Sunday, March 2, 2014

Weeks 24 & 25: Barkie Birkie, Lake Superior, Bobcat




Hello followers! Thanks for coming along with us to the hardest winter in Wisconsin in twenty years. It's really beautiful, but everyone is starting to grow weary of it. We're glad when we have temperatures above zero and for days when the sun comes out, putting a shine on everything and giving the illusion of warmth. The best part of the harshness of this winter is that I'm able to keep my nose to the grindstone and stay in and write. I'm still working on my book. It comes, slowly, but surely. We've been watching lots of movies and Larry's enjoying the spring training baseball games while I write.


These past couple of weeks, we've had some adventures, including one right here at home. Two beautiful Bobcats showed up in the yard, hanging out near the bird feeders for awhile. We initially thought they were the elusive Lynx, but the Department of Natural Resources told us they were Bobcats. I still like to think of them as Lynxes. It makes me feel special to have been visited by them, even if they are Bobcats. It's a hard winter for all the animals here, so they are roaming where they might not roam.



The American Birkenbeiner takes place near here, with the finish line on Main Street in Hayward. It's the largest cross-country ski race in North America. About 8000 people show up for it. We opted out of the traffic and crowds required to see the Birkie, but we went in a day early for the "Barkie Birkie." There'd been a big storm the night before. (We lost power and there was a still a storm warning in effect when we drove out.) We'd gotten a foot and a half of snow. Still, the snow had stopped, the visibility looked good, and we made it out of the driveway, so we headed to Hayward to watch all these sweet dogs pull (or not pull, depending on their mood) their owners on skis. It was super fun. We sat and had coffee afterwards and then stocked up on provisions on our way out of town.





One particularly sunny (but cold) Saturday, we drove to Duluth, MN, had lunch at the Duluth Grill, and then took a drive from Duluth along the coast of the north shore of Lake Superior. Some of it was frozen and some not. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful drive.



Our other big outing (besides the few days a week we drive into town for coffee, groceries, etc) was to hear a lecture at the Rookery Pub on the state of the American Martens in the area. The Marten is a small carnivore that was re-introduced to the area but is struggling. When we walked in, there were three women talking about the Sweetie Pie performances, which made me feel famous. The lecture was great, informative, and we had a chance to visit with various members of the Cable community. 

It's supposed to get up to 20 and even 30 next week. We sure wish we could send some of this snow to the Sierras and help out our friends in California during the drought. 

Thanks for reading. 

2 comments:

  1. Yeah, send us some snow! It's actually been snowing quite a bit here the past few days, but then it warms up and rains, washing it away at lake level. But at least the ski slopes stay snowy at high elevations, and that makes for good skiing and it helps out the economy here. I'm stunned that's a bobcat; looks so lynx-ish to me. We loved seeing a coyote across the street from our place. The parallels between our lives continue!

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  2. Enjoyed reading Dawn and love the pictures too. xo

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