Lake Superior

Every year we make a journey to the north shore of Lake Superior. It is similar to going to the ocean for those not of the Midwest. We take a cabin overlooking the water and the rocky shore. I get to use the line, "this lake used to be a lot bigger but kids have filled it in by throwing rocks." Of course my two guys are doing their best to contribute to this. Last year the wonderful tranquility of this area was quite changed. The areas north, west and south on Lake superior have been infested with Army Worms for the last few years and it is a mess. They start the season as moths. They are everywhere that there is light. So every commercial location is covered in dead moths after a few days. The shore was 6 inches thick with dead bugs all along the edge. Very pleasant. Then the army worms hatch. They eat almost everything that is green. Whole hillsides looked like it was late October. The oddest thing is they leave the stems so the tree is bare with just a hint of green, maybe more reminiscent a very early spring look. At first my boys thought they were fun as they collected a bunch of them and saved some from drowning etc but even they got tested as they are everywhere. We went up into the Minnesota Boundary Waters and it was more of the same. Even worse as you could hear this constant sound of light rain. This is caused by all of those worms eating and well... you understand. Once I had explained that to the kids, it was hard to get them out of the car and any serious hiking was off. This area is as rugged as it gets. The underbrush is normally so dense you can't see 10 feet. It is known for its Moose, bear and other abundant wildlife. Also, for its mesquites and biting deer flies. We are old hands at this so we had plenty of bug spray to ward off the normal insects but the army worms proved too much.

Back down to the Superior shore. We got books, comic books and skizzles (a fantastic pastry found in Grand Marais, Minnesota). But we found a new insect had been introduced. A black flies eats the larva of the army worms and had moved into the area in a big way. And surprise, surprise they are immune to insect spray. They kept landing on anyone who stood still for more then a second. Getting in and out of the car or buildings usually accompanied fighting your way through a swarm of these flies. They did not bite but I think the family had just had enough of nature at this point and in our case it was the fly that broke the camel's back.