8/24/71 Layna, Sally & Nancy to town and men folks put in some good licks on woodpile. I thoroly enjoy the company of all the Jernberg males. Too bad we cannot be alone together until they leave without the 8 McGuires. I am worried about how we are going to entertain that mob. So is Jim. Johnny fell off dock. Scared hell out of all of us. I am forced to wonder of he (or his parents) learned anything from this. PS Next day. He still parades dock with no life preserver.
8/25/71 McGuires due here at 5 p.m. They called from Falls at 6:15. Layna and I to landing. What a mob, and what stuff they lugged along. I can see why Sally and Jim like them. They all look first rate. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
8/26/71 On the premise that “many hands make light work” we finished up last of pulpwood. Jim had done must of it before McGuires came. I then formed a “log brigade” and got kids to carry chunks of spruce from end of island. Some grumbling but it is all split and piled by shop now. The McGuires a great family - and so are Jernbergs, but Layna and I decided to take a little respite by running over to Clevelands and Boyds. A good visit in both places.
8/27/71 Four small boys and Jim McGuire on dock fishing when I got up at 7:00. No luck. After breakfast I walked down to north end and caught a 2# bass. Brought it back to impress (and inspire) boys and while on dock made a few casts with Mepps and caught a 7 pound jack! I quit. More wood cutting and after lunch took whole gang (15) to Camp Kooch-i-ching. The Secrists must have thot that camp had reopened. Back to island about 5:30 and Jim McGuire and I to town for a few groceries, and he bought a couple of bottles of booze. Had a good chance to talk to him about his family. It is a great institution. Fish fry for supper. Every crumb cleaned up. I would hate to pay the McGuire grocery bill each month. Bill came for my hospital. Total $491.25 Medicare paid $424.25. Our share $66.00. $6.00 for TV out of this.
8/28/71 The McGuires knew that they were leaving today but didn’t know just when. We dropped them off at our dock at 5:00 p.m.! Well, don’t knock it, Johnson. It is no small feat to get 6 kids and their parents packed up from NWI and packed in one station wagon. It was damned near a tearful farewell. Good folks all.
8/29/71 Up early and to #265 for paper. Picked up an extra for the Boyds and they damned near kissed me when I delivered it. You don’t do enough of that kind of thing, Johnson. Jim had a sore throat and Nancy not optimistic about fishing so Sally, Jimmy & John and I out to 8 Mile Island for a couple of hours. We did OK. Got 4 good jax, 2 WE & a perch. Pleased kids. Layna and Sally cooked a great standing rib roast and we had company. Dale, Buck, Jill, Lisa, Bernice and the Edwards.
8/30/71 As I anticipated, Gil & Jean not here until noon. We asked them for lunch but - heavens, no - we are in a hurry to get going! I took them to Windy Point thinking “Wouldn’t it be hell of the Mounties caught us with this boat load of American grub?” Fears unfounded. They took off for eastern Canada full of anticipation - and our blessings. Good people - too good for me, perhaps. Nancy’s birthday and Jim took us all to Island View in honor of the occasion. Everyone happy, until telephone call for Layna. Dale said that Jayme had been badly burned on right side of face from cannon backfire. He is being flown to Duluth for treatment. A sobering event. More of this later.
8/31/71 The usual hubbub getting people moving but Jernbergs better organized than most. They were packed in car and on way by 9:30. Layna, too. She is off for Duluth. It is hard to describe my feelings. One fact predominates. I have a tremendous feeling of relief that I am finally alone. Too many people for too long a period. I wish I had more power to turn then on and off at will. Went fishing at 8 Mile Island and blown off lake. Came back to make 10 goose decoys. That makes the full 30. Still have to paint and make heads. Much conversation with Johnson while this was going on. Layna took Dale to Duluth so she could be with Jayme. She called to say that altho burn quite bad, his eyesight not affected. What a blessing.
9/1/71 One of the most frustrating aspects of this summer has been the fact that I have done so little fishing alone. Many factors have contributed - hernia, company, etc. I almost got away Scott free today but had agreed to furnish transportation for Bernice to and from Amidons. Damn. No hurry. Fishing poor. A good walleye, a few perch, a few jax. I fried my WE, cooked corn, sliced tomatoes. Great!
9/2/71 92o The Lake has been open exactly 4 months. Today, for the first time, I did what I have had in mind ever since the prospect of retirement. I took off alone in Cadillac for North Arm at 8:10. At 9:00 I was casting for northerns at Standing Stone Point. By noon I had kept 2 8# ers and 2 5# ers. I had lunch on shore then made a duck survey until 3 p.m. Saw quite a number of mallards - and 4 otters. What fun! Stopped for mail at Bernice’s and found Buck, Dale and Jayme there. As he (Jayme) said, he looked like the Phantom of the Opera. Eye OK. It could have been worse.
9/3/71 I cleaned the fish, fish house, shop, main house and Happy Shack. I am ready for Layna. Layna, Karen and Robin home about 7:30. My 4 days alone must have been what I needed. Sure glad to have my family members back. Much interesting talk by kids about their trip east. They drove 1200 miles in 22 hours coming home. Well, we made the same distance with the Model T in 1929 in 7 days!
9/4/71 Robin eager to help, and I obliged him. We tore off about 30 feet of rotted railing around main dock, then went to Buck’s dock and picked up replacement material. Job finished by noon. We then pulled out one of the Cadillacs. Summer is on its way out. We have been doing some exotic cooking on our new Weber grill and tonight we broiled a big jackfish. Had Les Cleveland over to help us eat it. A few scraps left. Some very, very interesting conversation, much of it between Les & Karen - school stuff. He left at dark and they took off for town to meet the Rudds.
9/5/71 I took advantage of the manpower surplus and had Robin and Stuart help put the Edwards/Johnson equipment away. Both boat and motor are brutes. Robin and Stuart for a canoe ride and landed on Iceslide Island and found a 10 hp Mercury motor. It seems to have been there as least a year. More later when we report it to the sheriff. To Buck and Dale’s for a very satisfying evening. We all went, Monahans, Johnsons, Rudds. Played ping pong, pool, talked, drank a little, ate a little. We have a great family. Stuart brings out all the old competitive spirit that once was mine. I beat him six straight games of cribbage and then at Curtice Island Buck and I teamed to beat Stuart and Robin 3 straight games of ping pong. He wasn’t very happy - especially the ping pong victory by the “old men.” We loved it!
9/6/71 Laird and Ah-li joined us for a big feed at 2:00. They will be taking care of Oberholtzer this winter. It is hard for me to believe that this arrangement will last until spring. If Ober does not leave, they will. Hauled everyone to landing at 5:00 p.m. To Buck’s and he took us to see Summer of ‘42. What memories that must have awakened in him. Me too, for that matter, altho it was ’22 not ’42 in my case.
9/7/71 To see Dr. Walter and he confirmed what I already suspected - my hernia repair completed, but don’t press your luck too far. Picked up Mrs. Preston and Mrs. Albrecht at 2:15. We have never had anyone here more interested, excited or appreciative. Took them on a swing via Starcraft before dinner. Thrilling! One sour note to an otherwise perfect day. The sheriff’s office (to whom I had reported the Mercury that Robin found) learned that it belonged to Lee Kulevar. He sent a man after it - and not a thank you!
