We just got back from the Pot-luck Supper, and it was a dilly! Tell you all about it next week.

Monday was cooler than it has been, about –15°, but the sky was clear and there wasn’t a breath of wind. A very comfortable day for outside activities. The wind came up Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning was really howling down from the north. There was a bit of snow too, but it quit about 9. I’ll bet it wasn’t fun driving! Friday was very windy too; we went to Saskatoon and followed a semi for awhile - he was from one side of his lane to the other. The fields near Saskatoon have been swept almost bare; of course a wind that can knock over a rail car will sure move snow!

We got home Saturday night; we stepped out of the car and almost landed on our butts! There must have been a bit of rain or sleet while we were away. A bit of ice-melter looked after that problem. I went for a walk this morning, and it wasn’t icy at all.

I got the following e-mail from Ryan Kiedrowski of Wadena:

Hello Jerry and Doreen,
I was just reading your latest article where you mentioned spotting a wolf. My wife and I were driving back to Wadena last night after attending the fall concert in Marysburg when we spotted a lynx crouching in the ditch of the #5 Hwy. about a mile east of Muenster. At first, we didn't recognize it, one always looks for a dog or coyote shape, not a big cat shape in the ditch! Do you happen to know if it is common for them to travel that far south?

I replied that the Wolverine Creek, being a pretty wild area, would likely support lots of forest-dwellers.

Then he sent another e-mail saying that his Dad, who farms between Lake Lenore and Annaheim, had a moose cross his field right in front of his tractor, a highly unusual event in that area. We have seen moose right by the highway at Aberdeen, and within a half-mile of town at Youngstown. Then, of course, there’s the moose that wound up in Wascana Lake this year! Their range seems to be changing - someone at coffee said that moose are going after alfalfa a lot more than they used to.

Bernard Dease called me last Tuesday - he, Dennis Harron and couple others went to Regina on Monday for a visit with Colette Moore, former owner of Fisherman’s Cove. Colette was on a Casino bus tour. Bernard tells me she has sold her store at Rimby, and is doing some bookkeeping for others. She is looking good and says “Hi” to all her Greenwater friends. While in Regina, they all took in an Irish Rovers concert.

Last Wednesday, I walked out from the Marina across the ice and back to our place. Right at the mouth of the Marina, the ice is clear and just like glass. Some cracks have formed and are a good foot deep in places; it is the only way to know how thick the ice is. The rippled bottom is plainly visible and you can appreciate how shallow the water is there. There are a few bare spots; where the water came up through a crack, the ice is milky, otherwise it is clear. There was a spot where deer had been drinking at a fresh flood. The strong winds have built little ridges, maybe six inches high that are solid underfoot. They could make for pretty rough snowmobiling. About fifty feet offshore in front of our place, a horizontal crack formed, and the ice on the lake side is a good two inches higher than on the shore side. It would be enough to flip a snowmobile if the skis hit it at an angle. The ice was doing a lot of very low rumbling; you couldn’t hear it if traffic was going by on the highway, or if your feet were crunching the snow.

Doreen phoned me from Kelvington Thursday night, told me to go out and look at the northern lights. They were incredible! All over the north sky, mostly in the northwest but shooting strands off to the east. Sometimes a strand would seem to swell up and burst, showing some tinges of red. Even more incredible was the noise the lake was making. It wasn’t the usual zinging sound, it was more a deep grumbling and mumbling, quite loud, and occasionally a sharp crack that was likely a new crack breaking the snow crust. I checked the thermometer when I came in, and it had dropped to –21, so that would account for the noises. Fantastic! The lights petered out shortly after eleven, but the music carried on.