March Is Here

The first week of March was really quite nice. We all got used to melting temperatures during the day. On Tuesday reality hit us. A storm moved in from the west with lots of snow in it. Here is a picture I took in the afternoon of a deer looking for any kernels of corn still left in the yard.

All the deer were covered with snow just like this one.

The next morning the temperatures had dropped to just below freezing. Bruce got out the snow blower and went to work on the path to the house and just in front of the garage door. Here he is.

The wind had blown most of the night so we got a lot of drifting. Jason was plowing so much snow that it was coming over the top of the plow. Jacob had trouble with the snow blower icing up. Don and Steve wished that their shovels would ice up but they just kept throwing snow around.

After Bruce was finished on the path, I went out with an 18” ruler to see how much snow there was. Most of this is new snow.

You can’t really read the depth in this picture but we got 10” of new snow. Needless to say, the ski trails and snow mobile trails are wonderful. The only problem is getting them groomed fast enough for people to get out on them.

One night this week we had our friend, Lisa Wagner, over for dinner. As you may remember, Bruce had just gilled and gutted one of the trout he caught last week. So I made a bread dressing with apples and shrimp in it. I just piled it on the baking pan and then draped the fish on top. After smelling it for an hour, we all dug in. There is something wonderful about baked fish that just flakes with a fork. Bruce was trying to tell me how healthy it was. I had to remind him of the ¼ pound of butter in the dressing. At any rate, we all pigged out and finished every morsel of fish.

Bruce and I are off to the Cities this weekend. Last weekend we exhibited at the Women’s Expo in St. Paul. This weekend we will go to a gift show for items to sell in the gift shops. Then on Sunday Bruce will place orders while Shawn and I man our booth at the Twin Cities Wedding Show. I am getting a little tired of weekends in the Cities. The best part about it is dinners. Last weekend we hit an Italian restaurant, a Chinese joint and a Jewish deli. Needless to say, Grand Marais does not offer much in the way of ethnic cuisine. Who knows where we will be this weekend for dinner.

Reservations are coming in steadily for March. I always wish they came in faster but this year we are just pleased to be getting them. March is going to be quite busy due to the good snow conditions. People are still making reservations at the last minute and we are happy to accommodate them.

Summer reservations are also coming in steadily. Bruce has been spending a lot of his time on marketing. We are lucky to have four really good people answering the telephone at the front desk. Their attitude is that we have worked hard to get these phone calls and we aren’t wasting them. When you call to make your summer plans, I am sure that you will be pleased with the help they give you. So much for the commercial.

I wish you could all see the view out my window today. It got down to 14 below last night with a full moon. Today the sun has been shining brightly and warmed it up to about 20 degrees. The new snow is just sparkling in the sunlight. All the old gray melting snow is covered up. The lake snow is full of small dips and hills from being whipped up by the wind. There is still a little wind. It is a perfect March day.