No-See-Ums

In my last post I wrote about large forms of wildlife on the island. Today I’m focusing on a smaller, pesky type of wildlife.

In August on Madeline Island the no-see-ums appear. (Yes, I know that’s a contradiction). No-see-ums are tiny bugs, so small that they fly right through window screens. I don’t know where they are during the day, (asleep?), but at night they flock to the light. Warm August evenings with open windows and incandescent lights are a great combination for no-see-ums, a bad one for humans.

Last night being a typical warm August evening, Doug was reading in bed with the windows open when he was bombarded by hundreds (I do not exaggerate!) of no-see-ums swarming around his bedside reading lamp. It’s not only the light they like; they seem attracted to humans too. They fly in your face, up your nose, in your eyes. Unfortunately there is no way to get rid of them other than to turn out the lights. Which Doug gladly did.

In the morning the bedside table was heaped with piles of dead no-see-ums, the final result of their fatal attraction to the light.

Bears

 August is among the best bear-sighting months on Madeline Island.   As those of you who’ve read the chapter on bears in “On Island Time” know, August was when we had our first close encounter with a bear on Madeline Island.   One of the bears’ favorite delicacies is ripe on the vine right now: juneberries.  Don’t ask me why juneberries ripen in August.   (Is the climate on Madeline Island so much cooler that it takes two extra months for the berries to ripen here?  Or did the person who picked the name not know their growing habits?)

 Juneberries look much like blueberries and are deep red to deep blue in color when they’re ripe.  They taste somewhat like blueberries too and we’ve found them on the dessert menu, used in a cobbler or a crisp, at our favorite Island restaurant — Café Seiche (formerly Lotta’s Café).  Yum!

Often at this time of year, many of the juneberry bushes are bent to the ground and stripped bare of their fruit.  The trampled bushes are a sure sign that hungry bears are foraging for food and fattening up for their long winter’s sleep.

So far none of the bushes near our house have been touched and we haven’t seen a bear.  But just yesterday when Doug was walking in the woods he found a bent, berry-less bush only about 75 feet away from out house.   The bears are getting closer!  I’ll let you know if I see one!

I have no photos of real bears, but this is my grandson Tate riding our bear footstool with his mom, Becky.

Welcome to my blog!

I’m excited to start this “On Island Time” blog!   I look forward to hearing your comments about the book and your responses to my blog posts.  I’d  love to have an ongoing conversation with YOU!

Right now I’m on Madeline Island and I’ll try to post almost every day.  When I’m at home in Minneapolis and back at work, you probably won’t hear from me as often.

Since we arrived here, I’ve been marveling once again at the constantly changing character of Lake Superior.  For the first couple of days the lake was calm and smooth as glass.  It welcomed waders and boaters, (though sailboaters would disagree).

Then yesterday the wild side of Superior appeared.   Four-foot waves roared into shore whipping up whitecaps and scaring off all but the most intrepid boaters.  We watched a sailboat out in front of our house struggling to master the winds.  They managed to stay in control of their boat, but it didn’t look easy.

I’m reminded again of the power of the lake and the statement made by the wise old fisherman, Julian Nelson, who said, “The lake is the boss.  Make no mistake, the lake is the boss.”

Some of our adventures with the Lake are contained in “On Island Time”  in the chapter titled with Julian’s quote, “The Lake is the Boss.”