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Poof! Just like magic, winter is here. Nearly in the blink of an eye, we went from the brown of late autumn to the white of winter. It was not a surprise. Winter storm warnings were hoisted by the NWS-Marquette and it was the talk of the town the second half of last week, but Mother Nature had the final say and delivered.

It was actually strongly hinted at late the previous week and by early last week, things were looking quite favorable for enough snow to move around. So I did not mess around and got busy putting the blower on Big Red Monday. Its always an interesting event. It is fairly easy and straight forward, but because I only do it once every year, I have not really been able to get myself into a groove or remember ALL the tricks. I have been leaving myself notes each time something important is learned, but it seems like there are more things to be learned every time I go about the task. I was thankful that the weather was quite agreeable to do it and while it took some time, it was not particularly rigorous. The hydraulics of the tractor do all the heavy lifting, all I really need to do is get everything aligned and then finesse them into place. In any case, success was met and I did breathe a sigh of relief when I gave the auger and impeller a test run.

The need for it came a few days later. Not with the coating of snow we got Wednesday night and Thursday, but with the storm Friday night. The Wed night/Thursday event was just the warming up snow. Enough to coat the ground and give the pups something to play in. It was also enough that Gracie and I could have a snowball fight. Not the first of the season, but a good one. As things settled down and we both stood where the pool sits, we found it interesting that just two months prior, we had been swimming in the same exact spot!

Friday night’s storm was the real deal. I know first hand, because I had to drive home from the Fish Fry Fundraiser at Lac La Belle in it. It was probably the second worst conditions I have ever driven in up here and the third worst in my life. The worst is actually a tie between a return trip on Christmas evening back in 2001 and a a trip up from Denver to Laramie the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 1984. In both of those drives, I got into a situation where I knew I did not belong on the road anymore, but it would have been worse for me to turn around, so I pressed on and made it both times!

Friday night’s drive found me in heavy snow, with winds of 56 mph. Visibility was about two automobile lengths in front of me and what is typically a 25 minute drive took me over an hour to get home. I also made it home safe and sound Friday night and never really thought that I did not belong on the road at all, but wished I had been on my snowmobile, rather than my truck! I do want to thank those that came out and braved the elements to attend the fish fry. Two special shout-outs need to be made. One to a family that came all the way from Illinois. It was part of a weekend trip to the area, but they still braved slick roads all the way from northern IL to get here. The second is to Mike Sabo and his wife Christine, who made the trip from Twin Lakes. Mike is the president of the Superior Snowmobile Club and fully understands the importance of a club fundraiser, but we certainly went the extra mile to drive through that mess all the way from Twin Lakes to Lac La Belle and back. They are having a fundraiser for their club December 1st and I will for sure be there to pay it back!

By the time things settled down Saturday morning, we had picked up around 13″ of new snow, but just up the highway from me (in the very spot I had been driving the night before) they picked up 18″ of fresh. The winner out of the storm was Gile, just to the SW of Ironwood/Hurley. They picked up 20″ of fresh snow out of the event. It was mostly a lake effect or lake enhanced snow. There were some really cool radar signatures in the snow as well. Several meso-lows could be seen out over Lake Superior and then drifted inland. The biggest meso low was responsible for the big totals in the Ironwood/Hurley area.

Gracie has been extra excited for the snow to come this season. I may or may not have had an influence on that, but none the less, she was very happy to see all the snow fall and we spent a good deal of Saturday playing in the new snow. I did have to fire up Big Red and moved the snow off of my neighbors driveway and then ours. For ours, it was more “back blowing”, meaning I did not drive forward and blow the snow, but rather drove backwards to scrape off the majority of the snow, but leave enough behind to create a “mat”. I am not sure if this will be the mat that sticks around for the entire winter, but I sure hope so!

The entire Dee clan took to the woods Saturday morning after I was done moving snow and enjoyed the splendor of the flocked trees and quietness of the woods in winter. The pups also had their fun in the snow. Huck and Millie are slowing down, especially while in the house and it is in that environment that I can see that they are aging. Yet, get them out into the woods and watch them run around for 30 minutes straight and I am also provided with the info that they are still in pretty good shape and their joints must not be in too bad of shape.

Bleau does hit best to try and keep up with him, but despite his best efforts, typically lags a few steps behind them. I will say that he has grown by leaps and bounds since Nora first brought him home. When he first arrived, he could literally walk underneath both Huck and Millie without even having to lower his head. He now stands just a few inches short of Millie and I suspect that by around the new year, he will rival her in size. I have a feeling that he will end up being larger than both of them, at least in height.

There have been some great things happening with regards to him. A few days after he got here, he started having problems holding his pee. We knew he was just a pup and to pee in the house was pretty normal. However, we would have him out, he would go and then come in and 2 minutes later go again. That was happening with a lot of frequency, so we took him to the vet and they determined the poor little guy had a urinary tract infection. The first round of antibiotics did not solve the problem, so they put him on second and different dose. That did not help either and while at his exam last Tuesday, it was decided to pull him off of all antibiotics, let his system become clear of them and then do more extensive tests next week to get to the bottom of things.

Nora did some research in hopes that there might be some kind of homeopathic things that we could try and help ease things, or at least not let them get too much more worse for the guy. She learned that things like blueberries, vinegar, vitamin C and cranberries all can help with UTI’s in dogs. So I picked up some frozen blueberries and we started putting them in his food right away. By Thursday, it was clear that something had changed. Nora did not have to get up in the middle of the night to let him out and I did not have to let him out every 30 minutes during the day. He did not have any accidents either and since last Thursday has only had one. So we will be letting the vet know for sure, so they can test to see if the UTI is gone before having to put him through all the tests they have planned for him. It sure is great for all of us to have him like this. It was a lot of work for us to let him out and/or clean up his accidents and we all felt really bad for him with that condition and once we learned he was sick, we never scolded him for messing the house, even if he did it right in front of us.

It is so great to have the little guy free from his issues. He is still very stubborn, but also very smart. He picks up on things almost immediately and even learns a lot of things on his own. We are working on him with commands, but he was suppose to go to round one of training yesterday for 3 weeks. That has been put off until the Sunday after Thanksgiving and now we are thinking that he may only need a week and a half for this first round. We’ll see, but he learning to be a good dog, despite our attempts to corrupt him! He is also just as sweet as his little face says he is. He is going to do some wonderful things with the kids at the Calumet Schools. Gracie is even training him to be a good listener while she reads to him.

Saturday afternoon, Gracie and Nora headed down to the Rozsa Center at MI Tech to take in the play of Pinocchio. They met up with friends and all enjoyed the play. After the play, all in attendance were able to meet the cast of the play and even make some puppets with them. It really is neat to be able to live in such a small-town setting, yet have so many things for all of us to do. There seems to be something going on every weekend, if not just about every night.

So I guess that about covers it for this one. A bit of snow loss is seen for this Thursday, but a bit of fresh is likely the rest of today into tonight and tomorrow and then more for Friday and the weekend. Looks like it will be a white-opener for firearm deer season. Good luck hunters!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

I have to admit that before I moved up here nearly 20 years ago, the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the horrific weather that caused it, was not something that I thought about much. Infrequently, the song the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would be played on the radio. I knew the song was written about an actual happening, but for some reason, it always seemed more like fiction. Or perhaps something that happened in a far off land a very long time ago. The truth is far different. I was 9 years old and the ship sank just 475 miles away from where I was at the time.

Since moving up here, I have always felt a much stronger connection to the tragedy. It’s not just getting to know folks who knew some of those that perished, or seeing a lakes freighter just about every time we head to the beach during shipping season. It’s being able to experience the humbling power of a November gale on the shores of Lake Superior. I have experienced many since moving up here. They seem to happen at least once every year, sometimes more than once. I have also been privileged to experience Mother Nature at her furious. The same atmospheric situation that sank that ship. A raw cold that sinks it’s bitter teeth into your bones. A sky that is as grey as the hull of a battleship. Yet, it is the wind that caused all the problems that evening almost 43 years ago. It’s a different wind from others. Hard to explain, but it just feels heavier. Like the air weighs more and hits you with more force. Almost as if to say: “Nothing is going to stop me”. The wind in these great November Gales is also relentless. Sure there are peak gusts, but it never lets up. There is no lull. No calm in the eye of the storm. Just a relentless shaking of trees, buildings and anything else sitting on the ground.

I have stood on the shores of Lake Superior when the winds were blowing 50 mph+ and gusting higher. I have struggled to sand on my own two feet without being blown over. I have had to turn my head to face downwind, just to be able to breathe. I have stood watching the massive waves come rolling towards the shore and then smash into the rocks like a giant explosion. I have seen the winds blow so hard at the trees that their entire bodies sway in concert, to the point where they look to be sure to snap in half.

Yet, somehow, most survive. Sure there are a few trees lost in the storms. Some storms take down more than others, but in the grand scope of things, probably 99% of the trees exposed to the storms fury survive. So do most of the critters in the woods. The storm comes, does it’s thing, sometimes causing havoc for the humans, but life goes on for everything else. The difference? Well if you ask me, it is because most humans still think they are the pinnacle of all that is natural. Perhaps I even believed that before moving up here. Before being able to stand on the shores of the big lake during a powerful autumnal storm and feel the ground literally shake as the monstrous 20 foot plus waves crash on the sand.

Its a frightening, yet magnificent feeling. To feel so small. So powerless. To witness things first hand that force you to recognize that there are forces out there so much more powerful than I could even dream of. People often ask me what my favorite weather phenomena is. Many are surprised to find out that it is not the “Glamour Boys” of meteorology like the tornado or hurricane. Those are both awe inspiring weather conditions for me, but yet pale in comparison to the granddaddy of all atmospheric events, the mid-latitude cyclones that form in the Plains and swing into the Midwest during the beginning of the cold season. The Autumnal Storm. While hurricanes and tornadoes can do some horrific damage to things, from purely an atmospheric viewpoint, the mid-latitude cyclone will eat a category 5 hurricane for lunch and use the tornado for a toothpick.

Let time pass and travel deeper into the cold season and they become the snowstorms and blizzards of winter. Yet, they are typically not as ferocious as their autumn cousins because these storms feed off of the difference in air temperature that sets up by the cold intensifying across the northern latitudes, while the warmth is still hanging on in the south. By the winter time, the warmth in the south has eased and it is harder to get the large temperature difference. In the autumn, things can happen to that this temperature difference builds and then a “wave” comes along and stirs things. The result is a massive storm, sometimes stretching from the Canadian Border to the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing compares to it in the world of weather. The largest do not even happen over the Great Lakes. They are the baby brother to the big boys that form in places like the Gulf of Alaska, the North Sea and the Tasman Sea.

So the inspiration for all of this was two fold. First, the changing of the month into November. It is hard for me to have this happen and not think of the November gale(s) that are waiting to form and strike the area and secondly, the baby gale we have going on at the moment. We awoke to clear skies and crisp temps, but before the sun could rise, the clouds had filled in from the south. The radar indicated snows to our south in northern WI and rains to the south of them. All was traveling north, just a matter of time. At around a little after noon, the precip started. First as a little drizzle, but then changed to snow. A wet snow, melting as it hit the ground. The temp and dewpoint have both dropped and the snow is sticking. A stiff breeze is blowing out of the east at around 30-35 mph. The kind of storm that might actually make headlines and cause issues in places of the southern US, but for us. Just the warm up for what may be to come.

This past week was rather uneventful as far as the weather goes. We had a nice and dry Halloween. It was not warm, but that would almost be a miracle. It was nice that we did not have any rain or snow falling or even snow on the ground. Since Gracie has joined the rank of the trick-or-treaters, we have had snow on the ground more times than not. She thought of and designed her costume all on her own. Nora helped pick out the items and also helped bring it all together, but it was neat to see Grace take the reigns. In case you were wondering, she was the character Sophie Foster, from the book series she is currently reading.

The weather yesterday was also quite agreeable. We had some peaks of sun, light winds and temps topping out in the upper 40’s. A great day to finish up any outdoor chores and that is exactly what Nora and I did. I only have to take the loader off and put the blower on Big Red and I will be officially, completely ready for winter. That job can be done in just about any kind of weather, the trick is to do it before I need it! There is a chance I may need it by the end of this week. Looks like the first arctic air will be dropping in and bringing some lake effect to a lot of the UP snowbelts. So that will be high on the priority list early this week for sure!

We also headed to Jacobsville for a walk. It is Nora’s favorite place in this world and I love to see her face light up as we get close. The pups and Gracie all had fun running around and exploring in the woods and Nora got to chat with some of the long-time locals that she knows from there. On the way home we stopped at the Ahmeek Fire Hall, picked up three spaghetti dinners from one of their annual fundraisers, came home ate and relaxed.

I will be starting the winter forecasts tomorrow! I actually had hoped to get them going November 1st, but had things pop up Thursday and could not get to it and then by Friday I thought it would be best to start out on a Monday rather than a Friday. I have already mentioned the potential for snow for us by the second half of the week (besides the snow that is falling outside my window right now!), but there is also some snow potential for roughly the northern 1/3rd to 1/2 of the Midwest. A good way to end this entry!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

My apologies for not writing, but things got crazy busy and it was all I could do to keep up! I will do my best to try and remember everything I wanted to say in last weeks entry.

Recapping the weather, we have had a bit of everything in the past 2 weeks. Snow, rain, sun, cold and warmth. The most common weather type has been cold or perhaps chilly. Lots of highs topping out in the 40’s. In fact, since October 14th, we have had only on day where the high was in the 50’s, two days were in the 60’s and all the rest were in the in the 40’s. Counting today, that makes 12 out of the last 15 days with highs only in the 40’s.  We had an inch or two of snow on the morning of the 20th and have had some “spits” of snow 3 other times in the past 2 weeks. The majority of the trees went bare with strong southerly winds on the 18th and we are solidly in the “in between” season. Technically still autumn, but with the trees bare and chilly temps, it looks and feels like we should be in the midst of deer season. That will be coming in just over 2 weeks.

I am getting excited for October to draw to a close and November to arrive. I really enjoy the progression of the holidays, starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. There is just something about the holiday season that adds to the grin on my face. I think a lot of it has to do with seeing Gracie get all excited for the holidays.

So going back to the week prior, I had to travel to Ironwood on Thursday the 18th to give a talk about weather at the Cold Iron Brewing Co. It was a fun event and quite a few people came out chat about the weather. Many good questions as well. The only down side was the fact that I spent the second half of the day and deep into the night on the road. We warmed to 65 degrees that day and also had quite a bit of sunshine. I was able to enjoy things until early afternoon, but then had to hit the road and head west, southwest. To add insult to injury, a trip that usually takes around 2 hours and 5 minutes became a 3 hour trip, due to bridge repairs going on near Mass City and west of Bergland. Both did not have very good options for re-routes, at least from a distance standpoint. My day started at 4 am on Thursday and did not end until 1 am Friday.

Grace and Nora were able to take advantage of the nice weather and headed down to Jacobsville/White City to enjoy the late afternoon temps in the 60’s and sunshine. I have to admit that I was a little jealous of them being able to make such good use of the beautiful weather, but was also very happy for them and to see them having a great time together. Grace continues to amaze me with her maturity and also her connection to her world. It took me over 30 years to be able to open my eyes to things I was missing, yet were all around me and I get the joy of watching Grace take it all in before even reaching the double digits in her age.

Bleau joined the girls on their little afternoon adventure. Things are going pretty good with him. We are all still trying to figure each other out. Just like humans, each individual dog has their own personality and thus has their own set of things that bother them and motivate them. It is very clear that food is probably the number 1 motivator for Bleau, but we do not want to fall into the trappings of giving him a treat as a reward for everything. It has also become very clear that he is extremely head-strong. Thankfully he is smart and head strong and not dumb and head strong, so we do not have to worry too much about him putting himself in a situation that is dangerous. However, if he does not feel like doing something, you are in for a long battle to get him to do it.

Probably the coolest thing about him is that he somehow seems to know what is job is going to be and has accepted it with all his heart. He goes and spends 1 half day at the school every week. When word gets out that he is in the school, there is practically a line out the door to see him and he greets each student with love and enthusiasm and is also very well mannered. There are a couple of students that have taken a particularly strong liking to him and he will actually try and sneak out of the office to see if he can find them. However, he was in a classroom visiting the students in the class and when it was time to go, he knew he had not said hi to three of the students and made a point to do just that before leaving. I am very glad to have seen some of this beautiful behavior, as it has earned him a lot of forgiveness when it’s just me and the dogs home alone all day!

While I dearly missed being with the girls on their trip of the 18th, sometimes I think it is more enjoyable to view the pictures when I have not been there. Case in point, Nora snapped this dandy of Grace practicing her drama and while I was not there, I can let my imagination run free and picture in my mind the events that possibly led up to that shot.

The wind, waves and low hanging sun combined to produce a really cool pattern in the sand that Nora captured very well in this shot. That looks like it could be made into a painting or something. Mother nature sure can produce some wonderful works of art. All we need to do is open our minds and hearts to seem them all. I wonder how many I am still missing each day!

The final picture that I “borrowed” from Nora to use in the entry is probably my favorite from the outing. Nora actually texted me some of those shots while I was away and I was able to view them while grabbing a bite to eat before the presentation. I made my heart swell with joy to see the two of them having such fun together. They are both very special girls and to see them bonding and having such fun without me makes me very happy.

So after arriving home shortly after 1 am Friday, it was a short sleep in order to get up and be ready to send the troops out to work on the snowmobile trails that Friday. I had to go to Marquette for some minor surgery, so was unable to partake in the field work, but the trailboss, Brian and I had met a couple of times prior to the work session and had come up with a list of things that needed to be done. We both also picked up supplies for the work that needed to be done and I am very grateful to all of those that came up to help out. It still amazes me that folks will travel from as far away as Indiana to be put to work! I realize that there is an upside to being in the Keweenaw and the free lodging offered by the Trailside Lodge and Lac La Belle Lodge adds extra incentive, but that is still a wonderful thing for all of those folks to come up and help.

A few weeks back, I talked about a new bridge that went in on trail 124. Part of the work session jobs was to put railings up on that bridge and sign it properly. We sent a crew of only 3 persons out to do that job, but they said that they had it done in just a few hours. Here is a shot that includes the third worker! All of the work that we had planned for the weekend was accomplished and that has left us in pretty good shape for the upcoming season. Some more signing and brushing needs to be done and there are sections of culvert arriving in the Keweenaw tomorrow to repair one of the wash-outs just north of Lake Linden. All of that work is being done by professional contractors, be it the DNR’s operators or a third party. That washout will repaired this week and that will open up the village of Lake Linden to the north via trail. It will also allow folks to get to 122 that runs from Lake Linden to Gay. So the only closed sections this winter will be the trail from just south of Lake Linden to just north of Dollar Bay and both Freda loops. All other trails will be open.

Along the lines of getting ready for the snow to fly, the region received its first shipment of salt and when I say shipment, I mean shipment! Winter does not mess around up here and we do not mess around with handling it. That was just one load of salt that arrive. The other came last week. Keweenaw county has also been busy putting the sticks in the ground to mark obstacles on the sides of the roads for the plow operators. That is a sure sign that winter is not too far away!

For those of you planning to be up in the Keweenaw during the weekend of the 9th-11th, the Bear Belly Bar and Grille will be hosting a fish fry on the 9th, starting at 4:30 and running until 8:30 pm. It is an all you can eat affair and Nora and Grace will testify to how delicious their fish fry’s are (I am not a fish eater). The cost is $13.95 for adults. All of the proceeds will be going to the funds the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club is raising towards the building of a new groomer barn. We are getting closer and closer to reaching our goal and it is hoped that maybe by as early as next summer, we can get going on the construction.

I think that about covers it for this one, other than to say that the snowfall forecasts will be starting up very soon. Perhaps as early as this Thursday if some of the snow that is forecasted to fall in the Midwest remains in the forecast. Otherwise for sure next Monday, the 5th. The final picture that I have to share with you is of Bleau and Old Granddad. We are trying to take at least one walk in the woods a day, sometimes two. Huck and Millie still get around just fine and enjoy romping through the woods and Bleau is learning the ropes from them and having a blast doing it!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

Holy rain! I don’t think I have ever experienced such a long stretch of wet weather as I did this past week. We woke up to rain Monday morning and it pretty much did not stop coming down until early Thursday morning and that was because it changed to snow. We then had a snow and rain mix occur Thursday into Thursday night and Friday morning. All told we picked up more than 5″ of precip this past week, which is about twice our average for the month of October! The rains Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday fell with temps in the upper 30’s to low 40’s, so it was extra nasty. Surprisingly, the natives did not get too restless with all of that nasty weather. There were complaints for sure, it seemed like everyone did not even want to talk about it, for fear it would just make it seem worse!

I personally did not mind it too much, but it did keep all of us cooped up inside, including Huck, Millie and Bleau. I felt sorry for them, as they were stuck inside for just about all week, except to go potty. The nasty weather also put a damper and dimmer on the color show. There are still leaves in the trees, but about 30-40% of them have come down and it will take just a few days more before most of the trees are bare. Even with the nasty weather, it was a good show, but had there been even a bit of sun, it would have been spectacular. Probably one of the best color shows we have had in years. Had the weather been more cooperative, I would have a lot more pictures to share, but between a busy schedule and all the wet weather, that is the only picture I managed to take!

It always escapes me how busy I get at this time of the year. Somehow I always seem to forget all the little things that have to be done, many of them not being able to be done until the second week of October and many of them needing to be done before that week ends! Toss in a trip to Marquette on Thursday that had me away from home from 9 am to 11 pm and it only compounded things. I had hoped to get my seasonal outlook done before the work week ended, but was not able to. I did work on it yesterday and today and it is done and will be released tomorrow morning. For those of you lucky souls reading this, you get a sneak peak! OK, so maybe not much help, but check back tomorrow morning in the forecast text section!

The other main activity this week was a play that Grace was in. It is the same traveling group that she worked with last year. There are a pair of instructors that travel around the country and they stop at different places and in less than 5 days time, go from nothing to a full play. It is really amazing how much some of the actors (all kids) memorize in that short amount of time and how well choreographed the entire production is. At 4 pm on Monday, all the kids are just showing up for auditions and do not even know what part they will have or if they will even have a part. By Friday at 7:30 pm, its curtains up and the show starts!

This years production was a take on Beauty and the Beast. It did not follow the traditional story-line much, but was still very entertaining and fun to watch. If I did my counting right, there were 56 kids that were in the play, ranging in age from around 2nd grade to high school. Grace played one of the park rangers (it really was a different script!) and even had her own brief speaking role. Here is a quick video of it. She really loved it and it will be fun to watch her get more and more prominent roles as she gets older.

So other than a few announcements, I guess that I am done for this go around. The first announcement is that I will be in Ironwood this Thursday, at the Cold Iron Brewing Co to give a talk on weather. So if you are in the area, please stop by, things start at 6:30. Secondly, the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club will be holding its annual trail work session this coming Friday and Saturday, the 19th and 20th. We have a pretty good list of things that we want to get done and there have already been folks that have contacted me to let me know they are planning to come and help. All are welcomed and there is free lodging being offered to the workers at the Trailside Lodge in Calumet and the Lac La Belle Lodge in Lac La Belle. We will also be having a cookout for all of the workers Saturday at the Trailside Lodge. We will be meeting at the Trailside Lodge both mornings at 9:30. Right now, the weather looks to be very nice on Friday and just a small chance of some snow showers Saturday. Hope to see lots of you there!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD