From Where I Sit

By Pat Spilseth, Columnist

Memorial Day is in full swing on the lake. Boats are zooming throughout Carmen’s Bay with novice skiers hanging desperately onto tow ropes, hoping they won’t fall in the bouncing waves. Temperatures will soar into the eighties today, and everyone will want to be outdoors in the sunshine.

However, remember we’re living in Minnesota…we could be shoveling snow! Weather is very unpredictable in our fair state.

Today is a glorious day! Who wouldn’t want to be sitting outdoors on their deck or restaurant patio, getting a tan and laughing while boats are cruising by surveying the homes on the shore. I know some are hoping to catch sunbathers basking in the hot sun, wearing skimpy suits…Swimmers are frolicking on docks, jumping off tubes and floats. Restaurants on the lake are full of folks eating and drinking with friends on the overflowing patios.

I’m on our deck relaxing in our old Adirondack chairs enjoying the gentle breeze and warm temperatures of May. It’s hard to imagine that a short time ago, heavy snowfalls and COVID kept most of us marooned at home. Cars were buried in snowbanks and Minnesotans were slipping, sliding and shoveling mountains of snow. Several friends are now bionic. Many have new hips and knees, some a result from falling on the ice.

Early this morning, fishermen were floating on the lake relaxing and casting, hoping to land the BIG one. They hope to beat the boaters who disrupt the fishing when they speed around the bays. A pair of loons is calling to me in their haunting voices, “Come outside to enjoy the weather!” Finally, summer has arrived. Neighbors are carrying dock sections and pounding poles to hold docks on the lake; others are digging in gardens clearing away dried leaves, plants and sticks.   

Now the work begins: mowing, weeding, planting…  Aching, aging bodies will be complaining abundantly after they overwork in the garden. Every spring I vow to plow up sections of gardens, but blooming peonies, tulips and iris tempt me to continue weeding. I love picking bouquets of colorful blooms to brighten my days.

A parade of all shapes and sizes of boats and pontoons are cruising the bay where we live. It’s so great to enjoy the lake. I’m cleaning off dusty lawn furniture, and Dave is bringing my overgrown, leggy geraniums outside where they’ll continue to bloom on the deck. These sturdy, tough plants have been blooming all winter for many years in our windows facing west and south. What a cheery presence they provided in the midst of the endless, frigid winter we’ve just experienced.

Today is perfect to hang my freshly laundered sheets on the clothesline to dry. I revel in the fresh smell they produce when I crawl into bed at night. Hot sunshine is supposed to boost temperatures into the eighties this week. Though the calendar reads May, it already feels like June or July. Daffodils, tulips and crocus are blooming; peonies are ready to pop with lush flowers and rhubarb is ready to pick and make rhubarb torte and sauce.

Neighbors are cleaning off their grills, ready to fry burgers and brats. Salads will be on the menu every day; casseroles and roasts will be forgotten until fall’s temperatures plummet, and we dig out wool sweaters and corduroys. As seasons change from winter into spring and summer, our appetites switch from heavy, filling meals to light picnic fare, salads and grill specialities. Watermelon and berries will be a weekly, if not a daily treat.

And so it begins. Summertime on the water is the best season of the year in Minnesota, though I love the temps and colors of fall almost as much. When the calendar pages turn to May, kids are totally ready for school to be done: no more homework or rigid wake up and bedtime schedules. They want to ride bikes, swim and play ball, get in the boat and cruise the water. Hot dogs, burgers, watermelon and corn on the cob will have us drooling for more. Who can get enough of summer picnics?

By Memorial Day most of us living on the water have our docks in and boats launched; kids are ready to waterski and swim. We lucked out today; Memorial Day Monday’s holiday is a top ten weather day. Nobody will be disappointed.

However, remember…we live in Minnesota where the weather can abruptly change from blistering hot and humid days to furnace firing weather. Already we’ve had 80 degree days and freezing temps at night. Today couldn’t be a more perfect day in May.

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To contact Pat, email: pat.spilseth@gmail.com.