| May Day |
The month of May is come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom and bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth courage unto all lovers, this lusty month of May. -- Sir Thomas Malory, from Le Morte d'Arthur (1485) Ah yes, the lusty month of May is here and we've had a few fairly nice days so far, but not much Spring weather to speak of yet. But relax. Relax. It's coming! It's coming! And HAPPY MAY DAY, by the way! |
| May 2nd |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES August 11, 2007 entry: The Carlson/Turner/Harlan group at the end of one of their many, many vacations at LBLR. Sadly, we were saying good-bye at the time. Click HERE. Left to right: Kevin, Colleen, Jesse, Erin, Alice, Allie, Finnegan, Tom, Tim, Jim, and little Amy who has a daughter of her own now. Note added later: References to this group, usually known as "The Carlsons" or "The Firebug Carlsons" have appeared in the Chronicles many times, probably more than any other group. They first came to LBLR in 1997, and they've been coming up here for a week in the summer and a looo-oong weekend in October ever since. They're known as the "firebugs" because they sit around the firepit virtually every night (sometimes into the wee hours of the morning) except when it's raining.......and occasionally even when it is raining. [Aside -- Click HERE to read a short story about one of their firepit nights in October of 2010. -- End of Aside] |
| May 3rd | As I understand it, Tim and Monica (the new owners of LBLR) have made some improvements to cabins 5 and 6 (carpeting and ceilings, for example) and more extensive improvements to cabin 4. I'll pass on the details (including pictures hopefully) when I get them. |
| Cuatro De Mayo |
Same great event, just a day early!!!!! And Friday is a nice night for a celebration.......enjoy it! For the first time in 4 years there's ice on LBL in May, but it's also the 3rd time in the last 6 years that there's been May ice. That seems like a lot, but it's only the 5th time for May ice in the 22 years for which I have records, so it's still a fairly rare occurrence. The details are HERE. |
| May 5th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES September 3, 2007 entry: While getting out of a boat after fishing this morning, Bob N fell off of the cabin 4 dock into the water. (No laughing please!) Unfortunately he was carrying his tackle box, which came open during the the fall, and after taking inventory he found that three items, including a reel, were missing. But there was a solution to the problem.......he borrowed a mask and snorkel from Lucas (my young friend across the lake) and retrieved the missing items. Click HERE. |
| May 6th | To the best of my knowledge (that is, as per Luke at the south end of the lake), the ice went out yesterday (Cinco de Mayo). That's 26 days later than last year and 16 days later than the median. It froze 161 days ago (November 25th) but it opened back up for 3 days (November 29th to December 2nd) so the ice cover was only 158 days. That's 38 days longer than last year and 18 days longer than average. Click HERE to see the details. |
| May 7th | For proof that the ice on Little Bass Lake is really gone, click HERE. Well, I guess that only "proves" that it's gone in Peterson Bay. (Thanks for the picture Luke.) |
| May 8th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES April, 2005 entry: Some years the ice goes out gently; some years it doesn't. This wasn't one of the gentle years. Click HERE. |
| May 9th | This morning I saw Tim & Monica's improvements to cabins 4, 5, and 6 and if you stay in one of those cabins you're going to love it. Cabin 4 has changed the most.......you wont recognize it as cabin 4 when you walk in. It has new floors, new bathroom, new walls (beautiful knotty pine), new electric range, new cabinets, new kitchen counter, etc....... It's a lovely, cozy cabin. |
| May 10th | I'm not so darned old.......properly considered, I'm in my prime. (And by the way, I am unanimous in that.) |
| May 11th | This is the weather forecast for tomorrow: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph. The odd thing is that tomorrow is also the fishing opener. Neat, eh? But it's supposed to get down to 29 degrees tonight, so it would behoove any fisherpersons who go out on the lake at the crack of dawn tomorrow, to dress warm. |
| Fishing Opener | Since I'm not Up North at the present time, I probably won't be able to get a good cross section of fishing results for today, but I'll let you know if I come up with anything. By the way, this morning I asked Tim (the new owner of LBLR) if he was going fishing today. His response was a sarcastic "Ya, right!" Ah yes, Springtime at the Resort.......great times! |
| May 13th | Click HERE. Sigh....... |
| May 14th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES July 3, 2011 entry: Today my Dear Daughter Tammy went water skiing for the first time. To see a picture of her trying to get up on the skis, click HERE. It's a little hard to recognize her in this view, but that was probably her best effort of the day. |
| May 15th |
Tim has informed me that the docks are in the water. At sunset tonight Ramadan begins. |
| May 16th | There doesn't seem to be anyone who can provide me with a fishing report this year. I've asked several people but no one went fishing.......and I don't know why; the weather was good. I've only managed to find one person who knew some people who fished this past weekend. They went to Leach Lake, fished for ten hours, and caught one walleye, but I don't know if that means only one keeper, or only one fish for their total catch. Does anyone else have a report???? |
| May 17th | Oh no.......click HERE. |
| May 18th | Oh no (again)....... |
| May 19th | As I understand it, Tim and Bob put the front porch and one of the other pontoons in the water today. The third pontoon is at T&M Marine having the motor repaired. Customer time is fast approaching! |
| May 20th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES September 6, 2012 entry: A lady whom I've referred to on a number of occasions as North Carolina Laurie started reading the LBLR Chronicles back in 2008 or early 2009. She sent me an e-mail for the first time early in 2009 and the first mention of her in the Chronicles was on April 6th of that year (two days before her NC Tar Heels beat my MSU Spartans to win the NCAA Basketball Championship). Believe it or not, Laurie and her husband Paul arrived at LBLR for the first time late this afternoon, a trip that has been in the planning stages for the past three years. Note added later: Laurie and her family came to LBLR a few more times after that first trip. In this picture (click HERE) the front two people on both the left and the right sides of the table are her and her family. By the way, the story of her connection to the Northland (which she wrote in 2009) is in the "Stories, Poems, & Anecdotes From the Northland" section of the LBLR website; if you'd like to read it click HERE. |
| May 21st |
Yesterday was Whitsunday (modern Christians refer to it as Pentecost Sunday) so today is Whitmonday and this week is Whitsuntide. In some places in England this is still a time of parades, music and dancing, but there are also many dark traditions concerning this week: many of them being macabre and gory. Old writings concerning the superstitions and rituals associated with this week of the year are fairly easy to find on the internet.......here is an example of one that is somewhat recent and relatively gentle:
Whit-Sunday does not appear to be an unlucky day, but Whit-Monday is, and so to a lesser degree are the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday following. It is most dangerous to travel or boat on Whit-Monday, and children or animals born on that day are evil-tempered and likely to take some man's life. It was customary in Louth to bury a Whit-Monday foal or calf, but this method of breaking the charm is now almost forgotten, though such animals are still distrusted. -- Bryan J. Jones (1904) [I have no idea who he is.] So some good advice is: Beware(!), this is a dangerous week. |
| May 22nd | I've said this before.......but you people returning to LBLR this year (some of you at the end of this week) will be amazed at all that Tim and Monica have done to the place in a short few months. |
| May 23rd |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES May 20, 2005 entry: Cindy and her group arrived for their annual "Girls' Weekend", which means that husbands, boy-friends, and kids are NOT allowed. Click HERE to see a picture of this year's group. Note added later: In late May of many past years Cindy and several of her friends gathered at LBLR for a "girls weekend".......but not this year. I guess those days are over now, right Cind? Sigh....... But they happened quite regularly in May for many years and in some years they even had a second one in early October. The one is the picture (2005) was the biggest group. By the way, Cindy was my lead cleaning lady in those years. |
| May 24th | Alas.......there will be no Angst clan at LBLR this Memorial weekend. Normally they'd start arriving tomorrow. What a bummer....... |
| May 25th | Although I'm not there to greet them, Denny T and his group of intrepid Illini Bass Fishmen will arrive at LBLR today. Good luck you guys.......although I know that you don't need luck; you always catch fish by way your skill. And Monica & Tim will take good care of you. By the way, you could send me a fish picture if you've a mind to. |
| May 26th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES January 29, 2005 entry: Brian and Ann and Sosha are visiting this weekend. Click HERE. Note added later: Brian K (Sarge) was associated with LBLR before I was; I think he once said that his first visit to LBLR was in 1986. I'm not sure when he first visited LBLR in my era, but I believe it was in the mid 1990s. During my watch he, his wife (Ann), and their Siberian Huskie (Sasha) made many many trips to LBLR, once per year for a week at a time, but more often for a weekend, and many of those trips were to help with the spring and fall duties involving pontoons, docks, boats, etc. Eventually they moved to Cohasset where they built a house on Moonshine Lake (a few blocks to the south of LBL), so they became even more involved with LBLR than they were previously. After several years in Cohasset, they moved to Texas where they are now, but they will return to LBLR this spring for a family reunion. Hey Sarge and Ann, as I've said in person and in these Chronicles many times: Thank you for the friendship and for all the help you've given me over the years.......and of course THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. |
| May 27th | It looks like Dave and his son Parker (from Arkansas) did pretty well their first day out this year. To see a picture of Dave with a Walleye, click HERE, and to see Parker with a Walleye (and part of a stringer), click HERE. |
| Memorial Day | It's Memorial Day and this is Fort Snelling. Click HERE. |
| May 29th & 30th | On vacation (since the 25th actually). Click HERE. |
| May 31st | Tomorrow is June! Where is time going.......and why does it have to go so darned fast???? |
