| June 1st |
First, April, she with mellow showers Opens the way for early flowers; Then after her comes smiling May, In a more rich and sweet array; Next enters June, and brings us more Gems than those two that went before; Then (lastly) comes July, and she More wealth brings in than all those three. -- Robert Herrick (circa 1640) Can you believe that the year has just begun (or so it seems) and we're already into the third of Robert's Four Sweet Months. Do you suppose it has anything to do with the COVID-19 lockdown. Most people think that when their activity level is low, time seems to drag, but this appears to be the opposite. Of course, the first half of every year seems to fly by in no time, so perhaps this is not different than any year (for an old person, that is). |
| June 2nd | We saw this during a bike ride yesterday. Do you think the sign is really necessary? Click HERE. |
| June 3rd | Today is "World Bicycle Day", so declared by the United Nations General Assembly two years ago last April.......or click HERE, obviously. |
| June 4th | Click HERE. If you watch a clam in the process of making one of those trails, you can actually see it move. Their speed is darned slow, but if you're patient, you can see the movement. |
| June 5th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Entry for May 16, 2005, (15 years ago): LBLR's first customers of the year, Jeff K and Jordan are here!!! The 2005 season is offically underway. Note added today: For many years the first LBLR customer in the Spring, usually the weekend of the fishing opener, was Jeff Keeler. He would stay for a week, sometimes two weeks, and then he would come back again in September for another week. He, along with his dog Jordan, went fishing virtually every day that the weather permitted, mainly for Crappies, and quite often he was accompanied by Lucas, the young boy who lived across the lake. To see Jeff and Jordon in cabin # 2 (his usual cabin) on this day in 2007, click HERE, and to see them in his boat in May of 2004, click HERE. Since we're looking at pictures, click HERE to see Jeff's wife, Christine, with a Pumpkinseed that she caught in June of 2009. |
| June 6th |
We just finished the most difficult puzzle we've ever done, and as you've seen in early January of several past years, we've done a few puzzles in our time. (You've seen these before, but click HERE if you'd like another look at our past New Year's Eve puzzles.) We started Van Gogh's "Starry Night" during the last week of April, and we worked at it virtually every day.......some days more than others, but we did some of it every day. We finished it yesterday, so it took us more than a month to complete. Click HERE to see it.
PS: D-Day was 76 years ago today. |
| June 7th | When your wife is having a good time, and you're not, remember this: that's a much better situation for you, than when you're having a good time, and she's not. |
| June 8th | With a high of 88 degrees predicted for LBLR today, and with the resort nearly full, I bet there will be lots of people sitting under the tall pine trees at the south end of the resort with a beer in their hand. I know that's where I would be if I were there. Of course the cabins now have air conditioning, and I hope that doesn't mean people are sitting inside watching TV on a day like this. |
| June 9th | This is not exactly under the trees at LBLR (see above), but it's still a nice place to be on a warm day. Click HERE. |
| June 10th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Entry for July 28, 2006 (14 years ago): In about 1960 my Dad & Mom bought their first house. Geez, do I remember the feeling of pride that my Dad had in that house.....you could see it in him. He owned it. It was HIS. Several years before that, I had noticed that my Grandpa had the same feeling about his little 40 acre farm, even though he had owned it a long time by then. I could see it in his face when he stood in the fields and looked back toward the house and the farm buildings. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking: "Look at all this. I own it. It's mine". Occasionally I've stood on the hill by the volleyball net and looked at the house, the cabins and the shore line, and I had the same thoughts that I saw in my Dad and my Grandpa so many years ago. In the European countries where the concept of land ownership has been around for thousands of years, can you imagine how many people must have stood on the same little plot of ground and had those same thoughts and those same feelings? Now neither my Dad nor my Grandpa own the property they were once so proud of. They've both passed away. I don't even know who's claiming ownership of those properties now. But ya know, we don't really own this stuff. We just have exclusive use of it and, relatively speaking, for a very short period of time.......then someone else gets to use it for awhile. With that in mind, ownership sort of takes on a different meaning, doesn't it? Note added today: That's an interesting thought, isn't it? And it's even more interesting to me now that LBLR, the property that I was so proud of and happy to own for over a quarter of a century, belongs to someone else. It's not mine anymore. Sigh....... |
| June 11th | I have nothing to say.......as usual. |
| June 12th | To North Carolina Laurie: Have a good time and we'll see you in a week!!! |
| June 13th | What gorgeous weather! These are the days we dream about in February. |
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On this day in 1777 (244 years ago), the Second Continental Congress adopted Old Glory with its thirteen stars and thirteen stripes as our official flag. Click HERE to see it flying over Little Bass Lake along with two other flags that were common at the time, (and have a happy Flag Day). |
| June 15th |
Can you believe it? It's already half past June and in only five more days it'll be summertime(!), and Happy Birthday Deb!!!!!! |
| June 16th | One more entry about turtles, if you don't mind. Last month, May 2nd to be exact, the Chronicles entry was about some newly hatched Painted Turtles on Deb's lawn. Today, six weeks later but right on schedule, a mother turtle was near the same spot in the lawn laying eggs for next year's hatch (click HERE). It's amazing how well the Mother turtles cover their nests after they lay their eggs (click HERE). (And that's "probably" the last you'll hear about turtles.......well, until next May anyway.) |
| June 17th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Entry for June 17, 2006 (14 years ago today): To see the cleaning girls in their new, more colorful uniforms, click HERE. Note added today: Left to right, that's Barb, Tara, and Cindy. Barb (whom many of you knew) was part of the crew up until her death 7 years after that picture was taken. Tara and Cindy (whom even more of you knew) were still cleaning the cabins when I sold the place in 2018. The two of them virtually ran the resort from a cleaning standpoint, and left me out of it as much as possible. Thanks for the many years of service you guys; you saved me a lot of headaches over the years. And by the way, that statement does not imply that you weren't paid enough. |
| June 18th |
There’s something about north, something that sets it apart from all other directions. A person who is heading north is not making any mistake, in my opinion.
-- E. B. White (1945) Ah yes, the Bold Northland. It's not for everybody ya know, but I can't imagine a person not wanting to vacation up there. Hmmmm....... That sounds like to pitch intended to get more customers at a resort that I don't even own anymore. Oh well, come on up anyway; it's a new and improved LBLR, and Monica and Tim would love to see you. |
| June 19th |
Is this Treasure Island or Crawford Island on Bass Lake in Grand Rapids? Well, if you're Yard Rock hunting, it's Treasure Island, (click HERE).
Hey North Carolina Laurie (and family), thanks for the hospitality and the pizza this evening. By the way, in August I'll buy the pizza, okay? |
| The Summer Solstice |
A thought from Back o' the Moon: Rest is not idleness, and to lie on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. -- John Lubbock (circa 1890) Late this afternoon (4:43 PM CDT to be exact), the Sun, the Glorious Lamp of Heaven (as Robert Herrick so aptly put it in 1625) was directly over the Tropic of Cancer and Summer began. Here's to you Summer.......we enjoy your company. Be well and please stay with us as long as you can!!!! |
| June 20th to 22nd |
Up North.......On vacation.......Ergo, no entries. |
| June 23rd | We were in Grand Rapids from to the 18th until yesterday. That's a short vacation, but it was nice to visit friends and former customers who were also vacationing in the Northland; Laurie (from North Carolina) and Sarge & Ann (from Texas) were staying at LBLR. It was sure nice to get away for a few days after two months of lockdown. |
| June 24th | Click HERE. |
| June 25th | A lot of my customers thought that I spent most of the summer sitting on the "front porch" looking at the lake. Well here's Dean, the owner of Back o' the Moon Resort, sitting by his front steps looking at the lake. Hmmm.......maybe all resort owners are the same. Click HERE. [Aside -- By the way, Dean and his wife Tina are GREAT resort hosts, and they run Back o' the Moon in the same "laid-back" manner that I used to run LBLR. -- End of Aside] |
| June 26th | Nada. |
| June 27th |
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Last week Laurie G (known in these Chronicles as North Carolina Laurie), and her group were at LBLR (as mentioned above). To see a picture of her group, click HERE). As you may have read back in 2009, Laurie's relationship with LBLR began with the Chronicles, although how that happened or exactly when it was, I don't really know. (Hey Laurie, was it 2008 or maybe early 2009?) Anyway, some time in late March or early April of 2009, she sent me an e-mail expressing her concern about the absence of Chronicles updates for several days in row (apparently she was concerned that maybe I had gotten hurt while I was blowing snow). That was, in effect, the first time we "met". I responded to her in the Chronicles entry of April 4, 2009 (to read it, click HERE). We continued to communicate by e-mail occasionally, and later that year she wrote a story for "Stories, Poems, & Anecdotes From the Northland". She and her husband finally made it to LBLR for the first time in September of 2012, more than three years after she wrote the story. She and her family were guests of LBLR a few more times before I sold it, and they vacationed there again last week. It was great to see her again! To see how this whole LBLR thing connects to Laurie's early life, read her story, which is HERE. |
| June 28th | Nada, otra vez. Sigh....... |
| June 29th | Happy Birthday to Squizzy Taylor (an Australian gangster), who was born on this day in 1888. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) he only lived to the age of 39 because he was killed by Snowy Cutmore, the leader of a rival gang, in a gun fight in 1927. Snowy was eventually killed in the same gun fight, by the way. Or click HERE if you'd rather look at a picture of the "Writer's Block". |
| June 30th | Hey Em and Mol, do you remember this? I do. It was "Today's Picture" on this day back in 2007. You guys were at LBLR for our annual July 4th week family get-together at the lake, and we were taking the floaties down by the water. Click HERE. (PS: The two little girls in the wagon are a tad older now; they're 22 and 19 respectively.) |
