He's Back!

The other night I put the dog out... and there was that noise again... "beep beep beep beep"... sounds just like the backup alarm on a utility vehicle, or worse, the overflow alarm on a septic tank. Several years ago - the first time we heard it - we checked every tank on the resort to make sure we weren't having a spring overflow problem - the beeping seemed to be moving around and we couldn't catch up to it. This is not a fun thing to do in the middle of the night with knee to hip deep snow and five or six tanks with alarms on our 11 plus acres! "Beep Beep Beep" - never stopping - no vehicles backing up, no alarm lights flashing, what on earth?

It's a saw-whet owl, is what. A tiny, persistent and lonely little saw-whet owl trying very hard to make contact with another saw-whet owl. Calling out "beep beep beep," flitting from tree to tree, searching for a mate. Late winter/early spring is courting season for saw-whets - and what a mating call! I don't suppose it bothered anyone until the advent of back up alarms on vehicles and septic tank alarms, but now!

The neighbor's dog was reacting the same way we did the first time we heard the calls - since she's a dog we heard "bark bark beep beep bark beep" - meaning, we assume, "someone please come and take care of this alarm going off, please!" Poor lonely little owl - I hope he finds a mate SOON!

Fishing and Mushing

Mike's been out fishing several times this past week. He says it's a real challenge! There's enough slush between the snow cover and the ice that the auger barely works; he starts drilling and water pours into the hole - sort of over-lubricating the cut! On the other hand, there are enough holes already dug in the ice that all he really needs is a crow bar - just punch out the ice in the existing hole and fish - of course, it's a smaller hole than he's used to. Getting down the hill to Birch Lake is also challenging - steep, slippery, and hard walking. You can see by the picture that the trail is still a bit rough!



We enjoyed the Mush for the Cure last weekend. We went up to Iron Lake where the dog teams were running close to the road and there was a good place to watch. One little guy kept us entertained between teams. He cheered "DOGGIE!" the minute he saw a team in the distance. His parents may regret bringing him, though, midway through the race his cheer changed to "WANT DOGGIE!" and by the time this beautiful matched white team came by his cheer became "WANT THAT DOGGIE!" It was a great day to be out and fun to have the teams to watch.

Measuring snow

A few people have been asking if there's still enough snow on the Gunflint Trail for skiing and snowmobling. The short answer is "YES". There will probably be plenty of snow here for the foreseeable future too!

The measuring stick Lin is holding is an official "snow stick" from the National Weather Service office in Duluth; it's 36 inches long and as you can see there's something over 36 inches of snow behind it. The official Duluth Weather Service website is www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/ and it has a local forecast option so you can click on a spot on the map and get a seven day forecast for that area; you can also get reports from the snow spotters in the Duluth area. During the snowstorm this week Lin got to make snowfall reports just about every hour on the hour - we got 9.5 inches!

Thinking SPRING!

Despite the recent presence of polar bears on the trail - during the annual Winter Tracks Festival last weekend, which was a great time for all! - we're starting to think about spring here at Rockwood.

Mike has been working on the sauna building (and riding his snowmobile back and forth from the shop to the sauna and back again - sure beats walking!) and figuring out how to install the new stove. Mostly he works for a while, thinks for a while, works for a while and thinks for a long while, but it's coming.

In the meantime, Lin is really thinking spring. All she could think about when we moved into the owners' cabin at Rockwood was, "WOW, a GREENHOUSE LIVING ROOM!" Lin's always wanted a greenhouse and this south facing room with all the floor to ceiling windows is the next best thing, So... this week all the "dead" planters came up from the basement storage area, the plants got cut back and cleared of dead leaves and blooms, fertilized, watered, and set on the floor in front of the windows. Just a few planters - somewhere between 30 and 40 of them, mostly with teeny little baby leaves and a few blooms. With a little luck and a little care and a lot of sunshine and water we'll have lots and lots of pretty flowers again this year at Rockwood!