And it's still raining....But the phones are back!

Oh, yes, it's still raining, although not as hard.  Considering that the rain gauge is now up to 3.5 inches, we are doing really very well here.  Maybe we are getting better at this.  Or maybe our boats were already pulled up as high as they can go.  The cabins are all in great shape; the roads haven't washed out; we checked on a couple of the neighbors docks and boats, and all was well.  We did have one boat a bit under the weather this morning, but with the help of several guys and a pump, even that wasn't a bad task.  All in all, we seem to be faring well.

When the big rains came over the Memorial weekend, the forecast talked about "copius amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico." This system didn't have quite such a fancy description, so I am not sure where all of this water has come from.  But it's finding it's way into Gunflint Lake, and we are again on the watch for escaping boats and docks.  The next few days are supposed to be nice and sunny, so perhaps we'll just have to go for another barge ride.

This is a good representation of how dark and grey it has been the last day. But my favorite part of this picture is that it's good to see Eduardo prepared for the weather.  His hard hat surely is keeping his hair a lot drier than his sombrero would have.  And he's ready for work!

Phone and Email Update

And rain it did.  I was up early today to check on things, after listening to rain and wind all night long.  The rain gauge indicated that we received 2 and a quarter inches.  Not bad, especially after hearing about how much fell south of us.

To that end, the five or so inches that fell in Duluth and on the North Shore was enough to knock out our phone service.  Currently, the phones only work in our local exchange.  If you need to reach us, our internet still works, as it is satellite. However, we are not able to receive emails, as the same lines that serve our phones also serve our email system. 

You can send me a note through our "Contact Us" form, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

So it goes on the Gunflint Trail!  But it's also this way all along the North Shore right now, and in Duluth, too, so I guess we are not alone. 

The Space In Between

The weather forecasters are prediciting a boatload of rain for us this afternoon.  It's a huge system, waiting to happen, with possibly one to three inches of new water for us.  Whereas the fall, winter and early spring were drought conditions, we still are happy to accept all the moisture that mother nature chooses to send our way.  The lake continues to be at a good level, and we even have a bit of beach exposed once again. Kids have been in swimming, so the water must be warming up as well.

Just a bit ago, we had an opening shot in this rainstorm, but now it has stopped and we are in that space in between the rain cells.  It's always an interesting spot to see.  The clouds are building, and there is a sense of something BIG about to happen.  I still remember the moments leading up to the blowdown storm, thirteen years ago.  The air felt heavy and charged, and the lake was extremely calm.  We watched a funny little chipmunk at our feet, acting strangely toward us. Then the skies got that greenish hue......So far, thankfully, nothing since has matched the eerie feeling of that time block.

Yesterday, we got to watch somebody else's storm a-brewing.  On my way to work out at the point, I noticed the dark skies in Canada, so I went back to retrieve my camera.

 

The northern skies were dark and thundering, while the southern half was calm, blue, and bright with sunshine.  We had a few clouds, but just the typical cumulus ones--no big storm clouds.

It was neat to watch the Canadian storm, while feeling totally safe and dry from my perch on our shoreline.  I saw a few faraway bolts of lightning, but the thunder indicated that it was several miles away.  Still, I kept a watchful eye and ear.

Wisely, these folks were watching, too, and decided to make a run for it back to safety, should things turn bad.  As they zipped by, I saw a loon dive under the water.  He had been on patrol, watching the shore, but he didn't seem too concerned about the weather.  That's the life of a loon, I guess.

Shortly after that, the wind picked up all over the lake, and our skies grew dark.  The waves got larger, and it seemed as though we were going to become a part of the storm, rather than just audience members.  But the rains didn't come, only the wind.  With it came a drop in temperature and humidity.  When I returned to the lodge, I saw that the thermometer had fallen from 80 to 68.  Nature's air conditioning had returned.

On a different note, since I mentioned loons, I should say that it is once again the season of babies.  I read that the loon pair at Chik Wauk museum successfully hatched two chicks last weekend.  And some of our guests who portaged in to Topper Lake yesterday were treated to the sight of a little one swimming alongside its parent.  Time to be on the lookout--I have yet to see one of these fuzzy little grey things.

Time to Stop....

On the same day that the lake was so busy blowing all over the place, our rosebush decided to burst forth in a rush.  I had noticed a couple of buds, but wasn't expecting a full bloom for at least a week. Once again the air is filled with the lovely perfume of our Hansa rose bush.

I just went to check and see if I had spelled Hansa properly. While reading, I learned that many people love this rose because it reminds them of their grandmothers.  Funny--that was one of my thoughts!  I don't remember much about my grandmother, but I do have faint pictures in my memory of her rosebush.

The wild roses have gotten in on the act also.  We have a few bushes on our property that are now blooming, and down the way, our neighbor has a large patch on the roadside.  I remember lots of them up by Seagull Lake, too, so the perfume must really be filling the air up there.

Not to be outdone by all of this pink, my blue bachelor buttons are popping as well. 

New flowers are showing up all of the time these days.  A group of guests went hiking on the Magnetic Rock Trail last week, and reported seeing many there, including some wood lilies and nodding trillium.  I've seen the usual suspects on our property: bunchberry, blue bead lily, and star flowers.  It's a wonderful time to be in the woods and see all of this color.

And of course, it's all the more important right now to stop and smell the roses, as the season flies past way too quickly.