| July 1st | It would be neat if the second half of the year were to last just a little longer than the first half of it did. |
| July 2nd | To see Josh and his fish, click HERE. |
| July 3rd |
A swing-set in a resort isn't a big thing because there are lots of
other, more exciting, items to attract the attention of the little ones.
But occasionally they get more use than one would ever think.
Click HERE. Em and Natalie requested that this picture of Natalie's fish be put in the Chronicles, so here it is. But you will have to look very close to see it. Click HERE. |
| July 4th | I couldn't find out who wrote this, but click HERE. |
| July 5th | The stain is on the house (now renamed "The Lodge") thanks to Josh, Deb, and Randy. Click HERE. |
| July 6th | Everybody wants their fish picture in the Chronicles, so here's the deal. Everyone from last week gets their picture in here once, no matter how many fish they caught. There were, of course, lots more fish caught by lots more fisherpersons, but this is all I have (and only one picture per person). If anyone from this group has a fish picture of someone who is not in the list, send it to me and I'll add it in. I know that Jeff R, and Bob caught some fish, and I suspect that Tracie, Tammy, and Jason caught some fish, but I don't have any pictures of any of them. Anyone else? Click HERE. |
| July 7th |
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive
feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder
measures the depth of his own nature." -- Henry David Thoreau (circa 1854) |
| July 8th | My youngest daughter (Teri) has just returned home from a 5 week business trip to England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and Greece. Wouldn't you think she could have invited her Dear Father to go with her? (PS: How does one find a job like that?) |
| July 9th | At 18 feet, the water clarity in Little Bass Lake for the last week has been been about 4 feet clearer than it was last year at this time, and 3 feet clearer than I've ever seen it before. I wonder why that is. Click HERE. |
| July 10th | If you're falling in love and you know it, normally there's not a problem..........you just have to be careful. But if you're falling in love and you don't realize it, you're probably in deep trouble. You'll wake up one day and realize that it's happened, and that it's too late to do anything about it, and then you're trapped. So if you're pretty sure that you're NOT falling in love, you had better start worrying. |
| July 11th | We had a nice little rain last night to help with this dry July.........nearly half an inch. That will do at least a little good for those 30 new trees that were planted a month or two ago. |
| July 12th | Eons ago when I worked for IBM, I was once told by a co-worker that I was "skating on thin ice" and if I wasn't careful I'd "end up in hot water". Is a thing like that possible, do you suppose? |
| July 13th |
Here's the gist of a conversation that Bob (my
brother-in-law) and I had a week ago: The turtles were a few weeks later than normal crawling onto the shore and laying their eggs this spring, which is what made us think of this so recently. The problem with turtles crawling onto the shore and laying their eggs is that for some reason they sometimes crawl a long way from the lake to lay them. Fairly often, in fact, they cross highways to find their favorite egg laying place, and as a result one tends to see dead turtles on the roads this time of the year........ones that have been hit by cars. I've never hit a turtle with my car. In fact, there is nothing easier to miss with a car than a turtle crossing the road. No one has ever had a turtle "dart out" in front of their car. Turtles don't "dart out" in front of anything. So why are so many of them hit, I'm wondering. For one thing, evolution didn't prepare turtles for dealing with automobiles. When a turtle senses danger it stops moving, pulls into its shell, and waits for the danger to pass. That's what it does after a car passes it. Through most of the millions of years of turtle evolution, that was the correct thing to do. But in modern times, after a car passes it's probably best for the turtle to immediately continue its journey........before another car comes. But that's not what it does. Unfortunately evolution has taught it to pause and wait for awhile after a car passes before it starts to move again. As a result, it sometimes takes a turtle a long long time to make the short journey across a road, and the longer it takes, the more cars will pass and the better chance it has of getting hit. From the looks of the it though, I believe that when a turtle is killed on the highway, it stays in the spot it was run over, and a lot of the turtle carcasses seem to be off the traveled part of the road and well onto the shoulder. Judging from that, I also believe that a fair number of the dead ones are the result of a concerted effort on the part of some unfeeling motorists to see if they can hit them. Isn't that disgusting?!?!?! Those people, if they really exist, should be put in jail. Several times every spring I have been known to pull over on the shoulder of a road, pick up a turtle, and put it in the grass on the side of the road, thus removing it from the dangers of the traffic. The problem with that is that one can never be sure which direction the turtle was headed before one picked it up, and as a result one might be making it again cross the dangerous territory that it has already crossed once. This spring my nephew Jason (of the Federal DNR) showed me how to tell if a turtle has already laid her eggs or not, which would be of help as long as one knows which side of the road the lake is on. But I'm not sure that next spring I'll still be able to tell. I think I'll need a little more practice but if Jason isn't here that will be difficult. |
| July 14th |
Since the ice went out on May 3rd the water level in the lake has dropped
8.25 inches which is the biggest summertime drop since I've been recording
it. I'm sure it'll drop some more before it turns around, because it usually
doesn't start going up until at least mid August. If it goes down
3.4 more inches it'll be at its lowest point during those years.
Click HERE.
Read this article by Jim Souhan, sports writer for the Minneapolis Tribune. A person can argue with it, but one has to admit (as least an old person has to admit) that there's a lot of truth in it. Pay particular attention to the last paragraph. I'm not a Twins fan but I can associate with that. It's a great article. The best he ever done! Click HERE. |
| July 15th | What a gorgeous night..........perhaps the best one ever. Lori and I went on a loooo-oooong wine cruise on the pontoon tonight. It was great! |
| July 16th | It was a beautiful morning for a bike ride so Lori and I made the most of it. We took our normal "into town and back" circle but added a few extra miles, so it was a tad over 25. And just about the time we got back home the wind started to pick up. Good timing, eh? |
| July 17th | It was a nice day for a trip to Bemidji............so that's what we did. I sure haven't done much work around here this week. It's a good thing I have understanding, self-sufficient customers. |
| July 18th |
"Just when you think you haven't seen everything, something else happens
that you've never seen before, and you don't see that either."
-- Ron Luciano (1990) During a bike ride on the Mesabi Trail this morning, I was attacked by a "big" snake. At least that's what Lori said; I didn't see it. She said it literally leapt off the pavement at me as I rode past but apparently I was so engrossed in the beautiful scenery that I failed to take notice. Darn! By the way, the round trip bike ride (to Taconite and back) was 34.5 miles. Maybe we'll be ready for a two or three day bike trip this fall after all. |
| July 19th | During our bike ride yesterday (see above) we stopped in Bovey at a place called Annabella's Antique Mall. As its name implies, it's an antique store...........but its more than that. It's a Gourmet Coffee Shop with a multitude of "Homemade" treats to eat. Besides three kinds of soup, the special yesterday was Sarmas, cabbage rolls filled with rice and meat. I would have guessed that they are of German origin, but it turns out that they're Serbian. Annabella's is a very friendly, quaint, shop and our visit there was delightful. I'm sure we'll go there again. To see their web-site click HERE. |
| July 20th | I hate to bore you with this, but I still think the clarity of Little Bass Lake so far this year is amazing. It was 18 feet again this morning. That's 4 1/2 feet clearer than last year at this time, and 3 feet clearer than any other time. Click HERE. |
| July 21st |
To him, who in the love of nature Holds communion with her visible forms, She speaks a various language. For his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness And a smile and eloquence of beauty. And She glides into his darker musings With a mild and healing sympathy that Steals away their sharpness, ere he is aware. -- William Cullin Bryant (1821) Because LBLR is a resort and has up to 6 cabins worth of people around in any given week, it isn't exactly Walden Pond. But it IS quiet. So if one is of the right mind, one can look through that "busy-ness", see "nature in her visible forms", and listen to her speak her "various languages", including the "mild and healing sympathy that steals away the sharpness" of one's "darker musings". So if you happen to be in a darker musing and need healing, perhaps Mr. Bryant is telling you to spend some time at LBLR this summer. Think about it. [Aside -- Those words of Mr. Bryant are from memory, so the chances of them being exactly as he wrote them are slim. The words themselves are probably correct but, no doubt, the structure of the verse and the punctuation are way off. If you are of a mind to check, let me know what you find out. -- End of Aside] |
| July_22nd | To Patty and Radja: Thanks for coming........even if it was only for one night. I really enjoyed it! |
| July 23rd | Jack is holding up the Bass, but Jennifer is the one who actually caught it. Click HERE. |
| July 24th | It would be nice to spend a summer with a Eurasian mistress. I'd get done with a hard day of bailing boats, mowing lawns, and trapping skunks........and there she would be........waiting........with almond eyes, a petite body........and probably a bunch of her relatives sitting out on the front porch looking for a free cabin. Darn! Nothing ever works out the way you want it to. |
| July 25th | Early morning at LBLR............click HERE. |
| July 26th | Today was the last day at LBLR for Matt and his group in cabin # 3, for Jamie and her group in cabins 1, 2, & 4, and for Jack and Jennifer in the duplex. And ya know what, they all had a pretty good fishing week and they all seemed to be happy with it. I'll see you guys next year..........if not sooner, right Jack and Jennifer? |
| July 27th | Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) once said to Susie Dirkins: "Your gender would be a lot more tolerable if it weren't so darned cynical" . At the moment, I really believe that! |
| July 28th | Happy Peruvian Independence Day Norma! |
| July 29th | To the 1964 graduates of OLPH High School in Chesaning, Michigan whom I have been in communication with recently: Are any of you guys going to get serious about getting together up here this Fall or what? Let me know, wouldja? |
| July 30th | Tonight LBLR has a guest from Tasmania. Kiah's home is, needless to say, further from Little Bass Lake than that of any other guest we've had.........and I doubt that record will ever be broken. Bing Norman's parents from China have dropped into 2nd place, and Brian & Marie Roberts who came here from England last August have now moved into the 3rd spot. |
| July 31st |
"Sometimes I wonder what I'm a-gonna do 'Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues." -- Eddie Cochran (1957) Summertime Blues! Ah yes..........that can be any of several things. |
