Sunday morning walk around Lake Nokomis before the weather went to hell

Beautiful September Sunday, enjoyed my early morning walk around Lake Nokomis.

Nokomis is a pretty lake in the Twin Cities, although I wouldn't be caught swimming in it. Rumor has it that you can't get the smell out of your swimming suit after you've been in the lake even with repeated washings.

As part of the Park Board's desire to make Lake Nokomis more accessible to the public, walking and bike riding paths were constructed around the lake.

To create these paths, the Park Board had all of the wild flowers removed that had grown around the lake, who would want to look at a bunch of wild flowers when you can look at a nice green suburban type lawn.

Years later someone realized that the wild flowers and natural grasses were an important part of the ecological health of Lake Nokomis. They acted as a filter to keep the lake clean.

Now parts of Lake Nokomis have been replanted with supposedly the original wild flowers and grasses that had grown around the lake.

The Park Board has now put up large signs in these spots trumpeting their approach to keeping Lake Nokomis healthy.

Since Lake Nokomis is a Twin Cities lake it has been extensively over fished by every would be master fisherman ready to drop a line in the water.

Nokomis is basically "fished out," leaving only carp and assorted rough fish populating the lake. You can see the fish at the surface of the lake gasping for air, probably because the oxygen content is very low in the lake water.

PIKE ISLAND 300 Native Americans died on this spot an all they got to show for it was this crummy plaque

Where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers meet is Ft. Snelling, now a state park in Minnesota. The land that Ft. Snelling was built on was purchased from the Dakota Indians by intrepid explorer Zebulon Pike of "Pikes Peak" fame. The land includes a small island known as "Pike Island."

While negotiating with the Dakotas for a place to build Ft Snelling, Pike estimated the value of the land at $200,000. Congress paid the Dakota tribe $2,000.

After the Dakota Indian uprising Pike Island became essentially a concentration camp for Indian women, children and old men. Over 600 Dakota Indians died on this tiny space. Indians on Pike Island were relocated several move times and eventually ended up in Nebraska.

Today, Pike Island is a very pleasant place to spend a Saturday afternoon. We spent time on a nice walk around the island. Couples with small children in strollers pushed their children around the comfortable walking path occasionally stopping to take pictures of the kids against the background of the woods. Naturally there are always a couple of kids who don't want their picture taken and make it known by screaming and carrying on which kind or ruins the serenity of the island walk.



One doesn't have to be that troubled about what happened to the Dakotas on Pike Island. There is only a plaque and some structure that looks like a tinker toy to commemorate the occasion. Once you begin the walk you can quickly put those two things out of your mind and enjoy the pleasant fall day.



The sounds of rich, white and very privileged boat owners in very expensive boats with powerful motors echo up and down the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.



It was a pleasant way to spend the day.

TRAIN CHASE

Chasing a train through central Minnesota:

Scenic Minnehaha Parkway and Creek in South Minneapolis

Winding it's way through south Minneapolis, is Minnehaha Parkway and Creek part of the legendary "Grand Tour of the Twin Cities."

Runners, walkers, and bicyclists enjoy the pleasant and calming views along the Parkway.

The Minnehaha creek is a home to wildlife of all kinds including fish and fowl.

The soothing sounds of the running water in the creek help to create a tranquil and calming mood for the residents of south Minneapolis.

REGAL MN, the town named after a car

Between Paynesville and Belgrade Minnesota and stuck between 2 fields of soybeans in the middle of nowhere is the town of Regal. With a population of only 40 people, the State of Minnesota has deemed it unnecessary to even slow down while driving through the town.

After years of whizzing through Regal at the speed of light, we finally decided to stop off at the only commercial establishment in Regal, the Pilgrim Inn. Our decision to stop was based on the following on-line review quoted below:

"The food could not be better--try the chicken, it's awesome and the girls waiting on your are EASY on the eyes! Did I mention the beer is always cold...... it's a must if your in the area! (Feb 1, 2008)."

It was a sleepy Saturday afternoon in a town of 40 people. We ate at the Pilgrim Inn and then wandered around the town to see the sights. As it turned out this didn't take very long. Not much seemed to be going on with the exception of one odd resident apparently going for a walk on his roof.

As we pulled out of Regal we drove by one of our favorite sights on our way to the lake, the large and very smelly turkey farm on the outskirts of Regal. Much to our surprise the turkeys were now gone and there was a path of feathers lining the road. The direction of the feathers indicated the birds were on their way to a nearby turkey processing plant.

An interesting fact about commercial turkeys is that man has now bred them in such a way that they are unable to copulate with each other. The gobbler that you eat at Thanksgiving was probably born through artificial insemination, large white turkeys can no longer have sex with each other.

LABOR DAY 2009 AT THE LAKE HOME

The lake is one of the larger ones found in Minnesota. It's shallow, probably 20 feet deep at it's deepest point. The fishing is not so good these days. Anyone who goes out in a boat works for their catch. The state DNR recommends that people only eat a minimal amount of fish from the lake due to the high levels of mercury and other toxins found in the fish. It's usually windy and the shallowness of the lake causes some rather rough water at times.

The constantly blowing wind has an almost neurotic quality to it at times. If you can't make your peace with the weather you don't have any business spending any time up at the cabin. You can sit in back of the cabin if you want to be out of the wind but eventually the wind will drive you a bit crazy finally forcing you indoors where it howls through the windows.



The lake is located in central Minnesota, the god fearing farmland world of good Christian folk. The people are pleasant but to put it carefully rather conservative. Lots of big McCain/Palin signs were all over the place during the last Presidential election. This was a state which at one time prided itself on being democratic to the bone the party was called the DFL (Democratic Farm Labor).


The Franken/Coleman Senate race put an end to any domination of one political party in this state. The center of the state turned out to be very Republican.