Thursday, March 10, 2011

March Musings

Bruce, Sheryl and I had a good trip to Denver. We bought lots of fun gifts that you will be seeing in the gift shops this summer. By the time we got back to Minneapolis, I was down with a nasty winter cold and went home with Sheryl. On the trip home she managed to catch it too.

Meanwhile Bruce drove down to Missouri for and outfitters meeting and to pick up some hickory firewood. Don will use it all summer in the smoker. Guide Dennis Todd had gathered a huge pile of it. It was a long drive home for Bruce since he had come down the the cold by then.

Now that we are fully into March, I can see that the season is getting ready to change. We still have plenty of snow but there are differences between March and January. It looks like the buds are ready to pop out of the trees even though that is weeks and weeks away. The deer are feeding on all the buds that they can reach. Green leaves won’t come until May.

The south facing shoulder of the side road by the stable is down to bare ground. We will probably get more snow to cover it but the bare ground looks pretty good right now. The deer are pawing at it looking for any leafy tidbit. There is not much to be had.

On the ice Jason and Don have constructed a good size ice rink for a couple of weddings. After the last one on the 19th, Jason will start to build the new dock on this bare patch of ice. The completed dock will just sit there until it melts through the ice sometime in April. Once the shore is clear enough they will push it back into the summer home bay. This area is protected from the main flow of ice that moves around quite a bit during the spring thaw. Getting caught by that flow could destroy the new dock in just moments.

Meanwhile we still have some winter activities going on this weekend. On Saturday is the Mush for the Cure. It is a fun run dog sled race from Gunflint Lake to Poplar Lake. Each musher raises money to be donated for breast canoe research. Our Adam Treeful has been busy raising money and will participate in the run. Part of the fun is seeing how the mushers dress in pink. I will try to get some pictures.

On Sunday the local snowmobile club sponsors a trout derby on the lake. They plow a huge ice ring so that cars can drive on. It is a great family event. There are kids and snowmobiles all over. A lunch is served on the lake. If it is not windy, a sunny March day on the lake is wonderful. I have gotten sunburn more than once. Some people even catch lake trout. Basically it is a fun event for the entire community.

Not much more going on right now. I’ll have to get back into the local moccasin telegraph system.

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