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I hadn’t planned on writing this week so it might of a short one. You wouldn’t think it, but much thought needs to go into writing the journal every week. If I plan ahead of time to write, I like to take extra photos that I think you might all enjoy. This week we will have a little of everything. Another interesting thing is every time I write, I really need to think “did I already mention this or you this picture before”. 

Today is magnificent! I honestly can’t believe it’s November 8th and I just took a walk with a t-shirt on. In fact, the entire week has been such a gift. Over coffee this morning, my mind was wandering, wondering how many people woke up today, and didn’t look at this beautiful, sunny, warm, summer like day, as a gift? I truly hope not many because that would be sad. 

We had a few friends over last night for a bon fire. The weather was perfect, and the company was even better! We were up a bit later than normal, so we all slept in until this guy wanted some breakfast around 8 am. We haven’t posted many pictures of Kashi and Dune. Not because we don’t love them to pieces but because they are always on the go! I have many blurring ones in my collection. Dune is my buddy, and I seriously can’t believe how quickly I feel in love with that guy. He is a sweetheart. I’d love him more if he would stop eating our socks, towels and underwear. Nothing is safe if Dune’s around. And the guy has got some speed so you must act fast. Let’s not forget Kashi girl….she loves her Gracie more than any other Dee human. She takes treats like a lady, unlike the boys in the house. She’s a bit finicky at times and likes do things her way in her own time. I’ve been calling her “special invitation girl” when it’s time to go outside. She let’s all the others go first, then gets right to the door and turns around. As if she is too good to go out with all those stinky boys! 

Back to today….Gracie and I decided to take a walk down to our friends for a visit. Actually, she rode her bike and I walked. The sun was shinning and the air was so warm. The path to their home was beautiful this morning. So peaceful and still. We visited for awhile and then decided to take the lakeshore home. We stopped for an overdue “selfie” and enjoyed the view of the lake, which was very calm this morning. Gracie did a bit of beach combing and found this heart shaped piece of beach glass.

It’s days like this that I never want to take for granted. We have so many blessings, and living here is high on the list. To be able to raise Gracie here in this community, surrounded by wonderful friends/neighbors is such a gift. We are free to go in our woods and explore nature. Visits with friends who nurture us, help us to grow and inspire us! And every now and again you get a chance to meet a new farm animal. That look in her eyes, tells you how many farm animals she’d love to have at our house. 

On lazy weekend mornings, I find myself in the chair with my coffee. I love to watch the birds eat from the trees and the feeder. One really just needs to watch the birds to see what the weather will be like. Two weeks ago, I looked out and saw a pretty big partridge sitting in our crab apple tree. It wasn’t long and John and Gracie started spotting more. I think we ended up seeing 5 total in that tree. It looks as if they were eating the old, dried up crab apples. I’m sort of a brat with my brothers so I quickly sent a picture of the tree loaded with birds, as he had just been up here hunting. They weren’t as successful at shooting them as I was with my camera. 

School is still in session around here, but every day I wonder if this will be the day we are sent home for another “cool down”. Thankfully we don’t have covid where I work or Gracie goes to school, but the numbers in the UP continue to rise. The kids are so happy to be in school and honestly so are the staff. School without kids in the building is actually depressing. Just ask this guy. He loves his “job” and has just turned into the best dog! At school…ha! Actually, he’s not terrible at home but he’s a much different dog at home. Probably one of the biggest issues at school is him smelling food, following it and then eating it. A couple weeks ago he finished the math teachers soup when she was in a meeting, ate the Principals powder puff donut and drank 1/2 cup of my coffee. That was just one week. At this point, we’ve lost track of how many sticks of butter have ended up in his belly. Good thing he’s cute! 

Well, I think that’s it for this week. 

Good night from Jake!

Welcome to November! Just one month from the start of the snowmobile season! Nora and I were having a chat this morning and I commented on how, now that is is November, it just feels right to see snow falling and snow on the ground. Snow in October up here is certainly nothing odd, but the amount of this October’s snow and the persistence of it on the ground certainly was. That did not seem too normal and was even a bit worrisome to me. Not for me, but for those that put up with how our winters are and are not the type to enjoy the abundance of winter we get! A cold and snowy October could lead to a cold and snowy November and that would lead to the rest of winter and would have added another 4-5 weeks onto what is already a particularly long winter for Midwest standards!

However, despite the fact that we got more snow last night and this morning and it is white, windy and cold out there today, the week ahead looks to provide some wonderful, mild autumn weather that could extend into the weekend as well. That will be a nice break and allow folks to both catch up with any last-minute outdoor chores, but also to just get out and enjoy without having to bundle up.

We did get snow this past week. It started Monday with a fairly respectable storm and came in pieces off and on most of the week. The drive to the school for Nora and Grace was a snowy one, with snow falling pretty hard and a few wet and slippery inches on the ground. It continued to snow through the morning and Calumet ended up with around 5-6″ of fresh. That snow actually hung on through all of the week and has been added to.

Here in the banana belt, we got snow too, and it accumulated as well. We picked up 2-3″ of snow and then it tapered off by mid morning. I did take my first front of house shot for the season and then proceeded to forget to upload it! Getting into the rhythm of updating everything on the site is always a bit of a challenge. 

I’m always amazed at how the change in the weather seems like such a non event for the dogs. When Huck and Millie were just young pups, they did get excited when we got a big dumping. However, the arrival of the snows at the beginning of the season seems to be a non event, not just for Huck, but for Bleau and even the sled dogs!

Our Monday snow did not stick around too long and was gone by Tuesday. That was not the same for Calumet. The snow did melt some, but by the end of the week, it was still there. Calumet had a playoff football game at home this weekend, so a bit of field clearing had to be done. With the artificial turf that was installed around 14 months ago, the clearing works very well and allows for a nice clean field.

I am not sure what the rest of you did for Halloween this year. Up this way, the trend over the past several years has been to have organized trick-or-treating areas. Many of them had also become inside events, so that the weather we typically have for Halloween would not be an impact. Those were all canceled and to tell you the truth, I do not know if there were door to door trick-or-treating done or not. Grace has seemed to outgrow the events that are more for the younger kids, but Nora and I are fine with her dressing up and doing stuff with kids close to her age for as long as she wants. This year that meant getting together with her friends from the Jake area and going to a stretch of homes that wanted to do something special for just them. We then all got together for a bonfire at our friends Lisa/Tim (the folks with the yurt) a little later in the day. The bonfire was also a cookout for dinner and then after the sun set, we all took a walk around the woods and fields. We stopped a few times and Lisa told some ghost stories. All the kids had a total blast and so did the adults! After the spooky walk, we returned to the bonfire and some more stories were told, including Gracie reading one from a book.

I’d have to say that it was probably my most favorite Halloween since becoming an adult. I sure hope that we can try it again next year. We were blessed with some great weather this Halloween, with temps warming into the low 50’s and no precipitation. 

That mild weather hung on just long enough and then at about the time we were heading home, the front came through and temps dropped around 20 degrees in around an hour and we woke up to snow on the ground and in the air this morning. In addition to the the snow and colder temps this morning we also had some very strong winds. A quick visit to marinetraffic.com revealed that there were two 1000 footers anchored up just off shore of the White City beach. So after breakfast and a shower, Grace, Nora and I headed over to have a look at them. Both of them were huddled up very close to each other and both of them were also unusually close to the shore. I wanted to get a closer look at them, so we shot back home and I grabbed the DLSR camera from my office, along with the zoom lens. With that setup, I was able to snap some shots of the ships that gave a bit more detail. These ships are so huge, it is just amazing to think the lake is so rough that they chose to take shelter. I suspect the fact that they also would have accumulated ice due to the spray and cold air was a big factor, as were the 29 sailors lost just north of Whitefish Point almost 45 years ago.  

One of the things I like to do is to stand in front of the big picture windows we have in the living room and just look around. Yesterday morning, we all were looking out of them when we spotted this interesting sight. It was both interesting and entertaining at the same time. Something I had never seen before and learned a bit from it as well. What’s that? You did not see anything in that last shot other than a crabapple tree, a bench, bird feeder, truck and tractor? Don’t feel bad. Have another look, this time zooming in on the center-right part of the tree. See it now? It’s a partridge.  However, there was not just one partridge in the tree, but 5! Each of them was busy eating the dried up fruit that remained on the tree. Each would go out as far as they could on a limb to reach the fruit and would end up bouncing around as the wind blew them on the end of those thin limbs. The irony was that one of Nora’s brothers left Monday after being here for almost a week to bird hunt!

So it’s November and that means that the snows will be flying more regularly in the upper Midwest soon. Which also means that I will be starting up my forecasts soon. With the next 7-10 days looking snow free, I think I will just wait for the next 7 to 10 days at least before I start to produce my snowfall forecasts. I do have some news to share as far as updates and additions to the site for this season. The trail cam is finding a new home. It will be located at the Dreamland Bar and will be pointing to the entrance to their main trail behind the bar. This will be a much more interesting view than the old one, as well as much closer to me, should it need some repair. It will also be a live streaming camera. 

I also will be planning to have a camera back in our old neighborhood near Mohawk. Actually this one will be in Allouez. It will have a snow depth stick and will also be live streaming with a light for night viewing.

This past week, the problem with the map for the NCN and Northwoods directory not showing correctly was fixed. So gone is the window that would pop up and ask if you were the owner of the page, as well as the maps details grayed out and the text “for development only” gone. The 5-10 day forecast graphic will also be changing a bit. I am going to be adopting the method I used this summer for that graphic. I feel that it will remove much of the confusion and criticism that the old method did. I also have a fairly large addition planned, but since it is not ready to go, I will refrain from talking about what it is. However, if I can get it going, you will know for sure what it is.

I guess that covers it for this one. Have a great week everyone!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

My apologies for not writing last week. Seems as though time got away from me not only Sunday, but Monday too. I think I also did not have too much material, so that made it easier for me to skip a week. 

This is an interesting time of the year. For the snowbirds, it is a time of packing up and getting ready to head south. Some have already taken flight and others will be heading out in another week or so, with most of the rest to follow by mid-November. For the rest of us, it is time to make sure that we are ready for the snow. Those with plows have likely moved them to a spot that is easy to get to and hook up. Many have already hooked them up to test the hydraulics and either left them on, or dropped them back on the blocks. Anything that we do not want buried under feet of snow is getting stored in a safe spot and those that chose to procrastinate with their firewood are in full scramble mode. 

For me, it has been a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Not too much outdoor work though, as the weather has not been to friendly to being outside. We had either rain or snow or both fall every single day this week. I am glad that I do not have much to do outside at this point and it does look like the weather will be changing dramatically by later this week and into the weekend with dry weather and warmer temps. My main job left outdoors is to get the leaves up off the grass and maybe even cut it one last time. We are also getting a small load of firewood delivered, but that should take less than 30 minutes to get it stored away once it arrives.

I do have some pictures to share this week. Some are even ones that were to be posted last week. Here is one that was taken last Sunday showing the last of the color show in Jacobsville. That was on a spot of the Jacobsville road that hung onto the leaves for longer than most other areas. It must have been more protected from the winds, as it was not late in changing or anything, the leaves just hung onto the trees longer there. I was fortunate enough to be driving by it last Sunday when the sun decided to peak out for a few moments. 

Nora was at the beach earlier in the week, enjoying a brief break in the wet weather and spotted the Coast Guard cutter Alder out in the big lake. It is a pretty busy ship this time of the year, tending to the buoys out on the big lake, as well as the Portage waterway. Here is another shot of it.

The wildlife is also making their adjustments to the change in the weather and state of the woods. The deer have been spotted with more regularity, coming out of the woods for something green to eat. I did put up a wildlife cam and it took a few shots of some visitors to the site before going on the fritz a few days ago. Not sure what is wrong with the camera, but will have to bring it in and see. The large family of turkeys are still wandering around as well. Still 19 in the group, so all have survived so far.

The snows this week have piled up to different amounts, depending where you are measuring. The biggest totals have been in the higher terrain, which is not surprising at all, especially at this time of the year. The lowest totals have been in the lower elevations near the big lake, which includes us! While some areas have seen as much as 5-7″ on the ground, the most we have been able to muster so far is around an inch. It also has not been lasting too long. Even the places that have picked up several inches of snow have seen most of it melt within about 12 hours of falling. The exceptions being the last 2 days where temps have stayed cold enough for the snow to stick around.

I am not jealous of the bigger snows other have gotten right now. It just melts anyway and is kind of a tease. However, in a month, when the snows will be sticking for good, I will start to have snow envy! For now, I am content to watch the flakes fall and coat the ground just enough to make it white. Who know’s, maybe we will get off to another quick start like we did last year and I will not miss the big snows in the high country as much. 

I guess that covers it for this one. Strange to think the next time I write, it will be November! Were getting close!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

I realize that many who read this are snow lovers and likely have the opinion that the woods up here look most beautiful with 4 feet of snow dumped on them. I will agree that sight is magnificent. However, I do believe it takes a close second place to the autumn color show at full peak. Perhaps it is because the color show is so brief compared to the winter wonderland. Or perhaps it is because the color show here is second to none. What ever the reason, I cannot help but smile every time I gaze into the woods at this time of the year.

Even better than gazing into the woods is to step into them. This past Tuesday that is what Grace, Huck and I did. Nora and Bleau were at the school and the sled dogs cannot be let off their leashes and thus create a difficult situation when in the woods. Where we initially walked was not too full of autumn color. We were walking through a section of our land that is filled with different conifers. While it may seem a rather dull type of woodland, if one slows down and looks in all directions, including up and down, there is usually something striking to see. In the cool and wet months, that typically means fungi. When coming across the occasional birch in this environment, it pays to look up and catch the color show there. 

As mentioned in a pasty entry, the look out of the house windows down here in Jake is quite a bit different than it was when we lived outside of Mohawk. I really do not think it is fair to give one a higher ranking than the other, but they both do have their strong points. At the previous house, it was the closeness of the woods and the fact that we were surrounded by them in all 360 degrees. Down here it is the amount of green grass that we see before the woods. It was amazing that the grass was green all summer and never dried out during a 3 week period with little rainfall. I do not think we will be putting an ice rink back there this season. It was a ton of work and Grace will be getting plenty of ice time at the rinks. The only thing that could change that plan is if organized skating is called off due to the virus. 

I made my usual couple of trips to town this week and the drive from Lake Linden south never gets old. For one, the views are very pretty. The first part has the Torch Lake off to my right and a mix of homes, woods and fields to my left. Then beyond the Dreamland, it is mostly just woods. This past week provided some magnificent views as I drove down Jacobsville Road. The road was flanked by the reds, oranges and yellows of the color show and in spots, if you looked into the woods, you would see the leaves illuminated by sunlight and they seemed to glow.

It’s sad that in a week or so, the woods will be bare of the colorful leaves. Especially with the weather we look to have coming this week. Tomorrow looks like a pretty solid rain with some fairly strong winds. Some more rains off and on the middle of the week and then a chance for some rain and wet snow by the end of the week. The fragile connection the leaves have to the trees don’t stand much of a chance against that. 

We did enjoy a pretty beautiful week of weather up here this past week, including a 76 degree high on Friday! That is a pretty big gift for us this time of the year. As mentioned, not too many gifts in the week ahead, but that is October in the Keweenaw. Summer one week and winter the next! Speaking of winter. I will be releasing my winter outlook this Thursday the 15th. Probably by around 9 am eastern. I have not tipped my hand yet and do not plan to before the official release Thursday. So be sure to check in!

I really do not have much else to say, so I guess I will sign off for this one. Have a great week everyone and…

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

Greetings and happy October everyone! This month is a month of pretty big changes. Not only to the colors of the leaves change, but then the come down and the woods go from fully filled with life to looking like all is dead in just a matter of a week or so. For me, it is those weeks between the color show and the snows piling up that are some of the slowest to past. I think that is why in many years, I am so busy with projects at that time of the year. It helps to pass the time!

This year, I have plenty to keep my busy, but thankfully all but a few of the projects are not “have-to”, but rather “want-to”. Even the have-to’s are not that big a deal. Things like mounting the blower to the tractor, put up the snow sticks to let me know where the edge of the driveway is and make a little firewood. All of the rest of my projects are indoors.

The past weeks weather was more like late October than late September. Lots of lake effect precipitation, mostly rain, but there was some snow that fell Thursday night and Friday morning. Most areas only saw some wet flakes, although there was some minor accumulation in the Toivola and Donken areas. I had to travel to Wausau Thursday and that is the exact spot the rains changed to very wet snowflakes. It then changed back to rain as I got to Painesdale. All we got here in Jacobsville was some sleet, even today a bit of sleet fell.

So the first winter weather of the season has happened in the Keweenaw and as mentioned it has been a while since we saw blue skies and/or the sun. Because of the cloudy skies, I did not take too many pictures. I was planning on a nice long tour of the Keweenaw to get some color shots, but they are just so muted with the overcast skies. There are some areas that are past peak, others that are at peak and others that will be at peak. The immediate Houghton/Hancock area, as well as down by us will be at peak in a few days. South of Houghton, they are past peak and areas like Calumet, Mohawk and many areas of the Keweenaw away from the lake are at or just a bit past peak. 

We have had a few peaks of sun this afternoon, so Nora and I did take a quick little ride to enjoy the colors and take a few shots for you all. We really are so luck to live in such a beautiful spot of the country. For the most part, I think everyone in our family does not take if for granted, but there are moments when life is crazy busy where I think we might not fully appreciate how lucky we are. The drive home is always appreciated by all of us though. It’s hard not to feel blessed traveling down the Jacobsville Road at any time of the year, but especially during the color show or during a nice snowfall. 

When we lived at the old place just outside of Mohawk, we could just look out the windows to see the color show in full fashion. We do have some colors to look at out our windows here, but there are just not as many trees immediately around the house and about half are conifers. However, we do have some trade off’s. We are a short walk to several beaches on the big lake and from sights like this. 

Not much else going on up this way. I suppose there are some snowbirds packing up and getting ready to head south for the cold season. This weekend was probably the final big weekend for visitors to the area for the color show and next weekend will probably be the final week. Then things get pretty quiet up here until opening day for firearm deer season. After December 1st, the snowmobilers will be showing up, assuming we have enough snow. It’s been a very busy summer for the businesses that cater to visitors up here, so I am sure that they will be enjoying the breather.

The weather looks to warm up and dry out for the the next week or so. After this week, that will be welcomed my me and probably a lot of others up here. It was not like we got a lot of rain from the amount status, but for the number of minutes with rain in them it was a lot. I will be releasing my seasonal outlook on October 15th. No early hints though!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD