North Shore Morning

Time is short to make your reservations for the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum's third annual storytelling dinner.  This popular event will be hosted by Lutsen Resort Saturday, Dec. 1. The storyteller will be Adolph Ojard, who is currently the executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Adolph is a Knife River native and the grandson of two distinguished North Shore fishing families, the Ojards and the Torgersens.  He will talk about his experience with commercial fishing in the ‘50s and ‘60s, as well as a peek into the future of commercial fishing in Lake Superior.  Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30.  Call Lutsen Resort for reservations at 663-7212.  There is a reasonable charge for the dinner, as it is the main fundraiser of the year for the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum in Tofte.
 
I want to give a shout out to Senja Ahlgren and her staff at the AmericInn - Tofte for a recent effort that they made to support military veterans and their families in Cook County. As part of a national effort by the AmericInn hotel franchise, Senja and her staff gathered donations from local businesses and individuals to make up bags of products and certificates that were distributed to Cook County veterans that encourage family activities and togetherness.  As always in the West End, everyone got behind the effort and 70 bags were distributed to veteran families in Cook County.  Thanks to AmericInn - Tofte and all the volunteers and donors for their good work.
 
And while I'm on the subject of good works, The Tofte Branch of Grand Marais State Bank will have a "Giving Tree" again this year for the holidays. The bank is collecting referrals of anyone who could really use an extra surprise or two this holiday season. In order to keep it confidential, they ask for the gender and age, and the person or group who will be responsible to pick up the gift at the bank by Dec. 18 for delivery before Christmas.  For information, talk to Nancy at the bank in Tofte or e-mail Patty Nordahl at Birch Grove Community Center at [email protected] or call 663-7977.
 
I was very impressed, again this year, by the amazing energy created by the annual Bluegrass Masters weekend at Lutsen Resort, sponsored by the North Shore Music Association.  For the last 22 years, this event has filled Lutsen Resort to the gills with musicians and music fans for a weekend of jam sessions, workshops, concerts and musical networking. I only mention this event after the fact because I think it flies a little under the radar with local folks. It's a really interesting and entertaining thing to witness, just as a cultural event, if nothing else. The public is welcome to walk through the resort and listen to the dozens of jam sessions that break out in every nook and cranny. The level of musicianship is amazingly high, with some of the best acoustic musicians from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario mixed in with amateurs and beginners. 
 
I urge every Cook County resident to check it out when it rolls around next year on the first weekend in November. In addition to the musical fun, it is a great model for promoting tourism during the shoulder season when business drops dramatically. I can picture any number of events that could make use of excess resort capacity, contribute to the local economy and provide great entertainment for local people.
 
This continues to be a dramatic year for ice formation on Sawbill Lake.  The lake froze over about 70 percent back on Nov. 2.  By Nov. 7, the ice had completely disappeared in the face of warm temperatures and rain. Then, on the night of Nov. 13 it skimmed over again. Based on the forecast, it is very likely that it will thaw again. It is a rare phenomenon for the lake to freeze, thaw and re-freeze in a given year. If it does indeed thaw and freeze again, it will be first time in almost 60 years, at least, that it has frozen and thawed twice before the final freeze up.  And who knows… maybe it will freeze four times before we're done.  As I've discussed this interesting phenomenon around town, the conversation always ends with people saying to me, "Let me know if it freezes smooth enough for skating."  Rest assured that I will post to Boreal News if that happy condition develops!

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Welcome back to Magnetic North, where the blustery winds of winter stir old memories. So very, very many memories of getting the farm ready for winter and the holidays - they warm my heart, if not my fingers and toes!
 
This time of year Paul and I usually get our woodpile restocked and stacked. AND we haul half a dozen bales of golden dry straw to the goat barn and another two to the chicken coop. We overdo it, spreading the stuff in all corners and mounding it about two feet deep - so it’s really the human equivalent of dressing the bed with flannels and comforters.
 
For the past three years, Paul hasn’t been able to help. In March of ‘09 he broke his hip in a nasty late March ice and snowstorm while carrying water to the chicken coop! As terrible as that was, Paul’s health was already compromised. Five years before the broken hip, doctors at the Mayo Clinic said Paul had “mild cognitive impairment.” Simply put, his brain was getting smaller.
 
Well, so big deal, I thought, what 79-year-old guy doesn’t have have a cog or two impaired? And for a few years more, until the broken hip and three operations, Paul carried on much as always. True, in the summer of ‘08, I became the sole driver in the family. And then there were some errors in judgment - putting hot embers from the fireplace into a paper grocery bag stands out - that no old boy scout would ever make. Eventually our denial caved. Our life was getting smaller too. 
 
With the relentless shrinkage of his brain went Paul's marvelous talent for thinking through a project, like putting a new deck on the chicken coop or building a bird feeder. Then away went his ability to dress himself, or write his name or read.  But never, ever his sense of humor… handy thing when living with me. Not to mention a horde of accident-prone critters. 
 
And every single day, come snow, fog, wind or what have you, Paul would look out the windows and marvel that we could ever have found such a magical place. I couldn't imagine his ever leaving here. And I knew I would do anything to keep him where he loved being. 
 
And then one day Paul looked out the window and shocked me by asking “When can we go home?” It was one of the cruelest moments for me, to know that he had lost his sense of place. A place he cherished. About that time there were other frightening changes. His mind told him to walk when he couldn’t. Or to get out of bed to leave the house in the middle of the night. 
 
It was time. On Sept. 19 Paul moved to the Veterans Home in Silver Bay. The hardest day of my life. And probably his too.
 
As I write this, I am looking out the window facing the barn. A ridiculous and yet beautiful female turkey is staring in the window at me, willing me to get off my duff and feed her. The grass holds on to just a tinge of green following the morning frost and the goats wander in slow motion around and around the corral. Going into their winter trance where all that matters is the morning hay. The evening grain. And someone to keep their straw deep and sweet.
 
Soon I will get in the car and drive for an hour to see Paul at the Veterans Home. But first, he and I will do chores. 
 
Yes, I said “we.”  ‘Cause when you do something seasonally for 20-some years with another person, they are there, in spirit, from then on. For instance, in the barn yesterday, I could almost hear Paul chastising me for forgetting to bring the chore scissors needed to cut the binding twine off the straw bales. And in the coop, I imagined he’d take one look at the oldest nest box hanging by a splinter and say, “Why don’t you pop for a new box, one of those metal jobs, and just burn that piece of garbage?”
 
 
Believe me, the giggles are few and far between in these first months without Paul in the house. After living with and loving him for 25 years, with the last five being with him pretty much 24/7, I am in a bit of a daze. A daze broken often with tears over the smallest thing. Besides that, now that I am caregiver to only a motley crew of critters, I hardly know what to do with myself. When to eat. When to get up or go to bed. 
 
I found that as that as Paul’s impairment increased, my own mental and physical health declined. And even though I have probably never prayed so often and so fervently in my life, spiritually I was in rough shape as well.
 
In the beginning I tried hiring help, respite people to spend a few hours with Paul one day a week. But frankly, it was so expensive that I felt unable to do anything on my free day that required spending money. That’s when Care Partners came into my life by way of a friend who had just trained as one of their first volunteers. 
 
What this great local organization did for me was provide a volunteer, free of charge, to stay with Paul so I could have an afternoon off. Also free, came a registered nurse visit monthly. My "caregiver coach," she called herself. And what a great coach she was and still is.  Because when I began thinking of the next step of Paul’s and my journey together, she was there to help me think things through. Tough things made tougher by raw emotions and fatigue.
 
I know that had I kept Paul at home, which was always my goal, Care Partners would have helped and supported me 100 percent in that. And when I came to the conclusion that moving him was best for him and me, they were there too. They still are and will be the whole way. What a priceless gift.
 
And while I will never be able to repay them, I came up with a scheme to give back. Some smidgen back. It’s something that actually started many years ago with Paul’s decision to let the east end of our meadow grow up in spruce trees. It was so rocky hardly any hay grew there, but now there is a large and handsome stand of Christmas trees, within shouting distance of our house.
 
And so for the next three Sundays I will host a Christmas tree cutting benefit at Paul’s and my farm. Kids are welcome. Dogs have to stay in the vehicle since the goats and geese will be loose. All that is asked is a donation to Care Partners in exchange for a tree. Details are on the WTIP website, in the paper and on the Boreal calendar. 
 
Paul was so happy when I told him about it this week. Nothing gave him more joy than sharing our place with friends, old and new. And since the tree stand was his idea to begin with I know he will be there in spirit.  Just as he is when I do chores, chop kindling or watch the mallard flock set down on our pond. 
 
For this place holds on to to those who love it. It hugs us close and warms us for years to come. Come see for yourselves. Come and cut a tree on Sunday. Cider and cookies and memories, are free.

With the spirit of election still in the air, 4^th and 5^th grade students in Ms. Livingston’s and Ms. Viren’s classes shared what they would want to do if elected President.  In this edition of Sawtooth Elementary School News, students share their ideas.

Last weekend found us finally unharnessed from that daylight savings time nonsense. The process of “springing” ahead in April has always seemed kind of hokey to me.
 
As the clock “falls back” to reality, I find many folks being sent into a tizzy, even depression, when darkness in the wilderness suddenly edges into what we used to call afternoon. I wonder why we humans always have to manipulate everything in creation.
 
Regardless of one’s feeling about this annual happening, the bottom line is that it’s getting seriously dark in these parts by about 5 o’clock, as the sun and our timepieces are now back in sync.
 
The advancement of winter along the Trail has stagnated since we last met on the airwaves. In spite of some days where clouds have been hanging heavy with what looked like a belly full of snow, border country earth after the first week of November is still brown.
 
There has been a continuation of the ice-making, however, with an expanded effort to a few of the larger water bodies. The big four, Sag, Seagull, Gunflint and Poplar lakes, along with their smaller trailside cousins, Loon, Birch. Mayhew and Poplar, are still rippling in anticipation of that first zero night with no wind.
 
Concern remains with regard to the extreme dry forest and no snow cover. I know that cold temperatures have a mitigating affect, but it’s nerve-wracking nevertheless.
 
Last weekend’s onset of war against the white tails, and wolves too, has brought a large number of hunters into the area. This increased traffic surely increases a possibility of fire being accidentally set off. With both animals and rifle slugs flying every different direction, it’s hoped that sanity will prevail in the arid Gunflint forest.
 
Following last week’s website/broadcast exercise, the Smiths hauled off on another jaunt south into Iowa. The turnaround was quick, and we were back in the quiet woods after five days.
 
With exception of one pesky squirrel, the many critters that hang out around here were not present to greet our return. I guess this is to be expected when my absence causes daily provisions to disappear from the feed trough.
 
This lone rodent buddy caught my eye while I was unloading the travel vehicle. It came sprinting down the driveway hill and through the woods, partially crawling up my pant leg in quest of a handout.
 
I had barely tipped the seed spout to pour the varmint a helping when it actually ran inside the container and grabbed a mini fist-full before scampering away. Guess it must have had an awful gnawing.
 
In less than 12 hours, the “moccasin telegraph,” our north woods courier, had word out to others of the wild neighborhood that I’m back. So there is hubbub once more at the Wildersmith open-air bistro.
 
A tidbit of trivia to share is that the third season of operation at the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center had nearly 8,500 visitors. Examination of the guest book sign-ins showed folks from about every state in the Union as well as several foreign countries. This brings the total visitor count since opening July 4, 2010 to over 28,500. Thanks to all those visitors for their interest in learning about the storied Gunflint past.
 
Plans are already being formulated for 2013 with a new temporary exhibit, an additional (new) little theater presentation and more family friendly opportunities. Until that next big opening day, let’s enjoy a great winter season!
 
Keep on hangin’ on and a savor the mystique of a wilderness encounter!

Airdate: November 9, 2012

Personal Choices is a new Exploratory class for Cook County Middle School Students. In this edition of School News, new instructor Sarah Malkovitch tells us more about what this class is all about and her impressions so far.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the recent elections. It isn’t very comfortable for most Minnesotans to put themselves out there in the public scrum.  My hat is off to anyone who decides to serve in elected office, regardless of political philosophy.  It’s popular to be cynical toward elected officials now days, but in reality they work very hard and take more abuse than they deserve.  Sometimes it’s two steps forward - one step back, but in the long run our democratic system gradually makes life better for everyone.

The annual Papa Charlie’s Birch Grove School benefit at Lutsen Mountains is Friday, Nov. 16.  This long-standing event is not only generously supported by Lutsen Mountains, but also the food and beverage suppliers and countless volunteers.  It begins at 4:30 p.m. and features a lasagna dinner, silent auction and dance music by the popular and talented local band, D’Merritt.  Diane Blanchett, administrator at Birch Grove, is still looking for donations for the silent auction.  Call her at 663-0170 or email at [email protected] if you can help out.

One last reminder that the bloodmobile will be at Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte from 2:30 until 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12.  There are still openings for appointments, so call Polly at 663-7398 to do your part.

Former Congressman Jim Oberstar will be in Grand Marais Wednesday, Nov. 14 as the keynote speaker for the Active Living Summit.  The summit is designed for business people, policymakers and community leaders to learn about how active living contributes to health and quality of life in our community.  Representative Oberstar served us in Congress from 1975 through 2011.  He was chair of the powerful Transportation Committee from 2007 through 2011.  Throughout his career in public service, he has been a strong advocate for cycling, hiking and other active pursuits.  He was instrumental in including funding for biking and hiking trails in the transportation budget.  His accomplishments on our behalf are too numerous to list here, but I will say that he is an amazing public speaker and a walking encyclopedia on transportation policy issues, among many other things.  Admission to the summit is free, but registration is required.  Contact Kristin Wharton at the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic in Grand Marais for registration or more information. I plan to attend and it sounds like a good time.

Sawbill Lake and many of the smaller area lakes formed skim ice on the night of Nov. 2.  The ice got a little thicker over the next few days, but now has melted off in the face of a warming trend.  Back in the old days, it was a pretty good bet that the ice would form during the first week of November.  The first time we paddled on Thanksgiving was in the late ‘80s and it was considered a big fluke.  Now, we can paddle on most Thanksgivings.  As always, I have my fingers crossed for a freeze-up that leaves smooth ice for skating.  It’s been quite a few years since we’ve had really perfect skating conditions, so I figure that we’re due.  Flying down the lakes on skates is not only a sublime experience in itself, but it’s a great excuse to cut out on work and have some pure fun.

Dr. Seth Moore is Director of Biology and Environment with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. 

The Grand Portage Reservation is located in the extreme northeast corner of Minnesota, on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County. Bordered on the north by Canada, on the south and east by Lake Superior and on the west by Grand Portage State Forest, the reservation encompasses an historic fur trade site on beautiful Grand Portage Bay.

The band engages in fisheries and wildlife research projects throughout the year, working with moose, wolves, fish, deer, grouse, and environmental issues. Dr. Moore appears regularly on WTIP North Shore Community Radio, talking about the band's current and ongoing natural resource projects, as well as other environmental and health related issues of concern to the Grand Portage Band.

In this segment, Dr. Moore talks about the decision by three northeast Minnesota tribes to ban wolf hunting on reservation lands.  Produced by Carah Thomas.

Welcome back to Magnetic North, a veritable smorgasbord for the birds and beasts of the field. At least the ones who hang out along the ribbon of highway hugging Lake Superior. 
 
Highway 61 is definitely the critter equivalent of those ubiquitous Mid-western all-you-can eat restaurants, only without the chocolate pudding plunked in the middle of the salad bar.
 
And oddly enough to my thinking, this particular road gets really bountiful right now, close to our human Thanksgiving. 
 
Fact is, that even though white-tailed deer get hit by cars and blown to smithereens by semis the year ‘round, rutting season seems to bring out the death wish in the herd. 
 
Even so, in 22 years of driving up here, I have hit only one deer, and then she simply kicked a dent in my bumper and ran off. Other than that I have killed only one partridge on the highway. This may well be my year for deer, though. For I find myself on 61 for hours at a time, several days and nights a week, visiting my husband, Paul, at the Veterans Home in Silver Bay. And believe me when I tell you that on the way to and from, I encounter many, MANY deer.
 
Some bound into my headlights. Some betray their presence in the ditch by the reflection of my headlights in their eyes. And others just stand in the road, deciding whether or not to die. This last bunch is the worst. Often, the animal looks at my approaching car and appears to run off the road. I say “appears” because usually, the dummy changes her mind - thinking perhaps, “Nah, winter is SO not fun!” -  and runs back into my path.
 
Having had this happen once too often, the second that I spot a deer, whether in the ditch or the blacktop, I start honking like a New York cabbie. It’s worked…so far, at least. 
 
Never content to spare only myself, if I do have a near miss, I then flick my headlights at oncoming vehicles. Someone once told me that flicking headlights on and off repeatedly is a well-known sign to others that deer are ahead. Sadly, a number of oncoming drivers misinterpret my flashing lights. These often give me yet another well-known sign, the hand and finger kind. Ah well, no good deed goes unpunished....
 
However, when all fails and deer does meet vehicle on 61, the end result is not only death and increased auto insurance rates.  For scavengers, it is answered prayer.
 
Last week, I passed such a roadkill/banquet in progress just as I pulled onto 61 from my road. A majestic bald eagle presided over the banquet of ribs, innards and all the trimmings. He appeared to be the reluctant host to a flock of shiny black ravens.
 
These were gyrating about, tearing off tidbits, flapping their wings with joy and generally having one whale of a time. The food fight in Animal House comes to mind.
 
The eagle, on the other hand, held himself erect, as if offended, if not slightly sickened, by the very presence of the ravens, let alone their boorish antics.
 
And why should he not be? Sharing the deer with a bunch of pipqsueaks was enough to spoil the great bird’s day. But all the unnecessary folderal? Really? 
 
It looked me like the human equivalent of being invited to a friend’s home for Thanksgiving and finding oneself at the children’s table. The very young and tired and cranky children’s table!
 
A more congenial scene greeted me on the narrow band of 61 in Tofte. Most of this stretch is nearly without any shoulder at all. So the smashed-up deer carcass resting on the lakeside edge of pavement could only be enjoyed by revelers if they sat partially in the ditch, facing the passing vehicles. This afforded a view of their heads. Which lined up like this: raven, raven, raven, fox, raven, raven, raven.
 
The birds were nearly as jumpy as the ones I saw earlier, but the fox had the happy look of one who’d just made it into the popular clique. It was one of those scenes that made me desperate to take a picture. But I will always remember exactly how it looked in my mind’s eye.
 
I must say that as much as I love seeing the nature turning death into life again, the reality of it all dampens my envy of the beasts; a state of mind that afflicts me always. Imagine how wonderful it would be to fly off the ground and hover weightless on updrafts of air. Or to run and jump like a deer. Or just curl up like a fox, warm as toast in my gorgeous coat, my bushy tail curled around my nose.
 
But then, I see the bunch of them eating. Eating cold, stringy meat. Studded with hair and gravel. My behind in a ditch, cars whizzing by. And the whole romantic image dies, another victim of reality.
 
And so, I’ll have to content myself with the human equivalent of the critters’ shore lunch. The unexpected gesture of having my meal tab picked up by a friend. The holiday invite. Or the wild raspberries hanging warm and juicy on bushes in my woods, just for me and me alone. Not a bad life. Not really, even without wings... or a fabulous bushy tail.

Airdate: November 8, 2012

There are a lot of ways climate change stands to affect Lake Superior. There's the reduction in ice cover, rising lake temperatures, the increase in storminess and declining water levels. But it’s not just the lake itself that stands to be impacted by the changing climate. The rising temperatures and increase in severe weather events are altering the ecology in the Lake Superior watershed, and  changing the way of life for all living things in the region.

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota, where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column. We're getting into mid-November now, and this year, the biggest thing is how the two brightest planets are playing opposites. Learn more in this edition of Northern Sky.

Read this month's Starwatch column.