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Sunday, August 17, 2014

An eclectic week

The work week started out pretty intensely as Mondays tend to do this time of year. As we often do (but not without a bit of protest and stern looks before we cave) we accepted someone's freight as we have forklifts and most people don't. At least not at their homes or cabins. This week it was candy. Not your ordinary candy or your ordinary amount. This was tons. Not figuratively as in "We ate tons of candy," but literally tons. Approximately 3 tons. It consisted of some kind of commercial s'mores in one carton, gorp in another, and coarsely shaved chocolate in another. I'll show you.




I have never seen anything like it. Apparently it is bait for the upcoming bear hunting season. Bears must be difficult to hunt so you get to lure them in with junk food. I suppose that shooting them after they eat this stuff might be considered a mercy killing. Then again...

Long ago I had the time and money to learn to fly and so I did. Then life happened and time and money would go the way of the dinosaur in my world. I enjoyed it and expanded my long term bucket list before I knew what a bucket list was. A realtor friend and I were talking at a get together a few weeks back and we thought flying his airplane and me taking pictures for the real estate business might be worth trying. So we did. On Wednesday evening we flew around the area for about an hour. I even got to take the yoke for a few minutes for old times sake. My friend was a little disappointed that we didn't see any moose, but there were sure a lot of trees and lakes. That's what you would expect living in a National Forest near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.


 We got to see some of the river canyons and falls.

And even my own little farm.
A last look at the town and harbor before we concluded our hour in the air.
But the best event of the week was getting to meet, live and in person, none other than our own Professor Batty and The Weaver. The Cooker, Stitch, and I got to meet them for dinner at one of our local (thirty miles is considered practically next door up here) establishments. Good food and good spirits abounded at this joyous occasion and a good time was had by all. Hopefully, I'll get to visit Flippist World Headquarters in the near future and visit the Professor in his native habitat.






19 comments:

  1. A whole box of s'mores? I might have been tempted to keep that box...

    (By the way, I followed your link to Professor Batty's blog. Today he wrote about your get-together. It looks like you guys had a great time.)

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  2. That much sugar in a bear? Whoa. Not my idea of fun.

    It must have been nice to be up in the air again. And there's something magical about an aerial view of a place you know. I only know from pictures, but it must be cool to actually be up there.

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  3. Oh my. You live in a beautiful place. Spectacular photos.

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  4. Oh, those chocolate goodies look tempting!

    And the photos from the air are just lovely.

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  5. When you told me about the chocolate, I couldn't imagine it. Thanx for the pix!

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  6. I thought that bear baiting was illegal. Do you suppose that the bears are at all concerned about their sugar intake? If so, I would be more than happy to take some of that candy off your hands.

    I love the aerial photos. How are you able to get such a crisp shot when you are moving along at such a speed? That harbor is always so beautiful, and from the air, even more so. Your place looks great from the air, too! Did the horses notice you up there?

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  7. I was somewhat offended that you didn't share some of that candy with me, but the gorgeous pictures more than make up for that.

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  8. Your farmstead is lovely. Not keen on candy for bears. Or hunting them except to thin a population.

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  9. Sioux,I did take a small bite.

    jenny-o,it's a way to bait them, but the scat I am seeing is showing a good season for berries and other natural bear food. It was fun to be airborne again.

    Agi, thanks, but I can't take credit for the beauty.

    PP, one of the baiters said his kids get into it once in a while.

    Batty, I was looking right at it and still wasn't sure it was real.

    aitbr, it is legal in Minnesota, but hunting with dogs isn't. I'm not a big fan of either method. Shooting photos from the plane was a challenge. First slow the plane down, then shoot fast (1/500 sec. or faster) and take a lot of pics. Could immediately throw out more than half of the 250 or so I took.

    Donna, there was plenty to go around. Sorry to be so selfish.

    BF, Not impressed with baiting either, but these are guides using legal methods to make money to feed their families. I tend not to hunt unless I feel it is necessary for food. If I were here a hundred years ago I am sure I would have.

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  10. Your farm is beautiful.

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  11. Wow! The aerial photos are stunning! Truly wonderful.
    I have to say I think it's a little sad they use junk food to lure bears. It's like, "Here's some chocolate, bear!" BANG!
    No more bear.

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  12. I flew a light plane myself in my youth, and it was as much fun as I ever had with my clothes on. My territory was the bluff country of southern MN, but it was almost as great as the boundary waters area.

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  13. Maggie, so glad you stopped by!

    Dawn, I'm not a fan of baiting either. Especially when it is "sport" and not necessity.

    Geezers,
    I used to fly out of St. Paul and loved flying down to Lacrosse for the scenery.

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  14. Your area is beautiful, looks quite bucolic.
    A hunter in my youth and middle age, I never saw the reason to hunt bears, I've had bear meat, and it's at best 'ok'. Self-defense, sure, but bear spray is more effective for most people.

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  15. What a great flight! It must have been wonderful for you to look at your farm from the air – and the rest of the view is outstanding. I did not know that candy would be the best bear bait – but then I don’t know much about bears.

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  16. I love the idea of you two meeting up!

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  17. You, too!? How fun. I mean, you got to meet Professor Batty and the Weaver. My daughter, who is seven, keeps alluding to the fact that she thinks only spiders are weavers, and therefor Professor Batty's wife has eight arms. I didn't see eight arms, but I guess I could have looked harder.

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  18. You, too? Man, the Professor and the Weaver get around!

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  19. Shoshanah, I looked real close at the Weaver just to check. She's only got two arms. That I could see.

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