On our way back to Minnesota from Ohio, we stopped at a place that had been recommended by several people here in Grand Portage: Betty’s Pies. Just north of Two Harbors, about an hour from Duluth, it is a “world famous” restaurant and pie shop. There were plenty of people eating at Betty’s Pies the …
From June 2016
Gathering Spruce Root: The Longest Yard
You may think “The Longest Yard” is the title of a movie, but Tom and I spent a recent afternoon gathering spruce root, and gathering spruce root is really the longest yard. Read on and you will learn why! Yesterday I wrote about gathering birch bark. If you use birch bark in making a home, …
Gathering Birch Bark
Yesterday Tom and I went gathering birch bark. Birch bark was used by the Ojibwe for many of the products they used every day. They made homes and canoes out of birch bark. They made baskets, big and small, out of birch bark. Birch bark is an amazing material because the inside of the bark …
The Angel of the Lord Encamps
In my devotional reading I have been working my way through 2 Kings. 2 Kings is not high on many people’s “must read” list, but I have always found it a fascinating book. Elisha, the lesser-known prophet, is a prominent character, performing many miraculous works because of the double spirit of the Lord on him …
Ojibwe Village
Now that Tom and I are back at Grand Portage National Monument, we have completed our shadowing of the experienced rangers in each area where we will work. Grand Portage has six areas, five of them historic, and we will spend time in each one interpreting it and talking to the people who visit the …
Thank You, Cleveland Cavaliers
I am not a basketball fan. I do not watch basketball and the only the things I can tell you about the recent NBA regular season are that the Golden State Warriors set a wins record, and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended up first in their league / division / whatever. But my parents watch basketball and …
Real Canadian Superstore
Grocery shopping continues to be a challenge as we move around from place to place. Here at Grand Portage, we have a Trading Post that is a pretty good little grocery store. Grand Marais has two grocery stores that are okay but typical of a small town. So we decided to head to the largest …
Back Home Safe and Sound
We are back home safe and sound from our 2,000-miles-in-a-week trip to Ohio. The three days in Ohio were great and we had a wonderful time while we were there. But we haven’t traveled that many miles that fast for a long time. In fact, we have never stayed out of the RV for more …
Mom’s 80th Birthday!
Tom and I made a speedy trip back to Ohio this week for a very special occasion: my mom’s 80th birthday. Dad turned 80 a couple of years ago and everyone in the family got together. That was all Mom wanted for her birthday too. So we all did our best – and we were only …
Gitche Gumee Sunsets
Longfellow’s epic poem, “Song of Hiawatha,” contains these lines: On the shores of Gitche Gumee, Of the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood Nokomis, the old woman, Pointing with her finger westward, O’er the water pointing westward, To the purple clouds of sunset. Fiercely the red sun descending Burned his way along the heavens, Set the sky on …