Migration Station

There's ice starting to form at the edges of the lake in the shallows. It's full of the normal varieties of ducks and Canada geese, plus as a bonus the trumpeter swans are migrating through. They stay out in the middle of the lake, but buzz the shoreline as they arrive and depart.

S would like to chase the birds, but the water is getting chilly.

 

Weather Patterns

We've had a couple of snowstorms so far. It's a pattern: nice weather, 40° temperature drop, rain then snow. Each time it gets a little bit colder and the nice weather isn't quite as nice as the previous cycle.

 

Mask Up!

I don't enjoy wearing masks - they fog up my sunglasses and they usually hurt a bit because they are all too small. Except for the awesome masks we received from SB. They are awesome and they fit my fat face. Thanks SB!!

Here in MN, we continue to hit new highs every week. This weekend we crossed 5,000 new cases in a single day. Wisconsin and the Dakotas are in worse shape. It's time to mask up, people! Do your part to help others around you. Hopefully the new administration will be able to bring us back from the edge and get us through the pandemic before it does to us what we did to the Native Americans when we stepped foot on North America.

 

Office Help

V has a thing for pillows. She is to the point that she will only sleep on a pillow. I put one on top of the amp in the office and she quickly made it her new spot. She helps me during the day in the work-from-home office.

 

Pikachu

JP went as Pikachu for our neighbor's Halloween campfire. Stuffed into the fuzzy yellow suit is a few pair of long underwear, sweaters, and a down coat. It was a balmy 35°, but we had 35 mph Nebraska winds that kept the sparks flying and the Coronavirus germs away.

 

Halloween Hike

Our spooky Halloween hike was on the Hell's Gate trail at Banning SP.

The spookiest part was having to walk under this huge ledge.

The coolest part is that there's a pothole in the ledge that was drilled in from the top and it is exposed from the bottom where the bottom of the ledge broke off. It's probably four feet in diameter. There are potholes everywhere in the sandstone, from the top of the cliffs all the way down to the river. 

 

Banning State Park

We hit Banning State Park for a beautiful day of walking the dog in the woods. It's an easy hour and a half north of us. We didn't know what to expect other than usually state parks usually have something special. We were not disappointed.

The Kettle River has carved out a beautiful canyon through the sandstone. We can't wait to come back in the summer and canoe the rapids. 

S is a real trooper when it comes to hiking. He had fun scrambling on the rocks and ledges.

 

Sunroom

Our favorite room in the house is the sunroom. With the leaves gone from the maple, it gets south and west sun.

 

Feline Dominance

The kitty exerts her dominance over the dog in funny ways. This time it was taking over his bed. The pillows, no less!

In the end, they worked out a compromise.