5:30AM Sighting

I was awake much too early this morning.  As I contemplated going back to bed (while filling my tea kettle with water and looking out the kitchen window) I woke up fully when I saw a marten!  At first I thought it was a fox because of the big, beautiful bushy tail, but it was moving much too low to the ground in an odd, furtive and slinking way.  It slipped in beneath the lattice work under the neighbor's deck, just as I have seen foxes do in the winter.  A few minutes later I watched it make it's way back up the hill, through my yard to the road where it headed north in it's peculiar, stealthy way.  The squirrel population around my yard seemed to go down drastically this spring and now I think I know why.

The Dock is In

Dock In
Originally uploaded by Minnesota Daybreak

The day the dock goes in each spring is always a milestone.  It marks the beginning of another season of activity and beauty.  It's message is, "welcome to the lake".. beckoning us to come down to the water and relax.

Long Lake Living: April Snow (Spring in Minnesota)

Link:  LongLakeLiving.org: April Snow (Spring in Minnesota)
Link:  More Spring Snow Photos

Spring in Minn

May Each Day of Your Week be a Good Day.

In the middle of the night I woke up with an old song going through my head.  I hadn't heard it in years so it took me quite awhile to think how I knew it and as some of the lyrics formed in my mind the calming words became a prayer in my heart.  I wished that I could look directly in the eyes of each person I would ever meet or interact with and silently carry this thought for them. (i.e. what I was able to remember of it; to find the complete lyrics I had to do an internet search)  The song is a prayer or benediction and I eventually remembered that I had heard it repeatedly on "The Andy Williams Show" when I was growing up.  How different television was back then.  Variety shows were popular and we watched his show regularly.  This was (and perhaps still is) his closing song and these are the lyrics:

"May Each Day"

May each day in the week be a good day
May the Lord always watch over you
And may all of your hopes turn to wishes
And may all of your wishes come true

May each day in the month be a good day
May you make friends with each one you meet
And may all of your daydreams be mem'ries
And may all of your mem'ries be sweet

The weeks turn to months
And the months into years
There'll be sadness and joy
There'll be laughter and tears
But one thing I pray to heaven above
May each of your days be a day full of love

May each day in the year be a good day
May each dawn find you happy and gay
And may all of your days be as lovely
As the one you shared with me today

May each day of your life be a good day
And good night.

This is one of many YouTube videos of Andy Williams singing it:

Afton Heights Fire Tower in Itasca State Park

October has been phenomenal this year not only with fall color, but also with unusually warm temperatures, so I've been out with my camera clicking away. If you'd like to see more October photos (and some going back through the summer, since I obviously didn't blog here) you can view them in my Flickr photos:
Minnesota Daybreak's Photostream