Portals to the Upside Down

 

Channeling one of my favorite shows... these images of thaw patterns in the spring lake ice made me think of the portals or passageways between the Upside Down and the Right Side Up from the Stranger Things series. 

Pelican Layover

A small group of pelicans was hanging out in front of the house this morning. We often see them for very brief periods this time of year as they stop for a quick rest on their way further north. They're always very interesting to see. 

The Milky Way, Lake Superior, and Starlink

 

The Milky Way was awesome over Lake Superior last night. The Starlink satellites... not so much. 

March Forest - Northeast Minnesota

 

Saturday was a beautiful day for a snowshoe hike in the forest. Sunny skies and temps in the upper 20's made for perfect conditions to be outside. The trees looked so cool as they were still blanketed in snow from the winter storm we experienced on Thursday/Friday. 

Dreams of Summer

All this snow, wind and cold weather the past month or so has me daydreaming of warmer days. Of explorations deep in the forest... of wanderings along rivers where lush green foliage drapes the canyon walls. Places where the only thing you'll hear is the sound of the water as it finds its way over and around the rocks that litter the stream bed. I absolutely love winter, but sometimes I long for summer too. 

Lake Superior Ice Formations

 

I am so glad to have a more "normal" winter this year, with colder temps and LOTS of ice along the Lake Superior shoreline!  Of course, as I type this we are currently experiencing a warm spell and its sunny and 40 degrees out...

It feels like way too long since we've had nice piles of ice along the shoreline. I look forward to it every year and when we don't get it... it makes winter a lot less interesting and a lot less beautiful. I think I will always find the ice fascinating. I always have, and that feeling has not diminished one bit over the years. 

Desert Solitaire

 

I don't think it's any big secret that I love to go to the desert in search of solitude. Probably the thing I enjoy the most about my southwest trips is getting away from people and all the "noise"... in the seemingly endless forms that it can come in. Our health, both mental and physical, is challenged each and every day and every one of us needs a way to recover from those challenges. For me, recovery has always come in the from of escape... escape for a morning, afternoon or a full day into the woods on foot or on a bike, or onto the water in a canoe or kayak. Or, on longer multi-week trips to the desert. Getaways, both big and small, are essential to maintain our health. It is on these outings where I am able to escape the noise and reground/recenter myself. 

As Edward Abbey wrote in his book Desert Solitaire:

"But for the time being, around my place at least, the air is untroubled, and I become aware for the first time today of the immense silence in which I am lost. Not a silence so much as a great stillness - for there are few sounds: the croak of some bird in a juniper tree, an eddy of wind which passes and fades like a sigh, the ticking of the watch on my wrist - slight noises which break the sensation of absolute silence but at the same time exaggerate my sense of the surrounding, overwhelming peace. A suspension of time, a continuous present. If I look at the small device strapped to my wrist the numbers, even the sweeping second hand, seem meaningless, almost ridiculous. No travelers, no campers, no wanderers have come to this part of the desert today and for a few moments I feel and realize that I am very much alone."

"... I watch the sky and the desert dissolve slowly into mystery under the chemistry of twilight. Dark clouds come sailing overhead across the fields of the stars. Stars which are unusually bold and close, with an icy glitter in their light - glints of blue, emerald, gold."

"...the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation." 

I couldn't have said it better myself...