Home again

We're back from the woods, and what a great trip we had! The weather was perfectly sunny and warm almost every day, with a little wind and some nighttime storms thrown in for variety. As usual, photos do a better job of describing the trip than words, so here we go...


As Chris wrote earlier in the week, Winnie had the misfortune of cutting open her paw pad the day before we left. It was a fairly deep cut, and in a really lousy spot to keep clean and still while it healed. For most of the trip, she wore a sporty blue bandage secured with a few layers of medical tape. Thank goodness we practiced bandaging on her last semester!





When we first arrived, we were greeted by fields of yellow and orange hawkweed, daisies, and lupine. They must have really enjoyed the cool, wet spring, because we've never seen the flowers quite so prominent along the roadsides.









Chris and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 1st with time on the dock, a little fishing, and a strawberry rhubarb pie. And we didn't mention wedding plans once :)











We had the best fishing we've seen in a few years, and caught enough smallmouth bass that we couldn't even finish our bass lunch. I played around with the ugliest lure that I've ever used- a silly floating frog that we found at a campsite last summer. It actually caught a fish!
















Even with an ouchy foot, Win could still enjoy a nice paddle.
















We ended our trip with a visit to hidden trout stream, where we caught the first mess of trout that we've had in a couple of years. It's definitely my new favorite spot for trout.



















Mmm, 16 nice brookies!










Winnie must have learned this trick from her old friend Moose- if you see them packing the car, you better pack yourself or else they might forget you!

Cabin Time

We are up north in Grand Marais for some town and big lake time. The weather has been fantastic so far, with the only problem being it gets hard to sleep when you have sunburn on your sunburn! The bugs have been out in force but we can handle them, even if we have to run in terror some times. Winnie cut her rear paw pad the night before we left, so she has been going at about 50% so far. We have been putting a bandage on her foot that she hates, but when she can keep it on she is her normal self. It has gotten much better and she should be bandage free by tomorrow. 

So, good vacation all around! No more internet until we get back. Hope every one is well! 

Summah time

It's been 25 days since second year ended, and the closest I've gotten to thinking about school was pondering my shiny new third year mailbox in the Pomeroy Center as I biked past it on the way to the farmer's market this morning. Our class rep was ambitious enough to convince our clinical pathology professor to send out summer review problems, which I haven't even opened... And I keep meaning to flip through some flashcards to keep my brain engaged, but haven't gotten around to that either.

It's fantastic!

Instead, I am getting some much-needed practice in the clinic learning practical skills, like how to restrain dogs, how to talk to clients, and how to take radiographs. Not that they don't go over those things in school, but you really can't learn it all without getting the chance to do it on a regular basis. Hopefully getting more confident with the basics will help me out when I reach clinics in school- it might be easier to answer questions that clinicians fire at me when I'm not busy wondering something stupid like, "Wait, is a 25 gauge needle bigger or smaller than a 20 gauge?"

In other news, Chris and I both got the entire first week of July off, so we get to head up north for our 5 year anniversary, a little camping, and hopefully more successful fishing than we had at the end of May!

We're Back!

We left in such a hurry that we never mentioned that were leaving!

I think Winnie is looking at something in this picture. What could it be?



More later...

Winter Adventure!

I have not had much to post about but here is something, Megan and I are going up north! Just a few miles past the cabin even. We made reservations for three nights, the first in a B&B on the 31st and then in a Yurt (pictured right) for the 1st and 2nd. So, a REALLY quiet new years for us but thats what was available!

It should be an adventure. We hope to get back to the cabin for a winter visit and check out some trails around the area. It should be cold and snowy, but they have a sauna next to the Yurt and we wont have to worry about wolves eating us like winter camping...

Cabin slideshow

I'll leave it to Chris to fill in the details, but here are the basics of our camping trip from last week:

• The route- East Bearskin, Moon, Deer, Caribou, Clearwater, Mountain, Moose, North Fowl, South Fowl, Royal River (east side), Royal Lake, Royal River (west side), John, East Pike, West Pike, Clearwater, Deer, Moon, East Bearskin
• The length- 44 miles, three days of moving, two nights of camping

Best part... pictures!

Home!

We're back, with lots of dramatic tales to tell, but for now it's bedtime. A better update will come tomorrow!

so full

Oh man. After two days of fairgoing, I am full and exhausted. I need a trip up north just to detox from all the greasy wonderful goodness.

I got to spend four hours yesterday snorgling these little guys, a litter of 8-hour-old piglets, while they napped in between meals. Large animal medicine wouldn't be half bad if they stayed this size (although then I guess it wouldn't be large animal, would it?).

In non-fair-related news, our little Pipkin is facing a health challenge. Two days ago, he was completely normal. Yesterday, Chris went to feed him and noticed that he wasn't acting right. Overnight, he developed a full-blown head tilt (like the bunny in the photo). Head tilt in rabbits is fairly common, and can be an indication of an ear infection, tooth problems, tumors, neurological issues, spinal problems, head trauma, or a number of other things. We brought him to the vet today, and thankfully it looks like it's just an inner ear infection. Treatment is usually pretty lengthy, but the prognosis is good- as long as he is eating and drinking well (which he is), antibiotics should knock out the infection. At 7 1/2 years old, Pip is getting to be an older bunny, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that he's healthy and strong enough to fight off this infection. Please keep Mr. Pipkin in your thoughts! I hate that we have to leave him during such a hard time, but he's under the expert nursing care of my parents at their house. Feel free to send any oat-and-banana care packages there.


I might blog again before we leave, but I might not. If not, have a good last couple week of August everyone!

Happy Corgi

I am back and winnie is back to normal too. She was dying to see me and then proceeded to chew up all her chew toys and squeak all her squeak toys which she has not done for days apparently.

The trip up north was great. We had one day with all rain and the rest was hot hot hot. But the lake was right there and there is none of that city reflective heat that we get lots of by our apartment. Heat of buildings, off cars, of the side walk... I read a lot and swam a lot and generally got to unwind and reflect about how things are going. I played a great golf game with my dad, our neighbor Don, and his neighbor Phil. I did pretty good for taking two years off - I even won both the 7th and 8th holes!

Megan and I will be going up at the end of August for one more summer hurah before school kicks in for both of us. Her attending me working for.

In other news I am spending the 2nd week in August in Austin TX for a conference paid for by my fine institution here. We are going to discuses things such as the future of digital imagery in the classroom/library and metadata. Woho!

No Blogging, Blogging!

I have gotten to the point that I have so much to write about, but have not written in so long, that I am just saving up the stories! Blogging constipation if you will. I guess its a good thing when I can say, 'I have been way too busy to blog!' vs. having too much time on my hands. So coming up in more detail are:

• Wedding blogging
• Fire blogging
• Cabin blogging
• Car blogging
• Beer blogging
• Bonsai Blogging
• Old friend Blogging

But for now a quick digest...

So did you know my friend Alex got married and I was in the wedding? It was quite the affair that took all time time from Wednesday to sunday two weeks ago already. My sister took the photos too, so those will go up later.

And on the way to the bachelor party my car died. The problem is electrical, I wont get into details, but it has a new battery now but that did nothing. Time go get greasy again! We also went to the cabin using my moms nice car (mm AC) and made me really start thinking about something a little newer. Personally I am wishing specifically and realistically for a 1999 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT. All wheel drive goodness that is quick too. Runs around $6,000. I would like to have it before winter time. But first I have to fix mine of course.

Megan and I had a great time up north. The burn area was amazing to see and I have tons of good pictures. In short, the place is beautiful and crazy green. The blowdown was ugly, this is beautiful. I can't wait to watch it grow!

I also tried our lavender homebrew we bottled last week. Its not done yet but is coming along. None of the strong lavender flavor is there but its has defused into light floral flavors. Next up: Belgian Chocolate Stout

Also, two new Bonsai! I just potted them last night and did an initial trim on one. One needs a better pot and one is just in an plain brown one that should be ok for a while. One is a white cedar and one is a paper birch taken from about 1/2 mile from where I harvested my old one. Pictures later!

I also re-connected with my old friend Sam from High School at Fort Snelling on the 4th of July. I have not seen him in over 5 years! He is a captain now, from the 1800s of course. Peace corps for him next, but not till November so hopefully we can get together before he goes.

Ok thats the digest blogging! More to come later and in no particular order.

East Bearskin

Chris, Winnie, and I are back from our trip up the Gunflint Trail! As usual, it felt too short and we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do, but we still had a great time. The weather was perfect every day, sunny and warm until the last night, when we got some nice rain to sleep in. When we left Grand Marais it was 48 degrees... brrr!

Fishing was much better this year than last (The Fishing Season Which Shall Not Be Named). Clearly my new reel is lucky! We didn't spend too much time trying, but caught 7 good-sized small mouth bass and one big brook trout. Our trout stream was unfortunately covered in a thick cloud of black flies, so we couldn't spend much time there, but we'll head back in August when the brook fishing is better than the lake fishing and the black flies are way down.

I found a four-leafed clover with Winnie on our first morning walk, and Chris found a six-leafed clover (!!!) on the way to harvest a new bonsai two new bonsai from the ski trail. Pictures of the bonsai and their story to come........

We drove up to see the fire damage at the end of the trail to finally put some real images into all those fire maps that Chris posted on the blog. I was amazed at what we saw! As we were leaving, Chris said that he had "some serious fire blogging to do!", so I think I'll let him tell that story too.

Winnie had a blast as usual, getting in some good swimming time, chasing some chipmunks, digging some holes, and reverting to her wild-corgi self. As soon as we got home, she slunk into her usual post-cabin depression, which consists mainly of not eating and not wanting to play. All she wants to do is chew on her stick that she brought home from the cabin. Poor girl. She always gets back to normal after a few days, but I sort of understand how she feels (minus the chewing on the stick part).

Chris and I celebrated our four year anniversary on Sunday (!) in the traditional northwoods fashion of gorging ourselves on Trail Center ribs. It was amazing :-) I got a new necklace from Sivertson Gallery and we spent the day out in the woods, remembering when we found each other there four years ago. So much has changed, but the woods always seem to stay pretty much the same somehow.

So, we are home and readjusting to life in the city. More stories of our adventures will follow, but for now... pictures!

At the shore on the drive up, Winnie introduced her lobster to freshwater

Columbines on the shore

We're almost there!

Gunflint Lake

Winnie and Chris goofing around on our day in town

Corgi bum in the wilderness

Grand Marais on a rainy, cold day on the way home


Winnie watches Chris collecting rocks

Introspective corgi

Moss on the shore

We're home!

More to come after we rest up.........

Cabin!

We are off to East Bearskin for a few days of much-needed time out of the city.... We'll be back with pictures!

10 AM recap

I missed the 10:00 AM meeting this morning again, but I got the recap here.

• From here on out, 1 meeting a day at 10:00 AM
• Gunflint lake and Loon lake open.
• US parameter holding today
• The finger will be enclosed today
• Hot-spot work now, crews with in 100 ft.
• BWCA still closed
• No fires! No welding! Only gas/propane
• Canada side still growing, optimistic the fire will be more in control by this weekend.

7:00 PM update

Came late to this one, they sound like they are giving a powerpoint about fire fighting. What strikes me about this press conference is how much of a wrap up it is...

(Ok, 8:00 post of the first half of the 7:00 update)
• Fire did not grow much today. 1,000 Acres in Canada, none is U.S.
• Drizzle all day, high humidity
• 20% of fire contained, 55% on US side.
• 4 fires in Ontario, this one is the least critical! They are very stretched.
• US teams going up north to help out.
• 1 structure lost today on Sag (Canada), no additional loss. Confidant there will be no more.
• US side, not much happened besides line building.
• Media says "fire out" by sunday, not true. Fire will be contained by sunday, but it might not be out for months.
• Firefighters will be around all summer on this fire.
• But, contained by sunday!
• Thursday, seagull and sag people can get passes to return home for the afternoon.
• Owners on Gunflint and Loon can return noon tomorrow, no conditions. Electric is spotty, talk to the company.
• All of the areas outside the BWCA open for recreation. BWCA is still closed.
• Weather is key, weather has helped us. Along with the 1,100 people helping out.

(Ok thats the whole thing, time for me to dive home to St. Paul)

• Canada is hard to fight fire in
• The 120 mi+ is the parameter of the fire. Not the entire area is burned, but rather is a patchwork.
• The north shore of gunflint lake was a hot crown fire, not much you can do.
• Sprinkler systems have been vital to firefighting. Sprinkler + firefighters is very very good
• the burn out/back burns
• Intentional burns to stop fire
• Very effective around Gunflint and Loon
• This fire used a lot of air support.
• The forest is renewing it self already, lots of green in black places already!

• Re-cap
• Move road closure up to cross river
• Thursday, property owners can get passes to get to their property
• Meeting tomorrow 10 AM and 7 PM with guests from Canada

Rebroadcast at 8:00, I will catch the front end of that

WTIP update: 3:00 PM

• Chance of rain tonight, lows around 35 (brr) There is a chance of frost on monday night!
• Property tax pushed back to June 15th to every one in the evacuated area. Also applies to the caution area.
• 12:00 - 4:00 access on thursday for residents north of round lake
• A plan for access to Gunflint and Loon is in the works. More info on this at 7:00 tonight

 Report from beyond the roadblock from WTIP news
• Madonna, "fire mom" leads a crew of 25
• worked for 25 years fighting fires, this was biggest smoke column she has ever seen
• Strange fire, the way it wrapped around
• No one sleeps, exhaustion is a big problem

Please support WTIP for getting out all this great information!! Go to www.wtip.org to make a donation.

Working

Lots of work today, so I missed the AM fire update but the MNICS press release has gotten quite good at being up to date with what they say at their meetings. The real problem now seems to be in Canada where the fire increased in size 13,000 acres which is a little over 20 square miles in a day. That brings the total size of the fire to about 117 square miles with now over half that in Canada. 20% of the entire fire is contained, but 50% of the US side is contained. All this puts the fire fighting effort at around $6 million.

The front that moved in brought cool dry air, and winds from the north west at 8-14 mph.

Also, people north of round lake will be allowed back to inspect their property this thursday according to this press release. They will have to leave, but at least they can assess the damage them selves.

I am getting a lot of news from the Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters News as they have a first person view of whats going on. Apparently they had a nice damp morning today.

In fact, a lot of the local blogs that went down during the evacuation are going up again. You can find a large list here at Boreal.org

Late night update

Well I missed the 7:00 AND 10:00 WTIP updates but I have gathered a few links to make up for it.

Tuscarora blog has a good first person assessment of the fire that goes along with an NPR piece that I heard. The point being that even though portions of the fire have blackened everything, large parts of it have left things is a patchwork of trees ready to spring back.

MNICS put out their news release at 6:00 about the fire. Basic outline being there was good progress today on the fire with 20% now contained. The Canadian side seems like the bad spot to be right now. The "finger" area has been pretty well contained with brute force and the cooperation of the winds.

It is my feeling now that the real danger has passed on this fire, at least on the US side of it. With the rain and the low winds, the crews up there have gotten a good hold on the dangerous areas. A big wind could always change things, but as of right now I feel that at least the east bearskin is safe. It is good to know that the sprinkler systems that seemed so dubious when we installed them years ago work as well as they do, so if the next campfire that blows out of control is 1 or 2 miles away instead of 20 or 30, we know there is protection that works.

Hopefully I can catch tomorrows 10:00 AM fire update, and I will carry that on here as usual.

10:00 Fire update

Alright, interview over (went very well, I will post more about it if I get the job) and I got the info on the 10:00 AM fire update from my mom who I conscripted into the blogging effort.

• Will provide info as confirmed
• Division E and B between Loon Lake and Mayhew burned yesterday successfully, working toward Mayhew today
• Good news last night - some rain.
• Got all 3 - wind, rain and lightning
• 1/10 inch at Gunflint location. 1/2 inch in Grand Marais.
• Does reduce fire behavior, gives reprieve.
• Lightning strikes will be patrolled by air several times/day for next few days.
• People on standby in anticipation of fire starts from lightning.
• Fire on Red Pine Island
• Focus will continue to be finger between Loon, Gunflint, South Lake and Mayhew.
• Heavy fog in Ely area may impede some of aircraft operations until it burns off.
• Black line on map means fire is contained. If black line all around fire, means it is in control. Will be awhile before getting to that point.
• As of today - 20% contained,but fire sometimes gets away again.


She also ads that my dad called in the middle of the broadcast and said that he measured 1/2 inch of rain on East Bearskin. He also said that around 11:00 there was heavy lighting that was quite scary, but then the rain caught up at 1:00 AM. He also heard dynamite going off this morning from the fire lines.

New maps out now too. Here is the interactive map and below is a smaller version of the huge PDF map MNICS put out. Click on the image below for a large version.

Interview

I have a job interview this morning at Macalester College for Visual Resource Assistant in the art department. I think I have a good shot as I am currently the curator of the St. Olaf Visual resource collection. I decided to change because the commute is already driving me crazy, and with gas heading towards $4.00 a gallon thats $13 just to get to and back from work! Let alone the time. I could even bike to Macalester no problem as it is a little less than 3 miles away.

Since my interview is at 10:00 and I will miss the WTIP broadcast, but I might be getting an email with it transcribed for me if everything technical works. I will post about it when I can.

For now, here is a good post from Tuscarora Lodge's blog about the fire from the first person. Be sure to check it out.