Excalibur

Went ice fishing with R today. It was an eventful day, and not because of the fish we caught (we caught nothing)! The auger bit fell off while we were drilling the second hole and sank to the bottom of the pond in 5 feet of water.

After a 40 minute trip to the local hardware store, we had a magnet in hand. R split a tree branch partly down the middle, then lightly wedged a twig into the split to force the sides apart. He probed for the auger with the stick. Upon finding it, he pushed the stick down until the twig popped out, thereby clamping the two halves onto the auger. Using this stick and the magnet on a rope, he was able to start pulling the auger to the surface. I stuck an arm down the hole up to my shoulder (so cold!) to grab it before it fell. Between the two of us, we were able to manipulate the auger to thread it back through the hole. Wow! Human ingenuity, teamwork, and probably a lot of luck at work there!

After hours of fishing and not getting a single bite, we left to explore my old college town nearby. Bought a few things at the used book store, had a pint at the local college watering hole, and browsed at a few other stores. On the way home, we ate dinner at a restaurant that is quickly becoming a favorite of ours.