| August 1st |
Upon her throne Queen August lies With languor in her dreamful eyes. -- Samuel Minturn Peck (circa 1930) We're starting the month with the lake at a level of about 3 1/4 inches higher than August 1st last year, and with a surface temperature of about 80 degrees. Last year August added about a half inch of water to the lake. |
| August_2nd | As per the Old Farmer's Almanac: "Observe on what day in August the first heavy fog occurs, and expect a hard frost on the same day in October". However, our first hard frost, on average, occurs in late September. |
| August 3rd | The lowest temperature ever recorded in Britain was 17 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) in Braemar, Scotland. Not very cold compared to Minnesota, is it? |
| August 4th |
Wecome back to the Kelchers, who haven't been here in several years. Now,
however, there are a couple of kids who didn't exist at the time of their
last visit. Ya know, a lot of "kids" from my early years at LBLR are
now bringing their own kids up here with them. Sigh! And of course, welcome back to all of the Carlsons/Turners who occupy four cabins during this week every year. |
| August 5th | No entry! |
| August 6th | LBL Bird species number 79: Philadelphia Vireo. I had to call in an expert to make a positive ID on this one. And it's a new lifer as well. Click HERE, and HERE. |
| August 7th | Good hitting will always beat good pitching........and vice versa. |
| August 8th | Fishing from the docks is fun......but a little crowded at times. Click HERE |
| August 9th |
The lake level is still up a tad over 3 inches from this date last year.
Click HERE for the graph. For current lake temperatures click HERE. For current lake clarity conditions click HERE. |
| August 10th | To see this past week's guests, click HERE. I'll see all you guys next year! (Thanks for the corrections Tracy.) |
| August 11th | Today was the last day for one of my favorite Grand Rapids breakfast places. The Silver Spoon (which used to be the Home Town Cafe) is now closed. Sigh! |
| August 12th | The high temp for today was 71. That's about 10 degrees below normal..........and it was delightful! |
| August 13th | I gotta do everything around here! |
| August 14th | LBLR has become an International establishment. Via the internet, I took a reservation from a family in England for a two week stay at LBLR. They will be arriving on Saturday. |
| August 15th | Up here in the Northland if you're near a lake, if it's very calm and very quiet, and if you listen very closely, you can hear the fish laughing. |
| August 16th | Not all the fish will be laughing tonight (see above). Bob, Sharon, and Teresa caught this nice mess of Sunnies in the Mississippi this afternoon. Click HERE |
| August 17th | The weatherman says maybe the 40s tonight. What Bliss! But I don't trust him. |
| August 18th | This is in honor of the arrival of LBLR's first British guests. Click HERE |
| August 19th | These are some nice bass, are they not? My cousin Don and his group caught them in the Mississippi this morning.......along with a lot of nice Bluegills. And geez, does he know how to cook fish!!!! Click HERE |
| August 20th | I'm heading up north for a few days of fishing. If they have an internet connection there, I'll keep up the Chronicles. Roy, former owner of Mal Bay Resort on Bass Lake, will be here to look after the place while I'm gone. I'll talk to you later. |
| August 21st through 23rd | Up north fishing -- no internet access (and no fish to speak of). |
| August 24th | Tonight is the last night for Sam, Kelly, and kids, as well as my cousin Don Frelitz and his group. Thanks for coming you guys. I'll see you next year.......same time, same place, right? |
| August 25th | The lake level has dropped almost 7.5 inches since the ice went out on April 22nd, and the lake temperature is also dropping. Well.......the temperature of the top 20 feet is dropping; at 30 feet it's still going up. I assume that's because the water on top is sinking as it gets cooler and mixing things up a bit. Click HERE for the lake level graph and HERE for the temperature graph. |
| August 26th |
Congratulations to Steve (from Kinver, England) and his new wife Brianna (from
Grand Rapids) who were married yesterday in a ceremony that was a combination
of Ancient Celtic and Native American. The couple will be living 3 or 4 miles
north of LBLR. I'm anxious to see what Steve thinks of his first winter in
Northern Minnesota. Steve's parents (Brian and Marie) are currently staying
at LBLR. Last night as Randy went out my door he came face to face with a skunk that was on the back deck. Needless to say, he came back inside fairly quickly. Apparently I had better get a trap out there tonight. |
| August 27th | Reality is nothing more than an opinion. |
| August 28th | Due to the very dry conditions (and in spite of the floods in southern Minnesota) even campfires and charcoal grilling have been banned in this neck of the woods. Even with the three quarters of an inch of rain that fell in the last 36 hours, we still can't have a campfire. |
| August 29th | This is the latest week that the Normans have ever spent their vacation at LBLR, but better late than never. Click HERE to see Bette and David. |
| August 30th | The campfire ban is OFF(!) so we had the first fire in weeks. Click HERE to see our guests (and friends) from Britain. |
| August 31st | So long Brian, Marie, and Kalem......it was a short two weeks. I really enjoyed having you here and when you have another holiday in the US I hope to see you again. Keep in touch, if you don't mind. |
