Wildersmith on the Gunflint - November 16, 2018

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith
November 16, 2016   
 
As I started keying this weeks’ Gunflint scoop last Sunday, winter had tightened its grip on the northland. The upper Trail forest is decked out like a Hallmark Holiday card.                                       

At Wildersmith, seven to eight inches of cold season character has blanketed the neighborhood since the unexpected storm swept through kicking off last weekend. It’s a good bet areas in the mid-Trail snow zone have recorded even more. So at the moment, we head into the second half of month eleven pearly white.                                                                                                                                             
The wind howled as the first of the storms’ onslaught passed, making for white-out conditions across Gunflint Lake and many others as well. Adding to the fury, temps tumbled into single digits in places and a first zero reading on the thermometers around the Smith abode early one morning. Since then temps have rebounded a bit but remain in the ice making mode.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Once again, our magic white carpet has captured my attention. I make this comment in regard to evidence of animal visitors in both twilight and darkness hours. It’s tracking time.                                                            

Of course, I can identify most tracks left in the snow, so I know who they are. Intrigue and adventure come in wondering of their motives for leaving such impressions of attendance. Were they hunting, or the hunted? Could they have been on the run or just strolling by? Maybe their trek was simply a shortcut to another place of safety or a midnight snack.                                                                                    
I’ll never know for sure, but my curiosity always runs wild imagining what was going on. The entire scenario kind of carries me back to another place in time. Guess it is more legacy of the Gunflint Trail rising up from wilderness lore.                                                                                                              

Adjustments back to Central Standard Time came easy for the Smith’s. However, we still catch ourselves commenting, “Boy, it sure seems dark out already.” I know this is bothersome for many dwellers this far away from the equator, but it will pass. As the trek is made toward the “Solstice” it’s hard for some to contemplate maneuvering of the heavens and earth as the universe sticks a little more darkness onto each day. One just has to hang in there until the point in time when it all reverses course.                                                                                                                                                                
All of this reminds me of a scribing by author, Tom Hennen.  He states in his work, “The Life of a Day” that: “Each day is unique and has its own personality quirks, which can easily be seen if one looks closely.”                                                                                                                                                     
“Days usually pass mostly unnoticed, unless they are wildly nice, or grimly awful.”                      
“For some reason, we want to see days pass, even though most claim they don’t want to see the last one for a long time.”                                                                                                                          
“We examine each day with barely a glance. And say, no, this isn’t the day I’ve been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when we are convinced our lives will start for real.”                                                                                                                                                               
Meanwhile, the days go by “perfectly well adjusted, as most days are,” with the right amount of light and dark.                                                                                                                                     

Guess we all should take more time to live life one day at a time and enjoy it for what it is, after all, “every days’ moment is a miracle.”                                                                                                                                       

As we look toward the week of Thanksgiving celebrations, travel safely if you’re on the roads and enjoy the days with family and friends, remembering all for which we ’ve been blessed!                                                                                                                                                                                       

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, and we Gunflinters know it, by experiencing “wildlife in the wildlands.”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!