Cherish The Moment

“No use thinking of the past for its gone, don't think of the future because it has to come, think of the present because that’s where you are.”

Kazi Shams

When I write for you all, I try to think of or find a quote that sums up and puts into words my major feeling for the week. Well this week, I was stuck in the repetitive thought process loop of how we get to see each group for one week, and then we have to wait an entire year before we get to see them again. I had never really thought of it that way before. It has always been more of an I can’t wait to see the group next week, they are so great, type of feeling. Well this year I have had this mopey feeling all week thinking about how little time truly I have had to spend with you all. That was until I came across this quote.

I read it through a couple of times, and I thought, I have been going about this all wrong. This year, and at time in the years before, I had been too focused on past and the future instead of really living in the moment. I forgot, that even though I only see you for one week a year, the unbelievable relationships I have formed. The weeks may go fast, and sometimes they blend together, but I really truly cherish the time I get with all of you.

So, let this be your reminder to really enjoy the present. To hold and cherish the great moments and memories of the past, but not dwell on them. To look forward to the great things the future holds, but not to worry, or wish it upon you too quickly. Each moment is fleeting, time will never stand still, so don’t miss that moment, own it.

With that being said, I am going to cherish the moments of this past week. After about a week and a half, we have finally begun to settle down and get into the typical groove of camp life. You know, finally doing things like making dinner at a reasonable time, having everything open and ready, sticking to a consistent cleaning schedule, and re-learning that normal people change their clothes every day. Just the normal stuff everyone worries about, right?

All jokes aside it was the perfect first week. We had a small group, which was a great way to get everyone acclimated to what typical camp life would be like.

As usual though, it wouldn’t be right without some kind of a twist. On Saturday, dad’s friend Bruce decided to go to the WhiskeyJack for breakfast. Inside, he got to talking with some guys who, on a whim, decided to take a fishing trip and had not found a place to go. Long story short, I got a phone call from Bruce telling me he was sending to guys into Wine for a couple of days. The two stayed for three days and loved every moment of it. We were so glad to have them.

Also this week we made some improvements on the camp. We now have docks at the Trout, Loon, and Fish house!

The week brought with it some rain, which helped our water-level a bit. It is at the highest we have seen it in about two years which is great. The small week gave me a great opportunity to go fishing and I had some great catches (the biggest pike of my life included), but I was not the only one!

Disclaimer: all of my fish pictures are of Tyler and Pat because no one else has sent me any ( Thanks Tyler)

The winner for this week, for the final drawing at the end of the year is Bob Capp!

My Final Chapter

By Madison Karakis

I have put a lot of time into thinking about what to say in this post. I am not going to lie; this has been the hardest year for me yet. My blogs have been inconsistent, and I am working towards bringing back the realness I had shared with you all in the beginning. Yes, you will get the information about the fishing, but I want to share with you my journey, my experiences, my Wine Lake. Get ready, this will be a long one.

Late April/ Early May have been a time of excitement for the past few years. It is a time when dad and I are running around, gathering odds and ends, and packing for our next journey together. Typically, he leaves, and I giddily follow shortly behind. Typically, I am packed and ready a month in advance. Typically, I am excited when dad leaves because I know it means I will be heading to camp soon as well. Not this year. When the time came for him to leave, my heart hurt.

Now I have had some mixed feelings about this season. In the fall, I had taken a job that would allow me to come spend the time in camp that I had in the past. The thought weighed heavy on my heart, but I had accepted that. In the end, the job did not work well with school, so I had to quit. No work means Wine Lake and a happy ending…right? Well not exactly. The experience got me thinking about how I am set to graduate in December 2019. Graduation means it is time to move into the grownup world, find a grownup job, and less time to spend at Wine Lake.

This year I started packing my bags around 4 pm the day before I left. There was no excitement, only stress and worry. I remember thinking at 6 am the next morning, as I drove away with just me and my dog as I made the journey by myself for the first time, “no one ever said goodbye would be easy, but they also never said it would be this hard.” The truth is, when I left that morning, I was not just saying goodbye to my family and my friends. I was saying goodbye to my last summer before graduation. Goodbye to spending time with my dad while he lives his dream. Leaving on this journey was like walking through a door for the last time before you have to close it for good. Like coming to the last chapter of a book you don’t want to end. Now that does not mean there are not more books in the series, or other doors to be opened, just that all good things must come to an end. With that being said, this is probably the last time I will be up here for an extended period of time. I have also made the decision to cut the time short so I can spend some time at home as well.

I love you all dearly, and I am sorry to be a bummer. I am going to switch up the mood a little as I give you the beginning of my final chapter.

The final chapter. Sounds quite melodramatic, doesn’t it? What can I say, I like drama. This year has not only been hard on me, this is the hardest year we have had for opening camp. I am always writing about how we constantly run into something new. I probably sound like a broken record. I am still surprised when we encounter a new problem though. I mean as we are going into our fourth season, you would think we would have to be running out of surprises by now. Nope. Not even in the slightest. I strongly believe, that until my dad is physically unable to run this camp anymore there will still always be something new to learn, a new challenge, or new obstacle to overcome. Why? Because nature never rests.

We thought ice out was late last year. By golly were we ever wrong. We fought our way into camp on Saturday May 11^th. We made it in by the afternoon. Our full team was not in camp until the afternoon of Monday May 13^th. That left us three full days until our first guests arrived. Talk about a mad dash. Well, that is what we did. Somehow, we did it, well sort of. Mistakes were made, and things were overlooked.

If you remember, we were short on help by the end of last year. For the last month the camp was run entirely by Justin, and my father. While I love them both dearly, boy did I want to hit them over the head. Not only were we out of cleaning supplies, but nearly EVERY SINGLE blanket, comforter, linen, rag, and ovenmitt, you name it, it was at the Eagle’s Nest. Basically, if it was made of fabric it was not in camp. I won’t lie, there may have been a teeny-tiny meltdown. You can’t trust men to do anything. 

I have to give them credit though, they did the best they could with the hand they were dealt. They were dog tired by the end last year. It just meant we had our work cut out for us, and a very short amount of time to do it. Everyone rose to the challenge though. We are open, we have guests, and we can finally start to relax a little. It was a rough start, but we made it through. The water is up from the end of last year already. I have decided to enjoy the remaining few weeks I have here and am excited for what awaits.