Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Half way through August already, and so much has happened at the Tall Pines Camp. Kids have been spending their last days off school up here soaking it in. Colin is wrapping up his summer with us as he leaves next week to begin his marine mechanics program in Toronto. The early signs of fall are now here with a grasshopper spotted here and there, and the nights noticably coming sooner than they did a month ago. Water temps have slowly dropped and are in the low to mid 60's while the air temps have been incredibly comfortable- 70's and no humidity! Fishing has been pretty good overall with some fish moving to the humps while others are sticking to the weeds

Here's some recent guests and fish pics sent in:

Ron put together an Army reunion with veteran buddies after 20 years since they've all been together. We thank them and all our veterans for their service and were glad to be a backdrop to their fishing trip:

Another recent Bears Den crew, Grandparents John and Debbie put together a family trip- what family memories they created!

Caleb caught and released this 35" thick northern:

Raelin caught her first ever walleye, and Nayeli is such a petite little girl, her kids category 17.5" winner looked like a giant next to her:

Dirk and Bob- from fishing the boundary waters for many years to the now more comfortable fishing trips here- these two buddies enjoy every experience including finally catching their lake trout this year:

Ron, Brad, and James were new to us this year, though not new to the Wabaskang. They enjoyed hanging with friends at camp in the evenings and got into some nice smallies and walleye while out on the water.

Connor, Colin, and Christian were up for their very first trip to Canada and were a delight to watch as they took in the full experience. These three all play baseball and took advantage of that small window of time between ball season and school starting. Connor even landed a giant crappie while Colin and Christian got into some smallmouth and pike:

These kiddos really took to Colin! They got to stay at Tall Pines 2 weeks this year. It was so neat to see Brayton and Bentley looking up to Colin (notice the matching hat) and they wanted to be his little helpers to earn a prize:

The Wednesday weekly social and camp fun has continued:

Leaderboard Update:

And rain. We've finally been getting rain. From May through July we barely got any and the Wabaskang water level was dropping each week. We'd hear a roll of thunder and get excited only for it to dissipate as a false alarm. There was an old book (and movie) called Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in which the thunder symbolized a number of things. That thunder is out of our control. Sometimes it pops up out of nowhere, and you don't want to be in 5th lake when that happens. Sometimes it can be your friend looking out for you, masked as a slow rumble off in the distance giving you warning to pack up your gear and head back to camp.

And sometimes, thunder can symbolize hope. Like now, when we've been without for so long, when we hear that thunder- It may temporarily stall out our fishing adventure for the afternoon, but in the long run it provides what we need to stay afloat. The hope that rain is coming to bring those blueberry fields to life. The hope to put out another wildfire. The hope that keeps the water level high enough for all you boaters in the narrows. And maybe, if its been a tough day on the Wabby, you may find yourself looking up to the cloudy skies and getting all Leiutenant Dan mad- wanting it to hear your cries of releasing frustration.

One recent August potluck, that thunder warned us to set up a tent and we all huddled underneath to eat. And then a funnel cloud formed in the first narrows drawing guests out to the docks to watch.

I quickly asked our Kansas boys for their expertise on if we needed to take cover, and fortunately it and a second funnel cloud just north of us, dissolved back into the sky. It made for some interesting potluck entertainment and was immediately followed by a beautiful sunset. Again, reminders how things can change so quickly and some things are out of our control.

Didn't get any rainbow pics this time, but I'm sure there were a few. We at Tall Pines wish for you that the thunder in your own life can also be a sign of hope- that God hears your cry, and that you can find your rainbow after the storm. Its been a great stretch to be at Tall Pines- crazy to think we'll now be in the final month soon. And now, I hear some thunder- gotta go :)