Early Taste of Summer

For a brief time this week, spring moved offstage to let summer have a guest appearance.  The days had been growing progressively nicer, but the evenings were still cooling off as they do in this season.  The sunshine has been making the flowers and leaves pop out.  Take, for example, this intrepid little forget-me-not, who found it quite to its liking to bloom forth through the holes of our dock ramp.  We are all feeling that renewed energy that the sun can bring each day.

On Friday, the weather forecast had spilled the beans on the foretaste of summer, so we knew to expect temps in the seventies.  By afternoon, it was nearing eighty.  We had some southerly winds, so the lake was a bit breezy, but not too rough.  It was perfect porch weather--dinner and relaxing on the screen porch, watching the lake and enjoying the company.  Saturday gave us a repeat performance, but we did get some work done, too. 

It was Trash and Treasures Day on the Trail.  We didn't formally participate this year, but we took advantage of the moment and did some more general clean out.  It's amazing what one can find buried below the surface of dead leaves and twigs.  Old piles of stuff were found and discarded, and our buildings became a wee bit lighter.  This ritual of spring-clean out will be a forever task here at Heston's, as we sift through the collections of several generations.  Some things will stay merely because they belong to the Lodge, and not to any of us indiviually.  Old friends used to say that it looked like the northern branch of the Cook County Historical Society out on our workshop.  Now that the Trail has its own Historical Society, there actually is a definite location for treasured objects to live.  Speaking of the Gunflint Trail Historical Society, the Chik Wauk Museum will open its doors for the season on May 26.  Be sure to plan some time while you are here, to go and enjoy this little gem up on Saganaga.

It's been a good week for the loons to be trolling along on Gunflint Lake.  I watched one morning as this bird and its mate went swimming past the dock.  They were aware of my presence, but they still chose to stay in close proximity.  So close, in fact, that when they submerged for yet another underwater rendezvous, I could see their silhouettes, spotted black and white, as they slid through the calm waters.  What a sight that was!  I tried to snap a photo of it, but my eye was kinder than the camera's lens.  In the last few days, I've only seen one loon out front.  Perhaps this means that someone is minding a nest nearby?

Today we turned chilly again, but that was fine since the change brought much needed rain with it.  We started last night with thunder and lightning storms, and the concern that there wasn't enough rain to quell any potential fires from striking bolts.  But as the night wore on, the fireworks subsided, and left behind lots of drops of water.  It seems as though we received at least an inch or more (unofficially), and certainly enough for me to plant seeds this week in damp soil, not barren dry ground.  It's looking to be a good growing season ahead.  We are grateful.