A few days ago, I drove through the Sheyenne River valley. Trees stood fully naked, the last leaves blowing down valley on an icy thermal. Birds are long gone, although it seems like yesterday a few stragglers remained. I wait for the first flakes of sn, sn, sn, SNOW, which could fall any moment. The early…
The last few days I explored another section of North Dakota. I was at a youth camp on the Sheyenne River, which flows into the Red River. The Red River creates the border between ND and MN, flows north, into Lake Winnipeg, and often floods (Grand Forks in 1997, and Fargo several times since). In…
Around dinner time I received the urgent email alert: “… tonight’s aurora forecast: better than previously forecasted auroras expected tonight, possible storm levels. Be ready, Alaska, Canada, and some northern states. Kp level could reach 6— Oct 6 & 7. That’s tonight and tomorrow night!!! Be ready” Be ready! That is the call to a…
Winter hovers in the background. Hints: furnace running in the morning, sweatshirt days, early darkness. Craving a warm fire. After clearing out the garden before the first frost, green tomatoes ripen on the kitchen counters. Cupboards filled with pickled vegetables and freezer full too. I read something not long ago that described the Northern US as…
Here are my best memories from my first summer in North Dakota Best nature find: Painted Turtles, roaming freely in the Turtle Mountains. Several came to visit my campsite each evening. Best garden plant: Jade green beans. I planted green beans for years. This year I ordered Jades from Territorial Seed Company and loved them:…
Early evening is perfect for a walk–a classic fall ambiance curls into the crisp air. Tango and I drive a few miles to a favorite walking spot in the county. We park near the road, skip across railroad tracks, and wander off on a section line road: a wide dirt path that parallels the train…
According to the locals, summer in ND is short. How can that be, I thought. The growing season and frost-free dates are the same as SE Wyoming. Yet, after my first summer, I agree; summer is short. More factors come into play besides the growing season. Fluctuating day length is the most noticeable variable. Nights…
I lived in arid lands most of my adult life; even SE Wyoming qualified as a high desert. Pivot irrigation rigs were a permanent part of the landscape. The sips of water metered out by the rigs was enough to bring the crops in, unless snow pack was low that year and the water source…
Early August: too early to see signs of fall? People in Yuma still sizzle in air temperatures over 100 degrees. The beach goers in Miami simmer now in high humidity and air temps in the 90s. However, if you gaze up to North Dakota on your weather map, you will discover that night temps are…
Sunday: time to go camping. I received an invitation to camp on someone’s farm land, near a small lake. Don’t have to ask me twice! Around noon I gathered up all garden produce that needing picking, washed it, and stashed in the frig. I also packaged up two days worth of veggies for the trip.…