January Jottings

In my last post I alluded to the fact that Minnesota has been experiencing a relative mild winter. That is only partly true. Temperatures have been trending above normal, but a few days ago we got hit with our second major blizzard in less than a month. 

On the prairie there is nothing to block the wind so when it starts to blow, it really blows. A few inches of snow with winds gusting 50 to 60 mph and everything shuts down. With zero visibility, travel becomes impossible and the plows don’t even attempt to clear the roads or highways until things settle down. Such is life in the upper Midwest. 

Before I retired, a snowstorm meant my school would close...sometimes for a full day or days, other times it would be a late start or early out. Kids (and teachers alike) would anxiously listen to weather announcements on TV and radio to see if their district would be on the “Close Line.”     Being forced to stay home, a snow day was like a gift of free time that could be spent as one desired...reading a book, watching a movie, baking cookies, etc. This most recent blizzard made me realize how much my life during this pandemic has felt like one perpetual snow day after another. But now instead of a quiet day to be savored and enjoyed, It feels like a prison sentence. I have to keep reminding myself of how fortunate I really am. I have the luxury of staying home and staying safe when so many others don’t. Just human nature to want what we can’t have I suppose. 

With all of this “at-home-time”, squirrel watching has become a daily activity. Bob built a feeder this winter and we have it mounted on the deck outside of our family room. I have a perfect view from my desk and have been keeping my camera at the ready. Here are some photos of our regular lunch patrons: 

The squirrels in our neighborhood are becoming obese.

This poor guy has a sore tail. Eewww.

Even during the blizzard the regular customers showed up at the buffet.

Shortly after seeing some activity by our bushes the other day, I looked out and saw this guy land in our plum tree. From a little googling, I believe he is a Cooper’s Hawk. It wasn’t the first time we have spotted hawks hunting in our neighborhood, but I had never seen one with red eyes. Apparently this is a characteristic of a mature hawk, the juveniles have yellow colored eyes. 

Cooper's Hawk

And the wildlife photo that most excited me from this past week...an owl! This little guy was sitting in a neighbor’s tree and was so well camouflaged that I would have never spotted him if a friend hadn’t pointed him out. 

The worst of our winter is still to come, but it is nice to realize that our days are getting longer. This time of year, the sun has moved so far south that I can watch the sun setting over the lake from my kitchen window. On most nights I enjoy the view from indoors, but every now and then the show is so spectacular that I just have to bundle up and walk down to the shoreline to take it all in. How amazing!

I love how the clouds are reflected in the open water along the shoreline.

Winter Walks

Welcome 2021. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have come and gone and with very little fanfare in our house. After making the decision to be cautious and not spend time with family during the holidays, it was hard to get excited about any type of celebrating. Very little decorating took place and I couldn't even bring myself to listen to Christmas music this year. 

I have been worried that surviving a long, cold Minnesota winter was going to be especially difficult this year. But God has been gracious. Outside of an intense, pre-Christmas blizzard, our autumn and early winter have been relatively mild. Not t-shirt and green grass kind of mild, but temps have stayed in the positive range and we have very little snow. It took some bundling up, but we actually were able to ride the 7-mile bike trail around our lake a few times in December!

On a sunny day this past week we took a drive across the state line to the state of Iowa. On my All Trails app, I had found a promising looking hike in the Okoboji Lakes area. Part of the Iowa Great Lakes bike trail, this portion followed a path between Minnewashta and Lower Gar Lakes. 

I had hoped that the snow would have been cleared from the trail (as it is here on our bike trail) but that wasn't the case. It appeared that the trail is used for snowmobiling in winter so it made sense to keep it snow covered. The snow was packed hard and wasn't too bad for walking, even without boots. With the sunshine and temps in the upper 30's, we were quite comfortable.

The trail began in a small picnic area where we parked our car. The trail followed the shoreline and across a bridge between the two lakes. We saw a few fishermen had set up their ice houses on the lake.

The trail was only 1.6 miles long out and back, but for most of it we felt as if we were walking through a remote forest. A marker along the trail explained that the area was the homestead of the Henderson family in the mid-1800's. Prior to that it had been a Native America campsite.

Long winter shadows.

Perhaps we will return in the summer with our bikes.

We were unsure...was this a BLUE birdhouse or a birdhouse for BLUE BIRDS? 😉

By mid-afternoon the sun is sinking low in the sky.

The trail ended at a city street where we turned around and retraced our steps back the way we came.

It felt good to be outdoors and visit someplace new. In "normal times" I would spend an hour everyday at water aerobics in the warm YMCA pool, but usually avoid walking outdoors when the weather is too cold or windy. This winter I am learning that I really need to get outside, both for my mental and physical health. Bob is more disciplined and walks everyday regardless of the conditions, even in blizzards! Lately he has been spending time snowshoeing on the golf course.

There is still a lot of winter left here in our part of the country so we shall see how I cope with the coming months!