We interrupt your regularly scheduled Monday morning for a short commercial. If you missed breakfast, are waiting for lunch, or just plain looking forward to a summer vacation on Gunflint Lake, then check out this video.
It's almost pizza season at Heston's!
The weekend was well-spent, participating a bit in the festivities of Mush for a Cure, the breast cancer research fund-raiser. The weather was fantastic, and the despite warm temps, the snow held out.
On Friday, Greg, Paul and I volunteered our crack kitchen services down at Windigo Lodge for the pasta dinner. A sizable crowd filled the dining room, and everywhere we looked, it was pink. Greg and Paul did there part, donning colorful neckties. There was some debate regarding the true nature of the color pink, but surprisingly, no discussion as to what constitutes a tie.
Later in the evening, Paul sat in for a set on the bass, with his old 'mates in the Trails End band. Many folks danced the night away.
Meanwhile, Addie was on her way home with neighbors, since it is spring break time. How lucky are we that she chooses to come home, rather than head to some other exotic locale? She was able to jump into the fun on Saturday, and her classic pink tutu was well-received in the large crowd gathered for the start of the dogsled race.
Nearly every one was decked out, and she even had an offer of a trade: a pink wig for her skirt. She turned it down, as she has so much fun whenever she wears the skirt. I like to say that every girl deserves a pink tutu! Besides, the offer came from someone who immediately sped by on the back of a dog sled.
Today is an unbelievable day, filled with loads of sunshine and a warm south breeze. It's the kind of day to sit out on the back porch and sip coffee, while feeling the power of the sun warming our faces. The fishermen who left earlier were sporting sunburns from their time on the ice. But since they were taking trout home with them, they didn't mind at all.
The best way to get inspiration for writing is to look at the pictures on my camera. Lately, the camera has been empty, save for all the images that get downloaded but never deleted. Then a day will come when suddenly there are many things to photograph and talk about. At this point in winter, it isn't so much the changes in the landscape. That will be coming one day soon. Right now, it's in the level of activity that we see. With the lengthening of the days, we are also seeing more action around us. It's like we are all waking up from that proverbial long winter's nap, and we need to squeeze in as much cold weather fun as possible. Soon it will be over. Last weekend, our friends John and Ted headed out with skis and pulks, ready to spend a few days in the wilderness. Fortunately, a warm abode awaited them. They had the sleds loaded, but the skiing was a little slow that day. We've had warm-ups and cool-downs, and the conditions vary at times throughout the day. We heard that they had to make some load adjustments as they ventured along, but finally they made it. The favorable temperatures certainly help in times like these. Had it been twenty below and windy, it would have been much harder.
Paul and I were on our way to town yesterday, and on the roadside, I saw a small dark figure, waiting to cross. I wondered if it was a groundhog, making an early appearance. We are not quite through the full "six more weeks of winter" that his relative predicted on February 2. As we approached, I spotted the telltale appendage---his paddle shaped tail. It was a beaver. We pulled over while he contemplated his next move. He really looked exasperated, as he started into the road, then reluctantly turned around and headed back through the swamp from where he had come. We had enough time to snap a photo of his frustrated little self. I could faintly hear him grumbling, "Work to be done, work to be done...." We noticed that the path he took was really a little highway, trodden and packed with evidence of many crossings. Now that we know the location of this secret trail, I'll be sure to keep a sharper eye towards beaver activity. I hope we didn't disrupt his day too much. I think I sometimes know what it feels like to be as busy as a beaver.
Judging by all of the tracks in the snow outside the lodge this morning, lots of other bodies are busy, too. With a fresh dusting to showcase them, I saw tracks from deer, pine marten, squirrel, birds, and even a mouse. Noticeably missing were the wolves. It seems this winter that we are spotting their tracks on a near-daily basis. I guess they went to some other restaurant last night, and gave our deer a reprieve.
It's leap day, February 29, 2012. We have one friend that we know of who is celebrating his birthday on the real day....Happy Birthday to you, Max!
Four years ago, a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity happened for us here at Heston's. That is the day that we were part of an article that was published in the New York Times. We knew only a couple of weeks in advance that this was to happen, and at that time, the actual date wasn't certain. In the end, it was leap day, and forever more that will help my memory. When the days come and go each year, it's hard to remember specifics. But when it happens on a day that only rolls around every four years, well, that I can manage to recall.
It was a great article, and it did generate a lot of calls. Many were from old friends and guests who had read it, and called to check in and catch up. That was my favorite part of our fifteen minutes of fame. I always love hearing from people. I don't know that we actually got any reservations from New Yorkers, but perhaps we picked up some from other folks who read it closer to our home.
At any rate, the beauty of the internet means that we can just click a link and voila! There it is again, all ready for us to read and remember it. So if you missed it the first time around, here you go....the day Heston's Lodge made it into the New York Times!
Gunflint Trail cabins located on Gunflint Lake in Northern Minnesota. Secluded log cabins near to Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
