Ice Cream and Whiskey

It happens every year, after a few weeks in the Canadian bush you start to crave something you cannot get up here. Usually it is food related; ordering a pizza, Chinese food or even something as simple as your favorite salad dressing. But this year? Yup, you guessed it ice cream and whiskey. You see, earlier this year Barb switched from rum to whiskey, I will reveal why later in this post. And ice cream? Well, it is ice cream! She had brought up some whiskey but evidently it was not enough as one day I found Barb at the dinette crying. This is not all together that unusual as just living with me will bring a tear to your eye but when I heard her mumbling I started to get concerned. As I leaned in closer I heard her say “It’s all gone, all of it” It was then that I noticed that she was cradling the empty whiskey bottle in her arms like a new born baby. It was indeed all gone. I think the air up here makes alcohol evaporate at a higher rate. I recalled thinking "Oh oh, this is not good”. That night, like me the week before, she was wandering from cabin to cabin looking for anyone who had whiskey to spare.

Chad and Michelle must have felt really bad (or were in fear of losing good customers) as they rolled into camp the next day with not only one but two bottles of her favorite whiskey. And we are not talking the puny 750ml bottles, they went all out and got two 1.75’s! With only 4 days left until we return to “The States” we hope that these will tide us over, if not, it is going to be a long couple of days!

One happy girl!

There are other things we crave as well. Just the other day Barb said “I want some ice cream”. Which is unusual for her as her “diet” does not allow her to have ice cream. She is on this low carb, no sugar diet (which is why she switched from rum to whiskey). Personally I think it has nothing to do with low carbs or no sugar. I would call it “the build your own house diet”. Works wonders on the body, hell on the marriage. (just kidding, it is going amazingly well)  At any rate, whatever you call it must be working because the other day she exclaimed “I fit into my skinny jeans!” Skinny jeans? What are those I asked. I come to find out that she has “normal jeans” “fat jeans” and the aforementioned “skinny jeans”. Interesting. I am not sure if this is something all women do or if it is just Barb, but now I am curious. I think I will start asking women I meet if they are wearing their fat jeans or skinny jeans. I will report back later and let you know how this works out.

Barb is not like a lot of women when they are on a diet. Meaning that when the momma is on a diet, everyone is on a diet and suffers just like she is. If she has to eat kale of her diet, everyone eats kale. You get my drift. Barb is just the opposite. I think she likes to eat vicariously through me. She can’t eat carbs? Jim get carbs. She can’t eat pancakes, Jim get pancakes. Just recently it was likewise with waffles and a blueberry pie. I think she likes to see me eating the stuff she cannot. Just the other day she was craving spaghetti so what did we have for dinner? Spaghetti. Oh she did not have any but she kept spooning it onto my plate telling me to eat more and asking me over and over again “Is it good?” Not that I am complaining mind you!

With just a couple days left here the camp if in full bear hunt mode. After 7 days all 8 bear hunters in camp connected. Two of the hunters have been coming up here for years while 6 others were from Texas and were not used to the Canadian bush or the cooler weather. You know how to get 6 Texans running in the bush. Yell "He still alive and headed our way!" They will scatter like crazy! I thought it was funny, they....not so much.

“Hutch”, who has been coming up for years got the first and biggest bear for the week at just over 300#’s. Barb and I took him and his wife Mary out fishing on Onaman one day. This was the one and only time Barb got out on Onaman this trip so we were not able to make a video this year. Barb caught her personal best for both a walleye and a northern for that lake. A 29” walleye which I think would have measured over 30 had she taken the sag out the belly and a 37” northern. Neither were her overall personal best but they were for that lake.

29" Walleye

Nice 37" pike

Me with a puny 22"'er

So with our Pasha time behind us it is time to move on. We are headed to Wisconsin for a few days to visit family and friends. It has been over 2 years since we have been there and are looking forward to seeing my brothers and sisters. I cannot wait to ask my friend’s wife if she is wearing her fat jeans or skinny jeans!