Thinking spring

Seeing as it's almost March, Mike had a busy morning hauling pots up from the basement - and I had a busy rest of the day trimming, cutting back, and watering last year's geraniums! They don't look like much right now, but with a little love and attention, a little fertilizer and a lot of sunshine - we'll have plenty of flowers again this year. I brought the begonias up last week and they've already started a few little sprouts too.

March is the month we think spring and shovel snow around here! I'm glad we have the big south facing living room - it makes a great greenhouse. And having a bit of green - well, not that I don't like snow, I just like seeing green this time of year!

Interesting information

The statistics for the 2011 permit lottery have come from the Forest Service and they're interesting! There were 9,189 applications for permits this year - that's for the whole BWCA, not just the Gunflint side - 132 more than last year. A lot of them - almost half - were for day use motor permits, and about half of them didn't get their permits. There were 3099 overnight paddle permits awarded and only 28 didn't get permits.

We also got a list from the Forest Service showing where and when permits were used in 2010 on the Gunflint Trail entry points. August is definitely the busiest month. In May there were 456 permits, June 901, July 1142, August 1619, and September 326. One of our most popular entry points, Lizz Lake, breaks down with 21 permits in May, 87 June, 102 July, 114 in August and 43 September. If you want to avoid the crowds - I guess September is the perfect time!

We enjoyed the thaw this week but did not enjoy the brisk winds that ended it. The National Weather Service has a new symbol for days like Thursday and Friday - a whole row of wind turbines with the word "Blustery" under them. That about covers it - there was a LOT of wind and a little snow just to polish the ice. We still have a couple feet of snow on the ground - wet snow during the thaw, crusty hard snow now. Plenty of winter left ahead, I guess!

Winter Geology

We've been watching the snow compact itself this week... the piles are getting shorter and shorter. They can't be melting - we haven't been more than a degree or two above zero all month - but the snow is definitely getting denser. This afternoon I noticed that you can more or less see the lines on the edge of the path to the house from every time Mike's had the snowblower out!

The shoveling lines remind me of the road cuts along Highway 61 on the way to Duluth - everyone has noticed them - but our summer guests may be interested to see the ice waterfalls. We think they're kind of neat.

It sure seems odd to watch the national weather service web site and know that most of the rest of the country is having our kind of winter this year. I can't say we've got cabin fever - quite - but we're grateful for neighbors and town and the public library!

Deer Crossing #2

I went down to Duluth with my neighbor yesterday on a special errand - my job on these trips is "designated deer spotter" and, just for fun, I was looking for more of our "deer jumping OUT of the road" signs. This one is just over the line into Lake County. Anyway, a little ways past the sign, I spotted brown legs jumping over the snow pile at the edge of the road a ways ahead and called "deer, on the left, brakes!" as designated deer spotters are supposed to... My friend braked with plenty of room - and as the big brown animal crossed the road I said "gee, that deer's moving funny?"

My friend half turned to me and said, "Lin, that's a wolf." It was, too, a big brown wolf trotting off down off the side of the road like he owned it.

We're all thinking that maybe my special errand was a little important - aren't you glad I have new glasses? We are!