23 Oct 2010 North Dakota and Minnesota

As I write this, I am listening to the sounds of geese honking as they fly overhead in their V-formation. I have no idea why they have to honk as they fly, unlike other birds, who fly silently. My dad says that the theory is that they are talking to each other. "Hey, you're getting too close, Buddy! Move over." "Do you see that cornfield cafe down there? Let's stop off for lunch." I see and hear them several times a day when I am outside. No one else notices them up here, they are such a common occurrence. But I enjoy seeing and hearing them each and every time. They are still a treat for me.


When I was traveling through the middle of North Dakota, to visit with family, I saw more hawks in two days than I’ve seen in my entire life before [red-tailed hawk, dark phase, left, and juvenile osprey, right]. I was amazed. It seemed like there were hawks on every ten telephone poles all along my route. My dad says that I saw so many because they are migrating now. Loved it.


One of my first days in Minnesota I drove through the middle of the lake country, from Fergus Falls to Park Rapids. For about 90 miles, I kept track of the lakes I went by - well, those that had signs, anyway: Pelican, Buck, Prairie, Detroit Lakes, Franklin, Sauer, Melissa, Lind, Cottage, Meadow, Muskrat, Munson, St. Clair, Schulz, Howe, Cotton, Little Toad, Big Twin, Sivertson, Toad, Wolf, George, Height of Land, Holbrook, East Lake Lizzie, Fish. I missed a few. And that didn't include the many unsigned unnamed ponds, sloughs, and lakes. But there was another lake every three miles, on average.


The water table around here continues to rise. A couple years ago when my dad was driving me around the countryside where he grew up, he pointed out lake after lake -"That lake didn't used to be there; I used to walk through that field." "Those two lakes are joined into one now; they used to be separate lakes." Etc. Etc. And I can tell that they've grown even larger since then. Lakes have grown a lot in his lifetime. Devil's Lake in North Dakota is in the news from time to time as it swallows more and more land, but what's happening there is quietly happening all over this part of the country. I don't understand it. I assume it has something to do with global warming, but I don't really know.



It's late enough that most of the trees are bare, most of the red is gone from the maples. But there is still a flash of brilliant color occasionally - aspen gold, red maple, golden tamarac.


The unusually warm weather continues. It gets down below freezing at night occasionally, but mostly has been in the upper 30s. I've warned everyone that, if the temps get lower into the 20s at night, I'm heading south. :-) But, so far, the weather has been great. I'm loving it!