Notes from the North Country
Category archives for Notes from the North Country
Why Minnesota Can’t Have Nice Things
Posted by Greg Laden on August 29, 2012 
In Minnesota’s Lakes Country, what we sometimes call “Up North,” the people have various degrees of knowledge of the land and its wildlife. Cabin people and campers visit briefly and may learn in detail the workings of a particular lake or patch of forest, but are usually poorly informed of the true nature of the…
Cabin At The Lake Tip # 3342
Posted by Greg Laden on June 25, 2012 When installing a “porch light” (to light the entrance way ans any stairs, and the immediate area outside the cabin) do not place the light near the door as is often the custom. The light is meant to be used at night. Out in cabin country, when you turn that light on at night, 22…
A sense of proportion
Posted by Greg Laden on June 24, 2012 
Despite the fact that we observe the world around us everyday, for many common phenomena we have a very poorly developed sense of the important variables of size, shape, position, and motion. As I sit here by the side of the lake and look around numerous examples come to mind. One example arises from a…
Cabin Cooking Tips
Posted by Greg Laden on June 22, 2012 
Tip 1: Get some corn-on-the-cob and a large pot for which you have a tight fitting top. Husk the corn while you boil a large amount of water in the pot (salted if you like, for flavor). Put the corn-on-the-cob in the water and leave the heat on only for a minute, put the top…
Wild Mississippi
Posted by Greg Laden on February 9, 2012 A new multi-part special, Wild Mississippi will be first aired on February 12 at 6 Central on National Geographic Wild. I can’t watch this when it is on because I don’t get the channel on my TV, but I copped a review copy and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Here’s the description of the…
When is a bird a real turkey?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 7, 2011 This post at 10,000 Birds, an item I accidentally bumped into on the Internet while looking for something else, and an unusual sighting moments ago, converge. And, its a nice distracting convergence which I need right now because as I sit here one week before fishing opener, looking at the glassy surface of Hunters Bay,…
Why are all the birds dying?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 7, 2011 Over the last few days, there have been several reports of mass die-offs of birds, and one report of a fish die-off. These events have been linked, via suggestion but not evidence, to hail, lightning, fireworks, aircraft, aliens, each other, poison gases, and even pockets of oxygen free air. Many have suggested that there may…
Unless you really know what you are doing stay off the ice!
Posted by Greg Laden on December 6, 2010 The following is a fictionalized version of a true story recently told to me by two of the people involved. All the names of those still living have been changed. Please do not let this happen to you.
An ironic death
Posted by Greg Laden on November 10, 2010 Two weeks ago Julia and I took the road from the cabin to Longville and back and noticed that they had put up a new sign at each end of the curvy, hilly treacherous part, where you drive dangerously high above bogs and wooded kettles with no guard rail and there is one blind curve…
Djagechyer Deer?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 8, 2010 This weekend was Deer Opener in Minnesota. So the traffic going up to the cabin resembled Fishing Opener, and the entire experience was like Fishing Opener, but with more blasting and less splashing. Also, we didn’t see a single deer all weekend, and other critters were acting strangely. Something spent part of the weekend living…
Notes from Up North
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2010 Every now and then I hear a sound like a bird hitting the window. Half the time I can also hear the other parts of the noise a shotgun makes, but half the time it sounds just like a bird hitting the window and nothing else. Then, off in the distance I see between five…
Strange insect encounter: Carrion Beetle with Mites
Posted by Greg Laden on September 30, 2010 I’ve heard of “carrion beetles” but this is more like a “carry-on beetle”: Amanda and I were outside the cabin in Cass County, Minnesota last week, cutting pieces of plywood for sub flooring, and we saw this creature among the debris. At first I thought it was some kind of wasp covered with tiny spiders,…
An organic workout, a strange encounter, and a movie
Posted by Greg Laden on September 19, 2010 Replacing floors is a total exercise routine. Moving furniture out of the way, ripping up whatever is there, measuring and cutting new sub flooring, carting around heavy sheets of plywood, tacking and nailing, and so on and so forth works every single muscle in one’s body. That’s what we did last weekend. Also, I was…
Tamarack Wildlife Refuge
Posted by Greg Laden on August 24, 2010 In our recent tour of the northern and western parts of Minnesota, we stopped briefly at Tamarack Wildlife Refuge. Here are a few shots:
Photos from Itasca
Posted by Greg Laden on August 23, 2010 As you know, we just spent a few days at Itasca (see this for the meaning of the word “Itasca”) where we saw some interesting wildlife. I thought I ‘d share a few photos of the trip.
To Jeffers with Jaf: A trip across time, space, and culture.
Posted by Greg Laden on August 17, 2010 There is a swath across the map of Minnesota that runs northwest to southeast across the state, separating the major biomes of the eastern two thirds of the country, and for complicated reasons. North, it is colder, south warmer. Much of the moister in the region, especially in the summer, comes from the Gulf of…
What I had for brunch: A Trip to Bitch Lake
Posted by Greg Laden on August 15, 2010 They say Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. This is why there is a big state park surrounding the lake, a park that preserves some beautiful old forest despite the best efforts of 19th century lumberjacks to cut it down. I’ve been to Itasca a number of times, and I’ve even done archaeological…
Walking around the lakes
Posted by Greg Laden on July 31, 2010 When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at lakes, but the idea of walking around a lake hardly every occurred to me or anyone else. This might be because the lakes were either really big (like the Great Sacandaga Reservoir) or nestled into deep sided rock canyons carved out by glaciers,…
How Young is the Grand Canyon?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 20, 2009 To answer that question briefly, it is really really old if you mean “how old are the oldest rocks that are exposed by the Grand Canyon,” and it is probably just a few million years old (5 or 6 by some estimates) if you mean “how long did the canyon itself take to form.” An…
The Mystery of the Returned Boat Motor widens
Posted by Greg Laden on October 5, 2009 First there was the question of Goldilocks, a Very Cold Winter Night, And a Strange Sense of Empty-ness. Then, there was The Mystery of The Returned Outboard Motor. Which turned into The Mystery of the Missing Boat Motor Deepens. Then there was the complexification described in What makes a perfect day at the lake?. And…
Global warming and the Minnesota Moose. Part IIa
Posted by Greg Laden on October 4, 2009 This is a continuation of a discussion on the role of Global Warming in the decline of moose populations in Minnesota. It is also a discussion of Global Warming denialism.
Global warming and the Minnesota Moose. Part I.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 1, 2009 Minnesota moose experts generally agree that global warming is forcing the southern edge of the distribution of the moose northward into Canada, threatening this important US population of this ginormous deer species. Global warming denialists insist that this is the moose’s fault, and has nothing to do with global warming. This is the first of…
What makes a perfect day at the lake?
Posted by Greg Laden on September 29, 2009 When the wind stiffens it blows the fog off the lake and replaces it with a biting spray. And when the wind slackens the sound of air rushing though the leaves and around the cabins is replaced with the crashing of the white caps that stand off from the more protected bay. Either way it…
Global Warming, The Decline of the Moose, and “Minnesota Nice”
Posted by Greg Laden on September 28, 2009 We have had a cool summer here in Minnesota, and this has brought out the miscreants who for their own reasons do not want to get on board with the simple, well demonstrated scientific fact that global temperatures have risen, that we humans are the primary cause, and that this climate change has negative consequences.
Brett Favre. Any questions? I thought not…
Posted by Greg Laden on September 27, 2009 A very interesting day. I got word in the AM that Derick would be digging a trench across the Cabin property tomorrow, and as an archaeologist I could not possibly skip that, so I ripped a rotten board out of the porch as fast as I could, threw in some laundry, and watched the beginning…
The Art of Not Looking Like a Fool (A fish story)
Posted by Greg Laden on September 24, 2009 When I am in the mood to fish, and I’m at the lake, I pay special attention to the water.
The Mystery of the Missing Boat Motor Deepens
Posted by Greg Laden on September 22, 2009 … or, maybe gets shallower. I’m not sure.
The Mystery of The Returned Outboard Motor
Posted by Greg Laden on September 20, 2009 If you have not yet read Goldilocks, a Very Cold Winter Night, And a Strange Sense of Empty-ness then please do so now. Only then will you have the background necessary to understand and appreciate The Mystery of the Returned Outboard Motor. As told to us by Jimmy James Watson Bettencourt …
Goldilocks, a Very Cold Winter Night, And a Strange Sense of Empty-ness
Posted by Greg Laden on September 20, 2009 So we arrive at the cabin, and something seems amiss. With each new clue uncovered, we are at first disturbed, then aghast, and finally, astonished. None of it made very much sense until we found the note. Wow. The note.
Silence of the Loons
Posted by Greg Laden on September 6, 2009 The loons have been strangely silent all weekend, and I have been singularly distracted from them, so it was not until this morning that I realized that the adults are gone.
, which is now available for the 
