How could it be laundry day again? I just did laundry...didn't I? It's been a whole week? Oh well, time flies when you're having fun. HTP, #1 son and I went fishing last night. We stayed out in the boat until the mosquitoes drove us ashore after dark. We had some luck...enough luck to produce enough fish for a fish fry. I cleaned the fish. #1 son cooked the fish. Beer batter. MMMMM. They were delicious.

Tonight my cousin John invited us for a cookout over at their place. Actually, it's my cousin Paul's place and they're just borrowing it. Anyway, we had typical cookout fare. Bratwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut and all the trimmings. I even got to eat a toasted marshmallow...just one. Mustn't overeat. My Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary (cousin John's parents) drove in from St. Paul to join us all. There was a lot of food. It was good to see family all together like that. My folks, my Uncle and Aunt and my cousin and his family. #1 son brought over some fireworks to set off. He supervised as he showed his second cousin Andy how to light most of the fuses. Second cousin Juliet was impressed by all the action. Second cousin Anna slept undisturbed by all the flash and dash. Another generation living and experiencing the joys of staying at The Lake. It was nice to sit and visit, remembering other cookouts and sharing experiences from our childhood.

"Do you remember 'The Snapping Turtle Incident'?"

When we were young, my brother, sister and I loved to go fishing off our dock at The Lake. We were fairly normal children and our attention spans were not always lengthy, to say the least. Anyway, we often would leave our fishing lines, baited and bobbered, cast out from the dock...unattended. Often we would be rewarded upon remembering and returning to check our lines with a fish...sometimes a big fish. So, sometimes, we would leave our lines out on purpose...all night sometimes. Anyway, one morning we went down to the dock to check our lines. I don't remember what I caught on my line. Probably a bullhead...this was often the result and reward for leaving a baited line out overnight. It's not really important what I caught that morning. The important catch of the morning was on the other end of my brother's line. At first he thought he'd caught a huge fish...or maybe a fish had dragged his line under a log. But then the log started moving. We were all excited. We had the landing net at the ready as he battled this huge fish. And then we saw what was on the hook side of his line. I'm not too sure that I've ever seen a snapping turtle as big as this snapping turtle...at least not at the time. What does one do when you have a rather angry snapping turtle firmly hooked on your fishing line? Cut the line? NO WAY!!!!! Hooks were at a premium when we were kids. I think there was some consideration for a fairly new metal leader too, not to mention a perfectly good bobber. My brother battled the snapping turtle all the way to the shallows near the shore. My brother was standing on the dock. The snapping turtle, more then a bit disturbed, was digging his claws into the lake bed in an attempt to shake off this young upstart on the dock. Now what? After a much discussion (just we three kids...no parents present...yet), we all decided that we'd bring the turtle to our grandparents who would cook it up for us. Now don't feel sorry for Grandma and Grandpa...Grandpa used to trap and kill snapping turtles. Anyway, we all decided that we'd drown the snapping turtle. It was decided that since it was my brother's line, it was my brother's turtle and therefore it was my brother's job to drown the beast. Our weapon of choice? One of the boat oars. Needless to say, we didn't drown the snapping turtle. We tried. We really did try. There was much thrashing and splashing about. I'm sure we were making all kinds of noise. And then....my brother managed to fall off the dock. Right on top of the turtle. The very angry snapping turtle. My sister and I were terrified that he'd end up as turtle food....I believe my brother had a few fears in that direction too. He did manage to scramble back onto the dock pretty darn fast. It was truly amazing. I think at this point my sister and I should have been more sympathetic. We were in tears. Tears of laughter. My brother was not amused. At this point The Parents figured out that it might be time to investigate all the screaming coming from the dock area. I believe it was my father who cut the fishing line. My brother was sent off to the cabin to change into dry clothes. We were told that drowning wasn't the preferred method of choice when it came to dispatching a snapping turtle. And we never, ever tried it again. Oh...we still left our lines out overnight and we still caught bullheads and the occasional northern pike but there were no more snapping turtles. It's just as well because Grandpa never did tell us how he used to kill those snapping turtles that my Grandma would cook up.

Murphyism of the Day

Mitchell's Laws of Committology

1. Any simple problem can be made insoluble if enough conferences are held to discuss it.

2. Once the way to screw up a project is presented for consideration it will invariably be accepted as the soundest solution.

3. After the solution screws up the project, all those who initially endorsed it will say, "I wish I had voiced my reservations at eh time."