Cabin Dreams

I am sure that it is costing you more and more to travel to your cabin as gasoline prices continue to increase. You are probably shocked by the rising cost of gasoline and it may be impacting on the number of trips you are able to take to the cabin.

You can save money on gasoline by looking for the cheapest gas in your area. Go to www.gaspricewatch.com or www.gasbuddy.com to find information on the least expensive gasoline in your area. Prices on these sites are regularly updated by volunteers.
 
Another way to save on gasoline is to watch for the day of the week when gasoline is the cheapest. Traditionally this has been on Tuesdays.

Phenology is the study of the times of recurring natural phenomena. Phenology has been principally concerned with the dates of first occurrence of natural events in their annual cycle. Examples include the date of emergence of leaves and flowers, the first flight of butterflies and the first appearance of migratory birds, the date of leaf coloring and fall in deciduous trees, the dates of egg-laying of birds and amphibia, iced and ice-out dates of a lake.

Keeping a record of phenology at your cabin can be fun and educational. Have a notebook or calendar handy to record the seasonal happenings in the area of your cabin.

One thing we listen for during May is the date we start hearing the spring peepers (a type of frog) around our cabin in northern Minnesota. The frogs are so loud at night that if one is a light sleeper they may be kept awake by the cacophony of sounds.

Last week our hummingbird feeder was attracting a number of ruby-throated hummingbirds (the only hummingbirds found in Minnesota) as well as goldfinches. We were seeing common loons, geese and ducks on our lake and we observed a wood duck looking for a nesting tree (we don’t have a wood duck house - yet!). And, we saw our first wobbly-legged spotted white tail deer fawn of the season..

Tamarack trees in our area have fresh green tufts of leaves again. The birch, popple, and maple trees have leafed out and the ash are just leafing out..

Wild flowers blooming at this time of year include trillium, bunch berry, marsh marigolds, yellow and blue violets, and jack-in-the-pulpits. Wild prairie grasses are also coming up.

The phenology at your cabin will be different from what we observe at our cabin, earlier or later depending on your location. Begin now to track the seasonal happenings in the area of your cabin..

Other seasonal things to track at the cabin include bird varieties and bird counts at feeders, high and low temperature, precipitation, and lake temperature..

For more information about phenology, check out Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenology.