It will be a few months before the sight of a freighter vessel is seen leaving port on Lake Superior. The last two ships arrived in Superior port this morning and made their way through the ice to the docks. Although most of Lake Superior’s water is open, the ports have become iced over and with the Soo Locks closing yesterday, the vessels are stuck somewhere on Lake Superior until late March when the locks open again for freighter traffic.
Superior Freighter Season Over
The cats may have more fun playing in the snow than mine ‘playing’ which is shoveling and blowing that cold white stuff.
Cold Cat Feet
A couple of light snowfalls in the last two days have coated the trees again with a white dusting of snow and it sounds like they will get additional layers of that white stuff in the coming days.
Trees Dusted Again
Snow is falling again tonight as well as last night which means more shoveling. Raking leaves in the fall doesn’t take as many days in addition to warmer temperatures to do the work without freezing fingers. But for now it will be snow shoveling and then lawn mowing before the task of raking leaves comes again.
Leaves Not Raked
The deer have been playing in my yard, leaving a lot of trails through the snow so I can tell they came up to look in my basement door (probably trying to get out of the cold). And they weren’t too happy when I went outside one night to look at the moon and disturbed their sleeping. Maybe I should charge them a recreational and camping fee.
Playing in the Snow
The snow and ice of winter does not stop all adventurers from taking hikes to waterfalls and other scenic points. Although the normal swirl of foamy water from the small waterfall doesn’t exist with the icy cover. And while some may do some hiking this weekend, I would wait until the following day so hopefully the trails are packed down so I wouldn’t need snowshoes to explore the area.
Winter at Echo Dells
At 1013.5 feet, the reigning “Queen of the Lakes” is the Paul R. Tregurtha and she came through the Duluth canal and under the lift bridge for last time this shipping season. With the Soo Locks closing next week, many of the vessels are beginning their winter lay up in various ports around the Great Lakes. The Paul R. Tregurtha docked at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal this afternoon for the winter until the Soo locks reopens on March 25. A tugboat had to sweep ice away from the dock area for the freighter as it neared the dock.
Winter Layup Time
The day was warmer than yesterday, but it was still below freezing as winter will keep its hold on the season for several more months preventing the early wildflowers, like these hepaticas, from making their appearance.
White Wildflowers Winter Delayed
This old silo looks cold and other than providing some wind protection, the cement blocks probably didn’t warm up too much in the frigid sunshine today.
Cold Old Silo
The sunshine today was a bit deceiving this afternoon as the temperature dropped instead rising. The cold winter temperatures, like the predicted below zero for tonight, prevent any flower blooming outside. Old seed pods or dry flowers are about that I can find if not buried under the snow. The cattail seed pods have managed to stay above the snow so far this year.
Winter Cattails
