Photo: North Dakota Game & Fish
By Doug Leier
In North Dakota, summer’s arrival has always been a bit of a tease.
I was visiting with an old friend on the sidewalk the other evening and it didn’t take long before the conversation turned the way it usually does this time of year — toward the weather and then getting back outside.
“Feels like summer,” he said.
Then he paused just long enough to smile. “But we’ve seen this before.”
And we have.
A warm stretch in May will dry out the banks along the Sheyenne, the Mouse or the Heart just enough to get your attention. Maybe you find your way down to the water for the first time in a while, make a few casts and remember what it feels like to be outside without layers.
But in North Dakota, a few warm days don’t mean summer has settled in. There’s usually a cool stretch coming, a reminder that the calendar still has a page to turn.
When summer finally does arrive, it rarely does so quietly. Sometimes it’s a thunderstorm rolling across the prairie. Other times it’s a stretch of warm, steady days that feel like they’ve been a long time coming. Either way, it’s welcomed like an old friend.
After months of short days and stubborn cold, the return of long evenings feels earned. By June, daylight stretches well past supper, even if that meal comes late for those still finishing the day’s work. And more often than not, those extra minutes of light turn into something more.
You head out thinking you’ve got time for a quick walk or a few casts, and before long an hour has slipped by.
That’s the rhythm of summer here.
Mornings start a little slower. Maybe it’s a cup of coffee on the porch, watching the sun climb over a field that still holds a bit of cool from the night before. It doesn’t take long, though, before the day picks up. Pickups head toward boat ramps, gravel roads lead to familiar fishing spots, and kids pedal their way toward parks or lakes with a towel over one shoulder and a fishing rod bouncing along for the ride.
By midday, the prairie opens under a bright sky and a steady breeze. Back home, the lawn might be getting a little long — something you meant to take care of a day or two ago — but it can wait. This time of year has a way of pulling you elsewhere.
Most summers, it doesn’t take much of a plan.
It might be an early morning on the Missouri or the Red, casting for walleyes while the water is still calm. Other days, it’s as simple as paddling across Lake Metigoshe when the surface looks more like glass than water. And sometimes it’s just an evening ride out to a nearby lake, watching the sun work its way toward the horizon.
Of course, time outdoors in North Dakota comes with a few reminders.
Mosquitoes don’t take long to find you, especially along the river. They arrive in waves, buzzing around ears and ankles, testing patience in a way only they can. Before long, bug spray becomes as important as anything else you remembered to bring.
And then there’s the sun.
After a winter spent bundled in layers, it’s easy to underestimate just how strong it can be. A morning on the water or an afternoon at the range can leave you with a sunburn that makes sure you won’t forget next time. A hat, sunscreen, maybe even long sleeves become part of the routine soon enough.
Those are small trade-offs.
They come with the territory, just like keeping an eye on things like West Nile, Lyme disease or worse. It’s part of spending time outside, and most people who have been here long enough understand that balance.
Beyond that, summer doesn’t ask for much.
An open evening is reason enough to head outside. No real plan required. Sometimes the best moments are the ones that come together on their own — kids chasing bugs in the yard as the light hangs on longer than it should, the smell of something on the grill drifting across a neighborhood, or a quiet stretch of water with a fishing rod resting nearby.
Even a simple Saturday morning — coffee, bacon and eggs at a local café — feels a little different this time of year.
And if you’ve spent enough summers here, you start to recognize something else about these long days.
They don’t last.
Maybe that’s why people in North Dakota make the most of them. We put up with the mosquitoes. We deal with a little too much sun now and then. And more often than not, we stay outside longer than we planned.
Because after a winter like ours, those extra hours of daylight mean something.
They’re a reminder to get outside when you can, take a breath of prairie air, and enjoy summer for as long as it’s willing to stick around.
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