Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
AUGUST 29, 2026 – (Cont.) The pinnacle of my fishing career, as it were, occurred during my Grand Odyssey around the globe in 1981—a journey on which I was fishing for an answer to the ultimate question in life: What should I be when I grow up? One of my side trips took me to …
AUGUST 28, 2026 – (Cont.) To replace the broken handle, a whole new rod had to be purchased. What would have to suffice was an inexpensive, one-piece yellow rod with an attached handle. We bought it at the local Erickson gas station back in Anoka. As far as I was concerned, this substitute rod was …
AUGUST 27, 2026 – (Cont.) Finally, the big day arrived. We were up at the cabin, and after blowing out the candles on the birthday cake that my grandmother had baked for the celebration after supper, Dad presented the two boxes that I’d espied earlier on the hat shelf in his closet back home. First, …
AUGUST 26, 2026 – (Cont.) During the next summer was my second fishing expedition on Round Lake. Coincidentally, the trip didn’t involve the Roeckers but the Ridges, who had been the previous residents of the house where Roeckers now lived. Ridges had moved to St. Cloud, then Minneapolis, but remained friends of our family and …
AUGUST 25, 2026 – (Cont.) My earliest memory of fishing dates back to the Franklin Elementary School annual carnival. I wasn’t yet in school, but my two older sisters were, and they knew their way around the highlights of the carnival—the cake walk, the ring toss, the balloon darts, and . . . the fish …