On the lighter side of things, it’s been a busy few days!
On Sunday, Forever North and I went to Ma-Me-O beach on Pigeon Lake, about an hour from where we live. It was a beautiful, sunny day . . . perfect for a refreshing dip in the lake.
We arrived, set out our towels, stripped down to our suits and scampered into the water. It was fantastic . . . as good as I had hoped.
After spending a half an hour or so in the water, we decided to go out and warm up a bit in the sun. I climbed onto my towel, stretched out and basked in the sun. FN stood on the shore not far from me, and I noticed him patting his pockets.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The car keys,” he said.
“What, you mean they were in your pocket?”
“Yes,” he said, gravely.
“And now they’re not???”
“Nope.”
It was now apparent that our car keys were now at the bottom of Pigeon Lake.
We scampered back into the water and tried to feel around the lake bed with our feet. They would have been easy to find in the shallow water if the water had been clear, but its greenish, cloudy hue was impossible to see through.
We decided that we would have to call for help now, so I went in search of a pay phone so that we could call FN’s brother and father and let them know what was happening. FN continued to search as well as he could.
I got my clothes on and began to walk in search of a pay phone. I figured there had to be one somewhere. Walking on the beach wasn’t too bad, but walking in sandles with sand caked on your feet can be a bit abrasive. I made my way to the road, and soon I could feel my heels starting to ache. Running shoes would have made a much better choice of footwear, but who would have thought that our car keys would have ended up at the bottom of the lake?
It wasn’t long before I started to feel a distinct ache and tingle on my shoulders, and realised that sunscreen was in order. I slathered it on and continued down the road. I was a bedraggled sight, becoming increasingly sore and dehydrated as I went. I walked for 30-45 minutes until I reached the centre of town.
I didn’t know that Ma-Me-O beach was such a small town, but apparently it is. I did not find a corner store. I found 2 restaurants and 2 ice cream stands, and nothing else. I finally found the pay phone, and discovered that the call to Edmonton would be long distance. Terrific. So I called collect and finally got through to FN’s dad. He called FN’s brother, and made arrangements for him to meet us in Pigeon Lake after he finished work to pick us up with a spare key.
I walked back feeling even more bedraggled than before, and wondered what the higher reason was for us losing our keys in the lake. 30 minutes later, I dumped my butt down on my towel and collapsed.
We made some futile attempts at using a diving mask to try and find the keys, but the mask wouldn’t seal over FN’s glasses, and I felt too claustrophobic to use it myself. We tried borrowing goggles from one of the cabins down the beach (which was weird in itself), but the goggles wouldn’t seal properly on my face. We decided to give up.
The day finally concluded four hours after it began with a nice Chinese supper in town and a long drive back home.
Rather unexpectedly, FN and I got invited to go fishing on Monday. That’s obviously a work day, but the fishing was, oddly enough, work-related. 
So, FN, FN’s brother (GMAN), two Japanese guests (Dr. Y and Dr. O) and I piled into our Nissan Axxess and drove to Beaver Lake in northern Alberta (just outside of Lac La Biche). We left at 5:30 in the morning, and arrived at 9:00.
Lac La Biche may have “All Services”, but it’s still a very small town. I always feel somewhat amused, somewhat wary whenever we go to a small town. Just imagine a group of 5 people, 4 of whom appear obviously Asian in an otherwise non-Asian town. We get looks everywhere, although thankfully most people are friendly. I guess it would have been less weird if it had just been FN, GMAN and I, since we do a pretty good job of fitting into the small town scene, but having two Japanese guests makes for a rather unusual sight.
We rented a boat and headed out onto the water. GMAN was the first to catch a fish, using a jig lure and a frozen (or rather, semi-frozen by that point) minnow. He caught a good sized northern pike, which I’ll post a picture of as soon as I have a chance. Soon, both Dr. Y and Dr. O had caught fish. FN followed soon afterwards. I, however, had not even a nibble. I refused to be discouraged, but I was disappointed, given how much success everyone else was having. I continued to harvest a large number of weeds right up until we went for lunch.
We went to town for lunch, and had some simple food and cool, refreshing drinks. The heat was starting to climb out on the water, and I was starting to long for a swim.
After lunch, we decided to try a different spot. We went to a cove near where a river enters Beaver Lake. With two boats, we were sure to have more success. Sure enough, shortly after arriving at that spot, I caught a beautiful walleye with a jig lure and minnow bait. Rarely have I ever been so thrilled. It’s awkward getting a grip on a fish, but holding a fish in your hands that is still alive is a breathtaking feeling. You can feel its heart beating and its muscles twitching.
I felt so overwhelmed, so honoured to have this powerful little creature in my hands. It was too small to take home, but I couldn’t have taken it home anyway. I couldn’t have felt the animal living in my hands only to watch it die. I wanted to watch it, and the others I caught after it, free to wriggle out of my hands in the water and swim to freedom below. It was breathtaking, and extremely addictive.
Unfortunately, later in the afternoon, I found myself succumbing to heat exhaustion. Despite the water I had been drinking, I could feel myself growing weak and ill. FN had to take me ashore and fill me with as much cold fluids as he could find. I drank a can of iced tea, a bottle of water, ate 2 large popcicles and sat with 6 cold drinks in my lap and a bag of ice between my legs. I was slow to recover, but gradually the urge to lie down and pass out began to fade.
As the day started to cool off, the prospect of catching more fish became tantilizing. Dr. Y wanted very much to be able to take a fish home, so one more trek out onto the lake was to be made in the early evening. I decided that I wanted to go too . . . I was sure that there were more fish out there waiting for me.
We tried other spots on the lake, but we got nary a nibble. We ended up going back to the spot where we had been before, and lo and behold, I caught more walleye. I ended up catching 3 walleye in total over the course of the day, and FN caught 2 walleye and 2 northern pike. It was quite exciting indeed!
We drove back to Edmonton in the late evening, and dragged our weary selves to bed. It was a long day, but well worth it.
All in all, I incurred the following over the last 2 days:
1 burnt shoulder
1 burnt chest (near collarbone)
2 burnt ears
1 burnt neck (both sides and the back along the hairline)
1 lightly toasted nose
1 lightly toasted forehead
2 lightly toasted cheeks
15 mosquito bites (I had none before this)
3 scratched fingers (from handling the fish and trying to take the hook out with my fingers)
I wore sunscreen, but I was stupid and neglected certain areas. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m certainly not going to make that mistake again. My ears and chest are the most burnt, and they’re itchy and throbbing. 
All in all, however, I’m very pleased. It was lots of fun, and all of my “injuries” just seem like battle scars now. I went to battle, and now I am a fishing warrior!
Next time will be even better, because I will get more than 4 hours of sleep, I will slather on sunscreen, and I will drink tons of water every day leading up to the trip.
~phew~ What a couple of days. Time to go back to sleep.
