September is Here

September is here.  After the busiest August ever, we are all ready to catch our breath.  Our occupancy rate was 92% so there were not a lot of empty cabins during the month.  High room counts are both a blessing and a curse.  The housekeepers always seemed to have lots of do.  Luckily everyone from dock boys to outfitters to gardeners helped them.  Head housekeeper Jesse did a great job keeping them all organized.  At the end the money is nice but you wonder if you will live through it.  Monday night was one of the first nights during the month that Bruce and I did not go back to the lodge after dinner.  We just sat.

As fall comes everyone is seeing more animals on the trail.  Many of them do not seem to be in their normal habitat.  Dave at the front desk has seen a lynx as he drives to work for three mornings is a row.  Wife Bonnie says take a picture but Dave says it is too dark that early in the morning.  Down at the dock we have had a blue heron hanging around the past couple of days.  Neither Bruce nor I can recall ever having one here.  They are fun to watch.  Bruce and I also saw a wolf down by the South Brule bridge as we drove to Duluth early one morning.

This is also the time of year when we finish up some of the summer activities.  As the kids go back to school, Joey’s fishing fun will end.  Next Sunday is the last barbeque for the summer.  As soon as it gets a little cooler pizza Tuesdays will stop.  In fact as it cools down, fewer and fewer people will be eating on the patio.  Outside eating is a blessing for only a couple months of the year in northern Minnesota.  The standup paddle boards and small kayaks will get put away as the lake gets colder.  Berry picking is basically over.  We did not have a lot of berries this summer.  I never figure out why but am grateful for those that we do get to pick.

Speaking of picking, my garden is exploding.  Green beans seem to be the big winners this year.  The trellises they are growing on are almost ten feet tall.  Blue Lake seems to be the kind that grows best for me.  Also my onions and potatoes are producing huge crops.  I will be giving stuff away just to use it all.  It takes a long time for two people to eat the potatoes from an 8 foot square bed of them.  Lettuce is also hanging in.  The lodge is using lots and lots of my parsley.  I made some pesto from the basil crop.  That will taste good during the winter.

The other thing that we are starting to see is the color change.  Yellows are appearing in the shoulder shrubs.  The maples are starting to turn red.  That is not a big deal because we don’t have a lot of them.  Next week the poplar and birch will start to turn.  Then everything brightens up.