The hot and humid weather has done wonders for our towering tomato plants in the garden, but it is no fun to be sweating off the winter weight while doing outdoor chores this week. My family loves the summer heat, even though it feels like a sticky May in Key West to me, so it is hard not to wear a smile while playing with our kids in the back yard.
A heat wave on the Gunflint Trail is fairly short lived but we decided to install a window air conditioner to help cut the humidity in our house anyway. It feels great! The kids have a small swimming pool to enjoy in the back yard with plenty of water toys to play with in the heat, but it was getting too hard for us to sleep at night without the AC. If the kids get to sleep through the night—then so do we.
Summer is such a great time to enjoy the outdoors in northern Minnesota despite the hot and buggy conditions. We have long been famous for harboring the world’s largest population of mosquitoes but they are a welcome sight in comparison to the biting flies. I am not sure if these horrific creatures are getting stronger each year or if my tolerance is becoming weaker—either way they are maddening.
This “super breed” of biting house fly will relentlessly attack its prey until it either completes the mission of devouring a chunk of flesh or occasionally falling victim to a successful swat of the hand—but you have to be very quick. They are brilliant at avoiding the fatal swat by jumping into flight at the very last second. I think they are the Ninjas of the fly world that can slip out of harm’s way in the blink of an eye.
Let’s not forget the little black flies that are also an incredible nuisance and can leave a painful welt on some people. Our little guy, Bo, fell victim to a bite on his eyelid that swelled up and looked to be very irritating for a couple of days.
I used to laugh at people who chose to wear bug nets of any kind but it is the best defense from these little flying mouths, especially for children.
Bugs are part of the adventure in northern Minnesota and they usually are starting to disappear by the end of July. The late spring and swampy conditions have been favorable for bug production and the comforting trade-off is that we have a blooming healthy forest that is noticeably coming to life this year. I am still amazed at how well the forest can recover from such a disastrous fire. It will take a lifetime to see the big white pines rebounding but it is comforting to see the void filling in around the otherwise sterile landscape. Green is good, even if it is only the beginning stages of a recovering forest.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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