More Pictures of Lake Superior
Tag: Nature
Sunrises Over Lake Superior
The cabin faces east on the north shore of Lake Superior therefore we see sunrises…I set my alarm so I don’t miss them. I have captured many pictures of beautiful sunrises that are so varied…just like the moods of the lake.
Anticipation
About this time of year I get so excited thinking about our annual trek up to the “north shore.” For the past 31 years we have been going up north in September (except a few years when the boys were in sports and we had to go in August.) The shores of Lake Superior is one of my favorite places to be and I always look forward to our time at a cabin we rent right on the waters edge.
We started out looking for a cabin in 1985 (if only we had bought our own place back then!) wanting to find a cabin we‘d want to return to each year. We found a quaint 1940’s era cabin at Surfside Resort, a family- run business. We loved the cute little cabin #6 (with a seagull we named Mingo – he had one leg and hung out at the cabin for a couple of years.) The small Cabin #6 was just right for our family and we have so many wonderful memories of our times there.
Then a big business came along and bought out the small business and built lovely, but expensive, condominiums that we couldn’t afford. So we found a different cabin to call home for the brief amount of time we get to stay there each year.
Going up to the north shore of Lake Superior has become my “new year.” Instead of making resolutions on New Year’s Eve I take time up north to think about the previous year, look ahead to the next year and contemplate what life is all about for me right now in this fall season. I sit on the rocks with the large lake in front of me surrounded by stunning beauty and just sit…and think…and write…and read. The whole natural surroundings are a great place for reflecting, refreshing, refocusing and rejuvenating.
So I will print out our packing list, make the chili and wild rice soup, gather the throws, coffee and books, collect the hiking and biking gear and anticipate another wonderful year up at the cabin on Lake Superior!
Big Bugs
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is a beautiful outdoor space: 1,200 acres of gardens and tree collections, prairie and woods in Chaska, MN. I was there earlier this spring with my friend from IN, when the peonies and the iris’ were in bloom. Oh my, so many varieties and spectacular colors!
Last week my husband and I went again and there were different plants blooming and thriving for this time of year, including roses…and there were Big Bugs! We didn’t know the exhibit was scheduled but we did enjoy looking for the big wooden bugs which brought visitors to all different areas of the arb. The sculpture artist is David Rogers.
Click here to learn more about him and his exhibit.
The Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a majestic bird and I always get a thrill when I see one. On my “regular route” through my neighborhood I walk by three ponds and love to see the geese and ducks and now am disappointed if I don’t see the Great Blue Heron since it has been around a lot this summer. It’s always a joy to see any kind of birds or water fowl – I greet them, thank God for them, and try to get photos!
Sunflowers
Sometimes a photo needs to be taken just to remember the scene even if it isn’t a good shot. In this photo, taken from a moving vehicle, I tried to capture a portion of a field of bright sunflowers along Interstate 94, near Alexandria, Minnesota. It caught me by surprise and took me a minute to figure out what was growing in this vast field. I was delighted to see bright, yellow flower heads with brown centers of the sunflower, standing tall with thousands of stalks, all facing east. It was a beautiful sight and worthy to record and remember.
Four Raccoons and a Cooler
We rented a camping cabin in Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park. This is not our first experience with camping cabins but it is our first time staying in a MN State Park camping cabin. Can I say they are adorable?
The “main room” has two built-in bunk beds with room to sleep 6 (single on top and double on bottom – both sides). It also has a small, built-in table with two benches and an overhead, electric light fixture that looks like a camping lantern. The furniture is made of pine logs and the entire cabin lined with knotty pine. There are many hooks and electrical outlets. A small screened- in porch is attached to the main cabin with a door between the two rooms. The door between is solid and lockable but the screen door to the outside only has a hook which locks from the inside.
As we unloaded our gear from the provided, pull-in cart we put our small cooler with our drinks on the porch. Then I noticed the freshly-made banana bread I brought along and last minute put the bread in the “drink cooler” to get it out of the heat.
Off we went, hiking with friends and had a campfire after that so we didn’t walk back to our cabin until later that evening, after dark. We had forgotten our flashlight so my husband used his iPhone’s flashlight feature. (My phone was charging inside the cabin…that’s modern camping!)
As we opened the screen door my husband said “look!” He shined the light in the corner and there were four raccoons backed against the wall…caught! They had successfully opened the screen door (did one hold it open for the others???) and all four raccoons entered the porch, somehow turned the handle on the cooler from the closed position to the open position, took off the cooler cover and proceeded to eat all two bags of banana bread! Immediately one of the bigger guys bravely walked right past us and out the door we held open, but the other three were still cowered in the corner. My husband had to shoo them out the door. I wish I had a photo but the picture is clear in our minds of the four guilty raccoons and two empty bags of banana bread. I hope they liked it!
Dwarf Trout Lily
This is a re-post from my previous blog site. Looking for the Dwarf Trout Lily has now become an annual spring event for me…I love Nerstrand and wildflowers and springtime and walking in the woods! Naturalists are now in the park on weekends during the Dwarf Trout Lily’s bloom season to point it out to those in search of the precious flower.
My favorite park is Big Woods State Park, or affectionately known as Nerstrand. The maple-basswood forest has lovey trails and a Hidden Falls…and camping. We have camped there several times over the years but since it is really close to where we live I can hop in the car and be there in no time, so I go there often. It’s a favorite place to go…for all seasons.
I go on an annual Dwarf Trout Lily hunt. The Minnesota dwarf trout lily (Erythronium propullans) is a federally endangered forest wildflower found in Rice, Goodhue, and Steele Counties, Minnesota. Because it is known only from this small area the dwarf trout lily is considered a Minnesota “endemic” – i.e. a species that grows in Minnesota and nowhere else on earth.* Now that’s exciting.
I know one spot on the trail where they bloom among thousands of Common Trout Lilies. So I walk the trail and look for my treasure and when I find it I am delighted to have seen it once again. I use my finger as a reference point for pictures so one can see how tiny the flowers are.
Then I continue to walk along the trail and spy the Marsh Marigolds, Spring Beauties, Anemones, Violets and Dutchman’s Breeches. The trees are starting to but out and the hint of “spring” green is so beautiful. The branches are airy and you can see right through them to the hilly woods that are normally leafed-covered in the summer.
I’m grateful for this gift and the opportunity to experience nature. My heart is joyful and I praise the Lord for the beauty that surrounds me.
* Sather, N. 1990. “Minnesota dwarf trout lily: an endangered Minnesota wildflower.” Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul. 9 pages.
Tree Trimming
After dinner and a daily walk, we had a tree-trimmer stop by to look at the trees in our yard. We planted all twenty of them when we moved into our house 20+ years ago. We had a corner lot in a small town that did not have one tree on the property. The trees have grown so tall and so full and I love the privacy they provide, the protection for the birds I feed, shade for our back deck and not to mention the beauty they add to our neighborhood. But now, some of them need trimming,
While walking around the yard tonight and pointing out the trees to the contractor giving us an estimate I was taken back to a time when my sons were little and we lived in a different neighborhood on property that had mature trees. There were two very tall Evergreens in the back yard. The boys would climb the trees from the inside, near the trunk, to avoid the needles and fragile branches of pine trees. They had a lot of fun in those trees.
However one day in particular stands out when they decided to trim the dead branches to make their “steps” easier to climb. They did a fine job however the unexpected result was the tree sap started running and by the time they came in that night they had sap all over themselves and their clothes. They smelled good, but sure were sticky!
I miss those days and I treasure the memories of when my guys were growing up.