Hucklebuck Land

I look up and see a wall of green. Green with a hint of blueberry sky poking through. There are so many green trees and creeks surrounding me I feel like I’m in my own fairyland.   I hear no cars, only birds chirping and a lawnmower in the distance. I’ll be here for the next week.   Whoever said you can take the girl out of the city, but not the city out of the girl was wrong. I love this luscious green place they call Chardon, Ohio.

Paul, the ‘Bidney’ and I went to visit his parent’s about 45 min down yonder outside of Cleveland.  The place is different than I had imagined. It’s not as boon-doggie as I was picturing. It’s a modern day Jurassic Park mixed with some country.  By Jurassic, I mean this place is filled with all kinds of wildlife. If one had to hunt off the fat o’ the land, there definitely would be no starvation.

When we were driving up to the house at night, my imagination was thinking, lions, tiger and bears (oh my). But in reality, it’s more like

snakes, turtles and deer…lets not forget the gargantuan prehistoric looking snapping turtles... And fox, opossums, raccoons and you’re friendly bird tweeting away. There was one woodpecker that pecked it’s head off in the middle of the night outside of my bedroom window. I didn’t mind, just wondered how it’s head was going to be feeling in the AM?

There’s a lake a couple minutes down the road from Paul’s house. This is the lake where he boasts of catching so much fish it’s like manna falling from heaven. I’m proud to say this girl (me),grew up fishing in her little lake in Irvine as well with a long line tied to a stick with a hook at the end. I too can fish with the best of them. I pull back the hair from my shoulders, pick up my ultra light pole and cast it in. One…two…SNAP! I got one! I got one!  I reel it in and find a Crappie on the end. Not big, but still fun nevertheless. I unhook the fish and throw my line back in. Another minute goes by and the line tightens as the pole bends. This time it’s a Bluegill.  We aren’t catching any thing huge to write home about (even though I am), but the fact that we’re bringing them in faster than we can unhook is pretty awesome. Every once in a while we hook into a bass. Those were the most fun to reel in. Oh yea, I’m double fisting with two poles too, to increase my volume. HA!

Most of you who know Paul (Bub) know that he’s a big competitor and trash talker. He is a great fisherman but every once in a while his talk is bigger than his catch. For instance, he was all blah blah blah about catching Big Ol’ Walter and when he reeled his fish in, this is what he caught below. Enough said.

Well ok, he did catch some bigger ones. The bass to the right was the first one of the evening. We ended going out a few times, Larry joined us on one outing, which was a blast.

We mixed the adventure up by taking a daytrip out to Niagara Falls. We got up at the crack of dawn and parked on the US side. If you’ve never been to Niagara, you must put that on the bucket list.  The place is beautiful and the falls are majestic and you feel the massive power of the water as you travel up to the mist of the falls.

There are a few boats that run up to the falls. All of them are called Maid of the Mist.  The smallest tugboat carries 250 people and from a distance, everyone looks like  a bunch of blue Oompa-loompa’s packed into a sardine can. 

Paul ended up using his luck in a casino nearby and we made it home with the trip paid for. The rest of the trip was spent hanging with the family, playing cards and eating delicious food. Did I mention eating? I gained 5 pounds in a week I ate so much!

Nonetheless, the trip was a blast! I had a great time playing Pinochle with the family. The term ‘sharks’ came into my mind at one point whilst I was playing. That sweet looking family is out for blood, oh, I mean money, when it comes to cards. I’ll be honest, I love me a good game just as much as the rest of them.