AND SO, AFTER A DAY OF BIG ROLLERS CRUISING IN FROM THE EAST AND WASHING OUR ROCKY SHORE, after swimming from the dock in the lee of the island, and two fishing expeditions, and a fine meal at Rainy Lake Grill, including lemon-raspberry mousse for dessert, after a wonderful week with grandchildren and grand dog and one flustered cat, the
AT FAWN ISLAND, WE HAVE—OF COURSE—AN OLD TURTLE. Very old. And very large. She hangs around the dock, and enjoys the occasional dead minnow, or scrap of fish. This evening the grandchildren were startled, then awestruck, then delighted, when she made her appearance by the gangplank to the dock, staying for 15 minutes, breathing through her nose and blowing bubbles,
ON RAINY LAKE, A DAY OF BLUEBERRY PANCAKES AND FISHING, swimming, diving off the dock with front flips, a little tubing, more swimming, (the best way to stay cool on a hot day) then a boat ride to dinner (French onion soup, fresh bread, corn dogs and burgers and chocolate sundaes). Then back across the lake, past sailboats and pelicans
THE SUNSET SKY IS A STRANGE AND EERIE sight tonight, as a smoky haze covers the Border Country. The Northwoods needs rain. The pines need it. The blueberries and pipsissewa and harebells need it. The lichens and mosses need it. We all need rain. I have seen skies like this before, on canoe trips in the far North, with fires
THIS AFTERNOON I SAW THE MOST MARVELOUS THING IN THE FOREST. I was working away… when I heard a soft, plaintive bleating. Looking up, I saw a very young fawn, running and stumbling toward and then past me. Then, following behind was another—same size, only a few days old. Next came a doe, moving quickly, clearly concerned. Then another tiny,
OUR BABY EAGLE sits on his perch all day, screeching and screeching and (seemingly) accomplishing nothing. So I said we should name him Tucker.
THIS FINE AFTERNOON I WATERED AND FERTILIZED MY ORCHIDS. Which, when they are not blooming as through the winter, is a little bit harder to remember. But we try our best, mindful that a little care in the warm months—taking a bit of time and attention away from the bonsai forest—will result in much loved color and brightness in the
TODAY MY FIRST ‘AUTHOR’S COPY’ BOOKS ARRIVED FROM CHINA. My ‘Wisdom of Nature’ collection, a cased set of six small books containing my pen and ink sketches and short words of wisdom from the outdoor world, are now beautifully published for readers in China, by my friends at King-in Publishing. It feels wonderful to to think of friends I haven’t
A VIOLENT STORM WHEN WE WERE GONE took down some trees—which, on our island of old jack pines, is not a rare occurrence. But, hard and sweaty work though it may be, clearing them gives one a good reason to be out. To take a break on a comfortable boulder. To look down the channel at clouds arising on mid-day
ALL DAY LONG on Fawn Island, squalls and thundershowers have been tossing their white heads and dragging their dark bellies across the lake. They growl and grumble in our direction but nothing comes of it. Meanwhile a single bluebell, rising amid the bear berry patch on Moonlight Ledge, keeps watch over Half Mile Island and down the Voyageurs’ Highway to