July 1, 2002 - July 10, 2002
The past 10 days have been a bit of a blur. Dave, Tracy and Dustin arrived then Laura and Dean. The night of the 4th we all loaded into the "fishing boat" and went up to the islands for the fireworks. Poor Dustin, now when we go to the beach, he will point toward the islands and request that we go see the fireworks. I think they must have been a hit! For the weekend Grandma, Grandpa Davis, Chuck, Joyce, Andy, Wendy, Logan and Cooper all came up from Missouri. It was really special to get Mom and Dad's Great Grandchildren together. The kids did very well and we had great weather for the activities at hand. The beach was a hit, with Logan's first question being "Is this a pool?", too cute. Ages 61 to mid thirties waterskied, we fished, swam and just beat the water to death! Sunday afternoon, David and I took Grandpa Davis up to see the eagles beyond the islands and they did not disappoint us. Pat out did herself with food and we really had great meals. The only down side that I am aware of, was "the bugs". The mosquitoes were and are horrid. They appeared on Friday and have been vicious ever since. What timing! All of our "people visitors" have now returned home except for "the Californians" who will be here for another week. Wonderful family memories. Early Sunday night it started to rain and it rained through the entire night. We had 1.2 inches and it is raining again now after starting early this morning. We so needed the rain. The trees stripped by the tent caterpillars have started to leaf out again and really the woods is close to back to normal summer canopy. These rains will help that. We went on our annual duck count yesterday and it sure looks like the number of ducks are down.
June 23, 2002 - June 30, 2002
The past week has been hot and dry. 90 degrees both yesterday and then again today. We have been lucky in that we have had considerable wind out of the SE every day. Last night the house never really ever cooled off and rest was not the best. Much of the week the sun has been filtered by the smoke from the forest fires out west and up in Canada. Sunrise and sunsets very bronze with shadows having a strange color cast to them as well. The smoke was easy to smell and a soft blue haze could be seen as you looked across the lake. Thursday night a mother raccoon visited the deck with 3 cute little kits. The little guys climb very well :>)) The tree swallows nesting in the martin house have 2 babies and the phoebe youngsters have already flown. Quite a few baby ducks are in the neighborhood, but mostly divers. Pat and I both took a swim yesterday to try to escape the heat. It was effective!! Only two days before Dustin, Dave and Tracy arrive :>))
June 16, 2002 - June 23, 2002
We had a very nice rain mid week, about 9 tenths that came just at the right rate. Then there was yesterday!! Three thunderstorms followed by and all night rain. Total 4.8 inches. The first thunderstorm gave us .7 inches in 30 minutes. The second thunderstorm, 1.5 inches in 30 minutes and the third 2.2 inches in less than an hour. Very bad erosion on the 169 highway project north of the Pokegama causeway. We have continued to have very nice temps in the 70's most every day, quite ideal. The humidity jumped way up the couple of days before the storm. The tent caterpillars, are still with us, big time. They are a bit better now with the rain and the fact that they have eaten all of the aspen leaves. Only a little over a week before Dustin, Dave and Tracy arrive :>))
June 5, 2002 - June 15, 2002
Only a couple of tenths of rain in the last month. Things are just getting dryer each day. We have had very nice temps in the 70's most every day, quite ideal. What is not ideal is the tent caterpillars, they are eating almost everything in their path. We can't wait to see them gone(A couple more weeks). The flowers are very pretty and it looks much like summer after our very slow start. I (Bill) took my flight biannual review this week and I am back in the air again. Pat will be next. Things went very well and I had 5 very nice landings (if I do say so myself). Pat and I hope to get a bit of flying in before the California gang arrive July 4th, then we will want to be at home with them!! Can't wait :>)) Radio conditions continue to be good and last weekend's contest was my best ever.
May 29, 2002 - June 5, 2002
We just returned from Laura and Dean's yesterday. It is always great to see the "gang at Middle Inlet". The deer, turkeys, chipmunks and squirrels were busy! The weather was nice on Saturday and we made a day trip down to Oshkosh for the EAA Family Balloon Fly in. The winds were 15 to 20mph and as a result, no balloons flew. There were several balloons that were briefly inflated, but only for show. We all toured the EAA Museum, visited the "birds of prey" presentation and walked the beautiful grounds. The bugs and weather were bad Sunday and Monday which made for a relaxing visit.
Dean and Laura's newly redone "elbow room" is beautiful. They used pine tongue and groove that was "pickled" with the Minwax system as we had done on the four season porch. The cabinets and china closet are perfect.
Our weather has been cool and dry again with temp into to 30's and 40's at night. One day while we were gone the high was 46 degrees. ARGH! The trees are about 80% leafed out and the flower gardens and yard need our attention ASAP, cool and dry or not.
May 21, 2002 - May 28, 2002
The last 3 days the highs have been in the 70's, maybe even 80 degrees today. Last week we had 5 nights with lows around freezing or below. Still no rain and with these temps the trees are very slow to respond, being so dry. Today is the first day that the "leaves" are large enough on some trees for there to be shade. The trillium, jonquils, phlox ground cover, tulips and wild violets are blooming. In the ditches, the marsh marigolds are beautiful. Pat saw a family of ducks Friday, the swallows and phoebe are nesting as well. The DNR is saying that we are close to 4 weeks behind, now with the quick very warm temps, it will be interesting to see how "spring" and summer compress. The misquotes, gnats and flies have now hatched with the army worms due anytime. ARGH! Spring in Minnesota!
May 7, 2002 - May 21, 2002
We have had continued cool if not cold weather for the last two weeks. Our overnight lows are in the upper 20's or low 30's every night. The highs have been in the 40's and 50's for the most part. Today it is possible that we might see the upper 60's. The trees still have no real leaves but that may change today with the first real warmth. The ground is very dry and we have a 50% chance of rain tomorrow. Pat has been trying to get the flower gardens into shape, but with the cold temps everything must be covered at nights and all potted plants moved into the garage.
Pat and I put the boat in yesterday afternoon. We took a short ride around the bay going slow to try to stay warm. It was nice to be back "on the water" again. We hope to return to the air as well and have the airplane undergoing it's annual inspection! I plan to take my biannual flight review within the next 10 days or so and I expect Pat will follow with her's very quickly. We have not flown since last summer, given all the health issues.
Lots of bird traffic yet. The rose-breasted grosbeaks are beautiful and about 6 or 8 still are here. Gold finches, red polls, blue jays and woodpeckers continue to be constant feeder groupies as well. The Baltimore orioles have returned as have the humming birds. The wood ducks continue to seek corn under the bird feeder in the side yard. This morning there were 8 of them :>) .
April 21, 2002 - May 6, 2002
The lake opened up Sat April 20th but the weather is still cool, very cool. The nights in the 20's or 30's with the days at best in the 50's. The forecast is for rain and/or snow showers through next weekend. All that is up and blooming are that daffies. I put out the dock today, so that is done.
Pat and I returned Thursday night from another 8 day trip to Corona California to see Dave, Tracy and our grandson Dustin. I had a pretty small job list this time and was able to get the list completed. Curtain rods, picture, a light fixture and sprinkler repairs (again). It was great to see everyone again and have some time with Dustin while mom and dad were at work. He is not much of a talker yet (27months) but is a real dynamo. Go go go... Pat bought him his first bat and ball. You should see him HIT! Very good timing :>) Really cute and he enjoyed it VERY much. That is a better option to the computer games he has been playing! BUT Pat also got him another computer game. This time "Freddie The Fish". He really seemed to enjoy it as well and it kept his attention very well the first time that he played it. It will be interesting to see if that continues. We got to the beach on Sat (April 27) and he and Pat got real wet. So much fun.
April 15, 2002 - April 20, 2002
Cool, very cool last night and they say again tonight, 20 degrees in fact. The south and central part of the state even is under a WINTER storm warning. Maybe 6 inches of snow! Boy how we hope that that either stays away or goes south. The beautiful weather stayed with us until Wednesday, then it started to cool off. We have had robins in the yard and lots of juncos in addition to our "normal" birds. The juncos such a beautiful little slate-gray bird. The lake is opening up, with only very limited ice left. The loons arrived yesterday, just as the ice was leaving. We still have more "green things" popping up, but no blooms yet.
The "northern lights" (aurora) have been VERY active the later part of this week. The sky was aglow with beautiful colors late last night. This has provided some great radio conditions and I have REALLY enjoyed that.
April 7, 2002 - April 14, 2002
Today was a perfect spring day! The temperature peaked at 73 degrees with sun and a warm breeze. We spent most of the afternoon outside working in the yard. Raked leaves, twigs and sunflower seeds, just generally "cleaned" up things. Just a perfect day all day long.
Friday we drove down to Rochester to visit "radio" friends and had a great trip. Ed and Dianne Fitch were great hosts as well as getting to see Terry Van Benschoten. Saturday I got to a couple of radio events in "The Cities" while Pat did some shopping. Wonderful weather both of those days down there.
The lake has water along the edges, the phoebes returned today and I heard a robin in the woods this morning. All good signs of things to come.
March 29, 2002 - April 7, 2002
Today our first spring day! The temperatures were into the low 50's with a nice warm sun. A little breeze once in a while but no biggie. Yesterday we had a 35 mph wind much of the day, not pleasant. Pat and I took a walk about noon along the road, maybe a mile and a half. On our walk we saw, robins, a seagull, a wooly worm, a spider and several wood moths. We are not alone, waiting on spring! A couple of the bird feeders were attacked last night as well, so the raccoons are awake. They have not shown up on the deck yet, just the feeders in the yard, wiped clean after they were filled just before dark. The driveway still is a icy river as the melt from the driveway made its way toward the lake. We so hope that the warm weather will be with us for a while and hurry spring along!
March 21, 2002 - March 28, 2002
We had rain the night before last and the temp was into the 40's yesterday and today with strong sun. Pat even saw a chipmunk this morning. She said "He came out, looked around and headed right back." I guess he didn't like all the ice and snow that he saw. The ice continues to be horrid, but the melting is starting to take its toll. We have considerable more brown places in the top of the driveway and yard than we had yesterday. The hill on the driveway is the bad area. One takes his life in his own hands to walk up or down that . There is still a considerable amount of snow, but maybe for not much longer. Then it will be the mud! Pat is enjoying the new stove and microwave, as well as all that counter space :>) We have a wonderful afternoon Tuesday, when we went over to Bemidji to see one of my ex-student's art show. Shelly Skeric is graduating with a degree in Art Education and plans to teach. It was so good to see here and her brother Eric again. I loved them as students and friends and now as friends. A real joy of the occupation. She had a great show and has a real gift.
March 11, 2002 - March 20, 2002
Pat and I are a "year" older than our last posting. We sure aren�t celebrating these birthdays, but acknowledge them at least. We went out to dinner with Don and Dianne Walter Saturday night at Patrick's in Longville. Great food and we all had too much to eat. Pat loves the new stove and we now have a rangehood/ microwave combination on order. This will replace the old rangehood and will give us some much desired counter space.
Pat is trying to get the 1200 GPLA newsletters mailed out. I did the insert and stapling last night while she did the labels and grouping for the bulk mail. They now are mailed out of Duluth, and she does not know how that will go. We hope well.
We have snow again today and the forecast is for zero degrees the next two nights. SO ... it is not spring yet. The long daylight hours are wonderful anyway. The sun has worked on the last snow, but we still have a foot or more left. This snow event and cold weather will certainly slow things down.
Feb 28, 2002 - March 11, 2002
Eleven inches of new snow and 50mph winds cover the weather news from the past week. A real winter snow storm. We get these year after year in early to mid March. The snow started Thursday afternoon and continued until early Saturday morning. I blew the snow twice and was sure glad that I didn't try to wait and do it just once. Very sunny the last two days, but cold for March with the temp down to zero and below. Pat bought a new kitchen stove and we should be able to pick it up tomorrow. This will replace the 28yr old "Monkey Ward" smooth top. The old stove still works fine, but the oven walls have been flaking for years and enough is enough. The forecast includes freezing rain for tomorrow. Man do I ever hope they have that one wrong.
Pat still is talking of a trip back out to see Dave, Tracy and Dustin. The airfares are just horrid. We so wish that we had an option other than NorthWest. Minneapolis is the major NW hub and they pretty much control the market.
A flying squirrel has been trapped in the woodshed storage area this week. Being a night creature we left the door of the shed open last night hoping that he would be willing to leave his "new found" food cache. It will be interesting now to see if he really left. Cute little guy!
Feb 2, 2002 - Feb 28, 2002
Pat and have just returned from a trip to the farm, down in Missouri. We had great weather for both the trip down and back. Last Sunday the temp down there was 77 degrees, but when we left it had plunged to just 7 degrees with a dusting of snow. Very windy most of the time. My (Bill) grandmother is not doing well and many family members from all over the country came in to visit her. Mom and Dad are doing fine and Mom did real well with all the company. The flu bug was very active most of the time we were there, but Pat and I avoided it, so far.
Pat and I got in a wonderful visit with Bill and Norma Lloyd in Ashland and a great visit and overnight with Jim and Audrey Spieler in Columbia. It was so wonderful to spend a bit of time with "old" friends.
Very cold and sunny here, temp well below zero again and we have about 4 inches of snow on the ground. More below zero weather is in the forecast for the better part of the next week. Pat and I are now getting "settled" back in. Poor Gizmo had been so lonesome. She has to be reassured over and over all night, that we are really here. She was hardly ever off my lap all day yesterday, no matter what I was doing or where I was at.
Jan 22, 2002 - Feb 2, 2002
We have had about 6 inches of new snow this past week and the nighttime temps continue to be around zero or below. Wed morning we had a beautiful hoarfrost that covered everything. That was accompanied with blue, sunny skies and the sights were great. We have had some nice warm sunny days here are there with temps in the 20's. The days are now longer and we have light until well after 5pm. The darkest winter days are behind us now :>)
Pat has been very busy working on materials for the Pokegama Lake Association. Many hours duplicating tapes, on the phone and in meetings. The GPLA is trying to get materials pulled together to hire an author to write a book about Pokegama Lake. Oral histories were began in the early 1990's and quite a volume of work has been collected.
I continue to work on radio construction projects and also enjoying "on the air" contacts. Some radio conditions are better than they have been during my life-time and I want to take advantage of them while they last. It has been LOTs of fun. My health continues slowly to improve and I am feeling good. Sure wish that I hadn't gained back the 10 lbs I lost after surgery!
Jan 1, 2002 - Jan 21, 2002
Pat and I are getting adjusted to being back home again. We did make a trip over to visit Laura and Dean last weekend. We had a great visit and they are doing week. Their house looked so beautiful all decorated up for Christmas. They had an 18ft balsam tree in the living room and a house full of Boyd's Bears enjoying Christmas activities. We played cards (canasta) two nights. A great old card game that mom and dad played a lot when I was young.
Pat was subbing at school all of the week Jan 7-11 and then three days last week. I have been working on radio projects and enjoying another radio contest this past weekend.
The weather has been from single digits below zero to about 20 degrees for highs. We still only have about 4 inches of snow. At this rate it will be a very dry spring. That is very bad here because of the fire danger in the forests. The gray squirrels are busy! We think that we are feeding the neighbors squirrels as well. We have some neighbors that are gone for an extended period of the winter and yesterday we had 14 gray squirrels. Our normal crew has nine members. Lots of chasing and running!
December 10, 2001 - Jan 1, 2002
We returned from California yesterday afternoon and found the lake frozen. It froze on Dec 20th, 2001 and that was late again since Thanksgiving weekend is "normal". We had a great trip and Christmas. I helped Dave and Tracy out with some of the work list while Pat got in lots of �Dustin� time. He is such a joy to us all. Always so much that has to be done to make a new house your "home". They have a beautiful house in a equally beautiful area. The views of the hills or mountains grace almost every window. Lots of other young families in the neighborhood and that will provide Dustin with playmates. The house affords them space to spread their wings and enjoy their hobbies that apartment living did not provide.
Quite cool here with the temps now down to about zero. There are forecasts of below zero in our near future. We have about 4 or 5 inches of snow that arrived while we were away as well. Tomorrow we will have to try to get things "cleaned" up where we can get in and out easily. Sure hope the snow blower will start! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
December 1 - December 9 2001
The weather is once again "winter like" after a couple of warm days at the first part of the week. We had temps in the 40's and then rain. What a mess! The nice snow pack on the driveway that would allow us to blow snow is now a rutted mass of ice. Pat's back has been bothering her all week after the amount of shoveling that she did to help rid ourselves of the snow. The pre-Christmas pace is hectic with Pat trying to get the Christmas shopping wound up and the packages shipped. I finished the writing, printing of the Christmas Letter and the labels at 2:30 this morning, so that is done as well. I had a very good Dr.'s report this week when the PSA blood test came back as zero. That would imply that the surgery was successful. My next checkup, if things go well, will be in 6 months. The recovery is now in a discouraging plateau. Boo Hiss! Pat got on the phone as soon as we got home from the doctor and we are scheduled to fly off to see Dave, Tracy and Dustin (Corona,CA) next weekend for a couple of weeks. It will be the longest westcost visit that we have scheduled and hope to be able to help the kids with getting some things done in their new home. It should be wonderful! We can't wait to see them, their new house and the handsome young man that will then be 22 months old!
November 24 - December 1 2001
Tuesday morning found us with between 6 and 7 inches of snow on the ground and a couple of inches more has arrived since. After visiting with Dr Hutchens, it was decided that I would use the large "push" scoop to move the snow with, instead of shoveling or trying to start, tug, pull and otherwise fight with the snow blower. Lots of hours to do what could have been done with the blower in little more than a half-hour. Pat worked "screening" Thursday and she also had trips to make to town on Wed, so we "had" to get out!! Pat, assisted a little bit by her "good" husband, had a 1200 Lake Association mailing followed by another 400 newsletter mailing today. At least that is done until next May. We did not once see the sun this week and now are starting to recall what November's are normally like. (November is statistically our cloudiest month.)Only the smallest and most protected bodies of water have ice, so Pokegama remains ice free.
November 13-23, 2001
The recovery is going "ok". The progress is slow enough now that changes are hard to notice. My sleep has continued to improve and that has improved the quality of the days as well.. This coming Monday marks 6 weeks since my surgery and I will then be allowed to drive again. It sounds like Pat will be very happy to share the driving again. The weather continued to be fantastic until a return of more normal temps on Thanksgiving day. Given that only a week of November remains, I guess we should get winter weather should return.
I (Bill) have been enjoying some fantastic radio conditions. During the last week, I have visited with over 50 different foreign amateur radio operators. Stations from Europe to the South Pacific have been common. It has been the best 6 meter radio conditions that I have ever experienced. The Leonids meteor shower last weekend provided some of the best 2 meter "meteor scatter" radio contacts that I have experienced as well. Meteor Scatter communications is based upon bouncing radio signals off of the ionized trail that meteors leave in the atmosphere as they burn. I communicated with 3 new states and over 25 other contacts. Great fun!
November 4 - 12, 2001
The recovery is going very well. I had the best night of sleep in weeks last night. The leg pain that troubled me for a week or more is now gone. Almost every day now brings improvement. The past 3 days have been a big relief seeing obvious improvement in bladder control after the catheter was removed. The next "critical" date is Dec 6 when I get another PSA blood test to determine the extent to which the prostate cancer has been removed. Our weather continues to be mild, but now the nights are cool enough to see ribbon of ice along the edge of the lake. Frost has covered the decks and porch the last 3 mornings. We have not seen the chipmunks for almost a week, so finally the birds and squirrels will be getting all the seeds instead of so many sunflower seeds ending up in storage in the chipmunks granaries. The northern lights Monday night were spectacular here, white, yellow, blue and RED! The red was so intense at times that it almost looked like a forest fire over the horizon. This event was seen as far away as Florida and California. A real BIG solar event.
October 24 - Nov 3, 2001
The recovery is going quite well. I had serious trouble sleeping several nights this week, because of leg pain. But as of now, I think I have that under control and have done better the last two nights. Almost every day brings improvement. This week will be BIG. The catheter should be removed on Nov 8th and at that time additional test will be done to see better where we are at. Returning to normal functions from the catheter will take time we know and just hope that I can be comfortable with the rate of improvement. Improvement has been so rapid until now, the rest I'm sure will be far more gradual. Pat is doing fine and has had several half day's away for Giz and I, working and with buddies. We had considerable company this week as well, friends continue to be abundant and assisting us in many ways to progress. Our weather continues to be fantastic. We have had warm day after warm day. Sunny and 60 degrees today, WOW!
Dave, Dustin and Tracy moved into their new house last weekend, their first home of their own. :>)
September 25 - October 23, 2001
The prostate surgery went well and I am now back at home, even had the staples out today. Each day gets better and I am feeling well, but with poor stamina after being mostly bedridden for 5 days. Pat and I are taking multiple walks each day, trying to get the endurance back. I am very tired of setting and laying!! Laura came home to help Pat during surgery and she has since returned to her home this past Sunday. The catheter should be removed on Nov 8th and then we can start working at getting things back to more like normal. As of this date, all looks good, but only time will tell. Our fall weather has been wonderful with most days into the 50's. The weather forecast indicates that that too shall end tonight. Thank you everyone that have written, prayed, called and otherwise assisted us getting though this, we will never forget!
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