Dick Nachbar  

Seasonal Swing Calendars now announce that mid-October is history, like it or not. Here, in our fine city at the Edge of the Wilderness, it means fall season’s swing toward Winter.

NEARLY NORTH OF TWO Border Bonds Old adventurer here along with his longterm bride, sweetheart and best friend, made a long-overdue visit to Rainy River Country recently. Highway 6, main artery North of Highway 2 from Deer River up to that country, provided ample opportunity for personal reflection on a history of what bonds one here with that Borderland… 56 years ago last Labor Day weekend, just before graduate school engineering program, this newly-wed couple from Minnesota River Valley visited Baudette to first-time experience Rainy River and Lake of the Woods.

Management here at Majestic Pines, comprehensive senior living camp located nearly North of Highway 2 at once-grand rapids of our dandy river Mississippi, deserves recognition and commendation for its recent presentation intended to help residents, family and friends identify attempts to defraud citizens. “Outsmart the Scammers” seminar was well attended, identified a number of historical scam scenarios and reminded this old adventurer of several personal experiences with this subject.

Old adventurer here recently learned that famous Japanese manufacturer, Honda, is once again building its iconic Trail Bike motorcycle for USA sale, resurrecting “Honda Highlights” memories from more than 50 years ago. Following college, this young couple began family and forest products industry career in Virginia’s Alleghany Highlands. Bank account wouldn’t allow second vehicle “mill car”, but bicycle followed by Honda’s 90 cc Trail Bike for $600 provided commuter and mountain adventures. Helmet labelled “Yankee Clipper”, below Mason-Dixon Line, helped avoid injury twice as autos pulled in front and motorcycle went down onto town streets.

Old adventurer here often notes annual celestial events during annual rides on our Planet Earth’s own annual merry-go-round rides around its Boss Star. Annual rides and events seem of more noted importance these days as their numbers keep growing ever larger. This week’s event of note is our Autumnal Equinox. This year’s Autumnal Equinox is predicted to occur on Sept. 22 at 8:03 p.m. Central Time when Boss Star seems to pass directly over the Equator, with equal sunshine rays directed to Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Hours of daylight and darkness are almost equal, but not quite due to planetary wobble in flight and atmospheric refraction of Boss Star’s light rays. And we’ve long known since Galileo’s time that Boss Star is not moving around Planet Earth; rather, our home planet is circling its Boss Star and at this time during that circle our Equator passes directly below the center of that Boss Star. This event marks official beginnings of Fall in our Northern Hemisphere and Spring in globe’s Southern half. Here, we’ll see more hours of darkness than light each day until next Spring Equinox occurs in about six months from now in March, 2023. Nearest full moon is labeled “Harvest Moon”; following next full moon is “Hunter’s Moon”, old adventurer’s long-time favorite of the year. There are more such annual celestial events, such as Spring, Summer and Winter recognitions. Christmas, fishing opener, morel mushrooms, deer season, anniversaries and more annual events might also fall into a similar category; however, in one’s late-life chapter they all are like ratchet clicks in cogs on life’s drive-gear wheel. This “Celestial Clicking” could represent steps in one’s journey with no backsliding and a question of how many more clicks are there yet to come? That drive-gear wheel and its ratchet clicks may have been somewhat unrecognized while so many family home and career years circled that Boss Star. Late-life chapter brings “

Our world learned last week that 96-yearold Queen Elizabeth II of England had passed away following 70 years on its throne as the Windsor family monarch. Her son, Charles, immediately became King Charles III at age 73.

By DICK NACHBAR These days our calendars are announcing September, stirring this old adventurer with its songs of memory and promise once again. Early-life Septembers meant advancing new school years bringing new horizons.

Some with our tracks that come quickly to mind include: Tellico, Penobscot, Cranberry, Cheat, Bull Pasture, Littlefork, Bigfork, Straight, Baptism, Temperance, St. Croix, Minam, Imnaha, Nehalem, John Day, Walla Walla, Grande Ronde, Boise, Payette, Selway, Lost, Lemhi, Owyhee, Snake, Salmon, Clearwater, Henry’s Fork, Blackfoot, Madison, Big Hole, Firehole, Yellowstone, Kenai, Yentna, Stikine, Babine, Tahltan, Big River, Mackenzie, Coppermine, Carcajou, San Juan and probably more now forgotten. Of course, there also are tributary forks and creeks for these rivers with more tracks and memories of outdoor smoke and fire adventure. Thank you PBS, for prompting this lifetime rambling remembrance.

Lots of action at Big Bass Lake’s Idaho Avenue address these days, just North of Highway #2 at the Edge of the Wilderness. Daughter and spouse are making progress in building the home of their dreams on their portion of that 43-year historical family property.

By Dick Nachbar News of concern arrived here in our senior camp recently. Longterm bride, sweetheart and best friend’s annual mammogram results indicated that once again, we’re into a “Cancer Combat” adventure.