The lastest date for the first killing frost up here in the northwoods that I can ever remember. The earliest was in the 60s when the corn got froze hard in late August forcing the silo filling a month early.
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| A hard frost brings change--not as much as the first snow, but it signals, for me, another push in cutting fire wood. |
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| Maple leaves are mostly down with the oaks beginning their spectacular show on the Sterling Barrens. |
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| Aspens are late in turning this year--maybe they need a frost to trigger the color change. This is on what is left of the old Orr gravel pit ridge. |
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| If you are an ant, this hill represents building the Empire State Building over the summer! |
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| This used to be a big hill--a pile of gravel that was all used in the rebuild of Hwy 87 many years ago, leaving a pothole. My neighbor Jim Falk, (who passed away last winter) planted some tamaracks and popples along the north edge. Whenever I see them it will remind me of Jim. He retired and built a home along the river road and bought some of the old Orr Farm. He loved hunting and his deer stand nearby sported a TV antenna! Jim started having memory problems (seemed to be triggered by a head injury in an accident), and gradually lost his identity. He was a good neighbor -- so as long as I walk down the road and see these trees, I will remember him and his memorial planting. |
Margo has been feeling tired and worn down from the year of cancer treatment and is taking it easy and doing some catchup with other medical problems that were caused by or delayed by the cancer treatment. We are looking forward to a quiet winter -- maybe January and February in the south again. I remain in remission from Myasthenia Gravis, and just old age is my excuse nowadays for what I don't get done!
