North Shore funky blues

Organic blueberries ready to be picked, Shari's Berries, August 7, 2012

We went to Shari's Berries this week to pick blueberries. While it was raining heavily in Duluth and all the way up the expressway toward Two Harbors, as soon as we turned up Homestead Road and away from Lake Superior, we drove out of the rain. Typical Lake Superior "funk" (and I don't mean the musical style, just the cool, gray moist lake-effect so-called weather)

The gray funky feeling stayed with us for berry picking. Shari herself met us at the gate and immediately started apologizing for the picking conditions. Maybe you want to come back Saturday, she suggested. Maybe the berries will have ripened up some more. Maybe it won't be raining then. "Production's down about 40%," she had warned on her phone message before we even got there. Finally, "Are you okay with the horses?"

But we persisted through the funk, just like we'd driven through the rain; after all, we'd already committed half a workday to this, and we NEED a few gallons of blueberries in the freezer to get us through a winter of muffins and pancakes. So we headed out with our gallon ice-cream pails (thanks to our teenage sons for emptying those out for us).

Compared to scavenging for wild blueberries, the picking was fantastic. No poison ivy, handsome horses snorting, and the berries were 2-3 feet off the straw-covered ground.

Compared to a normal season at Shari's or other pick-yer-own farms, it was, well, about 40 percent down. Very few places you could plop your rear on a bucket and pick a few quarts just within arm's reach. It's nearly impossible to fill a gallon bucket picking just one berry at a time, so we were almost strolling through the bushes to find clumps of berries together. 

An hour and a half later, we'd each filled our buckets. These lovely organic berries were only $2.50 per pound and will fill out a lot of Sunday breakfasts and school lunch muffins. 

We left with our treasure, feeling pretty good about ourselves, drove back down Homestead Road, and sure enough it was still raining by the Lake. Funky.

Go on, pick your own berries
There is still picking coming up at Duluth-area berry farms. Call Shari about possible picking this weekend, (218) 834-5221. Blackbirds and Blueberries, near Cloquet, will have some weekday picking dates coming early next week. 

Music to pick by
How about the track "Funky Blues" from Charly Parker?

Watch out Betty! A new North Shore bakery.

If there is one baked good most associated with the North Shore, it's pie. That might be changing with this year's newest emporium of edibles, the Honey Bee bakery in Beaver Bay. Watch out, Betty's Pies! Here comes the massive yumminess of caramel rolls, cookies and scones.

The Honey Bee is located on the west side of Beaver Bay, in the same building as Lemon Wolf Cafe. You can find them on Facebook. Inside you'll find a little bit of everything, including pies. There's also a few small tables you can claim to enjoy your fresh baked goods with some coffee.

A word to the wise: this is a small bakery and the prices are a dime or two higher than you might expect. The quality is worth it. If you're feeling tight, check out the day-old rack for some bargains.

Duluth beyond Lake Superior

Park Point message says it all: "I LOVE DULUTH."

Newspaper readers in Minneapolis, Kansas City and even Miami recently got a great tour of our fair city, Duluth.

Star-Tribune reporter Curt Brown did a great job catching the charming back corners of the Zenith City. Maybe you'll find some pointers too!

Duluth beyond Lake Superior: Turn your back on the big water for a while - Travel Wires - MiamiHerald.com

Hike Gooseberry, Eat Rustic

 Spring has sprung on the North Shore! The woods are filling with wildflowers, the hiking trails are dry after the spring mud season, and the crush of summer tourists has not yet begun. It's a great time to hit the North Shore state parks. Here's what to do this weekend on the Shore:

On Saturday, come to Gooseberry Falls State Park. (From the town of Two Harbors, follow State Highway 61 northeast approximately 13 miles to the park.) Starting from the Visitor Center, take the 2.0 mile Gitchi Gummi Trail through greening birch forests to the scenic overlook above the mouth of the Gooseberry River. Enjoy the new decks hanging over the lake with big views up and down the shore (pictured above). Pull out your snack and savor the sights.

After your short trek, hike back to the Visitor Center for my 12:00 noon program in the theater. I'll be talking about "Hiking the North Shore," with recommendations for more great day hikes along the shore. I'll be signing books in the park store from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon.

When you're done at the park, stop at the Rustic Inn in Castle Danger for pie or a late lunch. I've had their North Shore Crumble a few times lately, but their chocolate (pictured) and custard pies are delicious, too. 

Book Review: Safe from the Sea, by Peter Geye

The North East Minnesota Books Award winners were announced last week, and the winner for fiction is....the North Shore and Lake Superior!! 

Actually, it was the debut novel of Peter Geye, Safe from the Sea. Ostensibly the story of reconciliation between father and son, the real star of the book is ominous Lake Superior and the colorful communities and people that cling to the lake's edges.

This is a short novel sprinkled with cultural references familiar to anyone who's spent some time in Duluth and on the North Shore. The names have been changed, but you can spend time at the Anchor Bar (transplanted to Canal Park), the Blue Water Cafe, Grand Marais itself (known here as "Gunflint", at the base of the "Brule Trail."), and the varied neighborhoods of Duluth's hillside.

The central story concerns Olaf, the aged survivor of a famous Lake Superior shipwreck, and his son Noah, who has moved to Boston and runs an antique map business. One of only three survivors, Olaf's life had been in decline ever since the wreck, threatening his family and his health. But he can't escape the pull of the lake, serving on the lakers for two more decades, never fully telling his story of the shipwreck. 

Noah meanwhile has not become fully a man himself. This generation gap between hard-working immigrant and class-conscious son has been plumbed to great depth by Garrison Keillor for comic effect, but this is the first time I've seen it done for northeastern Minnesota and with such serious intent. 

Author Peter Geye, 2/10/2010

The language is lovely, and some perfectly crafted and luminous sentences emerge from the page like a Lake Superior agate shows through cobblestones on the beach. The storyline is predictable; the book is even meant to be cataloged in libraries under "Prodigal Son (Parable)-Fiction." Yet the predictability makes it easier to follow the characters and their evolution.

The book could have been strengthened in two ways. One would have been to have a knowledgeable copy editor catch what were to me glaring factual mistakes. The doomed ship would not have been carrying "twelve tons" of taconite, as it often is stated, but twelve thousand. 

Second, it could have been an even better novella than a novel; there is a whole level of extraneous detail, from the press of a waitress' apron to a fascination with cinnamon rolls. Chop out the extra detail, focus on the main storyline, and this would be one tight novella.

Thanks to the folks at the North East Minnesota Book Awards for bringing attention to this book. It is obviously the product of love and admiration for Lake Superior, the North Shore, and the unique qualities of this region. 

Ski wax, Adobe Illustrator, and Christmas frosting

  

It's like art class in preschool. Smearing, dotting, drawing lines.

This winter I'm learning how to hot wax cross country skis. I fought this for years, but with a son (whom I don't yet trust with a hot iron) on the nordic ski team, I've had to learn. For ski waxing, you drip hot wax in a line or dots onto the bottom of the ski and smear it around.

But you can't eat ski wax...

This month, I'm learning how to use Adobe Illustrator, making a bunch of maps for our forthcoming book, Hiking the North Shore.  Thank God for the multiple layers of undo functions in computer software. But basically it's smearing, dotting and drawing lines. Above is the map for a hike in Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. 

But you can't eat a map...

Finally, it's been Christmas cookie time. This last week, I pulled out the frosting applicator and learned to use that. At first it felt like ski waxing. Then it felt like using Illustrator. A few dots, a few lines, and some red hots.


AND YOU CAN EAT A COOKIE!

Best North Shore holiday gift guide

How can you share your love of the North Shore with the friends and family on your gift list? Here are ideas for gifts that will make your loved ones' Christmas morning feel like finding the perfect agate or the biggest blueberry patch. This year, buy local...buy on the North Shore.

1. Wood engravings, lino cuts, and giclee prints, oh my!
One-of-a-kind notecards, groovy t-shirts, whimsical prints, and northwoods novelties come from our friends at Kenspeckle Letterpress. Rick and Marian produce their magical art in Duluth's Canal Park.

2. The sweet stuff
Who doesn't love real maple syrup on their pancakes? The North Shore forests that come ablaze with colors in the fall produce award-winning syrup in the spring. Find all things maple at Wild Country Maple of Lutsen.

3. Fill your senses
Take your sweetie up the North Shore for a day filled with outdoor adventures and culinary delights. My personal favorite, post-adventure, is the New Scenic Cafe, between Duluth and Two Harbors.

4. Savor a state park
Buy a friend the Minnesota State Parks Gift Card and they can camp under the stars at Crosby Manitou, hike the remote trails at Tettegouche, and shop the great bookstore at Gooseberry Falls.

5. Get crafty
Make a balsam bough wreath or weave a birchbark holiday ornament at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, and give it away to someone special. If making handmade gifts isn't your cup of tea, gift certificates are available for dozens of workshops available year-round at this nifty northern crafts school.

6. Beautiful baubles
These lovely earrings and necklaces come courtesy of my wife's recommendation, who loves the handcrafted silver jewelry of Sally Cavallaro designs, made right here in Duluth. Hmm...a hint?

7. Cool tote bags
Like their name implies, Granite Gear of Two Harbors specializes in outdoors gear of all sorts. I really dig their ultralight and eco-friendly Air Grocery Bag. In fact, I'd buy two: one for myself, one for a gift.

8. Hit the slopes!
Gotta a skier or snowboarder in your life? Lutsen Mountains offers online gift certificates for use toward daily passes, rentals, lessons, or lodging packages.

9. Feed the dog in style
Duluth's Loll Designs offers more than fabulous furniture made from 100% recycled HDPE -- check out their colorful and hygienic dog bowls. Plus, they'll donate $5 of each dog bowl sale to Animal Allies.

10. Have a Low Christmas
Good holiday music is ageless. Released ten years ago by Duluth's indie band, this hip Christmas CD (their version of "Little Drummer Boy" was the soundtrack for a Gap holiday commercial) is the aural equivalent of coming in from the snow and sitting in front of a warm, intimate fire.

The North Shore comes to the Mall of America

In the latest business news:

MOA adds Betty’s Pies to menu. Betty’s Pies, a popular tourist destination at Two Harbors along the north shore of Lake Superior, plans to open a 4,300-square-foot pie, pastry and restaurant shop at the Mall of America. The approximately $1 million restaurant is scheduled to open in February, said Marti Sieber, co-owner of Betty’s Pies with business partner Carl Ehlenz.

Okay, what's next? Will Lake Superior Trading Post open a moccasin-and-book store in Southdale? Will the Vanilla Bean start serving their omelets from a food cart on Nicollet Mall?

The plump and luscious shore

Once every year or so, Sally and I pack up for the night and head to the South Shore of Lake Superior. I get enough of the cold and sterile North Shore, where fog creates the forests and the soil is thinner than a Perkins pancake.

We went for a concert at the Big Top Chautauqua (Los Lonely Boys), but we stayed for the blueberries.

Years ago, as we climbed the flanks of some Montana mountain, Sally quoted Garrison Keillor, "California is the girl you want to date; Minnesota is the woman you want to marry." So I married the Minnesota girl. Which is a roundabout way to talk about the South Shore versus the North Shore. Except sometimes I worry I "married" the wrong shore.



We picked berries at the appropriately named Blue Vista Farm. a few miles up the hill from Bayfield. The berries were insanely, pornographically plump. They were like a California actress with silicon implants.

I like to believe that the wild berries we pick on the North Shore make up in flavor what they lack in plumpness. You have to fight for North Shore berries. You beat back the bears and the bugs. You pick for hours and are delighted to have a quart of pea-sized morsels. Like the orange you tuck away in your Duluth pack for day four in the BWCA, the berries taste better because you worked so hard for them.

South Shore berries have a longer growing season, richer soil, and the loving attention of the farmers. But even the wild blueberries I've seen come out of the Iron River, WI area are bigger, happier than our North Shore fruits.



Plump and bland, or wizened and tasty? Easy picking or hardship conditions? Reward or challenge?

California or Minnesota?

South Shore or North?

For a moment this weekend, I was totally satisfied with the South.

May I see your special place?

Last fall I did a program at the Larsmont Cottages about North Shore special places. For a trade-out, management gave me a certificate for "Dinner for Two." It had a March 21, 2010 expiration date. So when did we finally go cash in? March 21, 2010.

It was the sort of dinner we'd never buy for ourselves...salad, appetizer, main course, and dessert. We could order up to $80 of food...but no liquor. Apparently, some beer-swillin' trade-out hard-partying fools had made them change their policy about alcoholic beverages, because drinks were off limits.

The food was very good. I had a big hunk of salmon and Sally had pork tenderloins. There was not just one vegetable, but two, including big green stalks of asparagus. Not to mention the salad. This was dinner that never happens at our house: I couldn't make it this good, and even if I did, the boys wouldn't touch it.



My favorite part of the evening, however, was rolling our post-dessert bods down to check out the lakeshore. There's something so personal about each little stretch of Lake Superior shore. Sure, it's more rocks and more pebble beaches, but each one is different. If we hadn't just eaten there, I wouldn't have been comfortable walking down to "their" shore. But after a trade-out meal, I was practically like family.

Walking to someone's Lake Superior shore is like walking to their shrine. It is their special place.

As you drive up and down Highway 61, you see the fronts of cabins, resorts and large vacation homes. Just like at Larsmont, whenever I visit a landowner or even resort manager, I always want to see their shoreline...and generally they want to show it to me too. It's their own back yard. It's an intimate moment and a glimpse into people's lives. Their own favorite bit of Lake Superior shore is a deep connection for them. I know this from my own experience at my family's place in Little Marais.

As much as I try in my writing and blogging to help people find new special places to explore, the most special place is often the one you can most easily reach.

"It's nice to go do something, then go have pie."

Rick Allen speaks from the heart (and speaks for me) , when he reflects on his ambitions as a North Shore ice climber, in this blog posting from Duluth-Superior Magazine. After you read the article to see if you're sympatico, check out his real work for Kenspeckle Letterpress.

Gooseberry was JAMMIN!

At the cusp of a dark February evening, a North Shore state park is normally a quiet, serene place. But last night, Gooseberry Falls State Park was the absolute center of the universe for North Shore winter enthusiasts. It was the annual candlelight ski event, and the park was abuzz with activity.

This event has grown over the last 10 or 15 years to include more trails and more people and more fun. Dozens of volunteers set out real candles on five kilometers of ski trails. Campfires are lit and tended in remote corners of the park. This year, a Two Harbors High School jazz group filled the Visitor Center with dance-able tunes. There was a HUGE case of BIG cookies. And I was there to sign copies of Skiing the North Shore. It was the grooviest booksigning I've ever done.



The first sign for me that things were crazy was when I pulled into the parking lot...on a dark Saturday night...and could not even find a parking place. It was already overflow parking, like a fall colors weekend in winter's black and white.

Two loops had been lit. The Campground Loop runs right from the Visitor Center and down through the lower part of the park. A 1.6 km loop ran across the highway, across the river and up into the Center Fields area. Despite this winter's marginal lakeshore snow, the Campground Loop was in better shape, with decent ski tracks. The upper loop had been well used by snowshoers and the ski track had been demolished. Apparently, some park staff had told hikers to walk "in between" the ski trails, and that meant hikers were trying to walk on that narrow ridge between the right ski and the left...destroying the track.



I struggle with nighttime photography, especially since I don't use a tripod. I finally caught the light trail of a skier with a headlamp passing the Visitor Center, by resting my camera on a wooden post.

I talked with families from Duluth, a big pack of Rovers from the Twin Cities, and a couple from International Falls who had skied nearly every place I have and still wanted new ideas.

This is a great event and I was really glad to be part of it. Something about the jazz group and the big box of baked goods made the whole thing perfect. See you there next year!

Berry Farm berries: Large and lascivious

I have a thing for blueberries. I love the piney rocky outcrops they grow on. I love the plink-plank-plonk as the first berries hit the bottom of the berry cup. I love pulling out a freezer bag of berries in mid-winter for a batch of pancakes, and smelling that rich berry flavor even in the deep-freeze.

I'm not the only one on the North Shore who likes blueberries. This weekend, I joined the crowds at "Blackbirds and Blueberries" outside Cloquet. The crowds were big, the berries were huge, and a good time was had by all. This farm used to be known as "Blueberry Bush's," but the previous owner sold the farm and, from what I understand, took off in a sailboat. How could he leave a bounty like this?



Instead of "plink-plank-plunk" of berries hitting a single bucket, the sound was spread all around, like the first heavy raindrops of a thunderstorm hitting the walls of a tent. Pickers near and far were dropping the big ones into ice cream pails, cardboard boxes, and, my favorite, one-quart yogurt tubs.

The berries were obscenely large and plentiful. I picked 5 quarts of berries in under an hour. At the rate I was picking berries in the BWCA last week, it would have taken days.

Pluses of berry-farm berries:

• Size. They are huge.
  
• Irrigation. Even in a dry year, there are plenty berries at Blackbirds and Blueberries, since they water the bushes.
• Convenience. You go berry picking and bring home berries. You don't have to hunt back roads and hope for a good crop. You don't have to beat the bears to the crop.

Minuses of berry-farm berries:

• They don't taste as good. Really.
• They are huge. Part of the fun of wild berries is the slightly tough skin you chew up as you devour fresh berries.
• The karma is not quite right. I didn't earn those berries through searching, crouching over, or enduring torn skin from nearby bushes. I paid cash for them.
  

If you go:



Blackbirds and Blueberries is at 3601 Crosby Road. It's nearest to Cloquet, so if you use Mapquest you'll get directions from Cloquet. After this weekend, they are "all picked out," but berries are still ripening and they should have picking later in August. Call 218-879-8193 for updating picking times. If you don't arrive at the recommended time of 8:00 AM, you'll park on the road and walk in. They charge $2.50 per pound.

Also, try Shary's Berries, which is up the Homestead Road from Highway 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors. Their season runs a little later. The phone number there is 218-834-5221.

"See, I told ya you get ice cream."

Minnesota DNR teams with Dairy Queen to reward safe young boaters

Minnesota kids wearing life jackets while boating this summer will not only be staying safe, but also could be rewarded with an ice cream treat.

The DNR has partnered with Dairy Queen to provide a PFD Panda Award certificate to youngsters who are observed by conservation officers wearing a life jacket while boating. The certificate includes a tear-off coupon that entitles the child to a free cone or cheeseburger from participating Dairy Queen restaurants.

“We at International Dairy Queen are excited with the idea,” said Ryan Hassebroek, regional marketing manager for the Minnesota-based company. “We thought this was a great way to encourage children to wear their life jackets and we hope that safe boating behavior continues right through adulthood.”

DNR COs report that children have called them over to their family’s boat so they can earn the life jacket award. One child said to his friend who had come along, “See, I told ya you get ice cream for wearing your life jacket.”

(Released June 15, 2009)

The pride of "Up North"

I attended the Northeast Minnesota Books Awards ceremony last month in Duluth. I didn't expect to leave with this new booming pride in our fine state and the terrific North Shore region.

Our book Camping the North Shore had been nominated in the general nonfiction category. Last year, Skiing the North Shore won the honorable mention in the same category. We didn't win this year, though the pies from the Rustic Inn were pretty great.

Here are the nominated authors, on the steps at UMD's Marshall Performing Arts Center. Check out my green shirt in the front row. I think that's a ballet pose I've got going on.



I wanted to share a few quotes from the keynote speaker. Annette Atkins. Dr. Atkins is a professor of history at the College of St. Benedict and the author of the recent book Creating Minnesota: A History from the Inside Out, from Minnesota Historical Society Press.

In introducing herself, she talked about how much she enjoys coming "up north." Minnesota, she reminded us, has a lot of prairie in the south and a lot of lakes in the north.

Atkins said, "It's up north that makes Minnesota not Iowa." I love this. Nothing against Iowa, but I like my pines and waters, and I think it's great to be in a state where there are major changes from one end to the other.

She went on to say that Minnesota has "been able to convince an entire state of farmers that we are a state of lakes."

Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes and a few farmers too.

Trail's End Camping: Dine and Dash

One of the hardest parts of the day when you're camping on the North Shore can be dinner time. I love company at meals, but I don't relish being the meal. Whether it's mosquitoes or blackflies, the bloodsuckers come out right about the time you want to be calmly preparing your campfire delicacies.

So I've come to really appreciate a nice campground restaurant. You can dine at your leisure, even into the evening hours when just the hum of mosquitoes gets unbearable. Then you can dash back to your tent. Dine and dash, except in this case you pay the bill before you go.

"What?," I hear you ask. "Campground restaurant? What is this, a KOA?" No, it's some mighty fine and wild North Shore-area campgrounds.

The lovely and wild Trail's End Campground sits at the very end of the Gunflint Trail, almost 60 miles from Grand Marais. It's in the middle of the big Ham Lake Fire:



It's right on the river connecting Seagull Lake and Saganaga Lake. There's even a portage running right through the campground:



But wonder of wonders, there is a cafe right next to the campground. The Trail's End Cafe is run by Way of the Wilderness Outfitters and has a funky groove. The food is very basic and tasty. Mark Darling's burgers are just fine. According to their website, they serve "what some people say 'The best burgers in Minnesota.'" That has to do as much with the setting and the work it took to get there as with the quality of the food. Perfect food, perfect location...what else do you really need?



Oh, and the beer is cold. Best Coors I ever had. Really.

If the far end of the Gunflint Trail is too far for you, you can "dine and dash" at Cascade River State Park (eat at Cascade Lodge), Lambs Resort (eat at Schroeder Baking Company), and of course Grand Marais Municipal Campground (eat anywhere in town).

Eat, and do not be eaten.

Straight across the Heart of Darkness

In Joseph Conrad's great novel, Heart of Darkness, the character Marlow recounts his voyage deep into a dark continent trying to advance French colonial aspirations. The native people help in the carrying of trade goods. And deep in the continent at a colonial station is Kurtz (i.e. Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now), the demigod and the man most deeply transformed by the experience of being in deep.

Yesterday, I drove across the heart of Wisconsin, listening to Conrad's novel on disk. Wisconsin is a deep and strange wilderness to me. I normally stick to my side of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. But my family had given me "trade goods," and told me of the "colonial station" to which I was to bring them.

According to Rand McNally, it was quicker to drive straight across Wisconsin from Winona to Duluth than to go through the more familiar Twin Cities I-35 route. I snuck across the mighty Mississippi river at Winona, and drove up through the very scenic Driftless Area on Highway 93. Green Bay Packers logos were scattered here and there. Eau Claire, with its shopping malls and chain stores, was a refuge of civilization, but just north of Eau Claire the land turned truly alien. A highway sign pointed to Green Bay itself. Three times the straight lanes of Highway 53 passed under "County Road Q".

In the Holiday gas station, on a Sunday, they were selling wine. And cheese curds. Bizarre.

Then finally in Rice Lake, a mile off the expressway, I reached the trading station:



Natives in their simple dress of elastic-waist khakis and polo shirts greeted me. Since I carried an empty 11-inch pie tin for trading, they assumed I meant no harm. If they had known that my true loyalties were with the Minnesota Vikings, I might have been buried in lefse or, worse, whipped topping.

I didn't enter Norske Nook far enough to know if Kurtz was there, in a booth in the darkest corner. Or, if not Kurtz, what demigod would Wisconsinites worship? Maybe good old #4?

Minnesota has colonial aspirations on Wisconsin's own demigod, Brett Favre. That makes me murmur, as Kurtz did on his deathbed, "The horror, the horror."

I traded for a Blueberry Crunch pie. It's a huge pie and we're still eating it. And someday I can dig out the empty tin and send it off with someone else on their own journey across the Heart of Darkness.
_______________________

I'm going to get it big time from my wife and mother-in-law, who have real Wisconsin and Scandinavian cred and might find the above post, well, insulting. But I couldn't pass this next bit up. After my journey across Wisconsin with a pie tin for trade goods, I'm waxing philosophic.

Marlow, in Heart of Darkness, on the meaning of life:

"Droll thing, life is, that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself that comes too late. A crop of inextinguishable regrets."

Wisconsin, on the meaning of life:

I hate to admit it, but I really prefer Wisconsin's.

Just here for the baked goods

Who's that guy at the press conference in Duluth, plugging the "Vote Yes!" campaign for dedicated natural resource funding?

Oh, it's me! Funny thing, I didn't think I'd be speaking at the event. I'd been at a meeting to organize it, but the decision had been to find someone who actually worked somewhere, like The Nature Conservancy. Me? I just came for the donuts.

And darn it all if those donuts didn't hit the road with the crew from the Cities on their way to their next event in Grand Rapids. I thought briefly about stopping them on their way out of the Marine Museum. They had one of those big white cardboard boxes, and some of them even had chocolate icing...I've been thinking about those baked goods all day.

Vote Yes! Protect the Minnesota you love!

Making a Great Lake Superior

Just spent two days at the Making a Great Lake Superior conference here in Duluth, with a few hundred scientists, educators, government folks and some just plain folks. The single-most discussed topic was climate change in the Lake Superior region. As pie-in-the-sky optimistic as I can be, there wasn't much good news, at least in terms of winter outdoor recreation. The models agree that it will get drier and warmer on the North Shore over the next 50 years.

Now would be a great time to open a business offering guided canyoneering trips along the North Shore rivers.