BNSF Train, Warning sign some trains are remote controlled.

I had a brief fascination with drones.  I still have this drone but have not flown it for a couple of years. Amazing hobby but you have to get deeper into it than I am willing to go.  I may still buy a more updated drone but more for photography or video and not so much for any other reason.

Minnesota Court Case Gave Rise to Gaming.

Spring Thaw in the Red lake Water Shed.

Spring thaw can come late to Northern Minnesota and it is an interesting event for the ice to go out in the rivers and the fields to be covered with water. http://www.redlakewatershed.org/

Flooded fields soon drain into the ditches that drain into the main rivers.

Combine in Adger township.

Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed or Asclepias syriaca is one of my favorite weeds. As a kid I liked to pick the dry pods and open them up. The seeds and the fluff lay inside the pod so neatly is a thing of wonder. Then I would pull out seeds and fluff and watch them ride the wind. I would wonder if the fluff attached to the seeds was like cotton in cotton balls and that if it could be spun like cotton. The plant while it was a green was a wonder also because of the sticky milky white sap and the monarch butterfly larva and catapilers that would live on the leaves.

Milkweed fluff was gathered by school children during WWII for filling in life jackets even today it is used as a stuffing for jackets and pillows. The pods while green can be eaten. The stalk of this plant also produces a useful fiber that was used by Native Americans.

North West Corner of Minnesota: Neptune Bridge, Red Lake River Minnesota

North West Corner of Minnesota: Neptune Bridge, Red Lake River Minnesota: In the eastern part of Pennington county where Pennington County highway 27 crosses the Red Lake River is Neptune Bridge. At that Bridge i...

Neptune Bridge, Red Lake River Minnesota

In the eastern part of Pennington county where Pennington County highway 27 crosses the Red Lake River is Neptune Bridge. At that Bridge is the eastern most access to the Red Lake River for boats. The access is improved with rock and concrete. When the river is high and the current is swift it can be difficult to put a boat in. The fishing west of the bridge can be good if you know where the holes are. Fishing can be a challenge on the Red Lake River and most people complain that all they catch are Northern Pike. Crappie fishing used to be very good but has changed over the past few years and it isn't as often you catch a crappie. There are some nice walleye in the river but they are more difficult to catch. East of the bridge is the Red Lake the Reservation. The Reservation is closed to the public.

The interesting part about fishing under this bridge is how the barn swallows have managed to stick their mud nests to a flat smooth surface underneath the bridge. Beakful by beakful theses little birds make up to a thousand trips to build one nest made of mud balls and grass. Reading up on these common birds I learned that they can and sometimes do mate while in flight. Listening to the current lap and echo under the bridge along with the fluttering and chattering barn swallow was relaxing. This area of the river is definitely one of the best places to go if you want to get away from people and cast a fishing line.