Hot days of August

The hot weather returned for the first few days of August. Though the temperatures did not go all the way up into the nineties, like a few weeks ago, the humidity rose. Once again, the lake was the very best place to be. Last night, Greg invited me to take our new-to-us kevlar canoe on a short ride to the Canadian shore. It was calm, and the sun had just set. What a wonderful canoe to paddle! I enjoyed the quiet way that it slipped through the water. I was also fascinated watching the sky as we went. Recently, I have painted fabric to represent sky and water. Observing cloud shapes and colors in the dusky sky gave me some new ideas to try the next time I take out the paints.
The blueberry crop continues to produce. Someone told me that she thought that if all of the residents and all of the visitors on the Trail went out to pick the berries, there would still be plenty leftover. Sounds like a great year! I hope to get a day next week in the patch myself. I'm sure the bears must be satisfied as well.
While driving to Loon Lake a day or so ago, I noticed that we have begun to see some color change in the foliage. This is not unusual for this time of year, but I find it startling nonetheless. Hasn't summer been here for just barely over a month? How can we be seeing the early signs of fall? It is usually in the underbrush that I first detect the yellow leaves. The raspberry bushes, too, are showing signs of color change. The fireweed is standing tall with beautiful purple flowers, but it hasn't switched yet to its fuzzy stage. Good! That means that we still have some summer yet to enjoy.
August is such a wonderful month. Already I notice that the mosquito crop is on the decline. Today the heat broke, and we had mid-seventies, as well as a strong northwest wind. The night temps are predicted to be in the 50's--perfect.

Singing Loons

We awoke this morning before six to the sound of two loons singing in front of the lodge. Who could argue with a wake-up call such as that? For whatever reason, this year in particular has been filled with their music, both morning and evening.
Shar, Addie and Sophie have been busy in the last few days picking blueberries. The crop is once again fantastic, though Addie says it is not quite as good as last year. We have had some rain, which helps to plump up the green ones. Looks like we will have some berries in the freezer to enjoy in pies and scones this coming winter.
Our temperatures have been running mostly in the seventies this week, and the nights have cooled off to the high-fifties and low-sixties. It is such a welcome relief from the eighties and nineties that we had earlier in the month.

Heston's Nature Notes

Greetings from the sunny Northwoods!
On Gunflint Lake, we often get to see activites in the natural world that we want to share with neighbors, friends and guests of our resort. Thanks to the Web, we have the opportunity to share these things on a different basis, one where you can read and see pictures more regularly. Stop in when you can, to see what is new in our outdoor world.