Pretending to be a Nature Photographer

Recently I've been gaining a new level of respect for nature photographers. The coffee table books of scenes and animals are masterpieces, and I enjoy looking at them. It takes a special person to bring the subject, the moment, and the artistry all together for a perfect shot. I'm not special.

For several days, I have been trying to photograph our neighbors, the Ravens. I'm not really sure just when they moved in to the neighborhood, but we've heard them around for several years. We don't know with certainty where their home is, but they do come visit us regularly. They hop around in our parking lot, they frequent our compost pile, and they do regular fly-bys of our kitchen. It's great entertainment. With all this activity, you'd think that I could catch a photo or two--nothing great, just good. No luck.

Maybe they are camera shy. I see them out the kitchen window, as they swoop down and land. Then they see me stand up to retrieve my camera, and they take off. Their eyesight must be incredible. I try sneaking to the window, crouched low as I make my way around the table and chairs. If so much as my face pops in to view, they're gone. The only thing so far that is working a little is to sneak my camera around the side of our big icebox, and snap from there. Evidently, they don't think that there is a person attached to the camera, if I do it that way.
I should say that these attempts generally apply to ground-level shots. If I am outside and the ravens are safely in a tree above me, they willingly sit for the picture. But photos against a bright sky don't register as well with my little point-and-shoot.

Future opportunities do look positive, however. Lately, Greg has been calling to the ravens daily, and they seem to be responding. He will go outside, cluck his tongue, and call, "Hey, Ravens!" The clucking sound is very similar to one of the sounds the ravens themselves make. They've become quite reliable in their response to him: They soon appear in a tree nearby, and wait to see if Greg has some tidbit to toss to them. If he does, they watch where the food lands, but rarely come to retrieve it when he is still there. It's been fun to watch this exchange happen. It does make me wonder, though, who is training whom?

Ham Lake Fire Retrospective 2007

Today marks the third anniversary of the start of the Ham Lake Fire.

Finally, I can look at the photos with a calmer perspective.

The shots can still evoke a sense of the stress and anxiety I felt back then.

But mostly I remember how helpful everyone was.

For that, I will always be grateful.

Spring Cleaning

It's clean up time in these parts, and that means the end of a season. During the winter, Greg makes homebrew on the back porch of the lodge. He has been brewing for better than twenty-five years now. In that time, he has refined his beer in many ways....and his equipment and methods, too. He chooses to brew in the coldest times, because that means the air is sterile and free of things that could potentially infect the beer. By boiling the mash, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast outside, chances are high the final product will be excellent.

But now it is spring, and the lively little natural yeasts are beginning to fill the air. So we loaded up the truck to stow away the gear until next winter. No worries, though, about running out of beer. Both Paul and I have begun brewing in recent months. We do a simplified version of beer-making: we use malt extract instead of all-grain. It's as easy as cooking soup, and we can make it on the kitchen stovetop.

So, as I was saying, we loaded up the truck to put away the...Hey! Wait a minute....

Would you look at that! A few years ago, we upgraded all of the cookware in the cabins, with some nice Wolfgang Puck stainless steel pots and pans, and clear poly lids. If you come to stay in one of our cabins, and the lid for your big pot is missing, I think I know where it is!

Hanging Out at Sag Lake Trail

What a lovely morning it was yesterday, to be hanging out at the corner of the Gunflint and the Sag Lake Trail. The day's event was the Ham Lake Half-Marathon and 5K run. For the past two years, Greg has gone to work traffic control, as a part of the Gunflint Trail volunteer fire department. This year, I got to be his assistant, since the resort isn't quite open yet.

The marathon was started in 2008, by Sue Prom of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. Sue wanted a way to commemorate the Ham Lake Fire, one with a bright outcome. On this particular Sunday, 190 runners had signed up to run the trail.

Once the sign and traffic cones were in place, we settled in to watch for the first runners to arrive. Memories returned for me, of my own (short-lived) days of running on the Gunflint Trail. Back in the spring of 1986, the first year that I moved to Gunflint Lake, I was in the midst of training to run Grandma's Marathon. Some whim had come over me, and I decided it might be a good thing to do. Prior to my move here in April, I was living on the scenic highway between Duluth and Two Harbors, so that was my training grounds. Once up here, I realized how easy I'd had it: very few hills on old Highway 61. At the end of our side road, there are three long hills, and I would do whatever I could to avoid running up them. Two times, I had Greg drop me off at the end of the Gunflint Trail so that I could run home, and that meant running down those three hills. I gave up running after that one and only marathon, as my knee had started to say a few words to me. I took up walking instead, and am forever happy with that decision.

This day, when the runners started to come in to view, I knew a little of what it was like for them. So I did my best to cheer them on, giving them encouragement for the last mile or so of the race. It was really fun to be on the sidelines, thinking up new words to call to them: You're almost there! There's good things up ahead! You can almost smell the barbecue at the end! This year the Ham Lake, next year Grandma's Marathon!

It was especially enjoyable to see friends and neighbors running the race. With camera handy, I caught two parties on film, and was so happy to see everyone smiling!

It is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to reach the finish line. Congratulations to all who participated this year. Your hard work paid off!