This past Tuesday the citizens of Albert Lea made a statement. It was a resounding &8220;Clean up our waters!&8221;

This is a good thing. Now we can move on with the next step and actually put into action what has been needed for many years. Clean lakes won’t happen over night but we have now made a commitment to be in it for the long haul.

It will take time and a lot of work to get the result we have all

envisioned for many years. The Fountain Lake Sportsman’s Club was the first group to jump on the bandwagon many years ago.

For those that have forgotten, the shores of Fountain Lake used to be lined with dead fish carcasses almost every spring. Thanks to the aerators that have been in place for those many years that no longer is an issue for Fountain Lake.

We have been enjoying some dandy fall weather and just a few years ago who would have imagined mowing lawn in November.

It seems that the fall weather of years past has slowly given way to a milder, warmer fall. In looking back over the years I can recall one November in the late 70’s when we got 11 inches of snow on November 8th and it didn’t leave until March. That was one long winter.

Thinking of that storm reminds me of when I was a kid and not a Saturday in the fall went by where I wasn’t glued to the radio listening to a Gopher football game. There was one late September day when the Gophers were playing Missouri in a snowstorm and we ended up with 6 inches of snow on the ground. Murray Warmath was the coach at that time and I believe the game ended in a scoreless tie.

Now I am sure the snow didn’t stay for the duration of the winter but it was snow and it was deep. After listening to the game it was time to get some of the neighborhood kids together and play a little football in the snow. Our moms would be less than enthusiastic about it but they didn’t need to know until after we were all wet and muddy from sliding into the make believe end

zone for a touchdown or two.

The thing I liked most about listening to the game on the radio was the sheer excitement generated by the sound of the fans. You could actually imagine what it was like without ever being there. When we played our own game in the back yard there were thousands of cheering people and we could run like the best players the Gophers had. Of course it was only our imagination but that was the best part of it. You could be the best back the Gophers had or the meanest defensive lineman and nobody could argue with that because we could pick who we wanted to be before the game began.

There were times more than one of us wanted to be the same hero so after some discussion we would reach a compromise.

One of the best parts of being a kid is having a vivid imagination and being able to use it. The places you can go to or the things you can accomplish are endless. We created a lot of our own fun and didn’t need much more than our imaginations to make it work.

Things like a set of fresh critter tracks in the newly fallen snow always make me curious and bring back thoughts of days spent in the slough by Goose Lake. I always marveled at the little things like following tracks of field mice to their dens in the slough grass or having a pheasant come out of nowhere startling you just as much as it was startled by you.

I can still hear the sound of my old overshoes crunching on the crusty snow and feel the crisp clear air as I take a deep breath on a sunny but cold winter day.

These are just little things that I look back on and know they must have been important to me as a kid. I have said it many times – you can never go back but it’s sure fun to take a peek once in a while.

The deer hunting reports for the opening weekend were not as high as first forecast. It was estimated that about 100,000 deer were registered the opening weekend. The lower than expected number may be attributed to the amount of standing corn in the southern part of the state or the mild weather we have been experiencing over most of the state.

This was expected to be a banner year but like anything in nature the only predictable thing about it is that it is unpredictable. Even the so-called hunting experts will tell you that there are too many variables when trying to determine whether a hunting season will be a success or not.

You can compare this to fishing in a way. There can be lake surveys done and many times the state average number of walleyes said to be in a lake but if they aren&8217;t in the mood to bite the only thing the survey puts in the live-well is frustration.

Not everyone gets that trophy buck or lunker walleye, but the fun you have trying makes it all worthwhile.

Until next time &8220;play safe; take the time to explore the outdoors and above all -Enjoy!&8221;

Remember to show your support for the troops that are serving our country so that we may enjoy these many freedoms that we have.

(Dick Herfindahl, Outdoors writer.)