Merganser Ducklings
Merganser Ducklings
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Category Archives: Lake Superior
Eastern Garter Snake
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Eastern Garter Snake
Beach Day
Beach Day
After yesterday’s blow, today, we enjoyed a beach day. It came with pleasant temperatures, plenty of sun and just enough wind to drive the bugs away, at least most of them. Anne and I first walked the beach and while doing so got to torment the sandpipers at the far end of the beach. Mother sandpiper was doing her usual waddle, bobbing up and down, trying to lure us along our way, with her wounded bird routine, but we had on our approach spied her chicks and were not so easily misled. We saw three chicks. Afterwards, we sat out on the beach, interrogated passersby and soaked up sun. I waded while Anne read.
Harry went to town. He always leaves with such joy in his heart, figuratively skipping down the steps to the car. Almost like a parolee being set free. He had a grocery list, but his main objective was to buy pants. Meijer’s had the food and it also sold trousers, but they were asking $44 a pair, which Harry thought was too much. In a previous discussion, Anne had suggested Meijer’s and the Salvation Army store, which is across the street from the laundromat. Not finding what he liked at the first suggestion, Harry went to the second and bought two pairs of pants for the princely sum of $4.40 or a nickel on the dollar.
Throw a nickel on the drum
Save another drunken bum
Salvation Army
Shore Acres
Shore Acres, Oregon
It rained last night and by the morning, the wind had come up and created quite a blow. Big waves were crashing on the beach, but fog and mist had closed in. The island floated in and out of visibility, while Canada was as good as gone.
Bubs .had her annual high school reunion today. With Studebaker’s closing, the luncheon had moved back to the country club. This year’s party numbered only two tables and 15 guests, of which only about half were classmates. Down significantly from even a couple of years ago. She had a good time this year and remembered most of the other guests who were seated at her table.
We took advantage of their outing, with a getaway of our own. We drove out to the Point Iroquois Lighthouse, but first we had to negotiate the construction project that 6 mile has become. Men were working the stretch of road east of Brimley, to the state park. Traffic was down to one lane and we had to wait a good long time, before it was our turn to proceed. We found new blacktop all the way through the Res. There is still a lot of orange out and about and striping needs to be done, but it looks like paving is complete, at least west of Brimley. The most surprising discovery was a separated paved bike path that connects the two casinos. I am very interested in trying it out, maybe as soon as tomorrow.
We eventually negotiated the construction and made it to the lighthouse. It was very windy there and the surf was even more intense. In contravention to all that is right, Anne threw rocks into the water. Even if she did throw like a girl. Save the date, August 3rd, the trans-Superior sailboat race starts from near there.
After the lighthouse, we enjoyed a late lunch at Pickles. Anne had the special, mango whitefish tacos and I had their two-piece whitefish dinner. I really liked the fish’s breading, it was way more flavorful than the regular Cozy Inn fare. After lunch, it was late enough that the road workers had folded for the day and we beat Bubs and Harry back to the cabin.
Mink or Weasel?
Mink on the Beach
Black Mink
Last evening, Anne decided to walk the beach. I thought that it was too buggy, but that’s just me. She only walked the short end, so maybe it was a wee bit buggy? She was rewarded though, when she captured on “film” pictures of the above critter. Our question is, “Is it a mink or a weasel?” Anne thinks that it is too small to be a mink. One point for weasel. Although, she did photograph it, in-between these too shots, swimming in the lake. One point for mink. Mink are darker than weasels. One more point for mink. In the end, it could be a juvenile mink or a weasel or a polecat or a polecat-mink hybrid, polecat-weasel hybrid, but it is definitely not a frog. We have seen no frogs this summer. The Critter might have been attracted by some fish guts left on the beach or it could have been after the merganser chicks that roost out on the nearby rocks. I again thank my lucky stars that I bought her, her new camera. Small enough that it fits in her pockets, but powerful enough that it can capture these shots. Go, Anne!
Today, Anne and I were walking the beach together and while she was snapping pictures of the mergansers out on their rocks, I spied the mink. It came out from the embankment and down to the water. It poked around the fish scales, which are all that’s left of yesterday’s fish cleaning and then came walking towards me. I alerted Anne, but tried to stand as quietly as possible. It came walking along the water’s edge, then stopped to inspect me. It was only about ten feet away. It looked like a juvenile. It continued on down the beach, passing Anne and soon disappeared into the rocks past the end of the short end of the beach.
Lettuce Give Thanks
Sleeping Porch Bunnies
Kind of a quiet day today. The calm before tomorrow’s storm. I photographed these two rabbits from inside the sleeping porch. I think that they’ve taken up residence under the cabin, because I’ve seen one or another of them darting out from beneath the cabin, for the last several days. One of them has white socks, but they are both rather badly infested with ticks. I wonder what they make of the two neighborhood hellhounds, Vivian and Mocha, who daily patrol this place. I think that the rabbits might have the weight advantage on them.
I’ve been doing a fair amount of cooking up here. I made a version of my avocado toast for the 4th of July potluck and there was enough of it left over, so that I could fix Anne and I breakfast on Saturday. We made dinner last night, pasta. We used blue cheese to make the sauce, which we laced with vegetables, but the secret ingredient was in the noodles, which were made from chickpeas. Don’t tell Bubs though, because she really liked it and I’m not so sure she would take that news well. Anne tossed a salad. Today, I made Californian chicken salad, which is basically just chicken salad, with fruit and nuts added. This also went over well. Tonight, Anne and I helped Harry’s frozen Stouffer’s lasagna, with fresh garlic bread and a tossed salad. Tomorrow, I plan on doing a London broil, complemented with roasted zucchini slices.
Lettuce Give Thanks
