You might have noticed a little extra energy from Cook County kids this week since school is out for summer break. The next 90 days will be filled with a variety of activities for our little ones including: basketball camp, T-ball practice, riding at the skate park, and swimming in the lake.
Summer break was always exciting for me as a child growing up in Iowa. Homework and study groups were replaced with fishing, boating, and riding bicycles with our friends into the night without a school night curfew. Rarely did we know or care what day it was, and the remaining days of summer vacation were assessed by the height of the corn growing in the fields that surrounded my home town of Waukee, Iowa (The “Key” to good living).
Some of us had summer jobs like de-tasseling corn, picking strawberries and asparagus, or life guarding at the local swimming pool located in our neighboring town of Adel. I had a newspaper route that kept me busy from 5-6 a.m. every day, which left me the rest of the day to play with my friends. I was sometimes jealous of everyone sleeping while I delivered their daily news, but the quiet and peacefulness of a resting town was also appreciated while hiking the streets with a bag of newspapers around my neck.
Our kids have reached an age where electronic devices are more popular than hiking in the woods with Mom and Dad, so balancing their activities is important. Regulating their “screen-time” is not always easy, but it is important to us that our kids are not sitting around playing video games and watching videos all summer when there are so many interactive activities to take advantage of in this town.
Fishing, hiking, and swimming are the big three in our household and it is important to remind our kids that it is more fun to be active than it is to watch someone else be active on “YouTube.”
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. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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