Since an early age, those who have known me or had to live with me were compelled to share my love of the outdoors.

I’ve tried to make it rub off in fun ways. My girls learned types of leaves, trees, birds and flowers early on. In 1999 we started an amazing project that to this day I wonder how I talked my way into it. We began building Bogie’s Buzzards Bay Lodge on a beautiful pristine body of water—Lake Vermilion.

The only way to get there was a six and-a-half mile journey by water. The actual structure took five years to build and was done with all volunteer help. In the 14 years that followed there have been many great fishing trips, bonfires and family reunions. It has produced the best kind of memories and laughs. All told, close to 200 different visitors have crossed the threshold of the BBBL and I’ve personally averaged 45 days a year in what I call paradise.

My favorite day is the summer solstice with its endless hours of sunshine and dusk. My saddest day is the day we close down each fall. This year it was rough because our summer had too many interruptions and we didn’t get there as often as we would have liked. It certainly didn’t help that our last time up had tremendous photo opportunities and the fall colors where as beautiful as the weather. I’d like to share a bit of that with you, enjoy!

For more photos go to spotted.brainerddispatch.com.