Last Friday morning the moving van arrived in the driveway of our old house. The four movers packed up all our heavy furniture and moved it a mile south to our new house. It took about six hours. We set up the beds and slept in our new place for the first time Friday night, and slept well. It was an exhausting day.
7:30 am, Saturday, December 7, 2024.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise Saturday morning, over the field and bluff out our back windows.
4:54 pm, Saturday December 7, 2024.
And saw the beautiful sunset that evening.
We’ve been unpacking for almost a week and we’re making progress.
We just returned from an amazing time on the north shore of Lake Superior. As I’ve written before, it is one of my all-time favorite places to be. When we arrive at the cabin we rent, I sigh a happy sigh when I walk through the door and see the lake through the floor to ceiling windows. It is a marvelous and breathtaking sight that I never grow tired of. I literally feel a calm come over me. I miss it when I’m not there.
During our time at the cabin, we did what we normally do…we enjoy God’s bountiful creation. We bike and hike, drink our morning coffee on the deck, watch the sunrise, have a bon fire on the rocks, relax, read good books, eat delicious food overlooking the lake, and just sit and look at the lake.
I had good intentions of cleaning up my computer files, or deleting photos off my phone, do a little writing, but none of that happened. The lake is alluring and mesmerizing, and we can just sit and do nothing but enjoy the vista for hours…and so we do, and we do not worry about getting anything accomplished. I believe we are being rejuvenated from the inside out.
We traditionally go up to the north shore in September but this year we had reservations in July. The weather was cooler than normal for July, the sunrise is earlier in July…5:20ish…and different kinds of flowers are blooming in July…like beautiful lupines, perky daisies and bright yellow bird’s-foot trefoil.
A photo exposition follows:
A view outside the cabin. I was pleased to see lupines on the property. We started seeing lupine along Scenic Drive as we were driving up. Lupines are not in bloom in September, when we are usually at the cabin.
Seagulls are an added treat to watch.
One of our hikes…overlooking Oberg Lake in summer, 2023.
This is same overlook of Oberg Lake in autumn, 2019.
Streets lined with gold…Highway 61, back roads and bike trails were lined with bird’s-foot trefoill. It was impressive.
This is a bridge on the new section of the Gitchi-Gami bike trail, which we rode on from Cutface Wayside Park into Grand Marais.
Temperance River…a hike we always enjoy, along the gorges of this wild river.
Sunrise on July 16, 2023 at 5:24 am.
We enjoy a bon fire on the rocks outside the cabin.
Clear water reveals the rocks underneath the waters of Lake Superior.
Our hike to Caribou Falls…down 156 steps to see this beautiful waterfalls, then back up 156 steps! It’s worth it. It’s gorgeous.
We enjoy the deck off the cabin.
The lupines outside our cabin…
Our son Tim took a photo of lupines and a single daisy years ago…it was fun to recapture a similar posturing.
Lake Superior…some days it’s calm, other days it’s not…somedays it’s gray, other times it’s blue, sometimes it’s somber…sometimes it’s glistening… with everything in-between. And, sometimes it all happens in a day. (I told Gary these are the kind of glistening diamonds I like.)
I’m so grateful for our time on the shore of Lake Superior.
Our trip to the north shore proved to be a lot more colorful than we were expecting.
We had already started seeing pockets of beautiful fall colors on our drive up, so I started to get a little excited…and then the colors began to pop out everywhere…with wonderful contrasts to the evergreen trees.
Caribou Lake (1)Caribou Lake (2)Caribou Lake (3)
The weather also turned out better than I had hoped for, with warmer temperatures and some nice sunshine and blue skies (and one cloudy day). We had packed clothes for colder weather.
Carlton Peak (1)Carlton Peak (2)
Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (1)
Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (2)
We followed our annual routine of balancing cabin time and lake time with hiking and local drives.
Sun rise over Lake Superior.
We watched the sun rise over the big lake and had a camp fire on the rocks. We stopped in Hinckley and Duluth on the way up, and stopped in Grand Marais one day. It’s all so familiar, yet all so refreshing, relaxing, and restorative… and so much fun!
The cabin lit up at night.Our campfire set up, on the rocks.Lake Superior was mostly calm.
A leaf-covered hiking trail through the forest.
Lake Agnes
The colors were breathtaking…everywhere we went. It was spectacular to see and hard to photograph with my iPhone.
Birch trees.
But it was enough to witness the colors and breath in the fresh air, smell the different whiffs of pine scents, lake water, decomposing leaves, feel the crisp air and to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a).
An artistic root system…
I stand in awe of the Creator of these incredible autumn colors.
Sawbill Trail.
Gooseberry Falls State Park
Gooseberry Falls Upper Falls
And the colors were not only up north…we saw them driving home, and right here in Northfield, and outside our front and back doors!
Our neighbor’s burning bush, where our mailbox is tucked in.
As we plan our annual trek to the north shore, I always reread my own version of Psalm 23.
The Lord is my Shepherd
I shall thank him.
He allows me to be on the shores of Lake Superior
And hear the calming waves.
He restores my soul.
He guides me on trails of the Superior National Forest,
And leads me along the rocky shores of the big lake.
Even when the waves are rough – even when the lake is calm,
I am content to be near the water.
And the Lord is with me.
His creation and His majesty, they comfort me.
He anoints me with many blessings
My cup overflows and I am grateful
Surely, I will praise him and follow him
All the days of my life,
I am grateful to dwell in His presence
On the shores of Lake Superior.
Below are just a few favorite photos (from hundreds!) I’ve taken over the years, of Lake Superior.
Here are a few photos I’ve taken over the past couple of weeks…No particular order, no particular theme…just nature showing off.
A still, quiet morning, with mist lingering over Daggett Lake.
An early morning sky.
A rainbow… a promise. The bright colors were not captured with my iPhone camera, but it has been awhile since I’ve seen a rainbow, so I kept the photo anyway.
We walked along the Atlanta Ocean in January, and five weeks later we walked along the Pacific Ocean. We spent some time with our older son and his wife and two children on the California Coast. It was lovely, sunny, and in the 60-70’s. Here are some photos from our time there.
We grabbed a blanket, with coffee in hand, to watch the sunrise every morning.
Sunrise, our first morning.
We walked to the playground with an ocean view to let the grandchildren play.
The playground.
We would see dolphins swimming off shore, and picturesque sailboats sailing by.
A mosaic tile art piece mounted on a cement fence.
A lone sailboat.
A sailboat race.
We went on a sunset cruise and saw sea lions, and another beautiful sunset.
Lil’ Toot: our boat, and captain, for our sunset cruse.
Sea lions.
Sunset, our third evening, from Lil’ Toot.
My granddaughter and I made fresh lemonade from the lemons off a lemon tree.
Fresh lemons!
Beautiful Bird-of-Paradise in bloom.
Gary and I walked along the beach, in my fancy boot (for my injured foot)!
150 concrete steps down to the beach (and back up!)
The beach and rocky shoreline – low tide rising.
The waves.
We sat by the firepit and watched the sun set every night.
Sunset, our first evening.
Lingering light from a sunset.
Sunset, the second evening.
The colors of the sunset reflecting in the east.
We enjoyed our time together, and making memories.
And once again, it was hard to come back to Minnesota’s cold weather, but spring is coming.
One of my favorite things to do on our annual trek to the north shore is to watch the sunrise over Lake Superior. I set my alarm – just in case – so I don’t miss it.
Thursday morning…
I love sitting silently, waiting for the sun to come up. It is such a tranquil and quiet time…a beautiful time of enjoying God’s magnificent creation, a wonderful gift. There is a unique sunrise for each unique day…and it can change within minutes.
Friday early morning light. (6:52)
Then Friday’s early morning light filling the sky. (6:53)
Friday’s sunrise. (6:53)
Still Friday Morning… (7:36)
We don’t see sunsets from the location of our cabin, although sometimes we can see some color in the western skies at sunset, creating silhouettes of the trees and rocky shoreline near-by.
Towards the western sky Wednesday evening…sunset silhouettes.
Saturday morning’s sunrise.
In a previous post I showed photos of the moonrise we sometimes see over the lake. We are grateful for those spectacular views too.
Sunday Morning Sunrise.
The sun on Sunday rising through the clouds…
“The heavens declare the glory of the Lord!”
Words cannot describe the feelings evoked witnessing the wonders of the sky.
Monday morning sunrise.
I’m grateful for the sun that rises faithfully every morning, and to see it rise over Lake Superior is a special treat!
Literally, within minutes, we got dressed in our winter gear, drove to the upper arb in Northfield, just a few blocks away from our house, buckled on our snowshoes and started walking in the woods in the early morning after a lovely snow fall the day before.
This photo of the colorful sunrise was sent by a friend (used with permission). We had seen a portion of this sunrise from our window which enticed us to get outside and snowshoe.
We went “off trail” and followed deer tracks and had a delightful time while getting exercise and fresh air. The sun was rising and it was very calm and peaceful. A great way to start the day.
We had fun following fresh tracks in the newly fallen snow.
An evergreen tree among pin oaks.
And we were back home an hour later. It’s wonderful to have the Carleton Arboretum so close and available.
The upper arb at Carleton College.
The campus of Carleton College is also a great place to walk in the winter – without snowshoes. Carleton keeps their sidewalks clear and safe and there are lots of places to roam and get in a good walk, while weaving in-between the beautiful buildings and green spaces – well- white spaces in winter! We tend to go there often.
Clear ice forms this Carleton College logo ice sculpture.
The other day we were treated with ice sculptures. We don’t know who made them, we assume some Carleton students. We found three.
Mamma and baby penguin ice sculpture.
Olaf!
It was a delightful addition to our winter walk that day on Carleton’s campus.
Here are some photos from our time up on the north shore of Lake Superior. Some stories (and more photos) will follow later, but for now I want to share some pictures of the various sunrises and some of the spectacular colors we enjoyed while up north. The beauty is indescribable.
The sunrise on the first day.
The sunrise on the second day.
Some colorful foliage along the shore.From the top of Oberg Mountain overlooking the lake with yellows from the birch/aspens in contrast with the evergreen trees.
A lone tree in it’s glory against the fall blue sky.
Another view of the yellow and dark green combination.The awesome Lake Superior.Beauty along the roads close to the lake. There are maple trees inland but their colorful leaves had been blown off the trees.
Except there was an occasional maple tree in full color near the lake.
Sunrise on the third day; the sun clouded over but soon broke through.Tamarack trees, also know as larch trees; they are deciduous trees with needles that turn yellow in autumn and fall off.
Tall red pines, mistakenly called Norway pines by the immigrants from Norway because they resembled trees back in Norway.
Dramatic morning light as it get closer to sunrise.Finally, the sun pops up…and it melted the clouds away that morning, making way for another clear and beautiful day on the north shore.
