| Lammas Day |
"August, the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar and the third month of
Summer's rule, derives its name from Augustus Caesar. The
birthstone amulets of August are the peridot and the sardonyx while the
gladiolus and the poppy are the month's traditional flowers. August is shared
by the astrological signs of Leo and Virgo, and is sacred to the Pagan deities
Ceres, Demeter, Lugh, and all other gods or godesses who preside over
agriculture. During the month of August the Great Solar Wheel of the Year
turns to Lammas, one of the four Grand Sabbats celebrated each year by
Wiccans and modern Witches throughout the world."
The opposite side of the Solar Wheel from Lammas is
Candlemas which is better known to us as Groundhog's Day. On Lammas Day
during the middle ages (and in a few areas even today) some of the fruits of
the harvest were brought to the Church to be blessed and then eaten at the
evening meal. -- From "Secrets of a Witch" and "Wikipedia" |
| August 2nd | Here are the Muellers (and a local vagrant who wandered into the picture) as they were leaving this morning. I'll see you guys next summer (same time, same place) and hopefully this Autumn as well. Right? Click HERE. |
| August 3rd | Some years it takes the Carlsons most of the week to catch enough fish for their annual LBLR fish fry. But this year looks to be different. Here are the fish that Jesse, Tom, and Kevin caught last night, their first day here. Nice start you guys! Click HERE. |
| August 4th |
Oh, what a tangled web we get, Whenever we make a football bet. For many many years now three friends of mine (Gordie, Bob, and Chuck) have been competing to see who is the best at picking the winners of all the NFL football games week by week. Using a set of tie-breakers when necessary, each week produces one winner and the big winner is the guy who, at the end of the season, has won the most weekly competitions. In 1988 (20 years ago this October) a little confusion concerning the tie-breaker rules cropped up, and the guys tried to rectify it through a series of e-mails. Here are the e-mails just as they typed them (I did no editing to speak of). See if you can follow their logic? Click HERE. PS: Can you believe that the first NFL pre-season game was last night, and we're just barely into August? One more step backward and they'll be playing football in July..........and baseball still has over two and a half months to go. Amazing! |
| August 5th | It seems that this summer has been, perhaps, the best one since the pre-1992 days...........weather-wise, that is. The high temperature so far this summer couldn't have been more than about 85 degrees, the rain has been infrequent but regular, the grass hasn't been growing like mad but it has remained fairly green, the breeze has been constant but gentle, the lake level hasn't been particularly high but it's hanging in there, and to top that off, here's the view above the laptop as I type this Chronicles entry. Click HERE. |
| August 6th |
Randy pointed out to me this morning that today is the mid-point between
Summer and Fall, which says that we're over the hump and Summer
is indeed, headed down hill. But here's another thing which might indicate that we're over the Summer hump; it's a graph showing the surface temperature of the lake and comparing it to last year. It shows that not only was the lake cooler this year comparing same dates, but that if it follows last year's trend, the surface temperature hit its peak last week and it'll be getting cooler from now on. Click HERE. |
| August 7th | Today at lunch I had a beer with my friend Greg. He recently took his outboard motor to a motor fixer because it needed some work. After Greg paid for the work, he asked if there was any sort of a guarantee with it. The mechanic said: "Yeah, I'll give you a guarantee............I'll guarantee that this motor isn't gonna last much longer". Greg bought a new one. |
| August 8th | Good one Tom! Click HERE. |
| August 9th | Welcome back to: Iowa Terry and group, Indiana Frosty and group, Mankato Bob and group, and Bloomington Bob and group.......all of whom arrived today. It's good to have you back! |
| August 10th | If everything goes as planned, we just might go to Squaw Lake for breakfast on Friday morning to have a wild rice omelet, American fries, a side order of sausage, and maybe even a Bloody Mary (or two). At least that's the plan..........but we'll see what really happens. |
| August 11th | The lake level is down almost 10 inches since the ice went out in early May. It's about an inch lower than last year at this time, but still a couple inches higher than the year before that. By the way, on this date in 2006 the lake was at its lowest level in the 3 years that I've been measuring it. In both 2006 and 2007 the lowest point in the summer was roughly August 15th and a tad over 5 inches was added by the time it froze in November. |
| August 12th | These pictures are from 2005, but it looks the same today. Are you ready for this? Click HERE. |
| August 13th | Already I have to rescind what I said on the 11th, a mere two days ago. Things have changed. On this day 2 years ago (2006) we got over two and half inches of rain. Since that didn't happen this year, the lake is now lower than it was on this date in either of the last two years. Sigh! |
| August 14th |
In case you're wondering: yes, I am still single and I'll probaby stay
that way. And that's not just because women
don't like me.........although that may have something
to do with it. Note added on August 15th due to several e-mails: Alright already! The above statement was intended to be a joke. Okay? |
| August 15th |
Front porch Bluegills: Click HERE.
PS: Things did NOT go as planned. See the August 10th (above). Sigh! |
| August 16th | Another moon picture; this one is on the way back after a dinner at Randy's place. You can also see Jupiter in the upper right. Click HERE. |
| August 17th | LBLR began doing business as a resort (originally named LITTLE BASS CAMP) in 1932 when Clyde Jellison built what is now cabin # 3 "to give his wife something to do". Hence, this is LBLR's 77th summer in business (and my 17th). Click HERE. |
| August 18th |
William caught a nice Large Mouth Bass........his picture will be here
when his Dear Mom e-mails it to me. The onus is now on her!
Added August 28th: The picture has arrived. It's HERE. |
| August 19th | A Blue Heron on Randy's dock: Click HERE. |
| August 20th | The August 10th entry applies again today and some better luck would be nice this time. |
| August 21st | A cool breeze off the lake on a hot afternoon..........a gift from the gods! Do Sara and William looked relaxed, or what?!?!?! But they left today. Sigh! Click HERE. |
| August_22nd |
Tonight is Heidi's last night at Florio's. It wont be the same without
you Heidi! We'll see you on your Christmas break.........I hope. PS: Things went as planned for once. See the entries for August 10th, 15th, and 20th above. |
| August 23rd | To Terry, Amanda, Alaina, and Jones: Thanks for the gift-certificate. You guys are too nice!!!!!!! |
| August 24th | As I type this, my Dear Daughter Teri is sitting in an airport in London awaiting a flight to Vienna.......which will be followed by trips to Paris, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and New Castle upon Tyne, before returning home in a couple of weeks. As I said on July 8th when describing her previous European excursion, "How does a person find a job like that"? |
| August 25th | Last night the prediction was for a frost by this morning, perhaps even down to 28 degrees. But it didn't get that cold here; it was only about 40 degrees this morning. However Scott Hall (of KAXE) said he saw 39 degrees this morning so this was, at least in some places,Cohasset's first night of the year in the 30s. The coldest in the area seems to have been Biwabik at 34. Autumn is coming! |
| August 26th | Occasionally bats will hole-up in a wood pile in the daytime. When one is getting an arm-load of wood to carry inside for the fireplace, the sudden and unexpected appearance of a bat can be a bit of a surprise. |
| August 27th |
What is this????
Click HERE.
We had a nice thunderstorm last night with a "little" much needed rain. Neato! Note added later: Aha! That Caterpillar is the larva of a White-Marked Tussock moth. It seems that they are quite common but that's the first one I've ever seen. Thanks for the info Sara. Click HERE. |
| August 28th | There! I now have enough wood to last me this winter, the winter after this one, and probably well into the winter after that. The stuff for this winter was split two years ago, most of the stuff for next winter was split a year go, but the rest of it is yet to be done. I think I'll assign that task to Lori. |
| August 29th | What a beautiful day. Should I go for a gentle little bike ride, or should I go fishing? Alas..........the agony of choice! |
| August 30th |
There were a couple of Hummingbirds at the feeder this
morning, but they should be gone within the next few days.
Welcome to Lorren and Debra who just arrived this afternoon. They are new customers who have already said they will be regulars. Neato! |
| August 31st |
A grandson and a water pump:
Click HERE. Vaya con Dios August. It's been fun! We'll see you next year. |
