Camp Food

   My old friend Windy sure was a great outdoorsman. We paddled, rowed and sailed most of the water in Northern Minnesota and had a great time doing it. We hunted deer, grouse, ducks, geese, cranes and a bunch of critters I still can't spell.
   His wife was a great woman and with each trip, she packed an extra sandwich for me. What a nice thing for a man who would otherwise have starved to death.
   On one trip to Canada for giant Lake Trout, we started to run out of food. That woman made a meal that was fit for a king. She called it "Pipestone Stew".
   That woman was my all time favorite campfire cook. i miss her every time I cook over a campfire.
   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often.
   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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North

    From an early age, people that lived on the Bigfork River were taught how not to get lost and if they did get turned around, how to get home.
   I used to hear how you could tell which way was north by watching the moss on the north side of a tree. But that sometimes was wrong and just got you in deeper trouble.
   Another way was to watch the North Star after dark. Just draw a line across the two end stars of the Big Dipper. It points to the North Star all the time every time.
   My last pearl of wisdom is to put a small stick in the ground, about twelve inches. Mark where the stick's shadow is. In about 30-45 minutes, mark where the shadow is again. Then draw a line between the points. It is always a perfect north south line.
   So if this doesn't work, watch the street signs or ask someone.
   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often.
   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Unemployment Insurance

   It wasn't that long ago that there wasn't anything called unemployment insurance. If a man lost his job, he found another one right away. The numbers of jobless were very low. The law of the land was that if a man didn't work, he didn't eat.
   Today if a man doesn't want to work, there are apps for that. Someone will feed him and his family until he gets tired of doing nothing and goes back to work. Did our country benefit from this program. Not a chance. The number of jobless is being paid by those that are working. That's a terrible burden for those with a job. The world has always had poor, but most of them are poor by choice. They just refuse to get out of bed and work.
   Back in the time of "A River of Seasons" everyone worked and our country was strong. 
   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often.
   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Poverty? What poverty?

   The earliest settlers on the Bigfork River had a tough time making it from year to year. There rarely was any extra money. One item that was always in need was clothes. Children wore patched hand me downs and Dad's clothes sometimes had more patches than whole cloth.
   But happiness wasn't judged by the clothes you wore, it came from the heart. Laughter came easy for nearly everyone.
   The first time anyone even thought of their financial condition was when they went to school. An old friend once told me that he didn't know he was poor until someone told him.
   Work was plentiful on the river even from a young age. Most kids started by feeding the chickens and gathering eggs. Then they graduated to larger animals or hoeing the garden.
   Poor? I don't think so. They were rich of spirit, and that's what really counts.
   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often.
   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Early School Marms

   In my book "A River of Seasons" I write about the schools and how tough it was to keep a teacher. The requirements were many. First she had to be single and stay that way. She couldn't keep company with male friends. Her demeanor was above reproach. her pay was next to nothing and she was expected to save half of it for her old age.... if she didn't starve to death first.

   She was expected to keep the firewood piled high and keep the school house warm. It was a tough life.

   The teacher must be a High School graduate and needed to have good grades.

   With all these requirements there were few that wanted the job and finding a good teacher was a challenge for the community.

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Duck Season

   It's not long now until duck hunting will be in full swing. it's time to check over your decoys and perhaps give them a new coat of paint. Most times it's just a touchup.

   Home made decoys are by far the best. Some hunters make them out of cork but in reality, almost anything works.

   So opening day comes and you haven't slept now for a couple days. Today it's raining and the sky is really black. The sun is trying to lighten the sky, but is having a hard time gaining on the clouds.

   You have almost two dozen decoys out in front of you and a good dog shivering with excitement on your left hip.Shhhhh. Did you hear that? I think some Wood Ducks just flew over.

   And then you wake up still in bed with six weeks to go.

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Mushrooms

   One of the best parts of having a steak is the mushrooms and onions that go with it. But mushrooms didn't come in cans back in the time of Wil Morgan. You had to go out and find your own.

   Picking mushrooms wasn't for the faint of heart. It was pretty easy to bring home a pan full of poison. The difference between mushrooms with a great flavor and ones that could kill you is very small. Some folks said that if you cooked bad mushrooms, they would make a silver spoon turn black. Not so! 

   An area that produced good mushrooms could be depended upon to produce year after year. These locations were a closely guarded secret.

   So in the spring, the appearance of mushrooms was a time to celebrate with a steak, with fried mushrooms and onions. How could life get any better?

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Post Office

   In Northern Minnesota, mail service was slow in arriving. Sometimes it took several weeks for mail to travel across the country. Mail traveled by any means available. Trains, planes, automobiles and even boats were used. The price was quite high at 2 cents for a three page letter or 1 cent for a postcard. Post offices were few and far between but general stores would do postal work for a small yearly fee.

   Mail delivery to rural homes was slow in arriving in Northern Minnesota. At first it was a once a week service usually done on horseback or by mule. On some of the bigger lakes mail was delivered weekly by boat. That service is still available today on Lake Vermillion. The mailboxes are attached to the boat dock. 

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Snow

   In my book "A River of Seasons" I write about the weather that defined the northern part of Minnesota. The hardest time was winter. The cold, the wolves, the boredom of long nights all played a part in the harshness of winter.

   It wasn't all cold and gloom though. You could watch a young child dress and go out to play when it was twenty below. He'd look around and within just a few minutes he was having fun, throwing snowballs or sliding down a big hill on a sled. 

   So you see, winter was just as much fun as summer, you just had to dress warmer.

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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Montana Timber

   In the book 'A River of Seasons" I talk about the timber industry in Montana a long time ago. Compared to Minnesota logging, those trees were mere matchsticks. The high altitude kept most things pretty small, even the chipmunks. Men still worked hard, and put up great piles of timber. Instead of floating the timber to the sawmills, they sawed the timber right near the camps.

   The lumberjacks were still a wide variety of Scandinavians, Finlander and Swedes. A lot of the men were new to the English language but in reality, all they needed was to be able to handle an ax or saw.     

   My book "River of Seasons" is for sale on Amazon.com as  well as peaceriverbooks.com. The Peace River Books blog is updated often. 

   I invite you to visit "A River of Seasons" blog site each day for a small look into what life was like a long time ago.

Good Reading,
Ron

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