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
