It seems we have experienced the last of the warm weather for this year. Frigid winds and rain have taken over the Northland and the leaves have left us as well. It feels like November should feel and I could be wrong, but I think our sunny October days are a thing of the past.
My wife and daughter spent last week in the Cities enjoying the tail end of autumn. They went down to Stillwater, her hometown, and visited an apple orchard/hobby farm with her family. The weather was beautiful, the apples were perfect, and Sophia loved playing with all of the animals in the petting zoo. I was pretty jealous, especially since it rained the whole weekend up here, but I was able to get some more projects done around the house.
Sophia is 10 months old now and I am amazed at how quickly she grows and develops. After being away from her for a week I can really tell how much she changes. Her facial expressions, balance, coordination and even her laugh have changed a little since she left home a week ago.
Normally we do not spend much time apart, but it seemed like a vacation that I could miss and it gave me a chance to work on the inside of the house while they were away. It is hard to break out the compound miter saw and air compressor in between naps and playtime.
I would have preferred working outside on the new wood shed, but the wind was enough to drive me crazy. It is hard enough being forced to keep tarps over the various things in our yard such as the woodpiles, and tools that would normally be stored in a garage. It is even worse when those tarps were ripped to shreds this weekend. It was blowing a steady 25 and gusting to 30-plus. I had a 16-foot boat on a trailer get rotated 180 degrees. Sheets of Styrofoam insulation were destroyed, garbage cans tipped over, and basically anything that was not secured ended up in the woods.
Our house is very exposed and vulnerable to the wind. The blowdown storm wiped out most of the old growth on our property, so we do not have much protection. In the winter I can finish plowing the driveway and a little wind will force me to start all over again. I am going to experiment with some strategically placed snow fences this year and see if it makes a difference.
The wildlife must not like the wind either since the grouse hunters were also complaining of having a hard time this past weekend. I know a few were shot and I suppose it will get a little better now that the leaves are all gone.
The deer have not been as ramped as they were last week in the warmer weather and I cannot even report on moose since we just do not see them as often as we used to. The beaver have been pretty active lately. There are a couple outside of the narrows on Saganaga that seem to always be working, or playing, I can never tell. Looking at the size of the lodge they have built I would say they are most likely working. I guess that is why they say “busy as a beaver.”
The Canadian jays, whiskey jacks, have been showing up lately and are very eager to eat. I put a piece of bread on my customer’s hat brim last weekend and told him to sit still. He thought I had lost my mind, but humored me anyway. It did not even take a minute and a Jack landed on his brim and took off to a nearby balsam. Fun trick, but I usually flinch before they land.
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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