Bandie Says Goodbye

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.