August 26, 2009

It is a year for blueberries, the report from many sources says the berries have been fantastic in multiple locations. Lot of very happy bushes can be found up the Caribou, Sawbill and Gunflint trails. We are experiencing some very nice late August weather the last few weeks. Temperatures staying in the mid 60’s to low 70’s with beautiful blue skies and soothing breezes. It is hard to stay indoors, with the perfect weather and the blueberries calling your name it is almost a crime to not enjoy every day outside.

Dragonfly days are upon us which means we are nearing the end of the bug season!  Not only do the Dragonflies provide us with a feeling of relief but they are also remarkably beautiful to watch fly around.  So many different sizes and colors like blue, red, yellow, black, some even have a bit of a metallic shine to them.  Right now there are thousands of them flying through the air, it really is a site to see.  The dragonflies are a little late in hatching this year due to our chilly start to summer but with the last week being 70 and sunny all plants and bugs are flourishing.  Summer is officially here on the North Shore!

It has been a slow start to spring this year, but it is finally getting here and I believe it is well worth the wait. Spring is so beautiful on the North Shore, the colors are so vibrant and the air smells so sweet.  It is a glorious time of year.  Next weekend is the Solstice Pageant at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais.   It is a full weekend of activities, including a wooden boat show and Saturday evening Solstice pageant.  The Solstice Pageant is a community event not to be missed, live music and large than life puppet show provide entertainment for all ages.  The days are so long this time of year, we have light from about 5am until almost 10pm every day.  It is both a blessing and a curse.  I say curse only because all of the hours of daylight should not be wasted, I have made it my personal responsibility to enjoy all 17 or so hours of glorious daylight.  These beautiful long spring days can take there toll on you, fortunately winter days are much shorter allowing North Shore residence time to catch up on sleep.

the weather couldn’t possibly be much more wonderful than it is today.  i haven’t yet looked that a thermometer but it must be nearing 60 degrees which for the North Shore is rather toasty.  the sun is shining with hardly a cloud in the sky.  the Grand Marais Jazz Festival is just beginning, there are countless numbers of fantastic musicians playing the next two nights.  i am looking forward to dropping in on some.

there have been numerous wolf sightings this spring, i myself have followed one down my road on the way to work the other day.   they seem to be extra curious this year.  they don’t seem to be looking for anything in particular, just checking out the human scene.  there is one wolf currently wandering around the mountain inn/ski hill area the last week or so.  they are such fantastic creatures, it is a blessing to be able to stumble upon one. 

this story come from Conor, our all purpose guy here at the Mountain Inn.  He lives in Grand Marais and this is what he saw on his way home the other night. 

“So there i was driving home from work and i slowed down to take a look at the eagle’s nest, which is just on the north side of the Cascade River.   There was an eagle in the nest and i was wondering if she had eggs in there and if they have hatched yet.    as i began driving again i saw a wolf come up from the ditch with something in her mouth.  i sped up to get a closer look and as i pulled right along side of her i saw the ‘thing’ move and i noticed it was one of her pups that must have been just a couple of days old.  she went in to the ditch and put the pup down.  the mama wolf just sat and stared at me.  the baby didn’t even look like it could stand yet.   i watched them from about 3 minutes then the mom picked up her baby and trotted off into the woods.  i wondered if she had more babies down by the lake and was now trying to move them to the otherside of road into the woods, or mabye that little pup was the only one she had.  there have been a lot of reports of wolves and coyotes up here having the mange disease, so most of the wolves i have seen lately have not had that thick coat, they are scrawny with bare tails.  the momma wolf seemed to be in very good shape.  she still had her thick winter coat and a nice bushy tail.  that was the first newborn wolf pup i had ever seen.  it was incredible, i almost wanted to pick up that cute pup and take it home with me.  i hopefully will get to see it again as it grows up.”

This morning i woke up and looked at my themometer which claims that it is only 55 degrees outside today but it feels much warmer than that.  It is definetly sandal weather today with great blue sky, bright sunshine and no breeze.  all the makings for a perfect day.  as an added bonus they are also calling for a thunderstorm in the evening!  I absolutly love spring storms they are so wonderful; big heavy rain drops, that sweet smell, the pitter-patter on the roof…ah, it sure is lovely.

Another beautiful day here on the shore.  Blue skies as far as the eye can see, at this rate the lakes should open up for this weekend’s fishing opener.

typically people are not fans of foggy days…i think that in small doses, they are the most wonderful of days.  everything is slightly mysterious in the soft heavy light which heightens your sense.  suddenly every things is just a little more clear -  you can hear the waves crashing on the shore, smell the sweet smell of spring in the air and feel the delicate kiss of mist on your cheek.   Foggy days are also a great time to catch up on your reading while sitting by a cozy fire drinking a fresh cup of coffee.  Please share your thoughts on foggy days with us!

Another one of those perfectly sunny spring days, cool temps & blue bird skies.  Days like this in the spring tend to draw out the critters from their hiding places.  The forest is alive with all kinds of creatures stirring and forging for food.  This morning was classic, as I drove down the Caribou Trail on my way to the office I drove up on a hungry Coyote looking for snacks and new friends.   I slowed my car down and crept up on him, he didn’t seem to be bothered by my presence one bit, until he realized I was not going to give him any snacks so he darted off the road and into the thick trees.  I continued on my way and pulled into the parking lot at the Mountain Inn.  Standing only 100ft away were two shaggy Deer snacking on the bits of grass that is starting to poke up.   The Deer are so tame this time of year you can practically ride them.  I went inside to grab my camera but was not fast enough, the deer had disappeared.    I looked out across the road at Moose Mountain and I could see six little black dots flying around…as the dots got a bit closer I could see that there were six beautiful Eagles soaring above the Ski Hill valley.  I attempted to snap some photos of the Eagles but they were still a bit too far away…however if you look really hard you can see a few of the dots in the photo…If you really want to see the critters then you will just have to come up and see the wildlife for yourself!  Until then, I will keep my camera on the ready so I don’t miss another opportunity to share these sightings with you.

spring clouds

Another beautiful day up here on America’s North Coast! Mostly sunny today with for a brief period, clouds in the sky, temps staying mostly at 50 degrees or so.  This time of year is so nice and quite, the birds are the only thing that seem to be stirring out in the forest these days.