark drove in at 3 a.m. Friday morning.
The big event of the weekend was the 33rd anniversary of
my 29th birthday. I officially started a new chapter in
my life, or turned over a new leaf, or maybe it was a rock; anyway,
I start getting Social Security checks in a couple of weeks.
(Special inside note to my older-than-me Arizona sister-in-law Jan
Hauk: I may be old now, but I am still younger than you!) The kids
and our friend Brett Werner were here Friday afternoon and evening
for cocktails and a steak dinner. Ellen apologized for only having a
few morels - frozen from last spring, but the raspberry tort more
than made up for that. It was just great spending time with our kids
- who I haven't seen in person since last fall. Mark and Ben shared
some photos and videos of their recent adventures in the mountains.
After watching some of the Go Pro videos that Mark had from the
glacier north of the Valley of the Tusk in Alaska, I won't sleep well
for awhile. I mean picture your kid jumping off a snow covered bluff
along the Mississippi only it is thousands of feet higher. He and
Whitney are off to go hiking in Nepal in the fall.
Okay, the big event of the weekend
probably wasn't my birthday. On Saturday down at Cassville, my niece
Krystle got hitched to Dustin, the love of her life - they have been
going together, so I am told, 9 years. El and I took the wedding
pictures, around a thousand of them. El started taking pictures
around 9 a.m. shooting the girls getting ready at the Upper
Mississippi Lodge on Main Street in Cassville. I did the hard stuff,
doing some shot scouting and then stopping into the Town Pump for
coffee with the owner, my high school classmate Bobby Vogt. After a
while, I went up to Nelson Dewey State Park to await the party bus
with the wedding party. To kill time, I went mushroom hunting down
over a hillside for awhile. I got a rock. I did discover broken
bottle glass in the leaves though. That is such a shame as this is a
beautiful park with fantastic views of the Mississippi River and
Stonefield Village.
While we were shooting the formal
pictures before the wedding, Krystle exclaimed, “Mushrooms!” She
had found the mother lode! Krystle and one of her bridesmaids and
Dustin waded into the brushy hillside to pick over two pounds of the
fabulous fungi. The wedding day ran the gamut of weather, going from
cool to sunny, hot, and humid to full out rain, and then back to
perfect sunshine just in time for the ceremony, held near a shelter
on top of the bluffs. The bride wore, uh, sorry, I guess I'll save
the fashion descriptions for my wedding/socialite column. The
ceremony was beautiful. After a stop at the Town Pump, we went to
the reception at J and J's Sand Bar. El and I got to see lots of old
friends and many family members, including my mom and her friend
Crane. After dinner, Ben, Mark, and Whitney left for La Crosse and
Whitney's family's campfire celebration at the Flying Horse. El and
I lasted until around 9, taking pictures to last. We learned later
that many partied well into Mother's Day.
On Mother's Day morning I'd say
mothers, living along this part of the river at least, got a gift of
a beautiful spring day. Ellen's family had a breakfast at her sister
Kathy's place (where we stayed). Ellen's brother Tom was home from
Arizona for a turkey hunt. We ate well, told stories, and took a
picture or two. Then Ellen and I headed to my brother Del's for
brunch - I have to admit that after that breakfast, all I had room
for was a Rice Krispie bar, and a cookie, and a hand full of pork,
and, well you get that picture. After that, we headed north to La
Crosse and the Flying Horse for lunch! Actually, they had held a
blessing ceremony for granddaughter Leila - Mark is her godfather.
We missed lunch, but we got to see everyone, including the little
sleeping beauty, at least, and it was just time for dessert!
The kids spent the afternoon with us
here at Grouse Hollow. Old friends Adam and Kate Remus stopped out
on their way home to Madison. We got news that Jake Sikora had found
some morels too late to go looking any more on Sunday. Ben and I
jammed a bit on the guitar. Scout needed a baby aspirin in her
supper because of all the ball retrieving she did. Before we knew
it, the weekend ended, bringing this column full circle I guess. The
kids did take some of those wedding day morels with them to fix when
they get home. They also smuggled out some Spotted Cow and cheese
curds.
Until next time, get out - El and I are
going to go out and check some trees as soon as this dark sky passes
over us, and then maybe go drown a few of those crawlers. El got me
a new soft-side tackle box, that needs filling too. First I think we
might both take a nap. Enjoy.
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