Life at the Lake Jan 99

Life at The Lake Jan 99 - July 99 ! The intention of this page is to allow friends and family scatttered over the country a method of following the activities, changing seasons, weather and phenology of our little bit of "paradise". I will update this page every other week or so.
Bill 11/21/98 Week of July 26 - Aug 1 1999
Hot Hot week, as it was almost everywhere. We "finished" the yard work (See Photo of The Week.) and that was about all that got done in the heat. Dave and Tracy are now here and our weather has returned with temps back into the 60s and 70s. David and Tracy had an announcement, Pat and I are going to be grandparents in February !!! :>) Fantastic! The "parents to be" are beaming and so are we. Congratulations, Dave and Tracy.

Week of July 18 - July 25 1999
A very busy week, followed by a nice weekend. Friday July 16th we cleared trees and burned brush in preparation for the septic system overhaul. The guys showed up on time Tues (7/20) and things started well, but they had not finished the job from the previous day and had to return to it at about 11am. They then returned and worked for another couple of hours later in the day. Well the job was unfinished and was not completed until Thursday. Pat and I worked like crazy and got the yard and flower garden (previously "chipmunk island" into a condition where we could leave. We got it mostly raked out and dressed with 8 yards of topsoil and grass planted. On Friday we went over to Laura and Dean's for a needed get away and a nice weekend visit. (See Photo of the Week pages.) Dave and Tracy arrive this weekend. :>))

Week of July 14 - July 18 1999
Cloudy cool Sunday morning , "At The Lake". We had a very nice day yesterday, as cooler high pressure moved in. We enjoyed lunch at the golf course with Don and Dianne and then did the annual duck count. Good Mallard numbers, but few other ducks this year. Friday we cut the trees and burned brush to allow for the construction of the septic system. Things look different, but better than what we feared. Thursday, we enjoyed a round of golf and lunch with Rod and Meredith (Boy I need to work on my irons!). Hot day but nice breeze, fun outing. We then got a call from Meredith about 9pm or so, Rod had an accident, down on the beach, and broke his left arm mid-afternoon! So... No Superior sailing trip this year, Bummer :<(

Week of July 5 - July 13 1999
We just returned from our summer Missouri trip today. We had good weather so flew the Cessna down and back, good fast trips, 5hrs instead of 11 or 12. Pat assisted Mom with yard and garden and I helped Chuck. We enjoyed our 1 week visit as always, but are glad to get back and try to get things back to normal here. We "flew off" and left the digital camera in Chuck and Joyce's car so the "Photo of the Week" will be delayed. Sorry, we didn't decide that that had really happened until we were 20min out or so and didn't want to loose the hour plus to return and try to get it. Mom is sending it up today.
Everyone seems to be doing fine, Wendy and Andy sold the house today and must be out by July 30, so "the move" will be in full swing soon.

Week of June 28- July 4 1999
What a 36 hrs we have had. We went to visit Dave and Lisa Foss, visiting down in Park Papids Saturday and returned to no electricity about 10:30pm. Well it was 74 degrees and not a breath of air. ARGH! I took my pillow out to the screen porch and tried to sleep there, Pat "waited" on the electricity. The power was restored about 12:30am. We got up to a VERY dark morning and had a bad storm come through about 10:30am (July 4th, when else?). We lost the tops out of two birch trees and the electricity, again, at about 10:45am. We spent a couple of hours cleaning up the storm damage and relaxed the best we could with rain continuing off and on. Since there still was no electricity by 5:30pm I fired up the generator and got power to the refrigerator and a couple of lights. Pat fixed dinner on the grill and we were doing ok. By fireworks time the clouds looked very bad and there was considerable lightning as we worked the shore heading up to the islands. We then had a heavy downpour that lasted about a minute before the fireworks even started. With all the lightning, we split before "the show" was over and got wetter on the way home. (Laura, that jacket kept half of me nice and dry! I should have put on the pants as well (:>) Oh summer in Minnesota! We got the power back again about 1:45 this morning. You can guess what the forecast for today is!

Week of June 22 - June 27 1999
We have not yet gotten back in the swing of things, but it should not be too long. The yard was a jungle when we returned and Pat has spent so.. much time trying to get it whipped back into shape. I did the usual yard work as well as some brush removeable on the beach. It was 90 degrees both Fri and Sat. Friday was NICE, a 15-20mph wind out of the south-east made it that way(helped with the bugs). Saturday HIGH humidity and not a breath of air, ARGH. The bugs ARE horrid. It has been and is VERY dry, we did get about 1/4 inch of rain last night, but we need oh so much more. If you have not yet visited the Hawaii link please do. I am fairly much done with it and that is what I spent Tues - Thur doing this week. I am pleased and hope you will enjoy it and share the web address with others for them to enjoy.

Week of June 10 - June 21 1999
We just returned from a 10 day trip to Hawaii. Spent over 20 hours in airports and airplanes to get home! We had a great trip, spent 5 days on Kauai, it really lives up to it's name as "The Garden Island". We snorkeled more than anything else and joined up with our son David and daughter-in-law Tracy for the last three days, of five, on the "Big Island". We got in several "road" trips there and would love to return to "see" more. The variation of climates is unreal! Visit the "Photo's of The Week" for images of the trip.

Week of May 31 - June 5, 1999
Another dark Saturday! We had this seasons first real thunderstorm last night. About 11:30pm it started to thunder and blow. We had a GOOD rain and no serious weather. We had been getting dry again and needed the rain. Well the mosquitoes did too I guess, because they are now out in full force. Bad thing, Bad thing. Cool today at 2:25pm only 70 degrees and very little wind, just what the mosquitoes like! Pat finished school Thursday and I will finish on Tuesday. I had a great group of kids again this semester and will miss them even though I won't miss all the work of evenings, until September. The Alg/Trig kids really did well on the final exam and made me proud!

We are seeing more and more mother ducks with babies, several groups last night on our boat ride. Thursday morning I saw a doe and fawn crossing the road on the way to work, tiny little guy, not very old! Most of the birds have gone to the woods and we see only phoebe, a few yellow finches and the woodpeckers.

As of Friday, 25 years completed at GRHS. Gosh, I was a young pup when I started here. Thursday my Math Dept colleagues presented me with a very nice card and two $20 gift certificates for the SawMill Inn Restaurant for my efforts as Department Chairman this year. There are few things that are as appreciated as recognition from ones colleagues.

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Week of May 24 - May 30 1999
A HOT weekend 90 on Saturday and 85 today. A cold front is passing through as I write this and it is to be cooler tomorrow. The week has been dry and the lake is slowly returning to normal levels. I put the deck back on the dock yesterday and we had a nice boat ride. On that ride we saw the first ducklings of the season, a mother goldeneye with 7 little fluff balls diving and buzzing all around, having a great time. The wild flowers are wonderful as are the lilacs. Butterflys (Swallowtails and Monarchs) and a couple of dragon flys were sighted both yesterday and today. We even have had several flocks of geese fly over this weekend taking advantage of the strong south winds.

Week of May 17 - May 23 1999
The lake remained very high all week. Starting yesterday the dam was reopened and we have started to see a slow decline in the lake level. For 6 days the entire dock was under 6 inches of water. We had additional rain off and on all week, with several heavy downpours Thursday. Today (Saturday) we went down to St Paul to see about a marker and monument for GrandPa "B"'s grave. It was WONDERFUL in St Paul, a sunny warm 76 degrees. We returned home to still more showers and a cooler 55 degrees! At least Pat got Gizmo out for a while, and I got a few images for the "Picture of The Week" page before dark. Two weeks of school for me and one week for Pat, so we have joined the kids in counting the days.

Week of May 10 - May 16 1999
The rain continued all week this week. The only nice day that we have had so far was Friday. Friday Gov Jessie Ventura came to town for the opening of The 99 fishing season. (In fact as I write this he IS ON Lake Pokegama,yes "our lake", opening the season on a 23ft vessel with the press in his wake!) He visited school last hour Friday and spoke to the students. He once again did a very nice job. Messages,Our parents should be our role models, set you sights high and never "buy into" that you can't reach your goal. He has raised quite a fuss with the release of his book, a number of things about his past (women,pot,etc) that he "shared", that many wished he had kept to himself. His bottom line continues to be, "What do you want Minnesota, honesty or politically correct?"
Today (Saturday) has started as cool and overcast with a continued treat of rain. The lake is WAY UP and it looks as though I will have to either pull the dock in or pull the dock deck off. The water is expected to rise enough to cover the beach this weekend.
The Humming Birds returned the week before last, Phoebee is on the nest and the Baltimore Orioles have been seen the last several days. The Finches continue to be at the feeders in large numbers. The Apple tree is just covered with blossoms, I don't quite know what to think, in the past a blossom - an apple! There is no way that this tree can support this many apples!

Week of May 2 - May 9 1999
The rain arrived! We had rain Wed - Fri this week, about 1.25 inches total. Was it ever needed! Today (Sat) started out overcast and about 40 degrees but now in the late afternoon the sky has cleared and the sun is nice and warm. The wild flowers and the tulips have gone wild the last couple of days. The trillium are now blooming along the roadsides and here in the yard. We hope that the weather will stay nice and we can open the golfing season at "The Chippewa" tommorrow after Mother's day brunch at Patrick's.

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Week of April 26 - May 1 1999
Dry Dry Dry! The weather continues to be warm and dry. Every day this week was into the high 60's and not a drop of precip of any kind. Yesterday when we got home from work it was 74 degrees! We grabbed a burger and dashed up to the Libbey's, by boat and took them on a boat ride. Saw the sun set from their beach prior to returning home. They are doing great and the house (compound) is coming along very nicely. Pat and I were up early this morning and flew over to Superior for breakfast and took in a hamfest as well. The hamfest (amateur radio swapfest) contained nothing but junk, so we were back by 11:30. "Jim The Wonder Dog" was to be dedicated at 11:00am this morning. We Wish we could have been there!

Week of April 19 - April 25 1999
A wonderful weekend of 65 degree highs! The weather is too nice to spend at the computer. We went flying and boating yesterday, so check out the "Pix Of The Week". The "peepers" have been loud all week, even with 32 degree nights. The robins are more active now and I saw a Kingfisher on the way to pick up the paper this morning.

Week of April 12 - April 18 1999
Loons, Open water, blooms and SNOW! Yes all are "highlights" from this past week. The ice went out of Sherry's Arm yesterday (Friday April 16) two days later than last year. Lots of water on Wed and Thur but ice sheets were being blown in and out both days as the wind wished. Tuesday we had 65 degrees and on Thur night we had snow again! Since then the highs have been and are forecasted to be, in the 40's through midweek next week.

Week of April 5 - April 11 1999
For the second week in a row, snow is in the forecast for tonight. Cool today with about a 25mph SE wind.We had about 5 inches of snow Monday night and had all kinds of trouble getting out to go to work. Once on the road, the pickup decided on a course of it's own approaching the little bridge on 17 and we came VERY close to ending up in an accident of not the creek. :( Tonight the forecast is for as much as 5 inches again. But the bird population has changed. This week we have seen Robins, Purple Finches, Yellow Finches, Juncos, Pheobes, Sea Gulls, Geese and Ducks. Please check out Andy's Wonder Dog progress, very exciting! If you don't know Andy, he is my nephew, my brother Chuck's son.

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Week of March 28 - April 4 1999
As I write this, the forecast is for rain, ice, and snow. Up to 5 inches possible. ARGH! Long but nice trip to Missouri, drove it again because of the weather and fixed schedule. Good road conditions except for about 3 hours of rain in northern Iowa this morning. 80 degree temps in Missouri on Thur and Friday and then cooler Saturday and Sunday. The house was full for Easter Sunday dinner.

Week of March 21 - March 27 1999
Hard to think that March is about over! This week was another one of those BAD ones. I had 5 meetings both before and after school and now next week a 3 day week, is the end of the Quarter. Exams, grades and such! One of the meetings resulted in me being elected as the Math Dept Chair for the 4th straight year. I was willing, but after this week, I wonder why. We went out with Don and Dianne last night for dinner at the Forest Lake. My prime rib was good and Pat enjoyed her BB Ribs! We have had temps in the 40's and very strong winds both yesterday and today and that should start drying up the yard and driveway. Of course the top of the driveway is it's usual deep series of ruts and standing water. The racoons returned early in the week and are emptying the feeders every night.

Week of March 14 - March 20 1999
What an ugly day. Cloudy with a temp of about 35 degrees. The NW wind is strong and snow flakes can be seen about 50% of the time. Pat and I, having observed birthdays this week, DO feel at least a year older. We enjoyed dinner at the Forest Lake Thursday night in honor of Pat's birthday, a very good meal as always. We also went to The Harbor for mine, and it was "ok", but the onion rings are still great! As many of you know, this week we added a digital camera to the computer inventory and have also added a new feature "Picture of the Week". I do plan on getting beyond Gizmo photos, BUT she is such a good subject and shots outside are not very interesting at the moment. The wild birds are now very vocal and are so loud that they almost hurt your ears. The eagles are becoming very common sightings now, flying up the lake, along the river or just soaring high in the wind. Thursday we saw the first chipmunk of the spring and we sure hope that it remembers Gizmo!

Week of March 7 - March 13 1999
March will be March! We had about another 5 or 6 inches of snow the first of the week. Now some 4 days later most of it is gone! The week has been nuts, Pat and I have had meetings every night. Very nice and sunny today, and the temp should get well into the 30's. BILL crashed Win95 Thursday night, so we ended up updating to Win98. It will be interesting to see how the "update" plays, the system was having more crashes than we have ever had and it needed to be cleaned up. In fact Bill was cleaning it up when the crash occured. It is Saturday, the taxes are done and the sun is shining and all else is well. We now look forward to a great week.

Week of March 1 - March 6 1999
We have had a return of winter. Even with the sun, the 5 degrees this morning seemed a bit cruel. Oh well, it is March in Minnesota after all. We have had a great deal of melting during mid-days and there is ICE everywhere. It is very hard to navigate on the paths or the driveway, without the very real risk of falling. The crows have returned and started calling this morning before 7am,waiting for Pat to feed them corn. We continue to enjoy, on occasion, the spring calls of the chickadees. Gizmo has now discovered how to climb the deck posts to gain access to the front deck and seems very proud of her new discovery. I'm not counting, but the kids told me yesterday that there were 66 days left in the school year.

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Week of Feb 22- Feb 28 1999
It has been much warmer this week, in fact last night it rained! We have also had periods of warm sun and temps into the 30's, with the improved sun angle there has been considerable melting. The lake now has many puddles on top of the ice, the yard, puddles and brown grass where there are paths to the bird feeders and storage building. Our squirrel and bird traffic is constant and without any new additions. One change that we have noticed, is that for most of the week, the red squirrels have been active from dawn to dusk. So one would guess they they are thinking spring. The nuthaches, woodpeckers, finches, grosbeaks, blue jays and chickadees are our guests are the bird feeders. No one is eating as much as they have in past winters, so life must be good here in the woods. I forgot to note last week, that on Feb 18th we saw two eagles soaring just west of home. We had strong winds that day and they were enjoying working the updrafts at about 200 ft. Nice to know that they are around again or perhaps, yet! Tonight, Don, Diane, Lucille and Wess are coming over for dinner. We have not had any of them over for some time, so it should be a great time.

Week of Feb 15- Feb 21 1999
Nights of 8 below were common this week with day temps in the 20's. I ran the snowblower a bit Tues night to clean up the mess from last weekend. Very pleased with the carb adjustments and new plug, it "purred like a kitten". Pat & I went to a pre-retirement meeting Sat morning, don't know when for sure, but need to start a plan. NO LATER than 4yrs from now! Can we do anything sooner? Bright sun at this moment and about 30 degrees, the cats are enjoying being in the yard and on the back porch. Giz has a new photo in the photo album. I added it mid week and if you haven't seen it you might enjoy it, if you enjoy our furry ones.

Week of Feb 8- Feb 14 1999
A warm early week and freezing rain Wed caused very slick road conditions Wed - Fri this week. Thursday morning we did a 180 the moment we reached the road. Friday night we set off to see Laura and Dean for a 3 day weekend. 9 hours of driving with 3 of it on ice and snow made for a long trip. We had a great time! On our return trip, we were welcomed to Duluth with 50mph winds off Lake Superior. As we came back across the "High Bridge" one poor sole tried to take a pre-built home across the "Bong Bridge". Well,mid-span, the home and trailer were blown over and into the bridge railing. The house, truck and debris closed the bridge for over 4 hours. Some poor family has one/half of their new house all torn up! What a wind!

Week of Feb 1- Feb 7 1999
Another 3 or 4 inches of snow midweek and more temps in the 20's and 30's were the weather highlights. Yesterday we heard the spring call of the chickadee :) That cheerful sound brings the thought of spring ever closer. Looks like snow again today but nothing as of yet. We went up to Chisholm last night for dinner with Don and Dianne and enjoyed great food at Valentini's. Giz has ran Pat crazy all week wanting to be out every daylight moment, the poor kitty has a bad case of cabin fever.

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Week of Jan 25- Jan 31 1999
Wonderful weather day today, temp in the 30's with a clear sky and warm sun. I spent the entire morning working on the snowblower, so didn't really enjoy the morning that much. Pat spent considerable time out with Sam and Giz, none of them wanted to come in. We got about 4 inches of snow Tue/Wed and I needed to get that cleaned up. The moon is full and has been SO bright on the snow at night, you could almost read a newspaper it is so bright. Well, we are half way through the school year. Looking forward to better programming classes and Trig students as good as last semester. "Fruit basket" upset with new student schedules for the new semester.

Week of Jan 18- Jan 24 1999
What a poor way to end a football season! All of Minnesota is in despair over the way the game went last weekend. Every TV set in the state was turned OFF the moment the ball went between the uprights for the WRONG team. We have survived, but it has been most unpleasant. The wildlife report is not much different from the past couple weeks, except it seems that the birds and squirrels are not all that hungry. Fine with us given that the price of sunflower seeds continues to be very high. It has warmed up and we have had several days with temps into the twenties and thirties, but humid. My (Bill) father has returned home from the hospital this week after nearly a one month stay. He got the flu the day he returned and now is trying to get over that. We pray that his health will continue to improve.

Week of Jan 11- Jan 17 1999
GrandPa B's visitation on Tuesday was well attended even with very poor weather(snow, ice and cold temps). Pat and I returned home about 2pm on Wed and have now returned to work. The sub zero weather broke Friday and we enjoyed a return of the 30's and warm sun on Saturday. 6 gray squirrels and many birds; finches, grosbeaks, blue jays, chickadees kept the feeders busy all day, they too enjoyed the change in the weather. We continue to get more snow and another 3 to 5 inches is in the forecast.Gov Jesse had quite the BASH last night and we "enjoyed" the event by television, this will not be a dull administration!

Week of Jan 3- Jan 10 1999
Continued cold temps of over 20 below were common this week as winter's grasp became even more intense. Our warm fall and 50's in December seem now to be a distant dream. We suffered a great loss at the passing of Pat's father this week. GrandPa Bauman seemed to take a turn for the worse Tuesday night and passed away Wednesday night Jan 6th at about 10:30pm. He will be missed and remembered fondly by all with which he had contact. Visitation's in St Louis followed by another in St Paul provided family and friends to chance to share wonderful memories of GrandPa's warm touch.

1998 Archive

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