Four of us were heading out last Monday morning for our final Mississippi River hunt of the season. The wind was blowing so hard at 4:00am that the electric gate at the boat storage lot was blown out of kilter and the system malfunctioned. After much unsuccessful fiddling with the gate and prolonged cursing, we all went back home wondering how we could be so unlucky. We sank a boat at Lincoln Shields in high winds last season on the day before the iceup. You would have thought we would have learned something. I'm thinking now that someone smarter than me was looking out for us this year.