Lake Happenings

We are at the lake once again. I don't have lots of exciting news to share, but since I haven't posted anything for awhile, this will have to do. Since arriving, we have experienced quite a range of weather conditions, with snow and decidedly chilly conditions on the first two days followed by a number of very nice days, including one above 70º. Some rain has arrived now and then too, and that is OK, because we are concerned about the very low level of the lake. Presently, it is about 3' below where we would expect by this time in the spring. This is surprising, because snow fall levels were reported to be "normal" this past winter. Fishing season opens on May 2nd, and a "full" lake would be welcome, unlikely though that now appears to be for this year. (Remember that our "lake" is actually a flowage or reservoir behind a dam managed by Xcel Energy. Sometimes, they don't seem to appreciate the recreational and environmental aspects of the flowage but only the energy-producing potential.)

One of the first things I did was to clean and rinse the hot tub and then to refill it. So, we have been enjoying it and the beautiful star-filled skies at night. We have also done a bit of cleaning–window-washing and the like.

Wildlife is beginning to show up in greater variety as spring progresses. We have seen bear paw prints in the mud out along the road, and lots of varieties of ducks, geese and songbirds are appearing. Loons too! Yesterday morning, I was awoken by a gobbling sound in the yard just back of the house. I got up in time to grab my camera and get this shot through the window. Window screen and glass detract from the quality of the shot, of course. A tom and his hen were working through the yard, and he seemed to have lots to say. Hence all the gobbling. This was the second or third time we have seen turkeys in the yard this trip.

The next two pictures won't be very exciting, but we hope future pictures of these same spots will be. There is a greenhouse and nursery nearby that we love, due to the variety and quality of their stock. This time of year, they always have a "bare root" sale. Lots of trees, shrubs and other woody stock is available in bare root form. The plants are found in plastic bags with lots of wet straw to keep their roots moist. Two years ago, we planted a mountain ash, a birch cluster, and a green ash in the yard, using stock from the bare root sale. This year, we bought a pussy willow (not pictured), a white Japanese lilac tree (below) and a flowering plum (2nd picture below). These should all add nice color and variety to the yard, assuming they do well. Because our "soil" is so sandy, we have to mix dirt from the woods with composted manure and peat moss to make an appropriately rich base in which to plant such things. So, it takes a fair amount of work to do these plantings. Nevertheless, it is fun and gives us a lot of satisfaction.

Finally for now, we also made improvements along our shoreline. Kathie and Josey went rock hunting one evening. That is, they scoured the woods looking for rocks and then tossing them out along our roadway. I suppose it is not fair to assume that Josey did very much of the work. Right now, she seems better at collecting ticks. Anyway, after that, we took the pickup and collected all of these rocks–some quite large (basketball size) and then in varying smaller sizes. We ended up with a significant quantity, which I then moved to the shoreline, often two at a time. After they were carried down there, Kathie and I shored up the shoreline, so to speak. It looks lots nicer, and we believe this will also stop the erosion that was gradually working away at the edge of the lake (that is, when the lake is up where it is supposed to be!!). Lots of work, but worth the effort.