Our 7-month-old “Trail Baby” Sophia is growing faster than the weeds, and I think she will be crawling around real soon. This is a little easier stage to handle since she is no longer such a fragile jellyneck. She has been eating real food and is almost able to get a Cheerio to her mouth on her own. Every parent warns you about how quickly the kids grow up, but it is hard to believe until you see it for yourself. Rachelle and I have been up to the cabin on Lake Saganaga a couple of times this year with baby girl and she does just fine in the boat. Rachelle and Sophia had a blast playing in the water while I took the relatives fishing for a couple of hours. It is neat to see a little bit of color on her skin instead of her usual ghostly white tone. The baby that is, not my wife of course.
With Sophia getting older by the second, I have been racing the clock to put the finishing touches on our house. A few more pieces of trim and we will be ready to “baby-proof ” everything else. The cabinet doors get latches and the outlets near the floor will have covers. I can hardly get a plug in to the new “tamper-proof ” outlets as it is, so I am a little concerned that we are “Cory-proofing” the house as well. Safety first!
We started taking Sophia to daycare in May and it has been a real eye-opener watching her social skills develop. The first three months of her life she was held by either Rachelle, Grandma Judy, or me and she would not allow too many other people to touch her. The exposure to other children and adults in daycare has taught her to trust other people holding her for awhile. It is kind of nice to be able to attend a fish fry with some friends and pass her off while we eat together for a change. Living on the Trail in semiseclusion, I feel sometimes that I have lost my socialization skills, but what do I care? I don’t like you anyway. Just kidding.
If Rachelle and I go to a bar in the Cities with friends or relatives it takes me a little while to acclimate socially. When you only see the same few faces every day, you tend to feel more comfortable in smaller crowds. Maybe I should be going to daycare as well.
Rachelle and I thought long and hard about where to raise our family before deciding on the Gunflint Trail. Key West, Florida would have been our other option and it just does not scream family values to me. Too wild in the winter, and too hot in the summer. We are both very happy here and I am sure little Sophia will love growing up on the Trail. She just needs a little brother to play with.
The weather straightened out for a couple of days here, and now the temperatures have been dipping into the 60s with some showers. The heat spell was strong and short-lived. I have not been out on the water for a couple of weeks so I cannot tell you too much about the fishing other than I am sure it was pretty miserable in the boat. Bright, hot, calm days are the worst to be out there. You still catch some fish but it is much harder.
Sunny days are better for golfing than fishing. At least when you are golfing, part of your day is spent in the shade, and if you golf like me a lot of your day is spent in the shade looking for the ball.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218-388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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