I am sitting in the sunroom of our cabin. As cabin owners on Rainy Lake realize, this has been a very unusual season; one that we will not soon forget. A mother mallard comes into our bay with five small ducklings. She is very protective, and those ducklings heed her commands. An eagle swooped low over the water and in a motherly stern voice alerted the ducklings and all five disappeared below the surface.
An older group of four ducklings still follow the hen around the shoreline. Off in the bay a mother loon cruises with her growing offspring. The birds will be ready to fly by mid September.
We put some fish guts out on a point of rock Saturday afternoon and a pair of Bald Eagles with a juvenile made short work of the two fish. We hadn’t previously seen a juvenile at the cabin. When one discovered the cache and stood guard, the other of the pair flew off to return with the juvenile and offered the first choice to the youngster. It was fun to see the protocol.
The days are already growing shorter. The sun just barely rises over the horizon shortly after six in the morning. In the evening, the sun is moving further south from its peak in June. Mornings are cool; a sign that fall is approaching.
The other sign that fall is approaching is the Emo and District fall fair. Without the Covid interruption, this would be the 123rd edition of this annual event that began in 1900.
I tip my hat to the thousands of volunteers who, over the life of the fair, have made it a tradition of the district. Over time, the focus of the fair has changed, but the excitement that is generated as new generations from near and far come together, greet each other as long-lost friends is a testament to its importance. Young families return with their new generation to enjoy the carnival rides and fair food. A stop at the 4-H booth for hamburgers and fries remains a must.
The loud roar of engines fills the fair during the Friday and Saturday night stock car races. 4-H members will be showing off their prized steers for ribbons and then Saturday will see them auctioned. Many of those auctioned steers will go a long way toward paying tuition.
And as quick as the fair is over, families will be loading vehicles to whisk their children to colleges and universities. Locally, students will be readied to board buses bringing them back to classrooms in September. The 2022 summer is ending.