Jay Cooke revisited

Here is a photo of that nest where the grouse flew up and nearly slapped my face.  A dozen eggs!

Here is one of the 20 to 25 yellow lady slipper flowers blooming on the edge of a forest.

Oh Pioneers

My book club read Willa Cather's, Oh Pioneers this month.  I have read this and other Willa Cather novels before.  I enjoy her writing because it is so simple and descriptive.  The sandy hills of Nebraska would not make the ideal cropland for pioneers.  The people had to learn from their mistakes and adapt their knowledge to the situation at hand.  Not everyone can do that well. Some people cling to old practices because they have "always done it this way." I think Willa's point is we sometimes have to make bold choices in order to succeed in a tough environment.

Who Pays The Taxes Around Here?

Today at lunch we discussed the story in the newspaper about a deer that killed a pet poodle dog by stomping on the head of the dog. Some people thought the dog owner was lacking in sensibility and others didn't. I forgot all about that story until I got home. I put fresh bedding in the chicken coop.  I gave them water because they had tipped over the water bowl (again). I noticed their food was low so I took the feeder to fill it up.  When I returned I saw a beautiful deer standing next to the coop eating grass. I stopped to admire it. It stopped to stare at me. It blinked it's beautiful dark eyes at me and stomped it's foot while still chewing the grass.  I saw it had two knobs on it's head so it must be a young buck. The knobs were about an inch high. The buck was a beautiful shade of red and the coat looked very handsome. The buck stomped his foot at me again. I said quietly, "I live here." The deer stomped. I said, "I pay the mortgage." The deer looked at me blankly for a few seconds and stomped again. I said, "Yeah, that is right. I pay the mortgage and the taxes on this place.  Do you pay any taxes or mortgage?" At that the buck decided it was time to find another spot and he slowly ambled away south into the woods that form the deer highway. The deer didn't hurry.  I guess he wasn't afraid of me. I wasn't afraid of him either but if he's willing to kick in a little on the taxes I would let him stay. For all I know he was born in this yard.

Commuting

On Tuesday I drove my car to work. As I merged right from east bound Highway 10 across the two lanes where traffic comes in from Brooklyn Park the coast was clear. Twenty seconds later all four lanes had cars riding sensibly side by side. In my rearview mirror I see a pick up come barreling up from behind.  The pick up moved into my lane.  I have a hatch back so I get nervous when I get tailgated. The pick up swerved onto the shoulder and passed me going about 80 miles per hour as I clung white knuckled onto the steering wheel screaming softly as adrenaline flooded my system. Once past me the pickup merged left across four lanes into the inside lane.  What. The.  Heck? Today I drove to work on my motorcycle.  As I drove south on Highway 47 the sun came from the east making my shadow look very impressive.  I looked at my shadow and gave it a cool nod.  Later, as I stopped next to a 14 wheeler at a red light, I admired my reflection in the chrome on the hub caps. One would think driving a car would be less stressful than driving a motorcycle but this week proved that is not always the case.

Jay Cook

This last weekend I went to Jay Cook with a group of people. Unlike bird watchers or wild flower lovers, these were herpers.  They weren't looking up in the sky or at the plants and trees. They were looking under rocks, in ponds, and under rotten logs.  They wanted to see frogs, turtles, salamanders, and turtles.  I enjoyed their company but I did find it disconcerting to be walking along a trail in the park and be startled by something off to the side of the path which turned out to be a man turning over a rotten log. My personal goal was not to scream.  I like frogs and salamanders and turtles and snakes. But when I see a snake I involuntarily utter screams.  And I would never pick up a snake. I'll pick up other reptiles but not a snake.  Not yet, anyway.That may change over time.  Anyway, I failed in my goal not to scream. We were walking together, off the trail, looking for reptiles. The group dispersed and all of us got lost.  I am comfortable being lost with a group.  People were calling each other on their cell phones and blowing whistles to no avail. The woods are thick up there in Carlton, Minnesota. I was with a group of about 12 and we were wandering through the brush. The alder was thick and I was careful not to fall down. I was the fourth person to pass a white cedar tree when something flew up at my face. I screamed. I mean, if something flies at your face, a scream does seem to be an appropriate response, does it not? Then I realized it was a grouse. Then I laughed nervously as the adrenaline continued to flood my body. My eye caught sight of a nest. There, at the base of the cedar tree, was a round nest with 12 cream colored eggs.  I called everyone over to see.  We all took photos and then walked away so the grouse could get back to nest in peace. Holy cow, that was an experience I will always remember. All in all I hiked a good 5 miles wearing rubber boots. No one remained lost over night.  I met many interesting people of all ages.  In the group were a passel of children. The children were taken out to wade in ponds with dip nets. They found frogs and tadpoles. They found larva for predacious water beetles. One kid found a leech and the adult praised her.  I witnessed multiple really excellent child/adult interactions.  While some of the group stood in the leech infested pond I stood on the path watching. One young girl got tired so she sat down. You will never guess what she found on the paved trail.  She found porcupine quills. Evidently a porcupine strolled down this path and shook off 40-50 quills.  I found some too. I enjoyed my time with the herpers. Maybe I will join them again one day.

The new bridge

Lindberg

Trillium in bloom all around our campsite. My tent is orange.

Our last state park on our 12 parks in 9 day journey was Charles Lindberg state park. We chose this one because it was on our way home and because it had an opening on Memorial Day weekend. We had to drive from Itasca through the Finnish towns of Menaga and Sebeka to get there.  We arrived about 6 p.m.  We talked to the ranger.  He had worked there 20 years. He said they used to have 7 staff at this state park and now they have 2 staff.  The place is run down.  One shower didn't work. The tenant house on the property got a hole in the roof a couple years. The hole hasn't been repaired and now we saw four trees were growing on the roof.  I believe that house is beyond repair now. We drove to our campsite which was the last one unoccupied.  As we got near site 22 we saw a group of kids in the road. We approached slowly. Four of the kids were less then five years old and on little bicycles.  Two bikes had training wheels and two bikes did not have training wheels. The children moved aside. That is when we saw a baby in the road. The baby was about a year old and had a blue pacifier in it's mouth.  The baby was kneeling on the campground road looking at us. We were flabbergasted.  We didn't know what to do. The other kids just stood there with their bikes looking at us. My companion moved her car a foot forward. I just couldn't believe it that minutes would go by and no parent would come to the rescue of this child.  Who was this child? Was it Sweet Pea?  Would Olive Oyl and Popeye coming running up to save it? When the baby saw our car move it raised it's left arm and put out the palm toward us as if to beckon us to stop.  We looked at this baby looking at us and we giggled.  After another 45 seconds a man did come running. He scooped up the child and moved it to safety. We proceeded to our camp site to pitch our tents.  Later, as we were having our evening meal, we saw the baby again. We learned the baby's name was Moira. She was on her way to get cleaned up. The parents who were taking her to get cleaned up were not the person who scooped her up from the road.  What a strange event.  After so many days camping by ourselves with very few other campers, this was an adjustment for us.  Kids rode their little bikes up and down the road by our campsite. I could just tell they were having a really great time.  Great memories were happening all around us. 

Bemidji/LaSalle/Itasca

When I see things as brilliant as this stemless lady slipper, I wonder at the creativity of our creator(s).

I love, love, love this spot - the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  I came here as a kid and walked across those rocks.

On our camping trip this day (a Sunday) we visited three parks that were really close to each other and on our way home from the northwestern quarter of the state.  Bemidji was first.  We could see the landscape change as we drove there.  By the way, when you drive through Thief River Falls which is a very attractive little city, you will learn that the name of the high school team is the Prowlers.  Seriously? Does that not sound a little stalkery to you?  I know a guy who went to high school in that town. When I saw him I asked him if he was a Prowler.  He admitted he was. He grew up in the area so he never thought anything about the name of his school team.  I guess Prowlers does sound better than burglars or robbers or even the breakers and enterers. When we got to Bemidji about 9:30 I learned there was a ranger led hike on the bog boardwalk at 10. I hurried to the bog boardwalk.  I forgot what a long walk it was to the bog.  I actually have to cross a road and hike another 15 minutes before I got there. It was 10:30 when I got there and the ranger was at the end of the board walk.  I asked him if he could start all over.  He laughed. He did point out a stemless lady slipper flowering which was very nice of him because I missed it completely. People steal those flowers so I felt lucky he showed it to me. It has a stem.  I don't know why it's called stemless but the flower is 3 to 4 inches long and very pretty.  I hiked back to the car where my companion was looking for the geocache. She happened to leave the car door open so I opened it only to hear my cell phone ringing. Offspring #1 was calling with Grandgirl #2.  Grandgirl #2 was fussy and making repetitive complaints so I mimicked her sounds and she heard that and she stopped making them.  We talked for a while.  When my companion returned we went to LaSalle park.  This one is actually a recreational area but I don't get the difference between state parks and recreational areas.  La Salle Recreational Area looked like a state park with camping spaces, showers, fences, outhouses, sign posts and trails.  My companion looked for the geocache there while I explored along the lake. I saw hundreds of yellow swallowtail butterflies. Some kids were swimming next to the dock in the lake and they remarked on the hundreds of yellow butterflies swarming around me. By the way, the sign said this lake is the deepest enclosed lake in the state.  Who knew? At the sides of the lake we saw steep hills.  Many times steep hills next to a lake continue downward under the water. We ate our lunch at a brand new picnic shelter. This shelter had handicapped accessible picnic tables. It also had a shelf with enough space and plug ins for probably 30 slow cookers.  The barn swallows nested above us.  After lunch we headed to Itasca State Park. This is one of my favorite state parks. I loved coming here as a kid and I love coming here as an adult. This park,unlike some smaller parks we had visited, had plenty of staff.  In fact, they had "help wanted" signs posted all over. I  think it would be fun to work at Itasca for the summer.  I could rent out bikes, sell tickets, sell ice cream or answer questions. My companion thought it would be a fun thing to do also. Then I remembered I already had a paying job.  I didn't see any lady slippers in bloom here this time but I have seen them blooming at Itasca before and I hope to see it again some day.  My next blog will be on our last state park of this trip.