Temperatures will rise somewhat during the coming week and return to more seasonal levels, but the rain has not yet finished with us. Nearly an inch should fall in the village tomorrow, with another heavier rain expected Monday.
There is also something else in the air. I have noticed the scent of approaching snow, and Mr. Erickson, using the forecasting methods I have been teaching him, has reached the same conclusion. We may see our first snow about the middle of October. I have always believed one good forecaster was useful. Two may be even better, particularly when they agree.
Reports from Florida continue to describe terrible conditions following the hurricane. Miami Beach is said to be almost entirely gone. The shortage of housing, medical facilities, and food has made conditions nearly unbearable in many places. At Coral Gables, a five-masted schooner has been left high in the streets, while many smaller houses have been reduced to ruins.
Closer to home, surveyors are at work on Isle Royale, examining timber, mineral, and resort values for the purpose of increasing property valuations and taxation in Michigan. A number of those locations are owned or operated by people from this side of the lake. I expect there may be some lively discussion when they learn that Michigan has also discovered the value of their property.
Many readers have asked about Miss Fjell’s and my journey to the Minnesota State Fair. We will speak about the trip at the library on Tuesday, October 12. Some of you may already have heard portions of the story over WGMW, though perhaps accompanied by more static than was strictly necessary.
For that, I must again apologize. Mr. Erickson and I have gone through the machinery once more, checking connections, tubes, and every other part that appeared capable of causing trouble. We now believe we have found the last of the difficulties. I have learned to be cautious with that sentence.
Samuel Smiles wrote that “We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success.” Mr. Erickson and I have lately been receiving a considerable education. Each interruption from WGMW has shown us something we did not know the day before, and I am beginning to think that two men learning from the same troublesome machine may eventually know more than one man who has never had trouble with it. If so, WGMW is determined that we become very wise indeed.
Editor's note: Photo from the 1926 hurricane in Miami. After the hurricane and the damage, building codes were introduced and eventually adopted across the country.