Lakes and Rabbit Holes

A busy day  researching nearby lakes and rivers. I started a spreadsheet and vowed I will not research every lake in the state. Wanted to set that boundary with myself right up front. That proud moment reminded me of the last large boundary I set for myself in 2002 when we visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The museum houses and displays (they have more in their basement that is not open to the public) artifacts covering over five thousand years. During our visit, there was truly little logical organization of  many of the pieces. My first thought was, “This place needs someone to organize it.” My second thought five  minutes later, I needed time to process, was, “Not me!”

I am quite sure the lake system in our region will be something I can knock out easier than organizing 120,000 artifacts in the Egyptian Museum. That is as long as I control my urge to go down rabbit holes. Like one earlier today when I discovered there was (maybe still is) the abandoned Berning Mill which is mentioned in Pinterest entries for 2009 and 2014 and described as “the haunting beauty of the abandoned Berning Mill in Saint Michael, MN. This hidden gem is nestled along Mill Creek and the Crow River.” It happens to be located 2.4 miles from our house! We will go check it out within the next week or two.

Finding out about Berning Mill  reminded me of our back road tour in Michigan with my cousins Joan and Gary. Then I started reminiscing about the North Carolina roads we explored with our friends in Davidson, NC. Which reminded me of the fun my cousin Tammy and I had when her GPS sent us on a wild Goose chase in Alabama. Not sure Kent found it as funny as we did! My mind didn’t stop though, I remembered the drive to the lake near Lufkin, Texas with cousins Teresa and Johnny. So yes, maybe organizing a museum would be simpler…

I also putzed around the house dusting furniture here and there, cleaning the iRobot vacuum trays out. How odd to have only fine dust and no animal hair in the tray.

For my meditation time I went upstairs to our room. As my meditation time ended, I could hear a neighbor mowing their lawn. I began to focus on the sound and next thing I knew I was waking up from a nap! I haven’t seen a lawn mower listed as a soundscape. Also, there are few things as sweet smelling to me as a freshly mowed lawn.

The temperatures have been in the low seventies for the past two days, so we have been opening up the house during the day. When we open the front door and then the windows in the sunroom, there is a wonderful cross breeze. Today’s neighborhood sounds are of woodpeckers and lawnmowers.

Now to get back to researching Minnesota lakes.