The sun was out today but it was one of those chilly winter days with sub-zero temperatures so there are no bright sunny flowers to be found like on a summer day a half year ago.
Sunny Yellow Daylilies
Picture of the Day for December 10, 2019
According to the Wisconsin State Historical Marker found in Port Wing, expanding logging operations increased the number of students more than small log schoolhouses could handle. A idea of consolidating the rural districts and establishing a larger school with free transportation was proposed and a new school district was completed in January 1903.
The marker states, “So far as is known, this was the first school district in Wisconsin to provide free, tax-supported transportation. Canvas covered horse drawn wagons or sleighs, known as “school rigs” were used for this purpose.”
This school bus might not be very warm in the sub-zero temperatures but it would have been better than walking in the cold wind.
Wisconsin’s First School Bus
Picture of the Day for December 9, 2019
Some of the drifts created by today’s new snowfall reminded me of a sandy beach, but with the temperatures dropping below zero, it would be more pleasurable to walk on a warm beach than across snowdrifts.
Au Train Beach
Picture of the Day for December 8, 2019
This white church blends into the white snow after nearly two feet of snow and more snow is on the way, but it makes a pretty scene (if you don’t have to shovel a path to the door).
Church in the Snow
Picture of the Day for December 7, 2019
With ice forming in the harbors along Lake Superior, very few sailboats are still in the water as the cold winter weather is settling in for the long haul. This sailboat wasn’t too far away from a 1909 shipwreck. And on this day in 1941, many ships were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Sailing on Lake Superior
Picture of the Day for December 6, 2019
There was blue skies and white to be found today, but the white snow doesn’t have a pretty fragrance nor was it as warm out as when these wild plums were blooming in the spring.
Wild Plum Blossoms
Picture of the Day for December 5, 2019
Some of the snow has fallen off the trees, revealing more green again but other than the pine trees, some brown oak leaves, and the orange glow from the sunset on the snow, there isn’t a lot of color to see on the white landscape. There are no bright colorful flowers with green grasshopper coated in yellow pollen to be found around here in the winter.
Grasshopper in Lily
Picture of the Day for December 4, 2019
The above freezing temperature and the sunshine today helped to melt some of the ice, but it also created more ice as the snow began to drip forming new icicles.
Snow Icicles
Picture of the Day for December 3, 2019
The sun was melting some of the snow and ice but most of the tree limbs are still coated in a layer of ice. And the blizzard also coated Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge with ice and it remains in the down position due to the weight of the ice, even after some deicing operations today, as it is too much weight for the motors to lift.
Since the bridge is unable to rise the 135 feet to let vessels into the harbor, the ships have to use the Superior entry. That can add an extra hour or more to travel and it is a shallower channel requiring extra caution to navigate. So I am sure the boat captains will be happy when the bridge is re-opened as the shipping season is nearing its end and it is a race to get the cargo loads in and out before winter freeze up.
Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge
Picture of the Day for December 2, 2019
As the winter storm moved off to the east, the sky sparkled as the sunshine revealed the ice coated tree limbs.
Sparkling Limbs
