Labor Day Weekend

We decided to spend the weekend at "Redgate" (my parents cabin) so Daniel could have one last fishing extravaganza before he leaves for Iraq. We were quite worried though because Tropical Storm Ernesto was predicted to dump 5-7 inches of rain up there during the weekend. ( I would like to know why Ernesto was coming up the Atlantic Coast while John was off the pacific coast of Mexico - does anyone else see that as strange?) We contemplated not going but in the latest "Bassmasters" magazine there was an article on how to fish in "flood cover" (meaning when it is dumping rain). Daniel figured we better go. We got lucky though because we got very little acutal rain. We later realized why - see further down the post. It misted quite a bit and was cloudy most of the time but we were able to get outside. Daniel spent most of the time (dawn, dusk, mid-day and midnight) fishing. He tried new lures, new techniques, new poles. The kids fished with him but their attention spans don't quite match their Dad's. We did take some fun hikes. We hiked in areas we that are not well traveled, thru high brush and marshy floor. We found salamanders, newts, frogs, beatles, snails, bird's nests and monarch butterfly catapillers. The boys found a bush that had about 20 monarch catapillers in all sizes. Ainsley made her famous "tupato soup". Chase learned to row a canoe all by himself and we all had fun shooting the 22 rifle at cans and targets. * We attended the little branch on Sunday. These people had historic flooding in late June - washed away roads, houses, flooded towns. We drove past a vehicle junk yard and saw hundreds of refrigerators, stoves, and other appliances (showing how many homes must have been flooded). In many of the testimonies that were shared, the members spoke of their prayers being answered and their gratitude for the lack of flooding that was predicted with that storm. Incidently, I prayed for lack of rain too but probably for different reasons (more selfish reasons).