By the Shores of Gitche Gumee

Longfellow wrote in his Song of Hiawatha…

 

“By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water…

…the forests and the prairies,

the great lakes of the Northland…

…Stood the groves of singing pinetrees,

Green in Summer, white in Winter,

Ever sighing, ever singing.

And the pleasant water-courses,

You could trace them through the valley,

By the rushing in the Spring-time,

By the alders in the Summer,

By the white fog in the Autumn,

By the black line in the Winter…”

 

Living in the Northland, or the Northwoods, along the shores of Lake Superior, also known as Gitchi Gummi, one thing is certain:

The seasons march along to an unrelenting cadence that demands not to be ignored.

You can wish for an endless summer, but you won’t get it.

Endless winter … maybe … it seems that way some years.

But Spring does come. Each season arrives on its own schedule … with unique scents, color, light, and bliss (and let’s not forget temperature extremes). Each has work and play suited to its nature. Each has moments to be savored and enjoyed. Each one is not like the others.

Some things stay the same.

Always there is Blessing. Always there is Grace.

 

 

Here is where my ancestors settled — in the tiny town of Poplar, Wisconsin — And here is where we are raising our family. Here we work and play… moment by moment, day by day, season by season, year by year.

 

 

 

And here on these pages is where I hope to share our journey through the seasons of life with you. Moments and days that roll along like the cadence of the waves on Gitchi Gummi, the shining Big-Sea-Water.