October 10, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Green leaves. White snow. Leech Lake.

I woke up this morning to about a half inch of snow covering the ground, the wind was howling at 20-25 mph out of the WSW covering the lake in white caps, the temperature was 26 degrees and the skies were gray and looked like they could produce more snow.

I heard on the radio yesterday that only eight times in the past 60 years has Minnesota had measurable snow in October. Now I'm not sure how they define "measurable" but the weather reporter said that this weekend we have some. And we sure do.

It's unusual because many of the leaves on the trees still haven't fully changed color. Many leaves are still green. So we have a covering of white snow with green leaves on the trees. Like I said, unusual.

I notice that the sunlight in the kitchen, in fact the whole house, is different with snow on the ground. I guess the light reflects differently off the white of the snow as compared to the green of the grass. But it makes the entire house seem different. Not better or worse, just different. And I like that feel.

It's now getting close to 2:00 p.m. and I just got back from my daily walk. I walk down our road to Paulsen's and back, a roughly two-mile trip. It felt good to be outside in the cold air and strong wind. The temperature is still only 28 degrees and the wind is strong at 20+ mph out of the WSW.

The entire ground is covered in green leaves. It's as if the trees and the weather were having a standoff to see which one would change first. Some of the leaves on the trees had begun to change to yellow, orange and red, but most of the leaves on most of the trees were still green.

Well, the weather couldn't wait. It changed first, bringing with it the first freeze and first snow of the season. Those two factors, coupled with the howling winds, have brought many green leaves to the ground. Northwoods weather 1. Trees 0.

As I walked a light snow started to fall. I only wish Kathleen could be here with me to enjoy the beauty of the changing seasons. She loves the Fall, and the magic of the first snow fall.

After my walk I stopped by the cabin to check on my fathead minnows. I have them in a double-bucket down by the lake. I like to provide the bait with lots of oxygen, so I have an aerator hooked up and the tube and stone in the water with the minnows. The tiny fish have lots of oxygen to breathe and the water isn't frozen, yet. I'll check on them again tomorrow.

I also checked the boat lift to make sure it would still move up and down; since there is ice forming on it. It worked perfectly, and the next calm day we have I'm going to pull the boat out of the water. That might not be until the end of next week if the weather forecast can be believed.

I gathered up some of the chopped firewood we have stacked at the cabin and brought it back to the house. I like to have a fire at night to take the chill out of the house, and we have some nice maple logs next door, so I brought a few back here with me.

After stacking the firewood on the front porch by the door, I walked around the side of the house and checked the propane level. Still at 60% which is fine. I then walked out onto the end of the dock. Boy, the wind sure is fierce out on the end of the dock. And cold too.

I looked around the lake, but didn't see any boats on the water. The combination of the cold wind, snow and freezing temperatures has kept even the bravest of us fisherman off the water this afternoon.

It's time now to go clean out the fireplace in preparation for tonight's fire.

I dumped the ashes from the fireplace outside, then walked over to the cabin for a few more pieces of maple. While I was outside I again walked out onto the end of the dock, being careful not to slip on the snow and ice that had built up on it.

I looked south toward Goose Island and to my surprise, there were three boats bouncing the white caps off Second Duck Point. I couldn't see them well because the wind was blowing straight into my face, and the snow flurries kept hitting me in the eyes, but there were definitely guys out fishing today. Good for them. If I wasn't worried about banging up my boat as I got it off and onto the boat lift, I'd be out there too. I don't mind the cold, the wind or the snow.

I decided since it is so cold that I better get the insulation up in the vents in the crawl space under the house, so I changed into some work clothes, grabbed my gloves and face mask and went under the house.

The vents are now stuffed with insulation and are covered for the winter. It seems as if I mark the seasons with me crawling on my hands and knees under the house. In the spring, the insulation comes out and the vents let in warm, fresh air to keep mold and moisture from building up under the house. In the Fall, the insulation goes back up to keep the crawl space warm and the pipes from freezing.

I noticed that the "stairway to heaven" mouse traps in the crawl space were effective, killing many of the little rodents. I wasn't prepared to clean them out this trip down there, but I'll get to that next week.

Now it's time to listen to the new "A Prairie Home Companion" show live from the Fitzgerald Theatre in downtown St. Paul. I love listening to this show when I'm here at the lake. Tonight the Steele sisters are vocal guests and well as Nico Case.

It's now 9:30 p.m., it's still 28 degrees, the wind is strong out of the WSW, but it's not snowing. Word is that it will snow 1-2 inches tomorrow night. But no more for tonight.

So good night from Leech Lake. Kathleen and Joe, enjoy the Sharks-Wild game tonight at the Tank. Go Sharks!