LITTLE BASS LAKE RESORT




LBLR CHRONICLES
August 2011


Click here to see the other months in 2011:   June, July, August, September, October, November, December

The Calends of August [August is]
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away.

            -- Elizabeth Maua Taylor

Hmmm........ That's an interesting way of describing August; but it makes sense, does it not? By the way, does anyone know anything about Elizabeth? I can find nothing about her other than the fact that she's a freelance writer and she lives somewhere in California.
August_2nd Yogi Berra once said; "You can observe a lot by just looking". And ya know what? He was right!
August 3rd Hey Ruth (in California)! If you see this, send me an e-mail, wouldja?
August 4th Last January I sent the following three Winter-related items from "Stories, Poems, & Anecdotes From the Northland" to the Grand Rapids newspaper and they were all printed: A few days ago I sent the following five Summer-related stories to them and we'll see if they do anything with those: Click on the name of any story (above) to see it, or click HERE to see all of these as well as some others.
August 5th In past summers, wasn't there usually a stretch of very dry weather? Weather that turned the grass brown and slowed down the growth of everything? This summer didn't seem to have any of that, not yet anyway. Even when it didn't rain and wasn't terribly hot, it always seemed to be very humid and the grass was always wet.
August 6th So long to the Terrys and the Kelchers; hello to the Turners and the Carlsons!
August 7th So long to Janice and Kevin after their first visit to LBLR. You said that you'll probably be back (with the grandkids next time). I sure hope so........it was nice having you here. Thanks for coming!
August 8th Uh-oh. This is the first time this has happened since the "rebirth" of the Chronicles. Click HERE.
August 9th Which is better, 95 degrees at noon (as it was a couple of weeks ago) or 59 degrees at noon (as it is today)?
August 10th Sara and William, are you really coming back to LBLR? Neato! But was that really three years ago that William caught that fish? Amazing! Click HERE.
August 11th Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
August 12th No sun, no warmth, no cheerfulness,
No comfortable feel in any member --
November?????

No, of course it's not November! But it felt more like November than mid-August today.
The Ides of August The Ides of August is upon us. The mid-point between the start of Summer and the start of Fall was a week ago today, believe it or not!!!!!! The months are flying by. Summer is waning and Autumn will soon be here.
August 14th A short passage from a letter written to my Dear Aunt Janice on June 29, 1992 (a few days after my first full week at LBLR):

I had four cabins rented for last week and among the guests were 7 kids (5 girls and 2 boys between the ages of 7 and 14). When they left on Saturday morning I got 3 hugs from each of the little girls and 1 hug from each of three lovely Moms. That's 18 hugs!!! I got 18 hugs my first week on this job, and I worked 24 years and 4 hours for IBM and never got a single hug. I like this better.
August 15th A few weeks ago Matt caught a Snapping Turtle on a Hula Popper while fishing for Bass. He and some of his brave (is that the right word?) cohorts removed the lure and released the turtle unharmed. But who in the world would dare to get that close to a Snapping Turtle? Look at the claws on that thing, not to mention the jaws. He looked a lot meaner in real life than than he does in these pictures, but click HERE.
August 16th The emergent vegetation in the lake is beginning to turn a little brown.
August 17th Vern N (in cabin 2) and I have been walking to the Cohasset Super America (and back) for our morning coffee at 6:30 or 7:00 this week. It's a good time.......and good for ya too (about 4 1/2 miles, round trip).
August 18th To see David, click HERE.

Another milestone: My oldest Grandchild Josh (who is my resort "yard stick" since he was born the year I bought LBLR) started College today. Congrats Josh!!!!!
August 19th Another member of the Avian family, one which is even more unusual in this neck of the woods, has surreptitiously joined the Swan in the woods along the south entrance. (See the entry for July 17th.) However, this time the culprit is known.......a family with a predilection for Flamingos (and for being perennial firebugs as well). Click HERE.
August 20th Back in the 1990s if a guest wanted to make a phone call he would knock on my door and ask to use the phone. That happened a couple of times per day back then. Now it only happens a couple of times per year........usually when someone drops his cell phone into the lake.
August 21st Another sign that summer is about over:
There's a man who lives in a house on highway 73 (somewhere between Kettle River and Cromwell) who reconditions and sells used lawn mowers. If you come Up North that way you've probably seen the mowers in his yard with a "For Sale" sign nearby. This week the lawn mowers were replaced by snowblowers.
August 22nd
August 23rd Four years ago this week my cousin Don Frelitz and his group from Michigan were here for the first time. They loved the place, they caught fish, and they had a good time.........but they have never been back. What's up with that Don-man?????
August 24th At this time four years ago, things were so dry in this neck of the woods that we even had a campfire ban........the only one that I can remember in my 20 seasons at LBLR. It's nothing like that this year.
August 25th Three years ago today the weatherman predicted that we'd wake up in the morning to find frost on the ground and a temperature perhaps as low as 28 degrees. In actuality, we woke up to 39 degrees and no frost. In fact, the weather turned warm and stayed that way for a long time; the first frost didn't occur until nearly six weeks after that.......almost a month later than normal.
August 26th Mary B (of the Minnesota Extension Service) and Jane H (District Water Quality Educator for the Michigan State University Extension Land & Water Program) have recently spent nearly three days setting up markers and taking measurements of my shoreline. The markers will allow them to accurately assess shoreline changes over the next several years.
August 27th Does anyone have a guess as to what type of bird made this little nest? Jerry B, do you know? Click HERE.
August 28th In spite of what some people say (particularly Logger Jack), I have plenty of common sense. I just choose to ignore it now and again.
August 29th There have been tons and tons of Warblers (at least that's what they appear to be) passing through here on their way back down south, but I haven't gotten a good enough look at any of them to tell what kind they are.
August 30th There were only three responses to the bird nest question (see August 27th, above), but how many people know much about bird nests? One guess was a hummingbird, but that was wrong. The second was a House Finch, and the size of this nest falls within the normal dimensions of a House Finch nest. Jerry B (a bird expert but not a bird nest expert) guessed some kind of a Warbler or perhaps a Vireo. Apparently we'll never know for sure, but after looking at pictures of all those (and some others) I'm inclined to vote with Colleen and call it a House Finch nest.
August 31st Iowa Terry and her crew are gone. Sigh........ And no pictures this year. Sigh (again)...........

But on the bright side, Jeff and Christine (and Jordan, of course) arrived this afternoon for their annual Fall excursion.

Click here to see the other months in 2011:   June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Click HERE to see the Chronicles for other years.

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If you have any questions or if you'd like something mentioned here, send me an e-mail and let me know.

E-Mail: jerry@littlebass.com