Fall Weather

Today we appear to have a little break in the rain which lifts our spirits. This fall rain reminds me of the old adage to be careful about what you wish for. In the spring and summer most of us on the Gunflint Trail we doing a lot of wishing for rain. Well, here it is. On Sunday night one of our neighbors recorded 1.5 inches of rain. Then on Monday we got another batch. Tiny creeks are now boiling. In fact, remember Lee writing about how the creek between Cabin #3 and Cabin #1 had dried up. Well, here is what that creek looks like today.

The next picture is of the dock. If the lake comes up about 4-6 inches more (which is going to happen), it will be over the main cribbing that is closest to land. Use your imagination to picture this spring when the water was 3-4 feet lower. How much water does it take to lift the level of a lake a mile wide and eight miles long?



I should also comment that these are the first pictures you have seen that I have actually taken. A stop at Best Buy last week gave the Kerfoots a new camera. It is one of those little subcompacts that fits in the palm of my hand. Supposedly it will be always available for unexpected picture opportunities. Don’t expect too much.

Of course, when you look at the pictures, it will quickly become apparent that saying we have “a little break in the rain” is my resort’s voice coming through. After all, everyone knows that the weather at every resort is always perfect. I can honestly say that guests have been out and about even with the wet weather.

It is amazing how much you can learn just by walking through the front desk area. This morning some people who had driven up the Trail were in the gift shop. They had just seen a cow moose with two calves up the Trail near Seagull Lake. It almost made me want to drive up to try to find them.

Bruce has been working our winter wood supply. When the Ham Lake fire was threatening, fire fighters moved all our fire wood away from the house. Naturally, it just sat there all summer. A friend who was cleaning downfalls off his property added to the pile. Now that winter is approaching, Bruce has moved all the wood under the roof of our front porch. It is all neatly stacked just the way he likes it – bark up.

There was also a pile of logs that needed to be split. Rather than bring down the gas-powered splitter, he has been doing it by hand with a 25-pound splitting maul. The pile is almost all split and Bruce is proud of the job. It’s not too bad for an old man.

The result of all this work is that we have been enjoying fires almost every night. When it is wet and raw outside, the fireplace takes the chill out of the house. No matter what the heat is set at, it doesn’t seem to get rid of that chill.

Bruce and I kinda dance around each other when starting fires. Each of us takes a proprietary view towards fires that we have started. So I don’t put wood on his fires and he doesn’t put wood on my fires. We build them just a little bit differently. Bruce always puts the bark down so that the fire burns slower. I put the bark up so that the fire burns prettier. There is very little substantial difference. It is just a game we play.

One more week and we are off on our trip. I am starting to think about packing. Our European cell phone arrived yesterday. There has been some grumbling within the family about our being out of touch so long. Bruce found a cell phone that works in the rest of the world but not the U. S. After dinner last night he studied the manual. I will still bring the manual with us.

Hopefully my next blog will tell you about the sunshine streaming in my office window.