Read Your Article(s)

Thanks…it’s my answer to anyone who approaches me and says, “Hey Rod (Ron, Rob, Mr. Wilson) I read your articles all the time.” It’s not to boast, but it’s happening more and more. One of my friends, Curt, will send me comments about my articles and this week he wanted to add on to my “Fall Colors” article from last week.

Curt says, “and there’s nothing like taking a canoe down the Mouse River from the Nelson Bridge to the Stone Dam on the J Clark Sawyer refuge. Not only do you see the colors but the big bucks!”

I appreciate his input. The challenge of writing a weekly article is to make sure you include as much as you can without creating one of those “boy that looks too long to read” articles. Both the J Clark Sayler and the Upper Souris Refuges have nice canoe trails, and depending on the summer, they have enough depth to do a nice canoe trip and yes, catch a couple of “big bucks” in Curt’s words.

Thanks for your input Curt, and to everyone who reads my articles, albeit not every week, thanks for spending a few minutes as I try to spread a little North Dakota nice through the pages of the Northern Sentry.

It’s An Advantage I Have

When you write what my journalism teacher at UND would have called a “wander all over the place” article, you can include special events in your life. On Sunday we were able to witness my grandson, Cooper Wilson, being baptized outside beside a very unique baptismal font.

Like every parent, my son was nervous that Cooper would interrupt the baptism by crying or not wanting to be passed to the pastor for the baptism…but Cooper took it in stride and was certainly cooperative for the baptism celebration. Pastor David Mattson, Senior Pastor at Gloria Dei Church in Dana Point performed the baptism. What a great day it was for Cooper, his parents Nathan and Krystal and of course Grandpa and Grandma Wilson.

That same “advantage” of a wandering column also gives me room to check in on another part of life: recovery, routine and a little California sunshine.

An Advantage In A Different Way

If you have been following along and reading my articles, you are familiar with my back surgery back in January. Dr. Manuel Pinto did the surgery and he didn’t sell it short. “This is a tough surgery, and recovery will be a struggle.”

Yep, his description was certainly accurate. Regaining strength after 4-5 months of not doing much physically has been a struggle. But my trip to California has given me an opportunity to swim laps in a beautiful outdoor pool. It is a great experience to be swimming laps when the sun starts to break over the tree line. My goal? Well, I wasn’t sure how far I could push myself, but hopefully next week I am able to report that I was able to swim a mile. I had been working my way towards that goal when the YMCA closed their pool for 3 weeks.

But returned to the pool last week in California and set my swimming routine to work towards the one-mile goal. Of course, an outdoor lap pool wouldn’t work so well in North Dakota, but out here it does. The only complaint I heard was that it was “way to hot” to swim laps. Don’t think I have ever heard that complaint before. But it has been unusually hot in Ladera Ranch. A couple of days it topped out above 90 degrees. When we flew into Las Vegas it was 110 degrees.

Most complaints I hear at the YMCA is because the pool is too cold. I guess it all depends on where you are, and what you are accustomed to. No matter what the temperature of the pool is, you just need to dig in and “get ’er done.”

And speaking of getting things done, here is a community opportunity that can make a real difference for children and families.

We Ride So They Can Walk

As a Shriner, we take pride in our Children’s Clinics and Hospitals, now referred to as Shriner’s Childrens’. There is a unique opportunity for parents to have their children screened to see if there is an opportunity for Shiners’ Childrens to help them.

• Date: September 8th
• Time: 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
• Location: First District Health Unit
• Cost: Free
• Appointment: No appointment needed
• More information: Send questions to Shaun at (701) 500-2163

Ramblin’s

For more information on our area wildlife refuges, go to https://www.ndtourism.com › wildlife-refuges

Today’s Chuckle

Ok, more of a true-life chuckle; I was holding my grandson when I felt that unmistakable rumble in his diaper. Yep, he was on his way to that dreaded “blowout” diaper.

Once he finished I said something about changing what I knew would be a very messy diaper, I heard my son ask, “Do you guys need help?”

Both Grandma and Grandpa laughed and whispered similar remarks…but most relevant was Grandma whispering, “We got this, it isn’t our first rodeo.”