LITTLE BASS LAKE RESORT




LBLR CHRONICLES
January 2007


Click here to see the other months in 2007:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

New Year's Day I woke up this first day of 2007 to find that the world has not come to an end, the lights work, the water faucets flow, and the sky has not fallen........so all is well. But last night was my last chance to do something relevant in 2006 and unfortunately, I didn't make it. Oh well, on to 2007.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
January_2nd Our days are getting longer by more than a minute per day, but as Mr. Dotzenrod pointed out to me, virtually all of it is being gained in the evening. The time of the sunrise doesn't change much this time of the year.
January 3rd Today the Earth is at perihelion.....the closest it gets to the sun.
January 4th This is the 3rd of my annual pitches for the garlic and butter chicken wings at the South Switch Bar in Angora......try 'em! And geez, Ely is a nice town.

The ice is just a tad over a foot thick, measured in one hole only. On this day 2 years ago it was 15 inches thick.
January 5th As per my friend Jeff Keeler: "If people paid attention to the important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles in this country".
Epiphany Some parts of this article make a lot of sense. However, I'm not sure I agree that most American households are "up and about" by 6:00 AM, and I think that most people leave their lights on well past Civil Twilight. Hence, I'm not sure I really agree with it. Click HERE.
January 7th At the moment, the lake is a 156 acre skating rink. If you like to ice skate, you should be here now. Click HERE.
January 8th Speaking of Comet McNaught, spaceweather.com has this to say:
"Because the comet is so close to the sun, it can only be seen for a brief time around sunset and sunrise. Step outside at the end of the day and look west into the twilight. The comet lies just to the right of Venus. In the morning, it hangs low in the east, emerging just ahead of the rising sun. Scan the horizon with binoculars to find it beaming through the glow of dawn."
I suspect this will be true for at least the next few days. To see what it looks like, click HERE.
January 9th Here's another Farmer's Almanac weather comment, if you don't mind:
The first 4 days of this month were supposed to be "very cold with snow showers"; it turned out unseasonably warm with no snow. The 5th to the 13th is supposed to be "snow showers, then sunny with record cold". We're now on the 9th.....no sign of the snow showers or the record cold yet.
January 10th The first LBLR Redpoll of the winter showed up yesterday.......13 days ahead of last year.
January 11th 13 1/2 inches of ice.
January 12th Highbush Cranberries in the middle of January. But don't put them on your cereal like Eule Gibbons claimed to have done........you wont like them. Click HERE.

A slight dusting of snow and 7 below zero this morning......but that's still mild for this time of year.
The Ides 14 below zero this morning. It's a sad thing when the best you can do in January is 14 below zero.

As per comedian Bob Mills, this is the day, beyond which, the penalty for wishing someone a Happy New Year should be death. Let us all act accordingly.
January 14th I may get a lot of guff for this, but here goes:
Let us raise our glasses in memory of Benedict Arnold on this, the 266th anniversary of his birth. We are raising our glasses in honor of his cunning and bravery for the Colonies during the American Revolution, namely at Fort Ticonderoga in 1775, in the attack on Montreal and the siege of Quebec in 1775, at the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776, at the Battles of Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut in 1777, (after which he was promoted to Major General), and at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. For this one moment, let us ignore his traitorous activities at the American Fort in West Point, NY three years hence. Here's to your early years Benedict Arnold, you were a hero while you were on our side.......if only you had remained so.
January 15th 27 below zero is predicted for tonight. Sounds like this evening will be a good one for curling up by the fire with a good friend..........or in my case, a good book.
January 16th It was 16 below zero this morning. On this day two years ago, we woke up to a temperature of 49 below zero. That was the coldest since 1996 when we saw 55 below zero. By the way, to read a little story about that time, click HERE.
January 17th My friend Dotz read the entry from yesterday, and called to remind me that he and some friends were up here staying at Back O' the Moon Resort trying to do some snowmobiling during that 1996 cold spell. The biggest cabin was adequate for living space, but two people (Bob and Dotz) volunteered to use a neighboring cabin for sleeping. As it turned out, the furnace in the small cabin wouldn't stay lit so the two guys slept in the beds with their snowmobile suits on under the blankets. And if we remember correctly, we didn't do any sledding that whole weekend. If it was too cold for that group of die-hard snowmobilers to get out on the trails, it was cold indeed!

Later.......
I received yet another phone call from Dotz this morning and he suggested that, perhaps, the above description of their situation still left a little to be desired. First of all, apparently the word "slept" doesn't exactly describe what the two guys in the small cabin did. "Tried to sleep" would describe it much better since, according to Dotz, it was way too cold to sleep, and sleeping in a full snowmobile suit is next to impossible anyway. He also asked me to mention that Mick (their friend and resort owner) came into the cabin early in the morning with a huge blowtorch that used a 20 pound LP tank for fuel, to warm the place up a bit for them while they waited for their friends in the big cabin to get out of their comfortable, warm, beds. Personally, I have several more stories about that cold spell, but I don't want to bore you to death. (How is that Dotz? A little better is it?)
January 18th On this day in 1910, the 73-year old Thomas Crapper died. It is generally believed that he was the inventor of the flush toilet, but I've found several sources saying that is not true. Credit for the invention is usually given to Sir John Harington almost 400 years earlier, with Alexander Cummings' 1775 toilet regarded as the first of the modern line. Although Thomas did not invent it, he did much to popularize it as a promoter and salesman of sanitary plumbing supplies. (I bet that's information you were just dying to know. And here's another piece of interesting information: The word "crap", meaning "junk" was in the English language about 500 years ago, well before Thomas Crapper was even born.)
January 19th The cold has been adding to the ice thickness nicely. Bob C and I measured it this morning and it's currently at 17 inches. That's 4 inches thicker than last year at this time. We also got a dusting of snow last night so at least it kinda looks like winter.
January 20th I saw a new bird yesterday......a new bird for me anyway. It was a Bohemian Waxwing. There was a large flock of them in a tree near the Cub Food store in Grand Rapids.
January 21st There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whosoever snatches a delusion from a woman.
-- Old Persian Saying
January_22nd At 5:46 PM today my 7th grandchild (Benjamin Paul) was born. Mother and son are doing fine. To see him along with his Mom, Dad, and two sisters, click HERE. Welcome to the family Ben!
January 23th At 1:01 this afternoon the sun rose in Barrow, Alaska for the first time since November 18th, and the long period of darkness ended. This must certainly be a cause for celebration. One hour and eighteen minutes later it again dipped below the horizon where it will remain until 12:45 PM tomorrow.
January 24th In 1962, Charlie Stover (the Friendly Philosopher) declared: "He who mop floor, go to bank".

This morning......click HERE.
Burns Night Let us consecrate this day to one of my favorite poets, Robert Burns, who's birthday it is. He only lived to be 37. In 1785, at the age of 26, he wrote:

But, Mousie thou art no thy lane
In proving forsight may be vain;
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e nought by grief an' pain
For promised joy.


Incidentally, if you're ever interested in a Burns' Supper, the format is HERE.
January 26th If you try to fail, but succeed........which have you done?
January 27th Mancini's Steakhouse in St. Paul is an excellent restaurant. But this evening (following the Winterfest Parade) their guests were accosted by a group of Vulcans, and some of the young ladies present were even marked with the customary black "V"........but Lori escaped unscathed. They just gave her a pin and left, possibly because of my formidable presence. Click HERE.
January 28th After being in business for 45 years, Rapids Tackle has closed its doors. What a sad thing and a loss to Grand Rapids! Keep in touch Don, if you don't mind.
January 29th Whereas I remember the winters of the 50s & 60s as having much more snow than recent winters, and whereas my Dad talked about the winters of the 30s & 40s as having much more snow than the 50s & 60s, and whereas my Grandfather talked about the winters of the 10s & 20s as having much more snow than the 30s & 40s, and whereas my Great Grandfather etc....etc....etc, I have a request.

I will suggest to my teenage grandchildren that they make an effort to remember what our last few winters have been like, so that when they remininsce about the tough winters of their youth, they will also remember that they had some "Wimpy" winters as well (as our ancestors did, but don't seem to remember). My request is that you do likewise.
January 30th In contrast to the wimpy winter that we are having in Minnesota, here are a couple of pictures from my friend Bob. They're pictures of his house in Tucson, Arizona. Click HERE.
January 31th January always has to end and I hate that. It's depressing. Sigh!

Click here to see the other months in 2007:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December


Click HERE to see the Chronicles for past years.

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E-Mail: jerry@littlebass.com