October 1st |
There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October. -- Nathaniel Hawthorne (Circa 1850) |
October 2nd | The Kelchers are here for the second time this year. They brought their boat up and believe it or not, they went skiing yesterday.......really!!! That water is cooo-ooold! Click HERE. |
October 3rd | In this day and age, a person needs a reasonable amount of moral maneuverability. |
October 4th |
Nature glories in death more than in life; October is Nature's funeral month. The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming, therefore October is more beautiful than May. Every green thing loves to die in bright colors."
-- Henry Ward Beecher (Circa 1870) Geez, are the colors ever gorgeous at the moment. The Northland is on fire!!! |
October 5th | Read this (if you don't mind) and if you've already read it, read it again (if you don't mind). Then after you read it, call me to make a reservation for a cabin (if you don't mind), and then come up here and do some hunting, or just relax if you'd like that better. Click HERE. |
October 6th |
6:30 AM: This evening at 7:00 my Detroit Tigers will play the New York Yankees in game 5 of the first round of the play-offs......the winner will move on to the second round. Here are two pictures. Before bedtime tonight only one of them will remain. Click HERE, and HERE. 11:00 PM: The game is over. I'm not going to erase the words from this morning, but this is how it ended up. See ya in Arlington Mike!!!! Click HERE. |
October 7th | The weather is great and four cabins are occupied this weekend: Grouse hunters (Joe and Rena) from New Jersey, Grouse hunters (Jim and Tim) from St. Cloud, relaxers (Sheldon and his group) from International Falls, and friends (Ron and Bev) from Rochester. |
October 8th |
More Minnesota Sports: It would appear that the best professional sports team in the state these days is the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA (women's basketball). They won the WNBA Championship last night with a three game sweep of the Atlanta Dream. If only some of our other teams could do as well. |
October 9th | There will be further updates as events warrant....... |
October 10th |
When the leaves begin to fall, it's amazing how many lakes appear in areas that you didn't even know had lakes. Happy Birthday Miss Twacie!! |
October 11th |
The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts this coming December to be slightly warmer than normal and with a bit more snow. All of the other months in the next year are predicted to be colder and drier than normal for our area (expecially February which is predicted to be "darned cold"). But of course we are all aware of their dismal record when it comes to weather predicting, right? Jim and Tim ate their supper by a fire in the fire pit this evening. |
Columbus Day | Ya know, the two fortnights (plus a few days) between the Calends of October and All Hallows' Eve, has to be one of the best times of the year. Even when the weather is bad, these days are still great. |
October 13th | On some days, yesterday's "Today's Picture" is the same as today's "Today's Picture". Today is one of those days. |
October 14th | As usual for this time of the year, tons and tons of Juncos are passing through on their trip down south. They're all over the place. |
October 15th |
Uh-oh!         -- Edward J. Smith, Captain of the Titanic (April 14, 1912) A major disaster (15-5)..........and the season is over. Obviously it wasn't quite as bad as the Titanic disaster, but it wasn't pleasant. Click HERE. |
October 16th | Work on resort shutdown stuff has to start seriously moving along.........but it's not really getting started. That seems to happen every year about this time, doesn't it? |
October 17th | If a free weekend was offered to anyone who would come up here in the fall and help shut the place down (ie, pulling boats, paddle boats, swimming raft, canoes, etc, out of the water, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, shutting down cabins, splitting and stacking wood, storing lawn furniture away, etc, etc, etc) would there be any takers, do you suppose? (Note to Mike F: I know what you think........you don't have to tell me.) |
October 18th | All three LBLR pontoons are now on the shore. Click HERE. We got Larry's and Brian's out of the lake as well........five in all. |
October 19th |
A person who is heading North is not making any mistake, in my opinion. -- E. B. White (1945) |
October 20th | There!!!!! Except for antifreeze in the drains, cabin 3 is shut down for the winter. Cabin 3 and the pontoons........at least that's a start. |
October 21st | Sam and Kelly are back for the second time this year, and with friends this time (two cabins). Ron E is back with friends to prepare their deer stands for the season opener in two weeks (also two cabins). Welcome back you guys. |
October_22nd | This is from a few weeks ago and it's on the door to one of my bedrooms. It kind of looks like there were some granddaughters staying in there, doesn't it? Click HERE. |
October 23rd | The swimming raft and all the boats but one are now on the shore. |
October 24th | As of this morning LBLR has no guests.......and it will stay that way until the day after tomorrow. |
October 25th |
There!!!! All the cabins at the north end have been drained and shut down for the winter. As per past Chronicles, this is about the normal time (or perhaps a week or so late) for this task to be completed. We lost a friend: Ginger Anderson died of cancer a few days ago. She and her husband John were previous owners of LBLR. Ginger lived here and managed the resort from 1977 until I bought it from them in 1992. (John bought it from Clyde Jellison in 1970.) She was a nice person and those of us who knew her remember her fondly. |
October 26th | The Carlsons/Turners arrived today (one week later than normal) for their annual Fall get-away. Luckily there is plenty of firewood because they're going to need it. They spend a lot of time around a campfire and it's going to get down into the 20s every night while they're here. |
October 27th |
* There was a slight snow build-up on the deck this afternoon, but it sure didn't last long. * The raking is done!!! I wasn't getting at it so I broke down and hired a group to do it. * The Loons are still here. |
October 28th | Imagine that you're in the LBLR TV room watching the final game of the World Series. Imagine that the TV Room is full of summer stuff being stored there for the winter and that it's nearly Halloween. Imagine that you're part of the Carlson/Turner group and that you've had a few beers. What would you do? Well, you could use whatever is laying around for a costume and do some "Trick or Treating" at the resort owner's house. Click HERE. |
October 29th |
The Carlsons/Turners leave tomorrow morning, but here's one last story: Last year when they came to LBLR for their annual fall get-away, Tom and Erin arrived a day early. After we drank a beer or two, darkness began to set in and the three of us sat around a fire in a portable metal firepit just outside cabin 5. When the fire was going good Tom went in to get another beer and on his way out of the cabin he tripped on the cover to the metal firepit in the dark. He moved it out of his way and sat down. A bit later I left to do something and upon returning I, too, tripped on the firepit cover. Like Tom, I moved it little bit and then sat down. Eventually Erin went into the cabin and on the way out she also tripped on the firepit cover that Tom and I had moved but neglected to get totally out of the way. However, instead of simply stumbling, as Tom and I did, she fell down......"directly" into the fire. Panic!!!!! BUT, luckily she was wearing gloves and a heavy jacket, and only her chest, arms, and hands hit the fire, not her face. The only damage was her singed jacket and gloves; she was not burned at all. Whew! We finally moved the firepit cover well out of the way. (Note to Erin and Tom:   Is that about the way you remember it too?) |
October 30th | What may turn out to be this year's final boat trip across the lake occurred this evening.......and there didn't appear to be any Loons. But I know they were still here yesterday. |
All Hallows' Eve |
'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world. -- William Shakespeare (from Hamlet, 1601) Eat, drink, and be scary. |