Location: Grand Marais
When: late June
Miles driven: 589
Price of gas: 3.02 to 3.24
Interest: Summer Solstice Festival
High points: Sailing the Hjørdis!
Low
point: Many mosquitos. They like to crawl in opened windows while I sleep. I got two bites on my neck that look like vampire bites. I am so ready to leave this campground and sleep
indoors!
Environment: Green and blue, forests and 10,000 lakes. Red, yellow & purple wild flowers! All the trees remind me of Maine.
Two thing learned: My knowledge of US geography is terrible. Chowder is a thick-ish soup with a milk/cream base.
Grand Marais is a town on Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. It is artsy, quaint, and surrounds a boat harbor. It is also home to
North House Folk School, where one can learn traditional northern crafts like weaving, bee keeping, hand and boat carving, sailing, blacksmithing, Rosemaling (Scandinavia painting style), and more. They also host events throughout the year and I arrived just in time to experience the last two days of their Summer Solstice and Wooden Boat Festival.
The festival celebrates the longest day of the year with mini craft classes, craft demonstrations (for those who were unable to sign up for the mini classes), family games, food, community contra/line dancing, boat display, and ending with a pageant. I watched people play the family games, including large versions of Pick Up Sticks, something that looked a little like Chinese Checkers, and one where two players tossed sticks to knock over opponents blocks. I also enjoyed the line dancing and the pageant, which was titled "Eclipse of the Heart". Unlike a theater performance, the actors in the pageant had no dialogue and the audience had to discern what was happening from show notes, the actor's actions, and the music sung by the band. The overall theme was interconnectedness. In one scene actors unrolled toilet paper as they spread out into the audience connecting person to person with the white lines. It was an expression of the mycorrhizal network which connects plants and trees allowing them to exchange resources and information. Near the end, there was a marriage between an algae and a fungi (fun guy) because they took a lichen (liking) to each other. The pageant ended with the song "Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension just as the setting sun caused a rainbow to appear in the background!
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"Mycorrhizal network" in the audience
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A few days later, I went sailing on the school's 50’ traditionally-rigged steel schooner named Hjørdis. (It's 50' long when trying to impress someone, but 35' long when talking with the harbor master. The difference is about 2 feet. 35' long at the water level and 50' at the boat's longest points 2 feet above the water.) They offer daily
two hour sailing trips in addition to sunrise and sunset trips. Out of my small sailing group, I had the least experience sailing a boat and thus steered for most of the trip! Only a novice would find steering at an imperceptibly slow pace exciting. I also helped raise the red sails! It was a lovely experience with very light wind and calm blue water. The Hjørdis crew shared stories of sunken ships, and my fellow passengers shared stories of racing across Lake Superior. I can understand the lure of sailing, but I would not want to encounter unhappy sailing conditions.
When
people learn that I am traveling by myself, they frequently say they
admire me and don't have the courage to travel alone themselves. And it makes me think they don't understand
that life teaches different ways of being to different people. Life teaches some that it's not safe to be alone (possibly because
then they are (physically) vulnerable), and life teaches others that it's not safe to be with people (possibly because then they are
(verbally) vulnerable). Blessed are the people who feel comfortable in
all circumstances. Changing what one has learned is possible, it's just difficult.
On my drive out of the state, I stopped at a black sand
beach in a little town (most of Lake Superior's shoreline that I saw
was very rocky) and Duluth's Rose Garden, which also has a section of
peonies. The rose garden was better than the beach. Minnesota is a lovely place. I enjoyed my time in Grand Marais and look forward to one day exploring more of the state or coming back for a class at the North House Folk School.
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| Steering the Hjørdis |
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Orange Hawkweed
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The most delicious burger from Angry Trout Cafe. It's a popular restaurant, so be prepared to wait for a seat.
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On Artist's Point, trail to light house
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| Peonies |
The festival celebrates the longest day of the year with mini craft classes, craft demonstrations (for those who were unable to sign up for the mini classes), family games, food, community contra/line dancing, boat display, and ending with a pageant. I watched people play the family games, including large versions of Pick Up Sticks, something that looked a little like Chinese Checkers, and one where two players tossed sticks to knock over opponents blocks. I also enjoyed the line dancing and the pageant, which was titled "Eclipse of the Heart". Unlike a theater performance, the actors in the pageant had no dialogue and the audience had to discern what was happening from show notes, the actor's actions, and the music sung by the band. The overall theme was interconnectedness. In one scene actors unrolled toilet paper as they spread out into the audience connecting person to person with the white lines. It was an expression of the mycorrhizal network which connects plants and trees allowing them to exchange resources and information. Near the end, there was a marriage between an algae and a fungi (fun guy) because they took a lichen (liking) to each other. The pageant ended with the song "Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension just as the setting sun caused a rainbow to appear in the background!
When
people learn that I am traveling by myself, they frequently say they
admire me and don't have the courage to travel alone themselves. And it makes me think they don't understand
that life teaches different ways of being to different people. Life teaches some that it's not safe to be alone (possibly because
then they are (physically) vulnerable), and life teaches others that it's not safe to be with people (possibly because then they are
(verbally) vulnerable). Blessed are the people who feel comfortable in
all circumstances. Changing what one has learned is possible, it's just difficult.
