And the rain came down....

Water, water everywhere. After three days of beautiful sunshine, a thunderstorm brought the end to winter. It was fun to see the lightning and hear the thunder once again. And the drops falling on our metal roof sound most welcome. I love winter, but I also love the other three seasons. I think that most folks who live in Minnesota and other parts of the midwest feel the same way. We get to experience each season, and then it changes to the next one. Never mind that it does this every year--it always feels new to me.

So the rain started on Wednesday, and continued through parts of Thursday. Today's forecast calls for near steady drops, and perhaps an inch total. Any thought of skiing on the lake is totally over. When I look out there, I see patches of white, some grey, and lots of standing water. It is supposed to drop below freezing tonight. The ice will be with us for several more days yet, but the snow is fast-disappearing with the rain beating down on it. So begins our fifth season in the Northwoods: mud season.

The birds are still flocking to the feeder--mostly the goldfinches, a few purple finches, and the nuthatches and chickadees. They are quite vocal! I saw a Canadian jay the other day, when he landed on the roof of the workshop. He had a feather in his mouth, so I assumed that it is nest-building time already for that species. I hope for lots of sunshine for them this spring. Can you imagine nesting in constant rain?!

The wolves have once again gone quiet. We heard them a week ago, but nothing since. In their place, a barred owl has taken up nearby residence and is hooting throughout the night. He is so loud, I can sometimes hear him when the windows are closed. I'm glad to hear him again, and hope that one of these days I will get a glimpse of him, either perched on a branch or swooping out of sight.

There is one last wolf sighting to report. Two weekends ago, our friend Meredith woke up very early in Diamond Willow cabin and looked out the windows. Running right in front of the cabin along the deer trails was a wolf. Meredith said that it was about 5 a.m. The path runs directly in front of the cabin, and the shoreline is just steps away. I can only imagine how exciting that moment must have been.

As promised, many moons ago, here is a picture of Cedar Point cabin in Remodel Stage 1. The wall between the living room and kitchen has been removed, thereby bringing in a lot more natural light. There is a new hearth under the woodstove, and a new shield behind the stove.

And here is a close-up of the woodstove and shield....

The next stage, which began last Monday, is the kitchen. Once again, Greg got to pull up old carpeting and generally clean the room out. On Wednesday, we brought Sharlene over and had a conference about how to arrange the appliances and new counters. Greg had four scenarios outlined on paper. After running through each one, we came up with a fifth possiblility, and that is what we will use. I won't say anymore than that until he is further along. Then I can post some more pictures, too. It is getting to the exciting part, because we can really see some great changes ahead. It will still be Cedar Point cabin, and will still have the "magic", as I call it, of being out on the point. It won't be the same as it always has been, but for those of you who really love Cedar Point, we hope that you will love it even more after this is done.

Addie and I are off to do a bit of camping and visiting next week, just within the state. We are not taking our usual bus trip this year, mainly due to remodel projects and so many trips last year. The green bus is currently being used at Cedar Point to store the birch flooring until it is installed. So Addie and I will be "roughing" it. This is about the only time of the year that I get to go camping, since we are so busy in the summer. We're looking forward to it, no matter what the weather brings!