I arrived at the Bemidji airport at 10:15 p.m. last night and made it out to our house on Leech Lake an hour or so later. I couldn't believe how warm it was -- 70 degrees -- at that time of night. When I left San Jose around noon Pacific Time the temperature was barely 60 degrees. Go figure.
This morning when I woke up the temperature was again near 70 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast with occasional patches of blue sky, and the wind was out of the SSE at 20 mph; but because the peninsula blocks the wind from that direction, the lake in front of the house was relatively calm, with just small waves.
Since I got in late last night I didn't have a chance to do any grocery shopping so I went into Bemidji this afternoon to buy groceries and pick up a pie at Perkin's for the OPA Pot Luck tomorrow evening.
On my drive into town the thermometer in the truck read 76 degrees. Talk about an Indian Summer! But it was extremely windy with gusts up to 50 mph. After my shopping and various errands I drove back to Leech Lake.
Rain fell intermittently during the drive, and at times came down in buckets forcing me to set my windshield wipers to full speed. But by the time I got to the house the rain had stopped and there were brief moments of sunshine. That didn't last long.
At 6:30 p.m. a storm began approaching from the south, and with it, more wind and the rumbling of thunder. The sky darkened and the whitecaps on the lake picked up. The temperature, however, remained warm at 75 degrees.
A storm approaches from the south on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake
With the groceries all stored away, I went out onto the dock to watch the storm approach. But the light left the sky by 7:00 p.m., so I went back into the house.
John Newman invited me over to his cabin for dinner tonight, so I've got to make a salad in preparation for dinner. For dinner, John had brined some chicken breasts, marinated them in a chipotle sauce then grilled them. We had them on large-sized hamburger buns with potato chips and salad. Great dinner.
After dinner the rain had finally stopped so we moved the party to the driveway where John had set up his portable fireplace. With the temperature still in the mid -60s, sitting outside was very enjoyable. And by 10:00 p.m., the wind had blown the clouds away and we could see the stars above us.
Finally around midnight I wondered home. The wind today, especially when it shifted from the SSE to the SW, made the lake too rough to go fishing. But even though I didn't get out onto the water, it was great to be back at Leech Lake.
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