Waiting for Ice

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Today I have borrowed another one of the photos I took on Friday, to post here. It's a little difficult to see, but in the foreground, the rocks of the lake bottom are visible. It's not very often that Gunflint Lake calms down enough to catch this in a picture. We still seem to be several days away from freezing, but if the ice should form when it is calm and clear like this, then it is possible to peer through the ice, and see that same view of the lake bottom. It's a pretty cool thing when that happens.

Not too many years ago, the bay of Lake Superior around Duluth froze up. It was so fascinating for people, they took to the ice, with skates, with skis, and I'd assume with fishing equipment, too. A young girl was exploring off of Park Point and discovered a shipwreck, by looking through the glass-like surface of the ice. I tried to find some information on it, and here is a link that I came up with: Documenting Sophie .

I doubt that we will ever see a shipwreck right off of our shores here, but it is fun just the same, to explore that mysterious underwater world. Now if only the ice comes, and cooperates.

Advent Calendars

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Did you ever have an Advent calendar when you were young? Sometimes we did, in the household in which I grew up. Since I have so many brothers and sisters, we had to take turns (and wait a long time between) opening up the little windows that covered colorful drawings. The excitement of Christmas was evident as we gathered round to see what was under that little bit of paper. Counting down with the calendar made getting through the month and the interminable wait just a little easier.

We celebrate Advent in this house, too. Sometimes we have a calendar, and this year is no exception. Some friends sent us a lovely, hand-drawn calendar. The cover is in black and white, and as expected, behind the windows are pretty little colorful pictures. Since we have no kids here this fall--a first for us--it is usually me who gets to open the doors. It's a fine little treat each day, but I must admit that I am in no hurry for the month to go by. Well, maybe just a little, as it means that the kids will once again be home from school for their break.

What got me thinking about all of this today is that I am trying to post a photo each day this month, of the things that I encounter and observe. It's a little like an Advent calendar, but instead of opening a door, you check the blog to see what has been posted. It is a bit of a challenge for me when I first get back to writing the blog, especially after an extended hiatus as the one I just took. It's a good thing that I do not make my living as a writer! There would be months with very little food in the cupboard, I'm certain. At any rate, here is the latest in my installment of my little adventure:


Once again, the sky was just too good to pass up. The camera tried to catch the colors the way my eyes saw them, but it missed on the aqua color in the lake's reflection. We did see the sun for quite a stretch today, and so we had a sunset. And this morning, we even had a few snowflakes falling, so that fulfills my wish for three days straight now. I talked to some fellows who were out hiking in the woods today, and they said that the snow was a good eighteen inches deep in some spots. They also said that they encountered people who were out packing the ski trails. All good news for the upcoming ski season.

Something about the Sky

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There is something about the sky in these days leading up to the winter solstice that I find fascinating. Early morning will often display some lovely shades of peach, pink and lavender as the sun makes its way lazily up. Though I haven't verified it, I think that sunrise is around 7:30 a.m. or so. Most days lately are cloudy, so I haven't seen as much early morning color, but that's okay. My December wish is coming true--for it to snow every single day this month. Two for two so far.

This photo was taken late this afternoon, when the sun was beginning to set. We didn't actually see the sun at all today, since it was snowing. But by late afternoon, when I was heading to Diamond Willow cabin, a thin stripe of blue was evident, and the cloud just below it was pink and gold. It was hard to capture it on the camera (I can no longer say "on film"), but it was great to see in person. Just three more weeks until the solstice. I wonder what else the sky will have in store for me?

So often my visual focus is on the lake. It is more than a ritual to look out the window first thing in the morning, to get an idea of what the weather might be like based on the mood of the lake. We now have a wonderful new and larger window in our room, so it is possible to see both the south shore and the north shore when we first wake up. Such a luxury! Maybe we'll actually have a better view for spotting wolves, once the ice forms. We'll see. In the meantime, I also snapped a photo of the only white caps that I saw today:

Icy white caps or hats on top of the rocks near shore. The water was churning all day, but it wasn't sending up much steam. Tonight we might see temps below zero for the first time this fall. That should do some good towards lowering the water temperature in preparation for the freeze-up.

While traveling to Montana last year, I was pondering my connection with our lake, and my enjoyment of watching it. If I lived in a place without that water, what would I do? I came to the conclusion that people in the western states must watch the sky in the same way that I watch the water. The changing patterns of the clouds would be like the waves, and the colors would offer constant variety as well. It's all in how we study it, and record in our mind the observations we have made. Though some of it is definitely repetitious, it always seems new and exciting to me.