Life At The Lake July 11, 2002 - August 5,2003 Archive
July 14 - August 5, 2003
The lake clarity is now at 10ft with a green cast... lots of "green dots", we
have never seen it so cloudy. We just returned Friday night from a trip to see
the "Missouri Gang" and also to take in a Radio Conference in Tulsa.We had a
nice trip and seems that all are doing well. Gizmo was very glad to see us and
the squirrels had been naughty in our absence. Chewing on things that they
should not! We saw one of the Jr eagles flying down the lake yesterday so they
are now airborne. The garden is a jungle and we now have beans and a few
tomatoes, very few. The produce was WONDERFUL in Missouri... The farm is VERY
dry and they are in great need for rain. We only had 4/10" while we were gone
and it is dry here too.
July 13 - June 25, 2003
Pat and I are "Home Alone" again. We just took Dave, Tracy and Dustin back to
MSP yesterday for their trip back home. We had a great visit that went way too
fast. We had great weather for the first 10 days of their visit including the
long July 4th weekend when Laura and Dean were over. We got over 2 1/2" of rain
Wed - Fri of the past week. The weather has been very nice with temps in the mid and upper 70's with a few days week before last even into mid 80 degrees.
The Finches are about our only bird friends now. Everyone else has "moved" into
the woods. Only the 2 "Jr Squirrels" are at the feeders and the MANY chipmunks.
The eagles down on Little Pokegama raised two young this year and as of Tuesday they were still standing on the edge of the nest "flapping" their wings. I saw
what might have been one of them flying down the lake this morning, we will have
to check. Beautiful day today and time for our annual duck count. We hear that
several species of duck's numbers are way down. The lake clarity is still at 13
1/2ft ... waiting to see it improve .... about 18ft shoud be the summer high.
June 24 - May 28, 2003
We got an 1" of rain last last night and have been getting maybe a half inch or so a week. The weather has been very nice with temps in the mid and upper 70's with a few days last week even to 80 degrees. The big wildlife story has been the invasion by badgers. They were digging into the chipmunk dens and filling the yard with huge piles of dirt every night. There were nights that we would have 2 or 3 huge holes. They dug a tunnel, night before last, over by the the neighbors, the tunnel was over 10ft long and THEY attempted to use it for a den. Mistake ... neighbor Jim "dispatched" all 3 of them after talking to the DNR. I hated to see it end that way, but this was becoming very damaging.
The apple tree is now loaded with tiny apples, the Lady Slippers are done as are the Trillium. The flower gardens are now approaching summer patterns. Families of ducks are seen on the lake, the Phoebes are busy at the nest, so we guess they are feeding young, as are the tree swallows. Lots of finches still around and the "junior" squirrels are very busy visiting the feeders.
After replacing "bad" boards on the lakeside deck, I stained that deck too last weekend. So the decks and house are "up to snuff" for the visitors.
Dave, Tracy and Dustin arrive Saturday. Laura and Dean will join us all the next weekend. OH WHAT FUN!!
May 13-27, 2003
We got another 1 1/2" of rain last week and it has been very spring like with daytime temps in the 60's and 70's with night temps in the mid 30's. With this weather "spring has sprung". The trees are very close to fully leafed out, the apple tree is COVERED with blossoms, the lilac is in bloom and the Trillium are in peak bloom. The lake clarity is at 12ft, less than we would like. Beautiful COLD water but not as clear yet as we expect. The lake is now at summer level since May 19th. Pat has been very busy getting the flowers beds and garden planted. I restained the back deck last week and it looks great. Still waiting on some treated lumber on the front deck to "age" and dry out a bit before I can restain it.
Laura and Dean were home last weekend for a wedding and it was nice to see them. On Sunday we went over and walked "the 40", lots of big Aspen blown down and the Oaks are all dying. The Oaks are going to all be lost in this area... so sad. Stress from the lack of rain and the insects take advantage. The wildflowers were wonderful and the bugs just now are starting to show up. The squirrels are eating like CRAZY and the chipmunks are packing everything they can reach away. Finches, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Humming birds, Orioles and until the last few days, the Grossbeaks had been our feathered friends. On and above the lake the Eagles, Ducks, Geese and the Loons are busy.
May 1-12, 2003
We got about 1 1/2" of rain in the last week and it has been cooler. With the rain and cool, things are better are the moment. The lake level is up to almost summer level, so much better than it was. No real leaves yet on the trees, but we are close. The rest of the week it is to be in the 60's, so I would think we would soon have leaves. The Tulips started blooming yesterday and with the Daffys are about out only color. A few wild violets in the woods and wild areas of the yard are blooming, but very few. The Trillium are starting to come up, but still not anywhere close to blooming.
During the last two weeks I replaced some of the deck boards "lakeside" and will soon restain the decks. Friday I replaced the "well room" ceiling/roof and reroofed and caulked it. With the rubber roofing and caulking we MAY have that weather tight, sure hope so. The slight leak was annoying to say the least. Rain and 30MPH winds spoiled the fishing operner for lots of people this past weekend.
April 17-31, 2003
We NEED RAIN. It is trying to be spring but too dry. The daytime temps
are in the 60's but at night low 30's and even 20s. The dock went out last Friday and it looks like a diving platform, the lake is so low. I guess I'll put the boat in, but it will be a long step! If only we could get some moisture.
The Daffys bloomed Monday, the grass is greening up and the ice left the
lake on the 22nd, so as I say it's trying to be spring. Our neighbors Fae
& Jim returned from Arizona on Wed and neighbors Don & Diane are being
released from Acute Care Center after their auto accident today!! We went to "The Cities" last weekend for a for the Aurora Radio conference, where I gave a talk on amplifier building, beautiful day. Pat and I have started spending some computer time looking at our Genealogy. Very interesting!!
April 2-16, 2003
At the moment 34 degrees and a 30mph NE wind does not make it seem like
spring, but we have had some nice spring weather. On Monday (4/14) the high
was 81 in town and 75 here at home (with the wind off the lake). Snow and a
chance of freezing rain for the next two days is the forecast. We still have
not had one drop of rain! Monday after returning from a trip to St Cloud we
heard the woodland frogs in song at the top of the hill. The ice has thined at
the edges of the lake and shifted some in the wind yesterday. The ice sheet is
dark, very rotten and about 6 inches thick. Deer, racoons, rabbits have been
visiting the yard. We have not seen the deer, but fresh tracks every day
indicate their visits. No blooming flowers yet and the cold weather will slow
their progress.
March 27 - April 1, 2003
We are pretty much getting settled in again after our FL trip. Lots of phone
calls. Pat is working hard on the GPLA membership stuff that came in while we
were gone, a huge job. I have been working on radio equipment, repair and
construction.
The bird population has really changed, Juncos, Finches, Red polls, Red Wing
Blackbirds, Grosbeaks, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers and more. Six Chipmunks this
morning, packing off everything in site. The raccoons have returned a couple
more times.
The weather forecast is "Winter storm warning", as much as 10" of snow in the
next two days starting this afternoon. We need the moisture, but hate that wet
snow. We just got rid of last week's 4 inches yesterday! The daily temps have
been in the 40s with night temps into the low 20's. Our day length will exceed
13hrs by the end of the week, so spring will arrive before too long, I hope!!
March 12 - 26, 2003
We just returned from two weeks in Florida. We spent the first week with Trudy Jacoby helping her with some of Phil's things. We had a very nice visit
and got considerable down. We even had a chance to see Helen, Peter and family,
as our visits overlapped a day. They all looked great. Our prayers are now with Jim, Stena and family. Jim is with CBS News in Iraq headed toward Bagdad with
the 3rd Infantry.
The last week Pat and I spent in the Florida Keys, 5 days near Key Largo and
then 2 days in the Key West area. We had a greatime even though the temperatures
were record highs (around 90). We snorkeled, swam and enjoyed all the seafood we
could eat!
Upon our return we found that the snow had gone, but the lake of course was
still frozen. We had had 60 degree temps several days while we were gone :>)
The racoons and chipmunks are now awake, the blackbirds have returned as well. The weather forecast includes rain and SNOW ... yep, Minnesota spring.
March 2 - 11, 2003
Still very cold nights. With so little snow septic and water lines are frozen
all around us. The frost level is below 7ft now. 45 nights of below zero weather since the first of the year now and still counting. The woodstove has
sure been nice to have running again.
Feb 20 - March 2, 2003
-18 degrees last night and they say today's high might be sub-zero. 5 subzero nights in the last week. Has this ever been a COLD winter. We still have only 5 or 6 inches of snow, with bare ground under the balsam trees. The chickadees have started their spring songs, the eagles are back (if they even left), the crows are visiting the feeders and the most common birds are the finches. It's very interesting, we have few squirrels this winter. I think the most we have seen is 5. Pat has visited the doctor here and seems to be getting better. We finished getting the GPLA Newsletter ready for mailing yesterday (1200 copies), it took us two days.
Jan 31- Feb 19, 2003
We just returned from two weeks in California to visit Dave, Tracy and Dustin. We had a chance to celebrate Dustin's 3rd birthday. The trip was "goofed up" a bit with everyone getting sick except for me. (Bill) When we arrived Dustin and Tracy were sick and both David and Pat became sick by the weekend. Pat ended up going to the doctor before we left, bronchitis ... It was nice to see the "Westcoast crew" and we had a chance to enjoy some warm sun and even saw it rain in southern California! I did lots of walking, walking no less than 2 1/2 miles per day and one day over 5 miles. Dustin has changed so much during the last 4 months and is talking like crazy. He really enjoyed his time with "Pat" and really was less interested in "Pa" this time. Dave and Tracy are seeing there "little guy" grow up as he will start pre-school on Feb 20th.
While we were gone we had another 13 days with subzero temperatures. 33 days of subzero out of 38 days. The price we pay for "blue sky". Gizmo was sure glad to have us home, the "cat sitter" never saw her once.
Jan 20-30, 2003
The string of 20 straight sub-zero nights broke at last. We even have snow in the forcast, but only a couple of inches at best. Let's hope that this warm spell will bring some real snow, we still have only about 4 inches on the ground. The wind blows the snow from the ice sheet on the lake and the lake remains almost totally snow free. Without snow and the cold temps, the "ice talk" is constant.
Gizmo has loved the woodstove and spends considerable time sleeping on the sofa in the basement soaking in the heat. Today with the temp around 20deg, she has been out twice to look for furry critters.
Blandan (UPM) layed off 295 people and shut down the two oldest paper machines. This is going to be a very difficult time for our community. Some workers are being forced to train their own replacements before they are layed off. How horrid!
Jan 3 - Jan 20, 2003
January started out dry and warmer than normal. It is still dry with only
about an inch of snow in the month. The sun has been wonderful and makes the
days so pretty. The bird population is limited to Chickadees, Blue Jays, Finches
and the Woodpeckers. We have had nine days in a row with sub-zero
lows and expect the next week to be the same. If we had some snow it would be
almost "normal" looking weather. The wood stove has been busy and it sure has
been nice to get rid of some of these wood piles in the yard. The negative side
is that the wood in the wood shed is going in a hurry too! Our day length is
now 9hr and two mins long!
Dec 10, 2002 - Jan 2, 2003
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We returned from "Christmas At The Farm" last Sunday and are back into the routine at home. We had a nice Missouri visit and it had been quite a few years since we had been down there for Christmas. The "folks" seem to be doing well. Mom did come down with "something" the day we left, but so far no one else has. Lots of people in and and out and great food as always. Poor Mom and Pat seemed to live in the kitchen almost the entire visit.
Our winter remains DRY and warmer than normal. We have maybe 3 inches of snow on the ground and temps remain in the teens and twenties for the most part. We got together with the Libbys and Walters for a meal and gift exchange yesterday. Wes and Lucille celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary Dec 30th, so we toasted that event as well as the New Year!
Dec 3 - Dec 9, 2002
It wasn't 40 today, but it came close! It was 36 degrees and sunny a very pretty day indeed. The little snow we have, slumped a bit and large bare places can be seen in the woods as well as under trees in the yard. Yesterday morning it was zero and only warmed up to about 10 degrees. At sunset it cooled off and started towards zero again, but about 8pm a warm airmass arrived and we were at 26 degrees this morning at day break! With sunrise at 7:48 and sunset at 4:23, we are down to 8hrs 35min of daylight. Pat HATES these short days. The sunny days are special even if they are cold.
We wrote the Christmas letter this week and got it, the labels and some photos printed for the Christmas mailing. It is nice to have that done and Pat is mailing them out starting today.
We went over to the Libby's last night for the Viking's game with Green Bay. At least the Vikes made it interesting leading the entire game until it counted, the end. Oh well .... two weeks in a row they lose in the final 2 min.
I did "fire-up" the Jotul wood stove again and we have been heating mostly by wood for almost a week now. Might as well burn up some of the wood in the woodshed, plus some of the piles in the woods that are not covered and going to waste. I took a tape recorder out on the lake this afternoon and made some ice recordings that I will have available on the web page. Some really "cool" sounds :>)
Nov 23 - Dec 2, 2002
We have just returned form Laura and Dean's. We went over there for Thanksgiving and some of the weekend. Dean hunted, I radioed, Pat and Laura shopped, we all played games and eat.... A perfect Thanksgiving. The weather was great for the trip over, but the return trip involved 150 miles of snow. We never had to drive slower than 50mph, so it wasn't bad. Always great to visit them.
The lake froze here on Nov 26th right on schedule and it is 4 below as I write this. We only have maybe 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground. We had a couple of warm days, about 40 deg, last week with VERY strong winds. I fear it will "be a while" before we see those 40's again!
Oct 28 - Nov 22, 2002
Our weather has been fickle the last week or so. We had some nice days into the 40's last week and it has now turned colder again. The protected and small bays on the lake have frozen, but no ice remains in our arm of the lake. Prior to the warm weather, there was a pretty good area of ice along the eastern shore. Once again the ground is snow covered and the wind is strong out of the north.
We are settled in after our return from warm California. Pat has been working on another Pokegama News Letter that was mailed yesterday. I have spent much of the last month working on the amateur radio equipment trying to get it in better shape for the Leonids Meteor shower. (I bounce radio siginals off the burning meteors for long distant communication.) I got the equipment ready with only a few hours to spare, but the meteors were very poor. A few contacts were made, but not the number or distance hoped for.
Pat is getting into the Christmas shopping full scale now. We plan on being in Missouri for Christmas, so most everything has to be mailed. The local Pennys store closed about a month ago, so that really complicates the shopping. Speaking of stores, we now have a Home Depot! Hard to believe, but they had thier "Grand Opening" yesterday. Nice store, but it looked to me that the prices were pretty high. "Good luck Mom and Pop". Someone one somewhere must think Grand Rapids is a "hot spot". Home Depot, Applebees and Ground Round all are starting new business's here this winter.
Sept 31 - Oct 27, 2002
We just returned Friday night from a three week driving trip to visit Dave, Tracy and Dustin in Corona, Ca. We visited John and Marilyn Macumber in Salt Lake City on the way out and Dave, Lisa and Andrew Foss in Flagstaff on the way back. About 4800 miles of driving. Pat had never driven to the coast and I had only made that trip once in 1956, so it was neat for us to see new country from the ground. We drove out via ND, MT, ID, UT, CA and the return was CA, NV, AZ, UT, CO, NE, SD, ND. We visited Bryce Canyon, UT on the way out and Monument Valley as well as Moabe, UT's Red Rock area on the way back. Beautiful areas created by natures forces of wind and rain.
We had a great visits with all. The kids are doing well and we traveled to the beach one day, "Leggo Land" another and even got some interior painting and window washing done. The weather in California was perfect, around 70 degrees each day, but lots on clouds and haze. It was very difficult to return to below freezing temps, that is for sure. At home we have no leaves on the trees and small bodies of water are already covered by ice. Winter ......
Sept 19 - Sept 30, 2002
Summer is fading away. The Davis family had a loss Sept 20th, my grandmother (on mom's side) passed away in Marshall, Mo. She had been in a nursing home for about a year. We will all miss Grandmother Breshears.
During the last couple of weeks we have had several mornings down into the 30's, but no hard freeze yet. In fact, the high today is to be in the 70's. I am not sure that that will come to past, given the fact that it has been highs in the 50's for over a week at best. Still no real color in the woods just a slow shift to yellow from the green of summer. Last week we put away the "ski boat" after a nice boat ride up to the Windigo Arm. The fishing boat waits beside the dock for it's turn next. We "trapped" another cute little boy cat (dubed Tuxedo) that had been dumped in the neighborhood this fall, after he attacked Gizmo. Gizmo's vet bill was $78 and enough was enough. Giz couldn't go out without the fear of another attack. So.. this handson black and white fellow is now warm and well fed at the shelter. Except for his reaction to Gizmo, he seemed like a very nice little cat. A real shame they couldn't get along. Laura was here Saturday and Sunday, Dean was with friends and joined us for dinner last night and the Viking disaster. They left for home this morning shorthly after 8am.
Sept 7 - Sept 18, 2002
Summer has continued here with temps in the 70's and low 80's. The lake is still "swimable" but Pat nor I have taken a dip for a while. The weather is to turn "fall like" today, with highs the rest of the week in the 60's. We still have no fall color at all and the flowers are hanging on. The morning glory is blooming like crazy. One morning we had over 20 blooms on the one plant. A normal morning is in excess of 10 blooms.
Pat and I went over to Duluth yesterday and watched the hawk migration from Hawk Ridge again. Lots of birders and quite a few hawks as well. Mostly "Sharpies", beautiful birds :>) We had a nice lunch on Park Point and while we dined the fog rolled in. We went to the end of the ship channel and enjoyed the mournful cry of the fog horn! Driving up the hill, we drove back into the beautiful sunshine we had enjoyed on Hawk Ridge hours earlier.
Summer, don't leave us yet .....
Aug 26 - Sept 6, 2002
We are back from Missouri, got back Wed night about 10pm. While we were there we received word that our dear friend Phil Jacoby passed away Wed Aug 28th. We have known Phil, Trudy and the family since early in our North Dakota days and have shared many hours together. We had the pleasure of visiting with Phil and Trudy twice since they moved to Florida, 71yrs young and seemingly in great health.
The Missouri folks seem to be doing fine, we helped brother Chuck with farm chores and had our first chance to visit Andy & Wendy's new home since they moved in. It looks great. The kitchen is "out of this world"; Andy and Chuck did such a great job in building their home. Garage floor and mudroom is pretty much all that remains but will have to wait the harvest.
The entire "gang" attended the all year Napton School reunion last Sunday at the church. About 70 people attended. The school closed in 1972 and we had several from that class. The oldest grad was 96yrs old. Pretty neat.
The weather was hot there, with temps in the mid 80's to mid 90's and it has been in the low 80's since we returned. It appears that our weather will remain warm until mid week next week.
Aug 16 - 25, 2002
The last 3 days have been perfect "summer" days. We have had temps about 80 degrees with very warm sun. The nights cool off quickly as soon as the sun sets. This morning, as I went to get the Sunday paper, the ground fog was heavy over the swamps and other low areas. I saw two buck deer, one a 6 point and the other 8 point still in full velvet. Wednesday, Pat and I made our annual trip up the Mississippi to Schoolcraft Park. The trip took us about 6 hours and we had a 20mph wind that made the lake very rough but the river was not bad. Turtles, eagles, ducks, frogs and lots of wild rice. The park was very quiet and the walking trails were ours alone. The lake continues to be "swimable" and the clarity is excellent, this week's Seechi disk reading was 14ft 6inches. The loons, ducks and seagulls are grouping together so they are thinking of the trip south soon to come. Our plan for this week is for a trip south too, a one week trip to Missouri.
July 30, 2002 - Aug 15, 2002
The past couple of weeks have included flying, golf, radio for Bill, garden for Pat, a trip to Dorsett for a Mexican dinner and a trip to the county fair. The races at the fair were rained out, but we stayed dry under our umbrella. Rats � Pretty much our normal late summer activity. Bill has really enjoyed the radio activities with meteor scatter and other good August radio conditions. Dave and Tracy were smart coming in July, because August has not been beach weather this year! We have had considerable rain. Nothing huge, but a 1/2 inch here and a inch there. The weather has cooled off considerable. The past week's highs were in the mid 70's and it looks the same for the next week. The bird activity has really diminished. We still have a few finches and humming birds, but few others. Time to go down and pump the boats, again.
July 23, 2002 - July 30, 2002
Pat and I have just returned from a trip to a radio conference in Milwaukee. It was a nice trip and Bill got to see many radio friends that he has known for 35yrs and more, as well as meet new "radio friends" in person. Pat went to the Milwaukee's new Art museum, shopped and we both went to see a Brewers baseball game on Friday night in their new stadium. Sunday we drove from Milwaukee on up to Crivitz and overnighted with Laura and Dean. We share photos and Dean fixed fresh salmon on the grill that was "out of this world". We got home Monday (29th) about 4pm. We had .8 inches of rain while we were gone and the high temp was 84 degrees and very still today. This is �Real summer weather� today! The flowers are beginning to take on the late summer look, with the lilies, phlox and other "tall flowers" being the dominant ones in the flower gardens.
July 11, 2002 - July 22, 2002
Pat and I drove David, Tracy and Dustin to Minneapolis for their flight back to Corona, Ca late yesterday afternoon. They arrived safe and sound, now things start to return toward "normal" again for the two households. Before I report anything about the "good times", I must report the worst of times as well. About 2pm on July 12, 2002 Tracy's dad, Rick, and Dustin's other grandpa died unexpectedly. He was taking a nap during the lunch break at the Habitat For Humanity home construction site. When fellow workers attempted to wake him at the end of the break, they were unsuccessful. What a horrid event, there are no words that will reflect the loss we all feel of this young (58) member of "our" family. The kids extended their say an additional 4 days to allow Tracy�s family to try to "deal with" the funeral and the household. For three years in a row Tracy's vacation has been anything but.
The time we all spent together was and is treasured. Dustin had so much fun during his visit, Dave and Tracy both talked of being able to see his "growth" during their stay. He is a talker, but talks mostly in his own language. He invents new words when each new word is introduced to him. Talks a mile a minute and "teaches" us all his language. He seemed to really enjoy the new computer games that Pat purchased for him, Little Monsters, Reader Rabbit and Freddy The Fish. Cute games and more appropriate than "dad's games". He loved the attention from grandma and grandpa, his fast boat rides, tossing rocks into the lake, spraying everyone with the hose and all the time he can get with his dad (Ga). The two are inseparable. Tracy seems to handle it well, but would love to get more of his attention. �Boys!� The homestead is truly "empty" in the absence of these three!
The weather was HOT for the past three weeks, with temps into the upper eighties or lower nineties every day with humidity to match. The fans were running day and night with every window open. At last the heat broke last night and the lows tonight are expected to be in the 40�s after a high today of 67 degrees! This is now September weather all of a sudden.
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