outdoors

    Living in a small town atmosphere such as in Wealthwood Shores on the north side of Mille lacs, if you want to hear the "latest", you break into one of the daily neighborhood coffee Klatstches.  Like in most small towns, these meetings of sorts take place at either local watering holes or the kitchen table of any number of local retirees.

  Of course, talk within casting distance of a famous walleye lake tends to favor a fishing flavor. How deep and what they're biting on is the obvious nucleus of the fish talk. Who caught what and how many the day before can be a highlight for some and humbling for others. But then it can go south fast. The talk that is. Slot limits, netting, a boat moving in on someone or even ripping at an outboard maker can take over the fish talk fast. Sometimes the fish talk can be enlightning but many times nothing is solved or learned, for sure.

  I would guess, just like in Wealthwood shores, that most small town coffee Klatstches take on a seasonal flavor too. Monday mornings at this time of year are dominated by football, deer and ice. Not in any special order, depending on who has the floor first. The few seconds that pass to kill a nice buck take ten minutes of colorful details when telling the story between sips of morning brew. And the seconds it takes to "miss" a nice buck are always ten minutes of colorful adjectives, to say the least. But then the seasonal talk can go south too. From how the DNR manages the deer herd to hunting ethics and landowners rights to a gun maker who is famous for mis-firing. If that all doesn't take the cake, all the coaches at the table brag about how THEY would have done it if THEY would have been on the Viking side-lines. It's always amazing that 4th and two can be so easy the day after. Especially while re-playing it over a cup of coffee sitting in the north woods. Starting nowadays, as the high speed beef hunt wound down last week, "ice talk" is gaining priority with every new pot brewed. "When's the lake gonna freeze" echos from all. Then the reasons that play a role in early ice versus late ice factor in. Then the talk goes south. Al Gore catches heck for both early and late ice. Who usually gambles driving on early ice gets the stage as well. Stories of "so and so local"  having to come off the early ice by boat in years past always come into play. Shoulda, coulda, woulda from deer to ice--and football! Not in any given order.

  So, now it's transition time in the great outdoors. And talk at the coffee Klatsches try to cover it all. Tranistion times never can zero in on any one subject, it seems. Local gossip, be it at the water cooler or a retirees kitchen table, can pick up the slack, even within a cast of the big lake. One of the more famous lines coming out of some fishy talk around here goes something like "if you fart in Garrision, you'll have cancer of the rectum by the time you get to Wealthwood." Now THAT line proves talk coming from the coffee clutch is a key part of life in the great outdoors. Is THAT a true form of gossip? Deer get bigger, fish get bigger, ice gets measured, the DNR plays a starring role and local "coaches" get smarter. And God forbid if you fart! LOL Have YOU had your coffee yet today--in the "clutch"? contact Steve at 651-270-3383 or sf1954@embarqmail.com