Fish and Handcuffs

Wednesday July 19th-Monday July 24th

Hello All! I'm still alive and well on the outskirts of Menomonie. Again, it's been a while since I had written, but I'm beginning to realize that unless I make it a point to go in to town every day to send my info to you, it's more than likely not going to happen. So, I'm really going to try to make that happen because I believe it is a big part of my "journey" thus far.

I've got a few news items to report, and they are actually good news...

First, it had cooled down for a good number of days, but yesterday it warmed back up again. It had finally rained a bit one day as well. It hadn't rained in quite a while. I can tell when I'm riding my bike that the farmers in the area are not going to do very well this year. Their crops are looking extremely poor. The only crops that you see doing well are the ones that are right next to the farmer's house (this is because it is the corn that the farmer is relying on to feed his family with). It's too bad that they've had such a terrible year, especially now that companies are buying corn for E85 fuel (this is the gasoline derived from corn). It had seemed to be a good opportunity for farmers in the Midwest to sell a fair amount of their surplus for profit, but like I say, this year's been so terrible so far that it's not likely to make much of a difference locally (except for the fact that they are building a refinery in a town north of here called "Boyceville").

Here is my second bit of good news. I've learned to catch fish. That's not to say that I've gotten really good at it, but I've caught some now. I've learned to take on a specific strategy. I now fish Northern Pike early in the morning (right at daybreak when the water is perfectly still), and again at nightfall. Why? Because that's when they seem to be most active. If I have time, I can fish for panfish during the day because they seem to like midday quite a bit better than other fish. I also have two other fishing opportunities as well. Apparently the creek that flows through the camp is not a bad trout stream, and I've also been told that the pond holds "bullheads" which can be fished at night. One of these nights I'll have to give that a try!

Nate had left a fillet knife at camp, but I've never filleted a fish before. I did the best I could on the fish I had caught, but I'm sure that it's not even close to doing it proper. Actually, as soon as I'm done writing this I had better do a little research on how to fillet fish. I feel bad to waste any fish, especially being that it has taken me so long to learn to catch them. I think that fish will become a big part of my diet being that I'm running out of money. That's okay though, because fish is very healthy. Maybe being a bum in the middle of the woods is the way to go? Healthy, not wealthy, but wise!

So what's the word on the street in Menomonie? There's actually a couple of items of interest as of late. First, there's the proposed "smoking ban", but I don't want to write about that...Maybe I would if it seemed to me to be an issue. However, it doesn't appear that way to me, so I'll remain silent on this subject. Another bit of news is that Menards is now flying their corporate jets out of Menomonie's airport. What does that mean for the airport? According to Louis Paffel, airport manager/fixed base operator, he has "...sold more fuel in the month of June than in the history of this airport,". You see, Menards used to fly their corporate bigwigs from the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, but they were charging Menards a lot of money to park their cars there. That's when Menards decided that they would then fly out of Menomonie. This seems to be a big score for the Menomonie Municiple Airport. Way to go!

Another local interest story involves the current Sheriff of Dunn County, Dennis Smith, and his current campaign for re-election in Dunn County. Recently someone had built a website containing several allegations towards Smith, calling on the public to not vote for him (www.dennissmithforsheriff.com). Hmmm...this site was working earlier, now it doesn't seem to be working. Give it a try, maybe it will work. Anyhow, whoever it is is very upset at Smith, but it's hard telling what kind of person they are. Nonetheless there is an investigation currently underway to find out who the "anonymous web people/person" is. Apparently there is a law that says you are not allowed to sway voters during an election with any kind of information unless you identify yourself, which these folks thus far have not.

This is an interesting situation in the fact that the allegations could be true, however, in order for them to be checked into, the anonymous person would have to identify themselves and provide some level of evidence. This makes sense right? Well, I for one would most likely be a bit intimidated to bring forward evidence against a member of law enforcement due to the fact that if the evidence is not satisfactory, or if there is no action taken, this person might in some way seek some sort of retribution. This is not a big county, and the fact is, the Dunn County Sheriff's Department could very easily make life a living hell for anyone in this community if they so chose.

A recent development was mentioned in the Dunn County News' "Editorial" section in yesterday's paper. The allegations and accusations were all erased from the site, but there was a letter from the site's creator. It says...

We are considering a request byDeputy Kathy Ertz and Deputy Brad Leach to take this web site down. While we don't agree we should, we have considered their request. The facts on the site stand for thmselves.

While we made a mistake in not listing the sponsor of the web site - this was an honest mistake. We were not aware that the law required this and when we were made aware of it we listed the required information.

The fact that many people did not like the content of the web site does not matter. The fact is this country was founded on the principles of free speech.

Very interesting indeed. I'm not sure what this Smith fellow is all about (nor do I care to find out, if you know what I mean) nor do I know what the website creators are like either. Nonetheless, I do have to agree with the website creators on one point, and this has to do with American's freedom of speech. I also agree with the Editor of the Dunn County News that "Just because it's on the web doesn't make it true". There is a lot of information on the web that just simply is not true. Do people get upset about that? I get the feeling that if this incident was occurring somewhere else, it wouldn't be as big of a deal as they've made it. In fact, I'm not even so sure that there truly is any legalities associated with what this person has done. Sure, they may be somewhat fiscally responsible, but I'm not so sure that this would be considered an act of "absolute lawlessness" which the local public has made it out to be. As happens with all things, time will tell what happens.

On to my journey. My plan for this week is to purchase some batteries for my camera, so I'll be able to show you some of the things that I've been talking about. I'd really like to be able to share some of the projects I will be undertaking. I think it would make this blog a bit more interesting. My hope is that other folks will find my story of surviving the Wisconsin wilderness as exciting as I have to this point.

Speaking of projects, I am beginning to get some ideas for a way to keep my food cooler for longer. I believe it may involve digging a hole and insulating it in some way. I just want to be able to store a good amount of food for a fair amount of time. I need to make sure that I can keep the heat locked out. If anyone has any ideas, make sure you write to me to let me know.

Anyway...That's it for now. Enough of my nonsense rambling. I'll talk to ya'all later.

Eli

PS - Oh yeah, landowners...by the way...Your real estate taxes are due on the 31st. I have some good news for you though. If you'd like to learn to live without paying taxes, you can stay tuned to this blog. I will show you how to live the best way...Healthy and Free!