!67Mystery

We are ever hopeful that our son Steven will someday be able to overcome his very serious addictions to both golf and skiing and return once more to carry on our family tradition of fly-fishing while at the same time being able to observe the awesome mystery.

The first image is a view of Labrador's beautiful Minipi Lake from the porch of the Lodge. The second is a cascade entering the Minipi River gorge. The third through the eighth images are a series of beautiful Minipi Lake sunsets taken on successive evenings. The ninth is an unconscionable picture of two fuel barrels of the many hundreds dumped and abandoned with other debris by American and Canadian Military forces after training exercises in 1956 at the otherwise pristine Shango Bay. The tenth is one of early evening reflections on Minipi Lake. The eleventh shows reflections of mirror-like Minipi Lake after the disastrous forest fire of 1999. The twelfth picture is a huge yet typical Minipi Brown Drake (Hexagenia limbata) hatch. The thirteenth is a picture of a DeHavilland Beaver flying over Battle Lake in Alaska. The fourteenth is another fisherman (Mr. Grizzly) on the bank of the Battle River. The fifteenth shows a successful Mr. Bear eating a Sockeye Salmon. The sixteenth picture shows Sockeye Salmon moving up the Battle River towards Battle Lake. The seventeenth picture shows my son Steve observing the awesome mystery. The eighteenth picture is a view of the spectacular, misty Battle Lake. The nineteenth image is a twelve pound Rainbow Trout about to be released back into the Battle River. The next two pictures show the "dynamic duo", Steven and his old man, first on the shores of Battle Lake in Alaska and then on a bluff overlooking the Minipi River in Labrador. The twenty-second image is an incomparable Dave Footer mount of a beautiful 10 pound 14 ounce Minipi Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus). The next photo shows Steve about to release yet another gorgeous Minipi Brookie so that it too can continue the unending cycle! The last image is another Footer mount of a Minipi Brookie against his backdrop painting of the Minipi Gorge. The Mayfly is the Minipi Green Drake, Hexagenia rigida, and its imitation in my fly-tying vise.

Mystery

                In Labrador, the deepest, darkest Lakes,
                Minonipi, Anne Marie and Minipi,
                Linked forever by Laurentide glacial Magic,
                Wind their Way through scented, coniferous Forests;
                Brightly hued Eastern Brook Trout rise freely
                In friendly Competition with red-gold Arctic Charr,
                A natural Ballet;
                The Chorus, an endless Wave of Sub-imagos;
                This wondrous Mayfly Armada,
                Gently drifts away
                Encouraged by Canada’s warm summer Breezes
                To fulfill its Destiny!

                In Alaska, the sweet watered Battle River clearly flows
                From the greenest Mountains high above
                Until Winter’s whitest Snows
                Blanket the sleeping Grizzly Bears beneath;
                Summer’s Sockeye Salmon, chased by Rainbows,
                Run in from Oceans far away
                To leave their Young to fend for themselves
                And yet no one truly knows
                If they, in turn, will return once more
                To repeat the unending Cycle
                Of Life and Death and Life, and I suppose
                It may be just as God had planned!

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