I realize that there have been areas of the UP, even northern MN/WI and northern lower MI that had seen their first flakes of the season, even the first coating. However, it was not the case that nearly everyone in the UP had seen their first flakes. That all changed in the past 24 hours. The first widespread lake effect sow event of the the season has occurred and is still occurring across the UP, with some snows also falling across the MN Arrowhead and NW WI.
As mentioned, we saw our first flakes here in Jake over a week ago and then yesterday afternoon, we had a mix of snow and ice pellets fall. That was enough to put some frozen material on the ground (and deck) and thus qualify for the first trace of snow. We have had off and on snow showers all day today and this evening when I was headed to Calumet to take Grace to skating we got into a pretty healthy squall about 8 miles to the north of where we live. By the time we got to Calumet, there was some sun peaking through the clouds, but that did not last long, as it was snowing when we parked the truck and headed into the Coliseum and about 1/2 inch on the truck when we came out an hour later. I have heard reports of as much as 3″ in Painesdale and also have seen some pictures of 1-2″ east of Munising and inland a bit. So it has begun, the 2021-2022 snow season!
The snows of yesterday kept up with the tradition of having snow on Halloween for the past 5-6 years. Previous years have actually provided a couple of inches of snow on the ground though and not just flakes falling from the sky. I think both parents and kids were just fine without snow on the ground though. Makes for a much more tolerable time to be walking around. Grace and her friend Flora did dress up again this year, although the did not go to town to trick-or-treat. There were some neighbors that said to come by and they would have some candy for them. Each neighbor gave them quite a bit of candy, so in the end, they ended up with nearly as much as they would have if they had gone door to door in town. I am not sure how much longer she and her friend will continue to dress up. I am perfectly fine with her doing it as long as she wants to, especially if we do not have to trounce around Calumet/Laurium like we did in the past. It has been interesting to see the costumes take on a more adult theme as she has gotten older. This year her and her friend were sorceresses.
I had a treat of my own arrive the day before Halloween. It arrived in the Rt 12 Arctic Cat mystery machine. Or at least that is what It looked like to me when it pulled up to the house! Inside the mystery machine was my new ride! I was actually a bit surprised it fit into the van, but it did! I will have to keep that in mind, maybe buy an old work van from someone and use it as my sled hauler. Not only will it be kept dry while being transported, but warm too! It was so very nice to turn the key and have it fire up! Even more fun was the 30 foot ride into the garage! As we drove through that snow squall this evening, I was thinking that if that had been my field with the snow in it, I might just have gotten the skis snowy for a hot minute! Ahhh, but alas, that time is coming soon, just not soon enough!
Last week I think I shared a picture of a 6 point buck we had in our yard and then earlier this past week, his older brother swung by with his 8 points. Not a very wide spread, but I like the taller ones better. I guess we will see if he is cunning enough to escape the season. There have been some hunters on the property next door either baiting or maybe even bow hunting. Not sure which and not even sure if it is bow season at this very moment.
I picked up a new toy for Big Red and I to play with early last week. It is a log grapple. I have a lot of trees to cut down and most of them are softwoods, so they cannot be used for burning in the fireplace. So rather than struggle with having to buck all the limbs off and then cut the trunk to pieces small enough to move, I can now leave a lot of the limbs on and only have to cut the trunk in 8-10 foot sections to move them. This last week, a neighbor friend and I cut down three balsams that were dead and could topple onto the shop. Here is one of them freshly fallen. There are two more to come down, but they are not leaning in a very friendly direction and there is a tree cutting company down here doing work for the power company and will be taking them down as they also threaten the power lines along the road.
Not much else to say, except for the fact that we are now 2 weeks away from the first snowfall forecast for the season! I also hope to have the first youtube video accompany that forecast and will be putting the link to my youtube channel on the site in several places. I did succeed in moving th AL Cam to it’s new location. I was planning on adding a light, but it looks like the night vision of the camera might be enough to go without. The snowstick will get put up as soon as the wet snow stops falling later this week. I also plan to use half the picnic table to show the last 24 hours snow and the month to date snow. I have also ordered the same make and model camera for the Woods Cam and should have it going later this weekend. I do believe this gets you all caught up on things for this week. Talk to you next SUNDAY! if all goes as planned!
Good Night From the Keweenaw..
–JD
