Clean the man cave

I have lots of catching up to do.  Last Friday afternoon I headed up to Bayfield for a long weekend.  I knew heading up it was going to be more work than vacation.  Spent all of Saturday and a good portion of Sunday and Monday going through 50 years of accumulation of Dad's stuff in the basement.  I miss him terribly with sometimes being worse than others.  This was the most I was affected by him not being here in a while.  This was Dad's "man cave".  The place where he spent untold hours doing god knows what.  He just liked it there.  As we went through the stuff, many of the items didn't mean anything to me, but each one I picked up I would wonder why dad kept that.  A particular tool I know he used to help me fix something, or his handwritten notes would trigger memories long forgotten and widen the loss.  I'm glad my brother Todd was there to help.  It would have been an unbearable job to tackle alone.  Part of the problem with everything still down there is you would always feel like he was just out and would be returning any minute.  I guess all of this is just part of the healing process that will likely continue the rest of my life.  We got a lot done.  The basement wouldn't even look the same to anyone who has ever been down there. 

Running:
Because of the chores over the weekend my running schedule got a little messed up.  I arrived in Bayfield late (for me) on Friday and didn't get up as early as usual.  Saturday I just couldn't justify taking time out knowing we had so much to do.  It wasn't a bad time to take off, but it was my first Saturday with no running this year.   Sunday I went first thing in the morning and got in a nice 10 mile run in 1:20:15.  Bayfield is a really hilly place for those that don't know.  There is no way to escape hills, but there are routes to take that are reasonably flat.  I ran up past a few of the orchards and berry farms.  So for the week I only managed 48 miles with no long runs.  Monday I wanted to gain some of the lost ground and headed out early for a 20 mile effort.  What a beautiful morning it was.  I headed south along highway 13 towards Washburn.  The wind on the way out was not bad and was from a easterly direction.  Without the leaves on the trees there was a good view of Lake Superior almost the whole way.  The sun was out and sparkling on the lake waves.  There is an artisan well a few miles from town as a first water stop.  For my second stop I grabbed a bottle I had planted Friday on my way in to town near my turn around point.  So almost to Washburn I turned around and headed back.  What I didn't notice running south was how much the wind had picked up and had switched to North East.  The whole way back I fought the increasing wind.  I believe it was in the 20-30 MPH range which is quite stiff when I finished.  I was swearing to myself as I headed up the huge hill into the wind in the last couple miles.   I made the whole run in 2:53:40 (1:25:39 out and 1:28:01 back).  Tuesday I took another rest day as I traveled back home.  Today was my first day back to work.  My run was my hill repeat workout again.  7.5 total miles with 8 hill repeats in 1:04:22.  So through today:
WTD 28
MTD 214
YTD 904
ODO 26070


Hunting:
My brother and I took a little break Sunday to go check some hunting areas.  I was shocked to see a turkey on the way out near the Bayfield ski hill.  First one I had ever seen there. There was lots of deer sign near my primary gun stand area.  We cleared some more trees and brush for a possible new stand position.  I had been eyeing up a different tree that has a better view of where a few deer had escaped me in the past.   We then went to a spot we had found last season and cleared a tree and shooting lanes for a new location next season.  This area had lots of sign last year and looks really promising.  Should be usable as a bow hunting stand also.  A bit of bad news is that the land I shot the big 8 point last year is up for sale.  I would consider buying it, but $68,000 for 10 acres is crazy.   There is no lake view and there is a wet ditch than runs all the way through the middle.  Not sure this land would even perk for a mound system.  I keep thinking how if the land sells at least my last year on it I got the biggest deer I ever saw there.  I just hope it doesn't sell yet this year until I can figure a few things out.
  
Gardening:
Didn't get much of my own stuff done, but I was able to get Mom's pond clean.  I drained all the old water out and power washed all the stones and rocks.  Same as I did to my pond a couple weeks ago.  It turned out great.  The water is now crystal clear again.  The power washer also worked good at cleaning off her deck and the lawn furniture.  Also helped turn over her small garden, spray the apple trees, fertilize the lawn, make sure the lawn mower works, and a few other little things I know a bit about.  I did get home in enough time Tuesday to get my own lawn mowed.   I guess we got near 2 inches of rain over the weekend.  This really greened things up.  I picked about 2 lbs of asparagus that also really took off with some moisture.  This morning we actually had a pretty hard frost.