North Shore Weekend

I recently received word about the death of Peg Morris.  Peg and her partner, Ed Landin, were Cook County residents for many years. They started out with a cabin between Grand Marais and Lutsen while they operated a resort on Lake Superior just outside Two Harbors.  In 1994, they sold the resort, moved full-time to Cook County and were very active members of the community until they moved away in 2002.
 
Peg was a remarkable woman, with many talents.  She was a biologist by training and became a well-respected employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While living in Cook County, Peg served on the Governor’s Commission on the BWCA Wilderness, the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, Minnesota Resort Association, and both the Cook County and Arrowhead Library Boards.  She was a founding board member and eventually chairperson of the Northeast Initiative Fund, which later changed its name to the Northland Foundation. Peg was also a licensed bird rehabilitator and nursed many injured birds back to health.  I remember her delighted description of recovering wild birds flying around inside her house.
 
Peg changed my life when she called me back in the early ‘90s asking if I would consider serving on the Northland Foundation board of trustees. Before I could start making excuses, she said, “Serving on the Northland board has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve done in my life.” That stopped me in my tracks, because Peg had done many, many interesting things in her life. I agreed to serve and Peg was absolutely right about what a great experience it is. I will be forever grateful to her for steering my life in that direction.
 
Peg died back in September, after struggling with a mysterious and progressive brain and nerve degeneration for many years. It was never fully diagnosed, and while it robbed her of speech and muscle control, her eyes made it clear that she knew what was going on around her. She was 64 years old. 
 
Grand Marais State Bank in Tofte has several seasonal initiatives going on. I previously mentioned their “giving tree” where you can donate gift items to be placed under the tree in the bank lobby and they will be distributed to local families who can use a little extra holiday cheer this year.  They are also acting as a collection point for the Cook County Food Shelf. If you donate a food item between now and the middle of December, your name will be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate. And finally, if you open a new checking or savings account during the holiday season, the bank will donate $5 to the Salvation Army Red Kettle collection effort. Thanks to Nancy Christenson and her great crew for their generous work.
 
The big news from here in the backwoods is that we’ve received more than 16 inches of snow since Thanksgiving.  When I tell people in town about this, they frankly give me a skeptical look. All I can say is, hop in your car and see for yourself. The first 11 inches that came on Thanksgiving night was wet, so every tree is just loaded with snow. Our little 6K ski trail here at Sawbill is open and in excellent condition. As a bonus, the snow on the trees makes every view down the trail look like a Currier and Ives Christmas card. While Sawbill Lake has been at least partially frozen for a couple of weeks, the heavy snow on top of thin ice has made lake travel sketchy and uncertain. Best to stay off the ice for a little while longer.
 
We’re off to a good start on my favorite season, and my hope is that this is truly the arrival of winter and the holiday season will be snowy, fun and joyful.

Airdate: November 29, 2012

Each weekend WTIP news produces a round up of the news stories they’ve been following this week. A snowy start to winter on Friday, the firearms deer season closed out, the second phase of the wolf season starts, Cliffs mining lays off workers and more …all in this week’s news.

Out There is a monthly segment from WTIP volunteer and commentator Shelby Gonzalez. In it, she explores the great outdoors with a sense of humor and a nose for strange stories, odd critters, and unusual pursuits. In this edition of Out There, Shelby runs the Superior Trail 25k. Barely.

Local naturalist and retired teacher Larry Weber joins us each Saturday morning to share his observations on what's going on in the great outdoors. Tune in to North Shore Weekend from 7-10 Saturday mornings on WTIP to listen to Larry live, download and listen at your convenience, or subscribe to a podcast. 

Photo of Rough-Legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) courtesy of Flickr User Wyoming_Jackrabbit.

Out There is a monthly segment from WTIP volunteer and commentator Shelby Gonzalez. In it, she explores the great outdoors with a sense of humor and a nose for strange stories, odd critters, and unusual pursuits. In this edition of Out There, Shelby tries tenkara—traditional Japanese fly-fishing—and gets laughed at by some trout.

There are various ways we try to protect ourselves from being vulnerable.  In Brene Brown's latest book, she captures some of our favorite forms of armor.

(Photo by Moira Burke via Wikimedia Commons)

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 and forests in the Lake Superior watershed. The forest as we know it—full of birch, spruce, pine and firs—might not be that way for much longer.

Daring Greatly, the new book by Brene Brown, explores how we live with vulnerability. This segment shares the myths of perfectionism.

Out There is a monthly segment from WTIP volunteer and commentator Shelby Gonzalez. In it, she explores the great outdoors with a sense of humor and a nose for strange stories, odd critters, and unusual pursuits. In this edition of Out There, Shelby becomes smitten with Minnesota’s smallest owl, the saw-whet, and wonders whether Bill “Owlman” Lane, Master Bander, would mind if she smuggled one home in her coat pocket.

Local naturalist and retired teacher Larry Weber joins us each Saturday morning to share his observations on what's going on in the great outdoors. Tune in to North Shore Weekend from 7-10 Saturday mornings on WTIP to listen to Larry live, download and listen at your convenience, or subscribe to a podcast. 

Photo of a Stink Bug courtesy of Joshua Allen.