Elizabeth and her friend Mac (a.k.a. Macartney Morris) arrived a couple of days ago from New York for a six-day visit, they’ve been enjoying the solitude and wildlife of the island. We drove to Hibbing on Friday to pick them up at the airport…
Welcome to Hibbing International Airport...
where they got to pose with a prominent member of the welcome committee. On the way back home, just before Route 37 runs into 53, Jan starts yelling, “Strawberries, strawberries!”. Before I realize she means me to stop, I’ve gone too far and have to make a U-turn to get back to the pick-your-own strawberry farm…
Berry, berry, who's got the berry?
where we pick a few pints of lovely berries. They’ve got a large blueberry patch as well, but those won’t be ready for picking until August.
More excitement awaits on Mud Creek Road – we spot this large brown creature waddling along the road, and George comes to a screeching stop, leaps out of the car with his camera and chases it. Beavers don’t move very fast on land, so when it hears him catching up the beaver stops, turns and faces him and begins hissing loudly. This stopped George , and he took photos from a safe distance.
"Get any closer and you'll regret it!"
He’s since been told by several people that it’s not a good idea to tangle with a beaver…turns out they have very large teeth. Who knew?
Bill and Lynne Overland had arrived back on the lake the day before, they’ve heard a lot about Elizabeth (what a surprise!) and were eager to meet her, and we all joined them that evening for a long-standing dinner date. We were treated to a delicious multi-course Indian dinner with 10 -count-em 10 chutneys….yum! And don’t even mention the fabulous cheesecake!
Jan, Elizabeth, Mac, Lynn and Bill Overland.
Elizabeth and Mac quickly got into the rhythm of Lake Vermilion, it’s amazing how busy you can be doing very little. The weather had taken a drastic turn from the cold of not so long ago, and got very warm and humid. You can see what it did to our wall calendar…
Curling from the heat and damp...
So Elizabeth and Mac took to the water, which Jan and I have actually done very little over the years that we’ve been coming up here.
Where's the cabana boy??
It turned out to be a pleasant break from the heat. George took the opportunity to check out the bottom of the lake near the dock, where lots of stuff has disappeared into the drink over the years.
Anyone remember "Sea Hunt"??
Not surprisingly, there were a fair number of beer cans and pop-tops and a tire or two (we use them for bumpers). But what he was really happy about finding were a couple of Manhattan glasses that we had lost some five or six years ago.
Before and after...five years later.
We had forgotten that these particular glasses were Rozzie’s reward for supporting the U.S. Shooting Team when they competed in the 1991 World Cup. After a bit of cleaning (well, quite a bit of cleaning!) they look as good as new, and we’re glad to have them back again.
And, naturally, Elizabeth and Mac very quickly got into the sit-on-the-dock-and-enjoy-the-view mode.
Don't bother me, I'm busy...
New York City is a galaxy far, far away.