I’ve got a few ideas for your weekend. Richard Driehaus might want you to come to the Lake Geneva lakefront and look at old circus wagons. I get that it might be cool if you’re someone who otherwise loves clowns and the circus life, but it’s not really something I want to do. Petting baby animals is ok, but I’d rather grill older animals at Pearce’s this weeked. If you’re really an animal lover, you need to show some love to the brown trout of Van Slyke Creek. There’s a couple who has been championing the clearing of Van Slyke Creek in Fontana, and they’re holding another clean up day this Saturday. The creek flows from Fontana and ends up in the south end of the Abbey Harbor. It’s a cool creek, and it holds a fairly significant full time population of native brown trout.
Yes, I’ve caught trout in this stream before, and yes, they’re beautiful and clean just like you’d expect. The trouble with the stream is that it is surrounded by woods, so the stream is clogged with downed trees and branches. The clean up effort seeks to restore the flow of water, which will cause the stream to run cooler, and allow fish to swim throughout the entire stream system. I applaud them in their goal, and wish I could help, but I can’t. Why not? Well, for starters I have to show property on Saturday and hold an open house at my old girlfriend… that doesn’t sound right. Anyway, I have to work, and truthfully, as much as I’d like to go help, I’m pretty useless. They’d ask me to pick up a branch and I’d cry about my precious back. Not only that, but I lack any real work clothes and would probably show up looking like a complete jerk in white tennis shorts and sandals. Not stream clearing wear to be sure. But, it’s a great idea, so if you’re conservation minded, show up at the Abbey Saturday morning and they’ll put you to work.
While looking at circus wagons and helping lend a hand cleaning out local streams are indeed options for your weekend, I prefer the Sunday option. This Sunday, Pearce’s Farm Stand, forever immortalized in my post from last month, is holding a harvest party. I was up there today in hopes of scoring some field fresh butternut squash, which I did, and I had to ask Mr. Pearce what the tents were for. “For the party”, he told me, while motioning to the giant “Party” sign I had somehow missed on my way in. It’s a party alright, complete with tents, corn mazes, a giant pile of bailed hay that my kids affectionately call “The Haystack”, fresh produce, grilled meats, and live music. It’ll be fun, and I want you to come. Don’t think I’ll be there with my denim overalls on snacking on a large piece of wheat, because I won’t be. I’ll be there for a bit, mainly to buy some produce for the Bears/Steelers dinner I’ll be throwing later that afternoon. So since the game isn’t until 3 on Sunday, head over to Pearce’s around noon for an early snack and the chance to purchase some of the finest corn, squash, and pumpkins available. You won’t regret it.
You know what you will regret? Sitting around the suburbs this weekend while I live another weekend Lake Geneva style. See you at the lake. Or at Pearce’s. Or at Van Slyke Creek. But probably not at Driehaus’s circus fest.