It's Been a Quiet Week

 

   It's been a quiet week here on the South Fork of the Roseau River. Last week we had guests in the guest house, or Shêdeau as we call it. That was fun for a few days, but after they left Monday morning, the quiet rolled back in and we resumed our old routine.

   We keep a fire going in the wood stove in the Shêdeau, but with John stoking the fire, there was no need for me to get up in the dark at 6:00 am, so I turned off the alarm and continued my dreams till the dawn's early light guilted me out of bed.

   Our friends John and Sue like winter sports so we showed them our snowshoe trails through the woods. John had trouble adjusting his snowshoe bindings the first day so decided to wear his cross-country skis. Skis require a freeway through the woods while snowshoes can get by with a deer trail. John soon parked his skis and followed in his boots.

   We've been hearing about the skating path on the Warroad River. At five miles long, it's the longest skate path in the U.S. In the video links, happy folks play hockey and skate on the ice path, while skiers glide along the adjacent snowmobile trail. People sip hot chocolate and cook hot dogs over a fire. Friday morning we drove over to Warroad. Since it was a weekday, everyone was at work or in school. Since it was four below zero, we had the whole five mile trail to ourselves.

   John had brought his fat-tire bike along. We parked at Doc's Harbor Inn on the east edge of town. Doc's is headquarters for skate and ski rental, and tomorrow, Saturday, the place would be hopping. John attached gauntlets to his bike handles. Good idea. These would give his gloved hands protection from the cold.

   Sue, Teresa, and I walked on the snowmobile trail next to the cleared skating trail. The footing was more secure on the snow. We pulled our scarves over our faces and headed into the wind. We always start off into the wind so it will be at our backs on our return.  We were headed east, towards Lake of the Woods.  Warroad's downtown was to our left. The new Lake of the Woods Brewing Company was up there overlooking the river. It would be hopping tonight.

   John and his bike soon disappeared from sight. John soon reappeared into sight. In the low sun I could see the frost crystals sparkling on his face. Sue, Teresa and I looked at each other and decided we had gone far enough to check the skate path off our bucket list. John asked if I wanted to ride his bike back to our vehicle. Walking into a cold wind always me stiff, but to maintain my macho cred I said sure. I've always wanted to try a fat tire bike, but John has longer legs than me so I had to pedal with my toes. I was able to see the charm in winter biking, but just then my main thought was to get into a heated environment.

  By Sunday, it had warmed up and we decided to snowshoe from Steve and Jackie's place on Mickinock Creek cross country to our place, about a mile away. We would cross the creek twice and the Roseau River once. We would go by two abandoned homesteads and cross two exposed pastures. There was a twenty mph wind, but since the temperature was twenty above, we didn't calculate windchill, we just pulled up our facemasks.

   Steve and Jackie took our pictures and waved us on our way. It wasn't too bad, and once we got into our woods, Teresa invited Sue and John to take the long way home. I made a bee line to the house to prepare the hot chocolate.

   Earlier on Sunday I had gone to church. As I arrived at church I saw a different priest going in the back door. I thought maybe Father John was gone and this was his sub. But when Mass started, I could tell by the new priest's tall pointy hat that he was our new bishop making the rounds. The gospel was the Wedding Feast at Cana and the bishop made the connection between God's love and a superabundance of good things.

   The bishop's visit reminded me of a time many years ago when Father Bob was our priest. As Father Bob was greeting people after mass, a young kid excitedly told Father that he had just learned to play chess and that the bishop piece had a pointy hat like a real bishop. "Do you know what that hat is called?" Bob asked. "No," said the kid. "Neither do I," said Bob. They both laughed. After all, what's the point of learning a fact you're going to forget right away?

Warroad River Skate Path