Homecoming 2010

As a homeschool, we didn't attempt some of the usual school traditions, like prom and other dances. But in a way, we do celebrate Homecoming, even if it is at the wrong time of the year. I just returned from picking up Paul and Addie at college. Now who wouldn't want to arrive to a scene that looks like this?---What a lovely sight on Gunflint Lake to greet us this morning. I suspect that I missed a perfect-weather weekend here on the Trail. But if this is an indication of what is ahead, I am grateful to be back home. Paul and Addie feel the same. Addie said that it was hard to fall asleep last night, because she was so excited for morning to come---just like Christmas!

Miss a day, miss a lot...twice that for me. In my absence, the black flies returned. They are a necessary component in the blueberry plant's lifecycle, in that they pollinate the berry bushes in early summer. I'm hoping all the rain we received last week will nourish those little flowers so that we will later on have an excellent crop. We have just a few bags of berries left in the freezer, so it's nearly time to replenish the supply. Summer brewing plans include a batch of raspberry mead, so the rain should help those bushes as well. I noticed my tulip plant has bloomed, too, while I was gone. Its cheery red is a welcome spot in my otherwise-still-green flower patch. Now who would plant only one tulip bulb?! Evidently me, though I don't remember when. Or maybe I can blame it on a squirrel for digging it up somewhere else, and replanting it here. If that is the case, I wonder whose bulb it was?

The rain probably brought the lake level up a bit, but not enough yet to be real noticeable. As this photo indicates, our dock is ridiculously high out of the water. This is due in part to it not being pushed in all of the way yet. We are transitioning from a long wooden ramp to a roll-in one, another step in making the work easier. Soon the newer extension will be here and ready to go, so then we can position the dock further out in the water.

My flickers are calling right now, as I sit and write this on the porch. I should go and spy on them, in case there might be new little ones around. There just might have been another change that happened while I was gone.