A Winter Weekend

We are back from what I hope is our last short trip this winter.  Robert’s boy, Zach, is now officially 15 years old.  I am not sure how it all happened.  My favorite story about him occurred when he was about 2 and down with me for breakfast.  Zach was helping to clear the table when we were done eating.  He dropped a small glass which bounced once and then cracked to pieces on the second hit.  He looked at me and said, “Now I’m in trouble.”  Well what grandmother could do anything but laugh.

Our trip home from Missouri was great on Monday.  We had a full load inside and outside the truck with a ton of hickory for Don’s smoking.  The driving the first day was wonderful – clear skies and almost no wind.  Tuesday was horrible driving.  The normally 3 ½ hour drive from Minneapolis to Duluth took us 6 hours.  There was lots of traffic, snow and wind.

Of course, the snow dropped 6-8 inches on the Gunflint Trail.  The result is ski trails that are in wonderful condition.  We have had guests out all weekend even though it was cold.  The skiers have been joined by snowmobilers and fishermen.  It is a holiday weekend and everyone has headed up here for winter sports.  The cold outside temperatures have made the lodge seem more warm and cozy than usual.  Add in Mark’s live keyboard and you would think you were at a ski resort.

Last week some guests had quite an experience.  They had come up from Texas to see the deer.  One night they were up late watching a movie.  A deer ran past their cabin.  They looked out the window to see a large pack of wolves (12 by actual count) taking down one of the deer.  It is a once in a lifetime experience with both good and bad feelings.  We all know that the wolves need to eat deer to survive.  On the other hand you can’t help hoping that somehow the deer could get out alive.  It didn’t happen.  The wolves and crows all go their dinner that night.  The situation had no right or wrong but most of us hate to see the deer die.

The birds are coming into our feeders on a regular basis.  For some reason a flock of redpolls has been hanging around.  Although common to this area we don’t usually get them at the feeders.  Who knows why they have decided to stop.  A  pine martin has also decided to eat off the feeders.  Bruce thinks that there is a second one around.  While the first one is eating, he keeps looking toward an area off to his right.  Maybe we will have a whole family in the area in the spring.

While in Missouri I bought our seeds for the vegetable garden.  It was 70 degrees there and I was getting the itch to plant.  Naturally it will be a bit before those seeds get into the ground here.