Wildersmith on the Gunflint: February 19

              
Following some “true north” cold, Gunflint conditions have turned somewhat southward once again. Before the turn-around, this neighborhood had a spell of January frigidity as Wildersmith experienced several days of bitter readings prior to emerging above zero last Sunday. 

On the precipitation side of the weather ledger, things were also on the minus side with the only snow happening of the horizontal variety. As strong winds ushered in the cold, loose snow was whisked off flat lake surfaces. Subsequently, the forest landscape was plastered with a hard coating of icy crystals. Hence, critters' trails around the yard were smoothed over as if a fresh snowfall had taken place. 

The bitter cold may have firmed up some of the slushy places on lakes away from shore lines, but plenty of the icy goop remains near shore on a number of lakes. Longtime residents living along Gunflint Lake indicate this is the worst slush they’ve ever seen. That in mind, this semi-winter has broken two records what with the latest “ice on” ever of January 4 and now this continuing slurry mire.  

Another consequence of this “El Nino” disaster is the lack of ice depth on big area lakes. A friend in my neighborhood was here angling over the Presidents' Day weekend, and reports Gunflint Lake ice measured at 17 inches. Normally right now, as winter begins its descent toward spring, we would be looking at two and a half to three feet of hard water. This oddity causes yet another instance of cold season weather lore trivium. 

Speaking of snow, in spite of what appears to be mediocre accumulations around here thus far, a healthy couple feet of the stuff had built up on the Wildersmith roof. Coupled with some early season freezing rain and sleet, ice damming character is becoming a problem along the eaves of our abode. Consequently, yours truly has been into housetop snow removal over the last few days. What a job!  Notwithstanding my passion for the white, I hope for a little reprieve from a new build up until sore muscles recuperate. 

Our “green thumb” neighbor from over on Loon Lake relayed spring tidings last week. She announced her first indoor plantings (bok choy) had sprouted. This may be more indicative of an early spring than “Punxsutawney Phil” or any other of his groundhog kin. Of course, it’s still a long ways until sprouts can be set out in the garden, but the happening alone makes people smile. 

During a quiet moment of outdoor observation last week, I was amused at the sight of a neighborhood squirrel munching sunflower seeds with posthaste. The red rodent was eating like there was no tomorrow, seed after seed, as fast as one could be picked up while casting away shells like they were coming from an automatic weapon.  

After watching this dining exercise for several moments, I decided to time the tiny fellow/gal to see how many kernels it might consume in a 60-second segment. There is probably not a category for this in Ripley’s “Believe it or not,” but for the record, 25 morsels were picked up, shelled, and devoured in a single minute.  I’d bet the “boys of summer” couldn’t come close to matching this. 

Perhaps readers and listeners think I have too much time on my hands, and maybe so, but I’m chalking it up as one more up north educational highlight. You know one has to keep their ear to the ground and eyes to the sky for any and all Gunflint Trail enlightenments. 

Lastly, but certainly not in the least of news for this week, listeners and website readers are reminded of this station''s first fund raising mission of this new year. The session for sustaining this North Country broadcast phenomena kicked off Thursday and runs through noontime this coming Monday.     

The theme of this membership drive is “Cabin Fever.” Regardless of where listeners reside, there is no need to feel the “fever” when you have WTIP at your beckon. The wonderful spirit of North Shore, and wilderness living, is brought to life every day through a dedicated staff and countless volunteers. 

However, costs of bringing this airwave effervescence to you does not come cheap, quality programming costs money. This is where supporting membership is so important! WTIP cannot continue to grow without the gracious support of its membership. Members, both renewing and first timers, have been great to step up in the past with their financial resources, and I hope all will do so again during the next few days.  

Don’t delay, give us a call at 387-1070 or 1-800-473-9847, or click and join at WTIP.org, or stop by the studios at 1712 West Highway 61. The folks at WTIP need you! 

This is Fred Smith, on the Trail at Wildersmith, keep the radio on and JOIN in the “Cabin Fever” fun!
 
 
{photo by Jon Large via Flickr}