5/20/72 85o Off for island alone at 10:00 a.m. My annual battle with the plumbing. Many setbacks, broken air regulator, rusted unions, pipe rusted thru in two places. I took it all very philosophically, in fact I even laughed when I saw water peeing thru a .22 sized hole near kitchen. Maybe it reminded me of my lost pressure. Layna and I in a rather serious discussion concerning robbery and vandalism in area, brought on by news that the Davises had been cleaned out while they were away. A damned serious situation - and no solution.
5/21/72 Hours and hours and hours of work staring us in the face at island. Someday the prospect of doing all of it will be too great - even as it did to the Hvoslefs, and we will give up. As for now - not bad.
5/22/72 Layna called to say she had invited Daveys and Emmy Lou Kimball to island for lunch. We were there by noon. A fun gathering. Upshot was that Harry invited all of us to R.L. Lodge for supper before he went back to work. Met Harry at dock at 5:45 and off for dinner. Three other men the only other customers at Pete’s and Alla’s. Maybe the screwing they gave the public is beginning to hurt after all these years.
5/23/72 Found more leaks in plumbing at guest cabin. Apparently I left some of the faucets closed when I drained pipes last fall. What a damned mess. Even broke one faucet - wonder what that will cost? ($12.40!). Newharts came along to invite us to dinner tomorrow. That was a day brightener.
5/24/72 Here we go again! A big load of stuff from town - all indispensable. At the moment it doesn’t seem to bother me, maybe it will when my back gives out. Les Cleveland here at 5:00 and off to Newharts. Les and Goalie drank martinis and put on quite a show. Some clever and interesting conversation, mostly about Mexico. Home after dark. Dead calm, moonlight. A beautiful night.
5/25/72 Put our Starcraft in the water. Layna and I found it too much for us and a good reason. It took all the help we could get from Buck and Cliff to made the launching. Worked on boat much of day. Charlie Skrief here for lunch. Full of talk about his book. It should be an interesting one for us.
5/26/72 Chop, chop, chop, rake, rake, rake, burn, burn, burn, putter, putter, putter. Good!
5/28/72 Stopped at Jespersons and found out we could get rotted manure from them. Their place was our old taking off spot for several years when we came to Rainy Lake. We haven’t been in there since Black Bay road built. Many memories revived - especially of the goddamn mean dog they once had. I went back to farm via kicker and picked up load of manure - with Wayne’s help. No charge, sir, an unusual gesture in this day and age.
5/29/72 Memorial Day. This may have been a holiday for most Americans but when you retire, you can’t afford to sit still. At least not Don & Layna. Put in a full day on the grounds. Dug up the old flower beds and even made a new one. Hauled the manure out of the boat and spread. Now, flowers, grow! A mallard hen had built a nest near our cabin before we moved up here. Now she flies off almost every time we go by. I am afraid the eggs will spoil.
5/30/72 You would think that we had a deadline to meet the way we worked today. We stopped at Langdons again and bought $20.00 worth of plants. On to island and put whole works in ground. It looks good around NWI tonight. My back says it should.
5/31/72 Hauled big load of stuff back to island, including our Weber grill. Layna put it to good use immediately by making a feast for the Johnsons and Moes. Much to talk about. They had had a good time in Florida. Lou as opinionated as ever but we are used to that. Cliff’s hearing much worse, but he doesn’t thrive on small talk so I don’t think it bothers him too much.
6/1/72 I have amazed myself, and Layna too, by my interest in gardening this spring. This has not been a great production according to most standards but it has kept me occupied. Hope I can sustain this interest thru the weeding and watering period. Harry still at me to write weekly column and I was able to tell him why not. Just too damned happy at the moment and afraid something might upset it. On to Jayme’s graduation. 3000 people almost cooked as they listened to Sig Olson try to inspire the grads. To Buck and Dale’s for party for Jayme. He made a brief appearance to show off his girlfriend, Tweedy Phair. Cute. Good luck, good kids!
6/2/72 Decided to get show on road concerning new roofing on main guest cabin. Standard Lumber delivered 11 rolls of paper (90#) to landing and I hauled them home. Heavy! I got boat unloaded and 3 rolls up hill and decided I would wait for Jayme’s help tomorrow. John, refrigerator man, out at 3:30 to fix ice maker. A relief to get that done.
6/3/72 Jayme here at 7:30 and a productive day followed. Seven of eleven rolls on roof. Jayme had a date so I sent him home early - about 3:30. He and Tweedy came paddling in canoe about 8:00. A good visit from two damned fine kids. They left just as sun went down. The old Biological Urge crackling obviously in both of them. What will it lead to? It has been faced one way or another by billions before them. I have confidence that they will survive.
6/4/72 Jayme left after lunch, planning to get off on his trip tomorrow. He is leaving with mixed emotions. He has planned on this trip all winter, making lists and remodeling his VW. A month ago a new interest entered his life. He has a conflict! Layna has been working like a slave cleaning the main house and today finished up. It looks the best ever. She had considered having Bernice help her but her price of $2.00 an hour rather steep. Another case of a seller pricing herself out of a market.
6/5/72 I was a bit surprised when Layna, at 4 p.m. said, “Let’s go see Hospital.” We did and saw some outstanding acting altho the language pretty rough for people with our background. We still don’t understand what the moving picture industry is trying to prove.
6/6/72 If we don’t keel over in the process, we will have the place ready for Sally & Jim & Co. next Friday. This reminds us of some of the deadlines in former years.
6/7/72 To Ranier and picked up the other 15 hp Johnson. I was amazed at how much weight it had gained during the winter. George Finstad and I struggled to put it in car and I really struggled to get it out and into Cadillac. Another battle to put it on Larson. I am losing my poop - and fast. Layna cleaning like crazy. Even scrubbed floor in shop.
6/8/72 Hooked up second water pump and ran into trouble. Won’t anything work right the first time? Our great weather, now that we have company coming, is going to hell. North east wind started this p.m. - bad enough so that I moved Starcraft around to south dock.
6/9/72 Our first “guests” of season. 5 Jernbergs and 8 Ruhs. In addition to the 3 small Ruhs (and parents that we had met in Wichita), Mike, Mary & Maureen, we met Stephanie, Kathy and Rick. A fine looking family. Sally’s family fine but Nancy still pretty aloof. Don’t know what it will take to break it down. Little John got everyone excited by catching a 4# jack off dock.
6/10/72 Despite island full of guests, I took off for fishing trip with Wayne and Lardy Larson. Fishing poor. A very pleasant day with these two old friends, however. I did not get much of a response when I said “All we need to make this day complete would be to have MacKellar, Louie and Carl Harrison join us.” Apparently I am the only one who gives a thot to long gone buddies. All well at island when I returned at 6 p.m. Karen & Robin arrived looking as tho they were badly in need of rest and relaxation. They came to the right place.
6/11/72 “Many people strive for eternity who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy afternoon.” How true! It rained - and we need it is so fine with me. Much card playing, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, macramé, stitching. Don’t know what we will do with this tribe if the weather doesn’t improve.
