| May Day |
As per today's Duluth News-Tribune, no measurable snow fell anywhere in the state the entire month of April this year. Minnesota weather records go back to 1891 and this is the first time that has ever happened. Thanks for pointing that out Colleen. |
| May_2nd | Aha! The Merlin has been spotted. His arrival date has usually been closer to mid-April, but he may have been here for quite some time already but just hadn't been noticed. |
| May 3rd | Still not a single Chipmonk has been sighted under the bird feeder near the house this spring. Usually they are out in droves well before this. I'll have to have to ask John Latimer (host of the Phenology Show on KAXE) what he has to say about that. Do you think something could have happened to them over the winter? Hey John, if you happen to see this let me know what you think, would you? |
| May 4th | As I type this entry, I'm sitting in Forest Lake Restaurant with Randy and Bob S. Due to a one-day medical situation, I'm drinking a coke and Bob is drinking a beer. Now that's a rarity that you don't see very often (as a famous baseball announcer once said). Usually it's the other way around. |
| May 5th | On this day in 1961 (49 years ago), Alan Shepard became the 1st American in space with his 15 minute sub-orbital flight. Everyone in my high school (grades 9 through 12.......all 98 of us) filed into the biggest room in the school where we watched the blast-off on a little black and white TV. There weren't enough desks in the room for everyone, so we doubled up. My buddy Stover and I shared a desk. Hey Stover, do you remember that? |
| May 6th | The lovely picture of the Crab Apple tree that has been "Today's Picture" the last few days is in the yard of my friend Dotz in Rochester. He requested that it be put there to see how many comments came in asking where it was. There weren't many, Dotz.........four of them only. |
| May 7th |
I'm in St. Paul at the moment, but as I understand it, it's snowing like mad in Grand Rapids even as we speak (8:30 AM) but none of it is staying on the ground yet. To see Mick's yard in Grand Rapids a tad later today, click HERE. That's quite a view for May 7th, isn't it? Hey Gin S, if you see this send me an e-mail, would you? |
| May 8th | Last night Lori and I watched the greatest play! Jesse Carlson (the son of long standing customers of mine) played the part of the Innkeeper in Les Miserables. It was put on by Apple Valley High School. I paid around $100 a ticket to watch the same show at the Ordway Theatre a few years ago, and for $9 a ticket I enjoyed this preformance more. (By the way Colleen, I still owe you for the tickets. I'm not trying to run out on you.) It was superb and Jesse was great......but after only 5 performances it's over! I think they should go on the road, and I'll send the school an e-mail to give them my opinion. What better way could those talented kids spend their summer?!?!?!?!?! To see a picture of the Innkeeper (Jesse) and his wife (Lauren), click HERE. |
| Mothers' Day | One day almost 29 years ago, I wrote an article for my home town newspaper, which I think might be an appropiate Mothers' Day entry. To see it, click HERE, but remember.........I wrote it in 1981. |
| May 10th |
It's about time that I give LMNOP-za (now known as Uecker's Pub, but still usually referred to as LMNO) another plug. A few of us had a pizza supper there the other night and as usual, it was superb! If you want a good pizza when you're up here this summer, that's the place to go........and it's just down the road from LBLR. By the way, it's my grandkids' favorite pizza too. Click HERE.
In honor of this Saturday's fishing opener: Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. -- Pat McManus (circa 1990) |
| May 11th |
Jeff K, your cabin is ready to go and your boat is out of storage and setting by the boat landing. As soon as I get it cleaned up it'll be in the water. We're almost ready for you.
In honor of this Saturday's fishing opener: I have laid aside business, and gone a'fishing. -- Izaak Walton (circa 1670) |
| May 12th |
The DNR guys were just here to calibrate my lake level gauge. As we speak, the surface of the water is 1282.33 feet above sea level. That's almost exactly where it was for the final reading last fall (December 2nd), and a tad less than 3 inches lower than it was last year at this time. In honor of this Saturday's fishing opener: The first English book on fishing was written by Dame Juliana Berners, the Prioress of the Benedictine Sopwell Nunnery in 1496. It's title is Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, and since it was written in middle English it's difficult to read. It covers everything concerning fishing including what equipment to use, what bait to use, what types of fish to go for, what fishing methods work best, what times of the year/day to fish, what type of weather is best, and a host of other items. Near the end of the treatise is a list of twelve things that you might be doing wrong if you're fishing but not catching anything (a fairly common occurrence). To read that list, click HERE. If you'd like to see the entire document click HERE. |
| May 13th |
Even now the fishermen are gathering. Randy and his Dad arrived this morning; his nephews and their friends arrived this evening. In honor of this Saturday's fishing opener: She did everything wrong! She talked too much, she made the boat rock constantly, she tried to stand up in the boat, she baited the hook wrong, she used the wrong lures, and WORST of all, she caught more fish than me!!! -- Anonymous |
| May 14th |
One doesn't see a lot of geese on Little Bass Lake, so this is a rarity. Click HERE. In honor of tomorrow's fishing opener: The trout in yonder wimpling burn That glides, a silver dart, And safe beneath the shady thorn Defies the angler's art -- -- Robert Burns, from "Now Spring Has Clad The Grove In Green" (1795) |
| The Fishing Opener | Today's fishing opener was like all other fishing openers.......but with two exceptions. First and foremost was the weather. It was great(!), which is highly unusual for a fishing opener. And secondly, we didn't catch a single Large Mouth Bass, which is also rather odd. As usual Randy, his Dad, and I sat on the pontoon watching our bobbers for several hours, as usual we caught a few Northerns, and as usual we kept two of them to use as Hors D�oeurves for our evening meal. Due mostly to the weather, it was a very nice opener on Little Bass Lake. I haven't talked to any fishermen from the big Walleye lakes yet, so there is no news in that regard. |
| May 16th |
The LBL loons are around people enough so that, in general, they simply ignore the boats on the lake. If they're making one of their typical "fishing trips" around the lake and a boat load of fishermen happen to be in their path, they simply keep "fishing" right next to the boat as they swim around it and continue on their way. This is a problem for the human fishermen, particularly if they're using live bait, because no one wants to catch a loon on his hook. However, yesterday while we were fishing from the pontoon we were constantly being harassed by a loon. He (or she) seemed to want to fish in the same area we did. Hence, in deference to the loon, we had our lines out of the water off and on for quite some time. To see a picture of Randy pulling his line away from a loon that suddenly surfaced near him, click HERE. Okay Jeff K, your boat is cleaned up and in the water so now we're really ready for you. And hey everybody, do you know what? Jeff has a lovely new bride whom he's going to leave down south when he comes up here fishing on Tuesday. I sure hope she manages to get up here before he leaves, even if it's just for a few days. |
| May 17th |
The first LBLR Hummingbird arrived today. That's compared to May 6th last year and May 11th in 2007. The water clarity is coming along nicely. A month ago it was at 8 feet, today it's at 13 feet. Only one other time in the last 5 years has it been as high as 10.5 feet at this time of the year. Of course, the early thaw this year could certainly have had something do with it. My thermometer for measuring the lake temperature at different depths is broken and had to sent back to the factory to be repaired, so there will be no temperature measurements for awhile. PS: None of 2010 lake measurements will be posted on the "Information About the Lake" page until I get MS Excel on my new laptop. Sorry. |
| May 18th | With the arrival of Jeff K early this afternoon the summer resorting season officially began. And what gorgeous weather we have to kick it off! |
| May 19th | As per North Carolina Laurie there are now two chicks in the Cohasset Falcon nest, but they're difficult to see because the mother is always covering them up. Click HERE. (Thanks Laurie.) |
| May 20th | Last Spring the weather was terrible and the fishing was good.......this year the weather is good but the fishermen are not doing so well. As I understand it, even the Walleye fishermen on the big lakes have been disappointed. |
| May 21st | Aha! Jeff got into a bunch of Crappies for the first time this Spring. There weren't many big ones in the mess and he put them all back, but at least they're starting to bite. |
| May 22nd | For about ten minutes this afternoon a strong wind blew in from the east and knocked down two of LBLR's shoreline trees. One was the Spruce that was nearest the front porch and the other was the Spruce that was just to the south of the cabin 3 picnic table. Why does this have to happen every year?!?!?!?! Sigh......... Click HERE. |
| May 23rd |
On this day last year I was informed by my grandson that the sunfish had finally come into the shallows en masse. This year that occurred nearly a month ago. Hey Randy, I think you had a bear in your garbage last night. PS: I'm sitting out on the front porch typing this entry......what a gorgeous morning. |
| May 24th |
Jeff and Lucas's haul from last evening. Click HERE. To see a little lumber jacking as a result of the windstorm on Saturday (see May 22nd, above) click HERE. |
| May 25th |
Much to the distress of the local mosquito population, the annual spring hatch of dragon flies began yesterday. Go get 'em dragon flies!!!!!!! To note a major event that occurred a week ago last Friday, on the 14th (better late than never, right?): Brian, Ann, and Trooper, have finally made their long awaited move to the Northland. They are building a house on Moonshine Lake (just to the south of Little Bass) and with any luck they'll be living in it by the end of July. |
| May 26th | New beach sand.......now we just need some little kids to play in it so that it gets spread around. Click HERE. |
| May 27th | What a BEATIFUL day......except maybe for the mess around the fire pit. Click HERE. |
| May 28th |
The Loon nest is in a slightly different location that it has been in past years, and this year (unlike last year) one Loon is definitly sitting on the nest. Maybe we'll get some babies for the first time in a few years. There was a flock of Waxwings on the resort this evening, which is not a common occurrence. Most (or all) of them were Bohemian Waxwings but there appeared to be at least one Cedar Waxwing among them. Hey Jerry B or Gordie, do Bohemians and Cedars ever flock together? If the answer is NO, then they must have been all Bohemians. Let me know what you think. |
| May 29th |
Everyone enjoyed the first LBLR s'mores of the year last night! Breakfast this morning was hotdogs cooked over the campfire which, according to my firebug grandson Jakie, became a tradition last year. Of course last year the day began with a temperature of 39 degrees and peaked out at 68, but today started with about 60 and peaked out at about 85. To see last year's "chilly" festivities click HERE. |
| May 30th | To read about a neat 50 year-old Little Bass Lake mystery, click HERE. |
| Memorial Day |
This message is simple, but important. Click HERE.
This is my oldest grandchild (Josh) raising the flag that draped the casket of my Dear Grandfather. He was my Dad's first great-great grandchild. When Josh was born, my grandpa (who would have been 116 years old this year) had been dead for almost two years. Click HERE and HERE. |
