October 8, 2012, At Leech Lake

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 39 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast and a light rain was falling. In fact, a light rain fell all morning long. It was definitely a cold, wet Autumn day on the shores of Leech Lake.

The weather cooperated with my plans for the day -- which was to stay inside and clean the house in preparation for my departure midweek. My procrastination for cleaning the gutters yesterday delayed the start of that project until 1:30 p.m., and today was a repeat performance as I was faced with the unpleasant task of cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen.

The rain continued to fall as I finally began cleaning at 1:30 p.m. By 3:30 p.m. I'd cleaned two of the bathrooms, cleaned the hallway by the garage and polished much of the woodwork in those areas. At that point it was time for a lunch break.

After lunch I did some more house cleaning before cleaning up myself. Tomorrow I'll clean the kitchen, bedroom and living room (including the fireplace). Since there will be no fire for me tomorrow night, I went out to the wood pile in the late afternoon, during a break in the rain, to gather some firewood. While outside I was graced with the presence of two magnificent bald eagles that were riding the air currents above me. I watched them soar off into the distance without so much as one beat of their wings. Spectacular. And just another of the beautiful sights I regularly see here at Leech Lake that I will not see in San Jose.

With a night's supply of firewood neatly stored in the garage, I went out onto the end of the dock and watched the lake for a while. There appeared to be a storm approaching from the southwest most likely bringing with it more rain or some snow flurries.

A distant storm moving north on Leech Lake

As it turned out, it neither rained nor snowed. It did cool off to around 38 degrees from a high during the day of 45 degrees. The wind continued to blow hard from the SW.

I ate some of the left over walleye for dinner -- I like making fish sandwiches out of the precooked fillets -- and then settled in to watch the fire and listen to some music. Tomorrow will be another hectic day of cleaning, in addition to other tasks, such as storing the ATV for the winter, etc.

It's hard to believe that in 48 hours I'll be in California. Good night from Leech Lake.

Two days and counting.