Being a Realtor is
all about building relationships, and sometimes those relationships aren't just
with the human race. Recently, one of the agents at RE/MAX Lakes Area Realty,
told me about a special relationship with a mother Loon affectionately named Bandie.
Bandie got her name because of a metal DNR band around one of her legs. The
story was told to me like this:
Bandie has been
coming back to the same nesting area on the Whitefish Chain for 12 years. All
of these years have been spent with Bandie's sole mate, a Loon by the name of
Big Bob. Bandie and Big Bob have successfully raised many Loon offspring during
their summers on the Whitefish Chain. The whole family would play in the waters
just off of the boat docks, and everyone could tell the family enjoyed showing
off for them. Bandie wasn't shy at all, and on several occasions, Bandie would
swim beside people while they were sunbathing on an inner tube or some other
floatation device. Big Bob would always be around too, being more stand offish
than Bandie, but you could tell Big Bob was keeping his eye on Bandie and their
offspring, making sure they were safe. Year after year, Bandie and Big Bob
would get their offspring ready to fly south for the winter, and after many
failed attempts at running across the water trying to take flight, Bandie and
Big Bob would watch with pride as take off and sustained air time would finally
take place with one of their young ones. Each year about this time, the family
leave's one by one, with Big Bob going first. A few days later their offspring
take off and head in the direction of their father. Bandie stays behind for a
while, watching her family head for winter grounds to the south. Like many snowbirds heading south for the winter, Bandie always
seems a little reluctant to leave her home on Whitefish, but when she finally
decides it's time, she always says goodbye. This year while my agent friend was
taking a short video of a beautiful sunset, Bandie decided it was time to
leave, and her goodbye was caught on this video. Will Bandie and Big Bob return
next year? I sure hope so, because relationships turn into friendships, and
these friends would certainly be missed if they failed to return. In the
meantime, we do have Bandie's goodbye loud and clear, so enjoy this video, and
we'll see you next year dear friends!
Contributed by Paul Bunyan, a legendary retired ax man and storyteller who has a home on Ox Lake in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Paul knows several RE/MAX Lakes Area Realty agents, and we are proud to call Paul our friend and neighbor.
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