A Pop Up Storm

The weather people have lots of curious terms and one is a "pop up" storm.  Our summer has arrived and we are now enjoying sunny days in the eighties and just enough rain to eliminate the need to water the plants.  The lake water is now a comfortable 78 degrees and I'm back to exercising in it whenever we pontoon over to the state owned land.  I wear my trusty speedo water running belt and it keeps me up while I pedal like a cyclist in the cool clear water.  I love it and usually go for about a half hour, merrily splashing with the loons and herons and the occasional eagle.  Bing prefers to use the time on the water to cast a line or two and often pulls in some walleyes or perch.  Well, the other day, we headed for the swimming hole and it was sunny and warm.  (I should emphasize that Bing is a veteran weather watcher and studies the patterns and radar maps and whatever else the TV and internet offers.)  When we arrived, it started to drizzle, not expected but we figured we could handle it and decided to proceed with our cycling and fishing.  It was so refreshing to be in the water and watch the pretty little raindrops splash on the lake surface.  We both thought that this was a short little cloud passing over and we'd soon be high and dry again.  Then the rain intensity increased gradually to a pour.  The wind began to blow and the rain splashed harder.  I looked to see where Bing was, and a white haze and pouring rain blew the placid lake into a sea of whitecaps.  Soon the raindrops were large and cold and I kept praying that it wouldn't turn to hail - the veggies in the garden were finally shooting up but their tender shoots couldn't take hard hail.  Bing managed to drive the boat back to my area and it was good to see him.  We waited out the storm, me in the water and Bing soaking wet on the boat.  He estimated the winds were 25 to 35 mph. .....So, that's a pop up storm.  Very interesting!   

I didn't have the camera with me but included pix of the lake  anyway.

A Reluctant Summer

Reluctant is a real neat word.  It conveys a subtlety to unwillingness to do something.  When one knows that something should be done, and it is the right time to do it, but one is opposed to doing it.  That is exactly what is happening in our neck of the woods with this magical time of the year called summer.  We've already passed the longest day of the year,  June 21st.  The daylight is getting shorter now.  The fourth of July fireworks are beginning to echo across the lake.  But those warm sunshiny days are rare and the spring flowers, ( peonies and irises,)  are just now blooming.  The piers and boats are in the water and ready for sailing and skiing, for canoeing and kayaking.  But instead, the people are tending their landscapes in sweatshirts and raincoats.  They're using their campfires for warmth and heating their cabins and homes at night.  Instead of garden rows bushy and tall, tiny plants are fighting to grow.  Summer teases us with  a day or two near 80 and then sends hail to add a touch of irony. According to our local weatherman, this area has been in drought for the last ten years but this year we're getting caught up and that is very good but we're hoping for some nice steady sunshine to get the garden caught up to its usual splendor.  O, reluctant summer, unloose yourself and smile your sun upon us!

Bear With Me

Omigosh, it was a happy happy Memorial Day for me.  We've lived up here in the deep dark woods since 1972 and I've really really wanted to have a close encounter with a bear because when you live in a deep dark woods for over 40 years, you should be able to brag about your ursine encounters.  You should be able to top the story of the three bears and Goldilocks.  You should be able to at least say that a bear ate your homework.  But no! It hadn't happened.  Oh sure, we had shoveled dead skunks into garbage bags, chased raccoons from our wading pool filled with crayfish,  swum with the loons, and harvested deer.  But no bear for  me!  Until last Monday.  Bing had gone to golf with his league and Bernie and Jamie had left to return to DePere.  I decided to go to town and get some groceries.  I went to the bedroom to change into my "goin to town" clothes, looked out the big bedroom window and there was a fine black bear right outside the window, ready to climb the mighty white pine at the top of the hill.  I could hear dogs down the hill barking and the bear started clambering up the tree.  It looked like a yearling bear and I grabbed the camera and snapped away as he or she got higher and higher.  I could hear whimpering from the bear and opened the window wide to hear it better.  Then I quickly closed it in case a Mama bear was nearby.  The bear seemed to be watching me and kept climbing and climbing till it was way up in the branches.  The bear seemed to be planted up there till maybe it was dark so I left for town.  Coming back, I was curious to see if
my furball friend was still in the tree but as soon as I drove into the driveway I saw the bear teetering along the deck railing like a gymnast hoping for a ten.  Oh boy, I snapped into digital action and had the time of my life watching that creature, whom I have named Ebony,  show incredible patience, forebearance, ingenuity and perseverence, trying mightily to reach the bird feeder half flled with bird seed.  She never did get to the bird seed but I watched her lunge off the railing , grab onto the pole and helplessly slide down the pole, then she'd climb back up on the deck and try again and again and again.  After at least forty minutes of trying, she finally gave up but as she lumbered away, I thanked her for the excellent entertainment.

Love - A Many Splendored Thing

Love is precious.  Love is a gift.  Long long ago, Bing's Mom and Dad introduced their baby girl, Susan, to Bing and his older brother, Paul.  Bing was almost 8 and Paul was almost 9.  Love blossomed with these siblings and still flourishes.  The picture shows Bing and Sue on the deck.  Sibling love is a special kind of love.  It comes from all the shared family experiences and the intimate day to day exposure to each other.  It's fun, as the years go by, to examine the likenesses and differences between the siblings.  Certain traits from the mom and certain traits from the dad are evident and having decades to watch makes it easy to identify them. It's a comfort after your parents are gone to still have a connection to the family and all those days long ago when you ate and drank and housed together. Enjoy your siblings!

Images of Spring in the Northwoods

The power of nature is undeniable.  Every time we see the aftermath of tornadoes and hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, we know that there is a force that cannot be controlled by man, (or even woman!)  But another most beautiful side of nature is its ability to transform and heal.  Every spring in our latitude there is an incredible transformation of the landscape from grey and brown and black to every shade of green imaginable, to the subtle pinks and whites of cherry and apple blossoms, to the bright yellows of daffodils and dandelions.  The air's bitter crispness softens into sun sprinkled warmth and the spirit soars.  I walked around our place and captured some of spring's delights.  Some day our technology, besides offering us a way to capture the digital images of these miracles, will figure out a way to capture the warmth of the sun, the smell of the rain soaked earth,  and the ability to breathe the fresh clean air of spring's revitalizing properties.  Now, these aspects are left to one's imagination and memories.  Enjoy the spring of your life and soar with the season!

Where in the World are Grandpa and Grandma? Back Home and Happy to have Traveled

    Great God, we made it home again - wow, what an amazing trip.  We were stunned and awed and frightened and exhilirated and so very joyful to be in the presence of our children, grandchildren and our beautiful daughters-in-law.  The weather extremes were from about 16 degrees in Montana to 98 degrees in western Minnesota.  America is blessed with such richness and diversity - God bless America and thank you for the ability and resources to make such a trip.

                                       

Where in the World are Grandpa and Grandma? One More for the Road!

This state has very special meaning for Bing and me.  We started our married life here and our firstborn son joined us in 1970.  This is a state that was explored by Pere Marquette and Joliet for France.  There was heavy fighting between the white settlers and the native americans.  The state produces one tenth of the nation's food and its farms sell over ten billion dollars worth of crops and livestock annually.  It leads the nation in corn, soybean and hog marketing and is third in livestock sales. The capital sports a French name.