Duluth Parks Blog
If you are interested in Duluth city parks you might be interested in my parks blog:
Portable Amateur Radio from All Duluth Parks
kd0etc.blogspot.com
If you are interested in Duluth city parks you might be interested in my parks blog:
Portable Amateur Radio from All Duluth Parks
kd0etc.blogspot.com
Bob Berg wrote a great article in Lake Superior Magazine about “7 Great Fall Drives” to check out the changing colors. Let’s add to the list. What are some of your favorite Minnesota fall color drives in Duluth and along the South and North shores of Lake Superior? You can see the current fall color reports here.
I’ll start with the Temperance River road. The over-hanging canopy acts as a colorful tunnel as you make your way from Highway 61 north. You migth as well hit the Trestle Inn for a beer while your up in that area.
Summer 2013 at various Lake Superior beaches and Lester River swimming holes.
Here’s a link to all the original videos if you missed any.
Via Wildwoods Founders:
Yesterday evening, friends called about a red squirrel caught in a leghold trap set on the edge of a city park. We don’t know how long the squirrel had been trapped there. See the brown discoloration on the fur by his mouth? He’d been trying to chew his way out of the trap.
For those of you who don’t know, we have a branch of the EPA in Duluth called the Mid Continent Ecology Division. Last night, Rachel Maddow used an example of some of the work that is done at MED to demonstrate what could happen during the government shutdown at the EPA. She also uses it as a lead in to an interview with the EPA administrator. And finally, she uses it to demonstrate how old EPA training videos look.
The leaves are starting to fall and colors are starting to change in Duluth and along the North Shore. Let us know where you are in the Northland and if you are seeing any great fall colors yet.
Four main groups of biochemicals are responsible for the various yellows, oranges, reds and browns that we see in the fall — chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanins and tannins. Each has its own color and chemistry. Varying amounts of these chemicals will give subtle variations in color from one leaf to the next or even from tree to tree.
From this afternoon.
So much fun to swim here. Go to Perkins on London Road, cut down to lake, go 50 yards to the right.
I saw broken bottles underwater at a popular Lake Superior swimming spot in Duluth. A few days later I was able to return and used my powers for good to clean up after the bad guys. You can either wade in at the shallow end of this spot, or rock-jump in at the deep end, either way there was broken glass within reach of innocent bare feet. It was the remains of at least five separate beer bottles, probably from one douchebag at a party of cowards.
I spent about three hours collecting all the glass I could in dives lasting 30-45 seconds each with rests to catch my breath in between. I couldn’t get it all, there were many shards too small to pick up, but they will wash away most easily into the deep. All of it would have turned into smooth beach glass sooner or later, or been sucked out to sea by the next storm, but in the meantime this mess sat there for several days and could have easily lacerated someone. I was very careful picking it up, but obviously it was a little risky and the wave action was moving me around quite a bit (good thing my Atlantean physiology is adapted to the pressure at great depths, so my skin can even resist machine gun fire).
Be warned: I protect this lake, and those who come here. If I catch anyone breaking glass at the beach I will not hesitate to call the police. Either that or I will telepathically summon a giant catfish to eat you.
Local news spot here.
I had a foolish close call cliff-jumping, but got it on video. Here’s the bone-chilling tale of hubris and naked luck: hottest day of the year but the lake was ice cold so I went to the cliff-jumping swimming hole on Lester River known as the Deeps. I’d made a video there before of jumping from up high, but I hadn’t jumped from the highest point yet, so I tried it.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is moving to formalize proposed changes to the list of endangered, threatened and concerned species which was last updated in 1996. A media release was sent out today:
Twenty-nine species, including the bald eagle, wolf and snapping turtle, were removed from the list; 180 species of plants and animals were added; 91 species had their status either upgraded or downgraded while remaining on the list. The changes were based on large amounts of new information gathered by DNR and other researchers.
The “bald eagle, wolf, and snapping turtle” reads like a “who’s who” list of beings that are considered sacred to local Native American people. Although I am not aware of any plans for a turtle (Mikinak) hunt the DNR did authorize a highly controversial eastern grey wolf (Maiingan) hunt in 2012. A bald eagle (Migizi) hunt seems unthinkable, but many people would have said the same about a wolf hunt 15 years ago.
Someone at the DNR also thought maybe that it would be a good idea to frame the discussion of endangered species from the perspective of European explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries, rather than focusing on the healthy hunting and land-use practices of the Dakota and Ojibwe people who managed the lands for centuries before the Europeans arrived. You can look it over here while I knock this chip off my shoulder. (Screen grab below)
Source: Updating MN list of endangered, threatened, special concern species
Cultural faux pas aside, I think that some of the most significant changes to the listings are the inclusion of moose, and a large number of fish, plants, and insects to the state’s protected lists. For example, after eyeballing the charts accompanying the release, listings for dragonflies, mosses, lichens and plant-life have increased maybe ten-fold or more since 1996. I’m no biologist by any means, but I think that there may be both good and bad news in this report for environmentalists, hunters, loggers, farmers, and miners. Not that a person couldn’t be more than one (or all) of those things concurrently. But the enormous increase in threatened/endangered/special concern species overall is somewhat alarming to me.
The entire list is here (it is an enormous pdf). A shorter summary is here
One of my personal favorite things to do in the summer is eat breakfast out on my back porch. There is something primal yet decadent about eating my gardens bounty while listening to the birds talking, watching the random and often unedible berries turn red, gasping as the dragonflies rush past my head on the way to their meal all while perched on my comfortable Menards patio set.
This summer I get to give other people the opportunity to experience my dream dinner. Not in my backyard but at the Food Farm and Birch Point Gardens. Imagine walking around Big gardens and seeing the lush plants and flowers then turning a corner to find a beautiful long white table set with flowers and surreal music playing in the distance. Now here comes my part. I cook you a fabulous meal of four courses, with wine pairings. Each one focusing on the fresh veggies that come from 50 feet behind you. They are creative and often new playful recipes, meant to intrigue you while still tasting the freshness.
We did this last year and they were some on the most magical nights of my summer, and I was actually working! If you are at all interested, let me know. 724-6811
