Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving.  It is a time to make great memories, spend time with friends, and spend time with family.  If you work in the hospitality industry (like I do), it is another work day with a large meal at the end.  It is also a day to be thankful for the many blessings in our lives.

I'm thankful for: an amazing family; friends old and new; pets past and present; being able to live and work in such a beautiful place; funny moments; music that moves me to the soul; the amazing work my relatives have done with the Hope for Annabel organization; the birth of my niece; the ability to play music with some great friends this summer; volunteers; Christmas with my family; learning to make lefse with my family; people who put their lives on the line to save others (military, firefighters, law enforcement, and medical responders); the honor to serve on the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department for the 15 years; 10 years as a host on the WTIP Radio Station; great stories; learning something new every day; skiing and snowshoeing in the winter; canoeing and kayaking in the summer; a passion for birding; road trips; audio books; native plants; interesting geology; the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings; living in a free country; camping; scientific advances; the beauty of Lake Superior; great food; Irish tea; house plants in the winter; wind chimes; great hikes; Celtic Music; Classic Country Music; Gospel Music; Folk Music; Christmas Carols; Concordia College in Moorhead; great vacations; a passion for learning history; family recipes; being a part of the Grand Marais Writers' Guild; good movies, and so many great memories with my family and friends.

This list is in no particular order.  It is by no means complete.  I encourage all of you to make a list of blessings in your lives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hike to Two Step Falls and High Falls on the Baptism River

The North Shore of Lake Superior is full of surprises.  I've lived near this Great Lake for over 17 years, and still find many hidden treasures.

I have been visiting Tettegouche State Park for longer than I have lived here, but always went to see either the mouth of the Baptism River, or Palisade Head (both of which I highly recommend).  This summer, on a whim, I changed from walking to the river mouth to taking the hiking trail inland to see the High Falls on the Baptism River.  Upon arriving at this gorgeous waterfall, I had to ask myself why I had never come before, and why I left my camera in the car.

A few weeks ago, I decided to take my boxer Ellie for a walk to both the Two Step Falls, and the High Falls.  I parked in a small lot just beyond the Tettegouche State Park Visitor's Center, grabbed the dog and the camera, and hiked the relatively long, muddy trail to each of the falls.

The first falls I came to was Two Step Falls.  There  are a lot of stairs to traverse to get down to the river at that point, but it was worth it.

Two Step Falls on the Baptism River

Ellie the Boxer Enjoying Two Step Falls

After viewing the Two Step Falls, we climbed back up to the main trail.  The two people who ascended the stairs before us were sprawled out on the bench at the top.  In my life as a naturalist, I am blessed with plenty of exercise on hills, so the climb didn't really bother me.  However, if you live a sedentary life, you might want to skip the Two Step Falls, and go right for the High Falls.

A short hike brought us to the High Falls on the Baptism River.  It is 70-feet tall, and is the tallest waterfall fully in Minnesota.  The High Falls on the Pigeon River is taller, but half of it is in Ontario, Canada.

High Falls on the Baptism River

Frozen Spray from the Waterfall

High Falls on the Baptism River

The path I took to these falls was a little over 3-miles round trip, and by many standards, it was a strenuous hike.  If you are looking for a shorter hike, you can park at the trailhead parking lot closer to the campground.

I am sure the hike looks different from a few weeks ago.  We are in the midst of a snowstorm in Northern Minnesota, which has already given us at least 6 inches of snow on the ground, with more coming down.

50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

50-years ago today, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin set foot on the Moon, while Michael Collins circled overhead in the Columbia.  The goal of getting to the Moon by the end of the decade and returning safely to the Earth had been set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961, only 20-days after the first American (Alan B. Shepard) had flown in space.  Approximately 400,000 employees and 20,000 industrial firms and universities worked together to make this goal a reality.

Imagine what we could accomplish if we worked together that well again today!

St. Patrick's Day Radio Shows

From this angle, Studio B is on the left, and Studio A is on the right.  I'm usually in Studio B.

I arrived at the radio station a little more than an hour before my first show on St. Patrick's Day.  My shows for the day were: Women in Music from 2 - 4 PM, Polka Time from 5 - 6 PM, and Classic Country from 6 - 9 PM.  When I do all three shows in a day, I usually do the vast majority of the preparation for the day before the first show even starts.  This includes organizing the studio, picking out music, pulling out the underwriter cards, doing a sound test, checking the board to make sure all the right buttons are pushed, starting a playlist, and looking up the weather.  While doing all that, we monitor the previous show in case it ends early.

This day, I had extra preparation to do in that I wanted to find as much Irish Polka Music as I could.  I pulled out the majority of the CDs in the Celtic section, and scanned the backs to look for any Polkas.  Then I listened to the songs off the air to make sure they would work for my show.  After choosing my songs from the library and my own collection, I wrote down some notes of what I wanted to play.

The Celtic section is the bottom three rows.

Women in Music was the easiest show for me to do the St. Patrick's Day theme.  I had more than enough music in my own collection to cover the show, and I know most of that collection like the back of my hand.  Most of the music I played was traditional Celtic, but I did put in some more recent songs as well.

When I started doing the radio shows ten years ago, I hardly had any female musicians in my collection.  Over the years, I have collected a lot of music.  In the Celtic genre, I think the majority of my music is now female musicians.  Having the Women in Music show has really exposed me to a lot of amazing female artists, and I will always be grateful for that learning experience.

I wore my Irish hat and sweater in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

After the conclusion of Women in Music, I took a short dinner break at Sven and Ole's in Grand Marais.  I had garlic cheesy bread with marinara sauce, and really enjoyed it. 

The key to getting dinner during my break is getting something fast, and getting back to the radio station.  It usually takes me about five minutes to get out of the station (I do the weather and basic announcements for Swing Session before heading out), five minutes to drive to a restaurant, and five minutes to get back.  I don't like to be walking in while the previous show's final theme is on, so I have to get back at least five minutes early.  That gives me about forty minutes to eat (if I'm lucky).

When I started out hosting Woman in Music, Polka Time, and Classic Country a decade ago, I was on for seven straight hours, since Classic Country used to be four hours long.  I would bring a sack lunch, and eat during the songs.  It is nice now to have that time for dinner, and go out one of the restaurants in Grand Marais if desired.

I was a little nervous about doing almost all Irish Polkas.  Most of the European Polka Music is from the central or eastern part of that continent.  The Celtic Polkas sound quite different than a Polka from Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, or the former Czechoslovakia.  In the past I did get a little negative feedback when I played what I think was a Viennese Waltz.  To avoid that on St. Patrick's Day, I stuck strictly with Polkas, and made semi-frequent announcements that it was a St. Patrick's Day Polka Special.

I did get one phone call.  Much to my delight, he said "I just wanted you to know that this is the best Polka Time ever!"  It is always fun to hear from happy listeners.  The vast majority of our callers are great; I haven't received any negative feedback in years.

Polka Time went really well.  All but five of the songs were Irish.  Two of the remaining songs were Scottish, and three were American.

When Polka Time was completed, I went right into the Classic Country show.  It was hard to find Irish Classic Country (although it is popular on the Emerald Isle), but I did play a couple of songs each from the Irish musicians Orla Fallon, and Daniel O'Donnell.

If you want to see the playlists from one of the shows, go to https://www.wtip.org/, and click on "PLAYLISTS."  On the scroll down menu, tap on the name of the show.  When the new screen comes up, tap on the date (March 17th, 2019) to access that playlist.  You can look at it during or after the show.  If you are viewing the list during the show, you will have to keep refreshing the page.

Thanks for listening!

Lighthouses and Lake Superior Ice

I was in Grand Marais on Thursday to host a Thirsty Boots show on WTIP.  Prior to the show, I ran several errands in town, and then stopped at the harbor to see the sunset.

There was ice in and around the harbor, which reflected the light from the two main lighthouses.  Frigid wind stung my cheeks, and dried out my hands.  I took pictures of both sides of the tombolo going out to Artist Point shortly after the sunset.  There was a beautiful mixture of blue, red, and orange surrounding the lighthouses.  In the other direction, the ice acted like a gigantic frozen mirror featuring and upside down image of Artist Point.

Grand Marais Harbor

Artist Point

The Lights Are On!

Lunar Eclipse: January 20 - 21, 2019

After my Women in Music, Polka Time, and Classic Country radio shows on WTIP yesterday, I turned up the long, cold Gunflint Trail.  By the time I got as far as the Pincushion Mountain Overlook Trailhead, the eclipse of the super perigee (point of closest approach) moon had begun.  I pulled into the parking lot, and took several pictures.  The air temperature was at -16 degrees Fahrenheit, and I had to keep wiping the ice off the camera lens.  My first battery fizzled, and I replaced with the fully charged one from inside my car.  Amazingly enough, that was the warm part of the journey.

Moon from Pincushion Mountain Overlook at ~9:45 PM.  Temperature -16 F.

I continued up the Gunflint Trail, glimpsing at the moon through my moon roof from time to time.  The next photo stop I made was at the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department Hall # 1 by Poplar Lake.  Temperatures outside had plummeted as far as -29 degrees Fahrenheit, and had risen to -28 F. by the time I got out of my car at the fire hall.

I quickly took some more pictures, being careful not to breathe towards the camera lens, as the moisture would instantly freeze.  Even with my precautions, I still had to wipe off ice several times.  The moon was nearing full eclipse by this time.

Moon From GTVFD Fire Hall 1 at ~10:27 PM.  Temperature -28 F.

I got back into the car, and continued to Gunflint Lake.  On the journey, I had my air heaters and seat heaters on high.  The inside of the windows behind me were fully coated with ice from my breath, although I was warm in the driver's seat.  Temperatures ranged from -26 to -29 degrees Fahrenheit.  When I parked my car, the final temperature was -28 degrees F.  On the way, I was secretly hoping for -30 Fahrenheit, so I would have better stories later on.  Part of the fun of living in far northern Minnesota are the great weather stories you accumulate over the years.

By the time I parked, the moon was fully eclipsed.  I took a few pictures, unloaded my car, and took some more pictures from my deck.  A short distance away, Gunflint Lake sounded an occasional thunderous boom from the rapid production of ice.

 I experimented with long exposures, hand held shots, and pictures taken from my tripod.  The best pictures seemed to come from the Handheld Night Shot setting, taken from the top of the tripod, with a timer.

Full Eclipse of the Moon from Gunflint Lake at ~11:15 PM.  Temperature -28 F.

Full Eclipse of the Moon

After taking many pictures, I went inside to warm up.  It took quite a while for my feet to get warm, and I will be re-hydrating my hands for the next few days, but it was worth it to see this beautiful eclipse of the perigee moon. 

I'm thankful to have had such a clear night.  As I write this, it is cloudy, and the National Weather Service is predicting a 100% chance of snow this evening.

I went outside one more time before bed.  By this time, it was the next day, and the moon was coming out of eclipse.

Waning Lunar Eclipse from Gunflint Lake after Midnight on January 21, 2019

Wild West Trip - South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah

I started out May 9, 2018 at the Elk Mountain Campground in the Wind Cave National Park.  It was a beautiful day to drive across the rest of South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and part of Nevada.  Before the day was done, I drove 858 miles over 14 hours.  I took one hour-long break to walk around Independence Rock, Wyoming, and a few minutes to look at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Elk Mountain Campground, Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Elk Mountain Campground, Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

When I was in elementary school, we would play a game called Oregon Trail on the old Apple II C and E computers.  In the game, we would go from place to place on aboard a covered wagon, have to figure out what provisions to bring along, and which chances to take on the trail.  There were many landmarks along the route, one of which was Independence Rock, marking the halfway point between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean.

When I was driving through Wyoming, I saw the signs for Independence Rock, and thought it would be fun to see the landmark.  I knew I had a long way to travel that day and didn't think there was time to take a side trip.  However, I pulled over at a scenic rest stop, and found that I was actually at Independence Rock.  The historian in me wanted to take a walk around.  Independence Rock is deceptively large, and it took about an hour to circumnavigate it on foot.  I saw evidence of the pioneers on the rock, and saw some great wildlife in the surrounding countryside.

Independence Rock, Wyoming

Independence Rock - Wyoming

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhychos) at Independence Rock, Wyoming

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhychos) at Independence Rock, Wyoming

The Pronghorn (Antilocapra american), fastest animal in North America, sprinting by Independence Rock, Wyoming.

Path Around Independence Rock, Wyoming

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) at Independence Rock, Wyoming

 The next state I drove through was Utah, a state I had never set foot in before.  I enjoyed the scenic mountains and saw the sun set over the Great Salt Lake.  In Salt Lake City, I took a little detour to see the Mormon Tabernacle.  When we took road trips out west growing up, we would often listen to a recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir called Best Loved American Folk Songs: This Land is Your Land.  It seemed fitting to catch a glimpse of the place the recording happened on my own road trip out west.

Mountains in Utah

Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah - The Mormon Tabernacle is visible through the trees.

 In a few more hours, I arrived at my cousin's house in Elko, Nevada.  The first half of the trip, I had driven around 24 hours, and covered 1,984 miles.