Pheasant

When you set out your bird feeders you can expect many visitors.  Gophers, chipmunks, squirrels, and birds both great and small.

Here is a surprise visitor, a pheasant.

Spring has Arrived at Lake Minnewaska

We are in shorts and tee-shirts now.  Just like that, temperatures in the high 70s.

Two deer were in the back yard this morning.  We saw four deer last evening.  No fawns spotted yet.

We are now spotting some baby geese.  However, this pair is still on the nest and we are watching them on our morning walk.

Lake Minnewaska was very calm this morning.  These ducks made ripples as they swam away from shore.

In the lowlands, the Redwing blackbirds make music for us as we walk.

There are always fishermen on the Lake

These Minnesota kids are really tough.  We watched two youngsters water skiing today.  The water temperature is 58 degrees.

Yes, the leaves are now developed.

Today, the Lilac bushes at our entrance broke free from the grip of winter.

 

Yes, we are celebrating the arrival of Spring.

Return to Lake Minnewaska

It was the cry of the loon that brought us down to the lake last evening.  It was the sunset that kept us there.  Enjoy.

Earth Day 2021

Yesterday was Earth Day.  We celebrated it at one our favorite locations on earth.  We walked for miles on the beach at Pass-a-Grille, St. Pete Beach, Tampa Bay area.  Others think this beach is special too.  Indeed, TripAdvisor just named this beach best in the United States:

Interested in seeing the list of top beaches?  Here is your link:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g191

We saw something special as we walked the beach.  As a tribute to Earth Day, a group of enthusiasts made a sand sculpture to honor Mother Earth.  It was something to see.  It was fun to watch four individuals work on the sculpture, all made of sand.

Note the people standing on the earth.

Worker cleans up some coral, all made of sand.

In honor of Earth Day 2021 let's view a few quotes on the subject:

 

Beach at Minnewaska

 I remember being to the beach at Lake Minnewaska in my youth.  Now, we have the evidence.  Thanks Larry and Clare for this picture.  Yes, that is me standing at the far left in the very cool bathing suit.

Yes Virginia, there is a Lake Wobegon.

In about a month we head north to Lake Minnewaska.  Again, this year I hope to drive over the hill to Lake Wobegon.  Some of you sceptics tell me there is no Lake Wobegon.  You are wrong.  I have seen the signs along Interstate 94 pointing out "Lake Wobegon Trail".  How could there be a trail if there is no Lake Wobegon at the end of the trail?  How much more proof do you need?

When I drive over the hill and into Lake Wobegon this summer, I will take some pictures just to prove you nay-sayers are wrong.

Need more proof that Lake Wobegon exists?  Please read the letter to Virginia below.

I rest my case.

Gene

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus Lake Wobegon. He It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus Lake Wobegon. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus Lake Wobegon! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus pour over the map of Minnesota, but even if they did not see Santa Claus Lake Wobegon coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus Lake Wobegon, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus Lake Wobegon. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus Lake Wobegon! Thank God! he it lives, and he it lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he Lake Wobegon will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Note:

A special thanks for that memorable exchange between Virginia O'Hanlon and Francis Church which was posted a century ago in a newspaper, the Sun, of New York City.  It is the most reprinted editorial in any newspaper in the English language.

Of Scandinavian Decent

Like so many Minnesotans, I am of Scandinavian decent.  Mom was Swedish.  Dad was Norwegian.

Let's take a minute and enjoy some music from the famed voices of Norway and Sweden.

Sissel Kyrkebø (Kirk-a-bee) took Norway by storm.  She is one of the best living sopranos.  Her name would be Cecelia in America.  She has two daughters, Ingrid and Sarah.

Here are two songs from our Norwegian soprano:

Sissel - You Raise Me Up - Best Version of 'You Raise Me Up' On YouTube - YouTube

Sissel - You Were Always on My Mind - YouTube

ABBA swept Sweden, then the world by storm.  Enjoy.

ABBA Chiquitita - (Live Switzerland '79) Deluxe edition Audio HD - YouTube

Abba - Dancing Queen - YouTube

In just over a month we head for Minnesota, and Lake Minnewaska, for the summer.  Yeah.