| October 1st |
O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. -- Robert Frost (circa 1925) Unlike Mr. Frost, I don't believe that a wild wind tomorrow will bring all the leaves down. The Northland is "on fire" and hopefully, for the color tourists, it'll stay that way a while longer. |
| October 2nd | Here's what the Farmer's Almanac says about the weather in our neck of the woods this winter: November and December will be cold but the rest of the winter will be very warm. There will be very little precipitation this winter except for December and March. So all in all, it looks like a warm dry winter is ahead of us (if you believe in the Farmer's Almanac). Oh, and we're going to have a snowstorm on Christmas Day or a day or two before that. |
| October 3rd | Today is the "first" Twins play-off game of 2017; it's against the Yankees. Click HERE to see three people who appear to be ready for it. |
| October 4th |
According to the DNR this neck of the woods is about at peak color as we speak. If that's so, this wasn't a very good color year. HERE's the map and HERE's an example. The Twins' "first" play-off game of the season last night was also their last. The season is over for them. Sigh....... |
| October 5th | Darned Otters! There are four of them that play out in front of LBLR quite regularly, and they're cute and fun to watch. But there's a problem; they constantly use the dock in front of cabin # 3 for a litter box. They don't use any other dock.......just that one. I have a picture of their mess but I suspect that you're not interested in seeing it. By the way, I was impressed with Tim (of the Charles City Invasion group) a few weeks ago. He didn't see the Otters but he saw what they left on the Cabin # 3 dock and he immediately knew that the mess was made by Otters. I wonder how many other people would have known that. |
| October 6th | LBLR will be busy this weekend. Amber and James (from Arizona) arrived in cabin 6 yesterday for a 3 night stay. Today saw the arrival of Kelly S and her sisters Janet and Jen (they'll have cabins 2, 4, and 5 respectively) as well as Deb along with her friends Janet and Judy who will be in cabin 1 for a "girls" weekend. |
| October 7th | I like mornings like this. Click HERE. |
| October 8th | Maybe the colors are better than I previously thought. Things seem to be getting more colorful and the Tamaracks haven't even turned yet. Click HERE to see the other side of the lake in its usual Autumn yellow/orange colors. |
| October 9th | I'll be darned, there was a Blue Jay on the resort this morning. It's a common bird and there used to be lots of them here, but in 2007 they all disappeared. Now, 10 years later, there's one here. I wonder if he'll hang around for awhile? |
| October 10th | Happy 50th Miss Twacie! Fifty is a nice age; enjoy it!!!! Click HERE. |
| October 11th |
There was a nice hard frost on the ground this morning.......that makes two days in a row!!! NEATO!!!
Last night Jim (my son-in-law) and his friend Tim arrived for their annual Grouse hunt at LBLR; Mike, a semi-regular attendee (who used to be a regular) might show up later in the week. By the way, this is their 22nd consecutive year. Back in the '70s, '80s, and 90's, a group of us IBMers from Rochester held an annual ice fishing outing, but that only lasted for 18 consecutive years. They've already beat us by 4 years and they're still young. Incidentally, you might want to read the February 11, 2005 entry to see more about that ice fishing group. Click HERE to get to the page, then scroll down to the 11th. |
| October 12th | This is Ben, my youngest Grandchild, and his soccer team. Congrats on your victory you guys! Click HERE. |
| October 13th | Nattie (my Granddaughter) and Dan (her Fiance) arrived this evening for a weekend stay. Incidentally, her Dear Father is still here grouse hunting.......but as I understand it, the hunting is not going all that well. |
| October 14th |
Click HERE to see some neat pictures of one of the otters that have been hanging around here recently (see the October 5th entry above). Thanks for the photos Tim (he's one of the grouse hunters, see the October 11th entry above).
Here's something interesting about otters. If you look at the first photo, at first glance it's difficult to tell what it is, especially from a distance. It could be an otter but it also could be a muskrat or a beaver. If you walk out near the shore or onto a dock, a muskrat or a beaver will immediately dive and not come up until it's quite a distance from you. However, if you walk out onto a dock, an otter will be curious and swim closer to see what you're up to.......as is obvious in the other three pictures. |
| October 15th | Isn't this a neat picture of some swans on LBL? Click HERE. (I believe that they are Tundra Swans incidentally. Would anyone care to second that or dispute it? Jerry B?) This is again from Tim, soooo.......thanks again Tim. |
| October 16th |
TO THE MEA WEEKEND PEOPLE: You know who you are, but for the record I'm referring to Colleen & Kevin; Erin, Tom & Bob; Allie & her son Finn (and Finn's two friends); Sandie & Dale; and Deb & her friends Carla, Susan, & Mary. Not to worry about firewood for the weekend you guys; the pile is still growing. Click HERE. |
| October 17th |
Okay! Okay! A combination of two people have convinced me that I was wrong about the Swans (see the October 15th entry, above). They are not Tundras as I had conjectured; they are, in fact, Trumpeters. Thanks to Doug K and Jerry B for straightening me up on that.
Photographers in tandem. Click HERE. |
| October 18th | The Loons haven't left yet. Click HERE. |
| October 19th | Another MEA weekend is upon us and the weather is absolutely great for this time of the year. |
| October 21st, 22nd, & 23rd |
Busy weekend. Lots of fun but no entries. (Sorry!) The guests this weekend were all the people mentioned in the October 16th entry (above) plus Ron E and his group of 5 deer hunters who were here to set up their hunting stands. The last of the guests (Deb) left this afternoon. |
| October 24th | These two pictures are from this past weekend. Click HERE and HERE. |
| October 25th | Not much has been done about resort "shut down" yet and it feels like it's way behind, but I scanned some old Chronicles entries and it appears that I'm not all that late yet. It always seems to get done just in time. However, low temps of around 20 are predicted for later in the week so I better get at it. |
| October 26th | There has been progress!!! Cabins 1, 2, and 3 have been shut down and are now ready for winter. In addition, most of the lawn furniture and some of the water equipment have been put away. On the other hand, cabin 4 is still up and running, all three pontoons, one fishing boat, one paddle boat, and the swimming raft are still in the water, and the raking hasn't been done yet.......so there's still a lot of work to do. |
| October 27th | The first taste of winter! Although the weatherman predicted 6 to 8 inches of snow between last night and today, we ended with about 2 or maybe 3 inches. Oh well.......there'll be more. Geez, am I ever glad that north end of the resort got shut down, and as usual, it was just in the nick of time. Good planning, eh? |
| October 28th | Here's what's left of yesterday's snow fall.......not very much. Click HERE |
| October 29th | HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!! As I've said before, you are my yard stick.......you are 26 years old and I have been at LBLR for 26 years! (He's my oldest grandchild, in case you didn't know.) |
| October 30th | I have nothing to say....... |
| All Hallows' Eve |
The skies they were ashen and sober; The leaves they were crisped and sere— The leaves they were withering and sere; It was night in the lonesome October Of my most immemorial year: It was hard by the dim lake of Auber, In the misty mid region of Weir— It was down by the dank tarn of Auber, In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir ... -- Edgar Allan Poe (1847) Those are the first few lines of Ulalume. It's not really a Halloween poem but it's somewhat appropriate. It took place under "ashen and sober" skies "at night in the lonesome October" when "the leaves were crisp and sere", which is not unlike an eerie Halloween night. The narrator, still suffering from the death of his lover (Ulalume), finds himself wandering in a "ghoul-haunted woodland" and having a "serious and sober" talk with his own soul; all the while paying no attention to where he is wandering. Eventually he talks himself out of his gloomy mood, but he then realizes that he has inadvertantly wandered to the entrance of the vault where he had placed his dead lover exactly one year ago that night, and he wonders "what demon hath tempted me here?". |
