This afternoon I had little snow pellets and snowflakes hitting my windshield when it is supposed to be autumn yet. Snowberries is a better sight to see than snow, even if they are wet from rain. The common snowberry has pink flowers in the summer and white fruit in the fall.
Snowberry
This lighthouse is often the forgotten one of the three lights for the Duluth Harbor Canal as it doesn’t sit at the ends of the breakwater where the waves can smash against it and is not a fancy design. But is had an important function since there is only 300 feet between the piers, it could be hard to approach the entrance in poor conditions at the correct angle if this light didn’t sit higher at the inner end of the breakwater from the outer light to serve as a line to make the entry straight through the canal. This steel lighthouse replaced a timber structure and was first lit in 1901.
Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light
Today was a great fall day to be enjoyed outside before the weather changes as it is more pleasurable to watch a sunrise or sunset when the white is from clouds and not snow.
Superior Sunrise
I still saw a butterfly yesterday enjoying the warm fall day but it must not have heard about the cold weather coming otherwise it would have been flying south in a hurry.
Red Admiral Hanging Around
Today was another busy day at the Duluth Canal with a number of freighters arriving and leaving port as well as pleasure boats enjoying a nice fall sunny day. But this little tugboat can only look at the water and watch the leaving freighter as the Bayfield tug was retired from active service in 1995 and is now on display at Canal Park. She was built in 1953 and the tug measures 45 feet in length and 13 feet in width. The Bayfield was used by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to move unpowered barges, crane barges, and work scows in the Duluth-Superior harbor.
Tugboat Bayfield
After a rainy week, it was nice to see the sun out and allowed some fall leaf peeping adventures although the soggy ground made it tricky for walks in the woods so viewing from the roadways may have been the preferred outing.
Autumn Road Trip
On a wet and dark day, any light is welcomed including the light provided to sailors from a Fresnel lens illuminating their way. This Fourth Order Fresnel lens was installed on the South Pier of the Duluth Ship Canal in 1901 and lit the way until it was removed in 1995 and is now on display in the Canal Park Marine Museum.
Old Fresnel Lens
In some places, there may have been a procession of animals to churches for a special ceremony called Blessing of the Animals which is conducted in remembrance of Saint Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. The statue I have of St. Francis has a deer, dog, cat, rabbit and a squirrel around his feet. So maybe St. Francis didn’t like chipmunks like the noisy ones chirping at me today. I rather listen to a red squirrel chattering instead, maybe since I don’t have many pine squirrels around my house. The American red squirrel is also known as a pine squirrel.
Pine Squirrel
For a couple of days, this rock would have been swept over with large waves and wouldn’t have been a good spot for the seagull to rest.
Seagull Resting
Yesterday I spent a few hours at the Duluth Harbor Canal watching ships entering and leaving the harbor and watching the lift bridge being raised 135 feet to allow the large lake freighters entry. The H. Lee White is just entering the 1,720 foot long canal as it passes the Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light. The ship was built for American Steamship in 1974 and has a length of 704 feet and is 78 feet wide in which she can carry 35,200 tons. And while she is 310 feet shorter than the largest ship on the Great Lakes, the H. Lee White still has some size to her as compared to the man fishing from the breakwater.
H. Lee White Heading In
