IN RECENT POSTS I have focused on the magnificent skies over Rainy Lake, which—mistranslated by French explorers from a Cree word referring to the misty falls, became Lac la Pluie, which translated into English became Rainy Lake. But the lake is no more rainy than many others, and much of this summer less so. Perhaps a better meteorological designation would be Lake of Big Skies, or Lake of Many Moods.

In any case, with our dry, smoky summer, it has been a great pleasure to welcome recent rains. And when turning one’s eyes from the billowing sky to the earth, it is good to see reindeer lichens, shield lichens, and pillow mosses restored to their former glory. Even to find a Pale Pink Corydalis blooming in September. As Thoreau said so well, “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”