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Sunday, May 4, 2014

Da blooz

Woke up this mornin'
Took a look outside
Was that frost I saw?
Thought I'd stay in and hide

The dog is tellin' me
She has to go
We went out the door and found
We'd been dusted with snow!

Got those late springtime blues again, mama 
Nothin' I can do
I'll just dream of summer
And have a beer or two

Of course the other way to start a blues tune is "I've got a woman," but since the Cooker sometimes reads this I'm not going to go there. Mama didn't raise no fool!

This was taken last weekend. The good news is most of the snow in the open areas is gone, but there is still plenty in the woods. Minnesota fishing opener is next weekend and the fear is that most of the lakes in the Arrowhead region (where we live) will still be ice covered. I don't fish much anymore, but in this part of the country it is considered to be one of the higher intellectual pursuits.

Migratory birds are starting to look for nesting material and they find it here on the farm. You might remember the ravens grabbing beaks full of horse hair from Vedas. Now the smaller birds are at it. I think these are cowbirds that don't know the difference between a cow and a horse.

Click on the pic for a better look.

Imminent signs happen every day. Raccoons have been caught at the bird feeder during the dark hours and now the striped rats (chipmunks) have come out of hibernation.

Even the Big Lake has lost its ice in these parts. Down by Duluth, however, it has been piling up and the cargo ships and ore freighters have been going with a coast guard escort in order to make it to the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. Usually they are just referred to as the Soo Locks, but they have been a real bottleneck since the shipping season started this "spring". 

Yesterday I stopped by the harbor on my way to work. Yes, I have to work an occasional Saturday. I missed the more colorful part, but managed to get a few shots of the rainbow (not a snowbow this time) over Grand Marais and its harbor. There is still a chunk of ice in the foreground, but you can see that the rest is actual water! I'll bet the folks in the U.S. southwest would love to see this much fresh water. Their drought is getting pretty severe.





We are well into mud season and soon things will be greening up. At least by next month, anyway. Time to go outside and watch the spring slowly creep in. The sound of rushing water from the snow melt is like music, especially when the birds add their songs. A natural cacophony of orchestral proportions. It even makes this grumpy old fart smile a little.





9 comments:

  1. Jono--Snow last weekend? Wow. We're wearing shorts today in Missouri.

    What kind of horse are those? (They're beautiful.)

    Thanks for sharing your photos. (The one with the trailer/cart would make a great note card. Just sayin'.)

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  2. I lived in Michigan for almost 20 years. I spent many summers up on Lake Superior and it still is a big part of what I consider my real education! I learned a lot just getting my Jeepster stuck on logging trails and then having to get it unstuck. Snow? Yeah well a few years ago it snowed on May 15th here in La Sechere. But last night I had my first barbecue. The North American freeze has made my European weather pretty strange. It never really froze here. It rained every day for weeks. But hell, I'm tanning already. I work a lot with horses. My neighbor is a one woman horse rescue command center. She has at least 18 horses on various pieces of land around here at any given time. I have a big old stone barn and store hay for this horse owners network here. Need some?

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  3. Sioux,the snow stopped last Friday at 2:00 pm after dumping at least a foot on us. The horses are Norwegian Fjord horses. Last time I checked, Vedas had a daughter in Missouri. The lighter colored one is a granddaughter of the darker one.

    Donna, I think they could love you too!

    microdot, Remember four wheel drive just gets you stuck deeper in the woods.I would love to do a rescue, but I don't have much money or a large animal vet within three hours. My horses would love some imported French hay! I think shipping might be prohibitive, though.

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  4. http://www.saxgirl.com/saxgirl-www/WriteYourOwn.htm

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  5. The Blog Fodder, that is an excellent guide! I don't usually think of the blues as a Ukrainian thing, but it is totally justified now. I hope the Russians leave soon.

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  6. You had snow again??? I'm not going to mention that we've had the AC running all week then. Wouldn't want to upset you...

    I do remember snow on Mother's Day when I still lived in New York.

    Your comment about the chipmunks reminded me of a episode of "Sex and the City" when the main character was in the country once and got frightened by a squirrel. She then called it "...a rat with a cuter outfit."

    Lovely rainbow pic!

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  7. The spring music of melting snow and joyous singing birds. "A natural cacophony of orchestral proportions."

    That is my favorite song in the world. And you are a gifted poet, Jono.

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  8. Beautiful post Jono. I wish I could be there to enjoy the spring. It's already hot down here in the sunshine state and only going to get hotter.

    BTW, the horses are gorgeous. It's great that they're shedding hair at the same time the birds are feathering their nests.

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