Ramble with Storm: Curiosities on ice & Bears vs Packers

Mulling things on my morning ramble with Storm, our family’s mixed Lab.

An old 4-wheel drive Scout or Jeep came along the west side of the north old clay pit, then went down the faint path through a small ravine.

And I thought, “There’s somebody who wants to get stuck.”

But he made it up the other side and out on the cornfield to the north. Then turned around. Soon a 4-wheel drive pickup joined him. The pickup driver had the sense not to try driving the ravine.

Now my curiosity was up.

Were they ice fishermen who wanted to fish the north end? I doubted that. It would have been easy to park on the south side of the north pit and walk across.

So I guessed goose hunters who wanted to set up in the cornfield to catch the Canada geese on the lake to the west, who were raising quite a racket, coming out to feed.

But it seemed late to be setting up for that. While they were putzing around, I was taking the photo of the sunrise above.

The mysteries did not stop there. The meathead and I took a stroll along on the ice on the south shoreline of the north pit.

I noticed somebody or several ice fishermen had made a noticeable track out to holes in the middle of the north.

Another curiosity. Why?

The north pit is basically a relatively shallow bowl, granted bigger than the south pit, but a shallow bowl all the same.

A buddy and I visually mapped both pits in his cartopper boat a while back. There is nothing particularly interesting in the bowl of the north pit.

Ice fishermen tend to know there business, so I wondered if they sunk a crappie set earlier this year in the middle of the north pit, figuring nobody would get to it.

Hmmm. That’s my guess.

The curiosities began early this morning. Or should that be later than usual?

Setting out, later than usual near dawn, a gray squirrel ran along the branches of the neighbor’s gnarled old elm. Another squirrel ran around a street over.

Busy morning.

Then came the hubbub of the 4-wheel drives.

Storm wanted to shortcut across the south end of the south pit, so we did. And I checked out fresh holes from yesterday afternoon or evening.

I know they are fresh because I had our two youngest kids out yesterday on an adventure walking around both pits and on the ice and the holes were not there then.

Thinking about coming back to drill those holes out, which are in a likely place to catch fish on the edge of deep water, later today when it pushes 50 degrees.

Beautiful morning.

Shaping up to be a beautiful weekend with the Bears and Packers coming on about the time that winter makes its return late Sunday afternoon.

Back home, a flock of small birds flushed from below our feeders.