This Christmas, I received the gift of two crosses. Mike and Nancy gave me a Russian cross of intricately carved wood. Jeff and Jenny gave me a brass cross, hammered out of a spent artillery shell from the fourteenyear civil war in Liberia. These were strange, yet beguiling Christmas presents. Taken together, they became more than friendship “gifts”— they are […]

Julie Carlson of Joynes Department Store in Grand Marais found a wonderful collection of photos from long ago when the Grand Marais Lions Club held a Fish Derby at an area lake each winter. The year this picture was taken is unknown—do you recognize any of these happy snowmobilers? Do you have an old picture or a story from years […]

Have you ever wished you could smile out of both sides of your head at the same time? It would give a whole new meaning to the phrase two-faced wouldn’t it? Well, growing up, we used to do just this with our snowmen. One smiling face would look into my mom’s kitchen window and the other would smile at the […]

When I was a kid, I was afraid of my very own make believe monster that lived under my bed at night. My parents would turn the hall light on to keep the beast away. I remember this fear lasting several years. Around age 10, I suddenly realized my parents no longer left the light on and my monster was […]

It seems like every week the only thing to write about is wolves. I wish there was more going on up here right now but with the less than perfect snow activities, the wolves seem to take the show each week. My wife and I were eating lunch at the Gunflint Bistro while watching a couple of wolves cleaning up […]