The frigid temperatures today reminded me of the day I hike out on the frozen Lake Superior to view the ice caves. I knew there was very cold wind chills over the lake when my camera lens would fog up whenever I went inside an icy cave and I used hand warmers to kept my camera batteries warm enough to work.
Icy Cave
The sun peeked out in between snow showers but the wind whipped the snow around to make it seem like it was snowing longer and there was even some like cyclones of snow spinning up into the air. On an icy day, like this photo, the snow couldn’t blow around with the ice layer holding it down.
Icy Snow
This cat looks like she heard about the extreme cold weather which will be around for a while. But instead of beating her head against a brick, she should be looking for a warm blanket in front of a fireplace.
Bad News Kitty
The light snow today was creating a new white layer on the ground, reducing color from the landscape during the winter months so it will be a while before there will the range of color bursting out in the yard.
Colorful Summer Flowers
The snow was blowing around during stronger gusts of winds today. Old windmills, like this one, will “furl” in high winds which prevent a turbine from spinning too quickly by turning the blades out of the wind. This Aermotor windmill uses an adjustable spring to select the speed point at which to furl the windmill out of the wind and to return the windmill into the wind as the wind speed decreases. It can be manually turned out of the wind also as this one might be.
Furled Windmill
Tonight held a treat of a total lunar eclipse, one referred to as Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse. “Super” refers to the fact that the Moon will be closest to the Earth in its orbit when the total eclipse takes place. The reddish hue the Moon takes on during the eclipse gives it the “blood” name. The Old Farmer’s Almanac contributes the “wolf” name, as full moons in January are known as Full Wolf Moons. Course when the skies are clear for the full moon in January, it normally means a cold night and very true tonight with below zero temperatures. So I didn’t stay outside to take a picture every few minutes like I have done in past even though I will have to wait until May 2021 to try again.
Super Blood Wolf Moon
The sun was out on this very chilly and crisp day after some snow overnight. Even the moon appears bright to light the snow but with the temperature below zero, I’m not a moonlight walk especially when I didn’t stay outside long during the daylight either.
Chilly Pine Cones
The officers quarters were a bit more cozier than the enlisted married men log housing and definitely fancier than the general enlisted men barracks at Fort Wilkins.
Officer Quarters
The log houses for the married enlisted men’s quarters were found just outside the wooden stake wall at Fort Wilkins. Since none of the soldiers were stationed very long at the fort, I doubt the wives and children liked moving from one location to the next in the 1840s any more than present military families do.
Married Enlisted Quarters
With the early 1840s copper rush to the Keweenaw Peninsula, the U.S. government was concerned about possible disorder and violence with miners and the Native Americans so in 1844, Fort Wilkins was established at the direction of Secretary of War William Wilkins. Some of the 27 structures built can be seen in this picture including officers quarters, sulter’s store, hospital, company quarters, kitchen and mess room. The fort proved to be unnecessary as the area remained peaceful and by 1846, the companies stationed there were sent to the Mexican–American War leaving one sergeant at the fort. When the remaining soldier died in 1855, the fort was leased to a doctor who hoped to open a health resort but that plans fell through with his death in 1861. After the American Civil War, the U.S. army reoccupied Fort Wilkins for three years in 1867–1870 as a place for men to serve out the rest of their enlistments from the war. The army permanently abandoned the facility at the end of August 1870.
Fort Wilkins
