#59 - Bring on the rocks and waterfalls!

One of the reasons that I chose to move to northern Minnesota was that I had this fantasy that I would be able to go out hiking a lot.  Sadly, it just doesn't seem to work out that way; everyday life seems to get in the way far too often in the form of meetings that force me to do laundry on weekends, uncomfortable weather conditions, etc.  I can tell that I am so much more relaxed after spending a day in a spot where I can't hear the neighbors mowing lawn or the dog down the street barking, so I need to make it more of a priority.

Here are some of the beautiful scenes I captured while completing this goal:

#75 - Arbor Day, a few weeks late

There's a saying that the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago and the second best time is today.  I moved into my house 11 years ago and have meant every spring to plant a tree in front.  This is the year it got done.  I originally was going to make it a boulevard tree - mostly to make mowing the front yard easier - however, the city where I live is currently experiencing some controversy over boulevard trees and who can plant them and what species the tree needs to be.  This discussion is not something that I wanted to be come involved in, so I decided to just put a tree into my front yard instead.

Waiting for planting

I did lots of thinking about what type of tree I wanted.  I cut ornamental flowering trees and fruit trees out of the list fairly quickly.  I don't want to deal with picking fruit at exactly the right time, having other people enter my yard to pick fruit because I haven't had time to pick it yet, having squishy fruit on the ground, or dealing with people coming along and cutting flowering branches off a tree that I don't want pruned.  (I've dealt with all of these situations in the past - not fun!)  Then next "category" to go were trees that are common in this area.  While I love them, I can see them walking around town or going out to a friend's house.  I also decided that I wanted a TREE - meaning a large shade tree, not a quick-growing windbreak tree or an oversized shrub.  After much thought, I decided on a bur oak - a tree that I associate with some good memories.  Though they aren't common in my area of the world, they will grow here, are highly drought-tolerant, and meet all of my qualities mentioned above.

Yesterday, I was visiting my parents' farm, and, late in the afternoon, my dad and I went out to dig a tiny oak that he had found in the old cow pasture.  I didn't take photos of that part of the tree-planting process, but I want to mention that it was surrounded by violets (one of my favorite spring flowers), so I'm hoping I might get the bonus of some volunteer violets next spring.  This tree could well be the child or grandchild of an oak that I remember growing about 50 feet away when I was little.  That old tree was the site of quite a bit of play time for me growing up - one of the limbs was near the ground and it had a little niche that I used to store my acorn "tea cups" in.

Starting to dig

Today, I dug the hole in my front yard for my little tree's new home.  It's in the ground, and I'm hoping for the best.  It looks so tiny right now, but I can squint and imagine that in 50 years it will be providing shade, homes for birds and squirrels, and acorn teacups for some other child to find on the sidewalk.

One tree against the dandelions!

#47 & #67 - Blueberries and Perennials

Over the last few weeks, I've spent quite a bit of time working on my backyard.  Among all of the regular tasks of initial spring weeding and keeping the lawn at a manageable height, I also have added lots of new plants.

Last summer, I had the brainstorm that since I already have a small patch of strawberries - which I annually battle the chipmunk to be able to actually eat - I should also plant some blueberries.  It was too late in the year to plant them at that point, but my friend Annette let me visit her yard and taste test all of the varieties she grows.  Until I tried her five different types, I hadn't realized how much of a difference in flavor there is between them.  I was immediately taken by the NorthCountry variety; they taste just like wild berries.  Later in the summer, my friend Nina took me on the annual garden club tour, and I saw someone growing blueberries in large fabric pots.  I liked that idea too ... easier to keep weeded, pick, and discourage wildlife from eating my precious berries!   So, this spring, I ordered pots, got the NorthCountry plants (along with two other varieties for pollination purposes), and now I have a tiny blueberry patch just for me!

The first lily from Mom - a year after I planted it.

Looking south from where the fountain goes ... all new plants!

The other major gardening project that I had on my list was working on completing the perennial bed down the entire length of my east fence.  I added the fence in the summer of 2007 and quickly realized that I didn't like mowing right next to it.  So, the next spring, my Mom gave me some beautiful lilies for my birthday and two friends gave me other perennials ... all together about 6 feet worth of flowers.  I've added about the same amount each of the last two years as well ... all perennials, mostly gifts.  When I put the goal of finishing the length of the fence on my list, I expected to work on it over more than one year.  However, I was on a roll over Memorial Day weekend and despite a cold rain dug a whopping length of 33 feet more planting area and started to fill it in.  I discovered several major rocks along the way which I didn't even try to remove ... I put leftover tile around the side of one and will use it as the location of my solar fountain.  Last night, I added the final plant in the stretch.  Now I can simply enjoy the blooms through the summer ... currently, the roses, forget-me-nots, and columbine are the most colorful.  And, I have my very first iris bloom (planted last fall) from a patch that was originally my grandmother's.

#53 - Geocaching

What child has not dreamed about finding a treasure box, the thrill of knowing where something special is hidden, and the moment of discovery?  Those dreams are probably what's at the heart of geocaching.  If you've never heard of the term, picture using GPS coordinates to find hidden boxes in both rural and urban environments.  Want more information, as well as a short video clip, follow this link:  geocaching homesite.

I went out both yesterday and today trying to find caches.  Saturday was not so successful; I was using a borrowed GPS device (thanks for the loan Dad!) and wasn't very sure how it worked.  My friend Amanda was a good sport about what turned out to be a very long hike over rugged terrain with two little boys (9 months and not quite 4 years old) in tow.  But, it turned out that the GPS device was using a different type of coordinate coding that what I had printed out.  (Hmmm....maybe I need to do more research before I try something like this next time).  Consequently, we went right by where the cache was that we had hoped to find ... we probably were looking for a spot out in the middle of the lake we were hiking around because of the differences in the two systems.  Oh well, it was a nice day to be out, and I got to tell Silas (the older of the two) an abbreviated version of The Hobbit (centered on Smaug since he loves hearing about dragons) to take his mind off the fact that he was tired.  We were all tired; Amanda figured as we got back to the car that our 1.8 mile jaunt for the cache turned into over 7 miles of hiking over lots of steep hills, rocky terrain, and tree roots. Amanda deserves major hiker woman kudos as she was carrying her baby in a carrier backpack all the way.

Today, I met my nephew Jason in Duluth, and we searched for four caches in Enger Park.  Having learned the coordinate lesson the day before, I had copied down multiple conversions for the locations.  Knowing that Jason is more technology savvy than myself, I put him in charge of the GPS unit.  Off we went (with hiccups from the GPS - which seemed to change its mind regularly as to where we were).  However, after a bit of wandering back and forth ...

The first cache

I finally got to see what an actual cache looks like.  The little notebook is a log where you write your name and the date that you found the cache.  The other items are for trade ... you can take something to remind yourself of your find and leave a treasure for the next person who happens along. This box was smaller; the others were WWII ammo boxes.  Some caches can be as small as film canisters, but we didn't try for any that tiny.

The most challenging part for us was convincing the GPS to spit out information that was usable.  Jason spent lots of time saying things like "stop being difficult" and "but you just said that direction was east" to it.  Getting there was not just half but more like 95% of the battle since we needed to first establish where "there" was.

Jason tries to commune with the GPS

Of course, having a topo map would have helped too.  Some of the caches are in locations on a hill and it can be much easier to either start from the top or the bottom depending on the terrain.  The third site was an example; we would have been much better off coming down the hill where a trail was not too far away rather than straight up the hill from the road.

Looking down at the hill we had just climbed up to the third cache

We did find all four caches ... plus some golf balls from the nearby course ... so we came home with some treasures.

My cache treasures, found golf balls, and stick that stowed away in my daypack!

My overall feeling on geocaching ... fun, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to get a GPS since I'm fine with hiking just to enjoy the scenery.  I think that it would be great fun for families (and some of the caches showed evidence that families had been there) to do together.  I might try a few of the local caches just to see how the experience varies in a town environment.  And ... after two days of hiking, I'm really looking forward to a nice, mostly flat, typical morning walk tomorrow.

#11a - Wild Rice

Okay, so this wasn't on my list, but mostly because I didn't think of doing it.

Yesterday evening, I got a call from my friend Amanda asking if I wanted to go ricing.  Wild rice season opened last week in Minnesota, and she was curious to give it a try.  I said sure - as long as she recognized the fact that canoes are not always my friends.  She said that she would paddle (or pole if necessary) if I would do the actual harvesting.

The procedure is fairly simple - one person poles or paddles the boat through the rice, and the other uses sticks called knockers to get the rice to fall onto a tarp inside the boat.  Check out this video for a visual example:



We set off this morning to get to our chosen spot just at 9 am (when the ricing hours start).  Setting up the canoe was easy, and there was lots of rice on the river.  It took me a few minutes to get the hang of bending and knocking the rice stems.  I have no comparison for the motion, but I will say that Amanda could paddle faster than I could keep up with the knocking.  I mentally thanked Peter (who had given me some advice the night before) for suggesting long pants tucked into socks.  The rice has a very itchy beard and hosts a wide array of insects and spiders.  The rice seemed pretty green, so after trying a few different sections to test ripeness, we turned the ricing experiment into a simple paddle.

Will I go out again?  Probably, it would be fun to get a big haul and was a pleasant way to spend the morning.

#11 - Solo kayaking

When I was in 6th grade, I fell through the ice ... obviously, I made it back out (without assistance as no one was nearby), but since then I've had a hard time feeling relaxed in water.  Boat trips are spent watching the closest shoreline.  Friends have tried to teach me to swim with only slight success.  I start to consider walking on ice when other people are happily driving their half ton pickups across it.  It's somewhat ironic considering that I'm currently living in an area with abundant water recreation opportunities.

However, I truly do want to enjoy myself on the lake somehow.  So, earlier this year, when one of my friends suggested kayaking, I said yes.  And I loved it - except for some twinges of "it's going to tip over and I'll die" whenever a power boat zipped by.  The quiet feeling of gliding along with gorgeous scenery ... what's not to like about that ... it must be what swans feel like.  But, I held close to the safety blanket of being out with someone else as if that made any difference when we were in separate kayaks.

So, this challenge was all about proving to myself that the water gods would not reach up and pull me under the moment that someone else was not just a few feet away.  So, off I went ...

First, there was getting the kayak in the water.  Note that I was not thinking ahead about getting in when I stuck the paddle on the seat ... sorry, but you don't get to see the awkward photos of how I dealt with that!  Then one last longing look at the shore.

And, off I went ... watching closely for other watercraft.

Meanwhile, my friends were entertaining a visitor on shore ...

Sascha is a young fox who has discovered a good thing in the form of my friend Nina (who has been known to rescue baby turtles that fall from the sky).  He is definitely still wild but will gladly stand still for a photo op in return for, say, a piece of cheap hot dog.

Or, maybe do more that just stand still ... those hot dogs are good!

I was still making my way back from the other side of Indian Island at that point.  Though my goal was only to go around one island, I went around three (one very small) and came back up the shoreline.

But Sascha stayed long enough for me to watch him from the water.













Back to shore ... safely ... big sigh of relief!

Many thanks to my friend Nina for introducing me to kayaking, taking these photos, and much, much more!