End of November Already

It is the in between stage. One day it is cold and blustery. The next day is sunshine and warm. We are having mixtures rain and snow. Probably the only constant is that the snow seems to be staying on the ground. Maybe this truly is the beginning of our winter snow load. It is nice to look out and see it coming down.


The Gunflint community lost another one of its old timers this past week. Eleanor Matsis died on November 19, 2013. For many years she worked at Gunflint Lodge as a front desk person and as a maintenance person. She also taught mathematics at the Cook County High School. Later she would move to Minneapolis and teach there at West High School and North High School. As many of her students said, “If you wanted to learn, she would teach.” She will be missed. There will be a memorial service for Eleanor at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on December 5th at 3:30 p.m. The church is located in Minneapolis at 46th and Colfax. Memorials can be sent to the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Grand Marais.

The new building is getting walls on the first half. Next week the roof trusses will be delivered and start to go up. At this point you can walk through and get an idea of the size of the rooms. I am sure that everyone will enjoy the new housing next summer.

Some of the smaller lakes as starting to freeze. Gunflint, however, still has a ways to go. On cold mornings it is steaming so the water is still warmer than the air. There is a little ice buildup long the shore. Wind from the wrong direction could blow this ice out very quickly. Magnetic Lake does not look like it has any ice yet.

We have a new bird at the Tucker Lake feeders. I think it is a wood thrush. Bruce and I both spent time going through the bird book to identify it. There appears to be only one such bird in the neighborhood. Maybe some more will appear. Otherwise we have enough birds to eat us out of house and home.

Bruce and I spent one afternoon butchering a deer. We now have enough venison for another year. One night we ate part of the heart (Bruce) and liver (me) for dinner. It is a special treat for both of us. Our pine martin will finish the rest of the organs. The birds are eating all the scraps left over from cutting up the animal.

We are leaving tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and brother-in-law in North Carolina. I don’t get to see her as often as I would like so this is a special trip. She is the only person I know who thinks that I am “tall.” Growing up I was always the tallest person in the family. As you know from looking at our boys, that is no longer true.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families.

Winter is Here

Friday night we got our first snowfall that looks like it might be around for a bit. At any rate, it was very nice for the deer hunters Saturday morning. Bruce was out for the morning but didn’t get anything. Trent, the bartender, got his first deer and was very excited. I asked if he knew how to butcher the animal. Turns out that Trent worked for a butcher for a year. That makes life much easier.

Bruce was out for a couple hours again this morning. A little more snow last night was good for tracking if you had anything to track. This time he missed seeing a deer by about 30 minutes. He also saw the tracks of a wounded deer but couldn’t catch up with that one either. Maybe he will go out later this afternoon or early tomorrow morning.

Of course, the snow was not a blessing for all the guests leaving today. Our temperature was just at 32 degrees which is the worst for slippery snow. One guests had a rental car with almost bald summer tires. Christ put a tow belt on our truck and towed the guy up to the top of the hill. Bruce drove another car up to the top of the hill on the Gunflint Trail. The first snow keeps us all on our toes especially when things are this slippery.

Work on the new staff housing is coming along. Below is a picture of what is going on. The wire mesh has to go down. However, there is now a couple of inches of snow on the surface. We are not pouring until Wednesday so maybe it will melt off a little. To give you an idea of how big this pad is going to be, it will take 12 trucks of cement to fill it. They are even bringing in one of those guns to shoot the cement around.

We are going to be full this week. Bruce decided to do a little extra for some of the young veterans. Everyone coming who is a veteran in Iraq or Afghanistan will get free cabins and meals this week. It is going to keep us all really busy. Bruce was in the army and Robert was in the navy so we have a little loyalty to everyone who is serving or served.

Reservations for December are coming is well. We already know that November is going to be up. It would be good to follow with a December that is up. The holiday season is always one of the busiest times of the year. There are a lot of people who just cannot make it home and would rather come up here than sit in an empty house.

Our big decision is where to put the tree. In a new house, I have been looking around a bit but nothing seems to fit perfectly. I am sure that Bruce will have an idea.

Winter Can Hold Off A Bit Longer

Even when nothing is going on, the weeks seem to fly by. Drab fall weather has been around all the time. Sunshine would be really welcome for a day or so. Today it is spitting rain and sometimes there is snow mixed in. Sometimes it is just misting.

Even though we have had some hard frosts, my raspberry bushes are still hanging in there. The leaves are as green as can be. Maybe this means we will have a great raspberry crop next year. There is nothing better than fresh raspberries just picked that morning.

This summer we had some new steps put in to go down to the lake at our house. Although the house is technically on lakeshore property, you go down through a little valley and then up a bank to get to the lake. So we had Jordy put some new steps in.

That meant Bruce had to rearrange the bird feeders. There are five of them and we are getting eaten out of house and home. So far it is just the usual birds coming in: blue jays, gray jays, chickadees, and nut hatches. Then suddenly yesterday the pine grosbeaks arrived. I think I can get woodpeckers if I put out some suet. Of course, we are not sitting looking at the birds during the daylight hours. But you just catch one of them flying by. I can also see them when I am washing dishes. It is fun to see them all.

The new staff building is slowly coming along. It will have 16 double occupancy rooms in it. Each room will have a full bathroom and a full kitchen. The rooms are not huge but should be a great improvement over what we have now.

Right now we are hurrying to get the slab poured. Underneath the slab all the plumbing is buried. That had to be inspected. Then the guys will have to fill and level the dirt. Next comes a layer of rigid Styrofoam for additional insulation. On top of that goes a wire mesh and the in-floor heat system. Finally we will get to pour the cement floor. That is the final step to get done before hard winter sets in. The building is big enough that it will take two days to pour all the cement. So everyone is biting their nails hoping that it doesn’t get too cold.

This weekend we had a class in mukluk making that was sponsored by the North House in Grand Marais. Jo Wood, who teaches at North House, was the instructor. Classes started on Friday and ended on Sunday noon. By that time everyone had a new pair of boots for the winter. The students were both men and women. It was fun to watch and all the students felt a sense of accomplishment.

Beyond the building projects, we are ready for winter. The ski trails are mowed. The summer furniture is put away. The annual flowers are cleaned up. The chicken wire is protecting the new shrubs and trees. The dock and boats are put away. Even at the Tucker Lake house we are ready for winter. But it can hold off for a few weeks and no one will object.

Home Looks Great

It sure is good to sleep in my own bed! Bruce and I got home on Thursday after a wonderful trip to Great Britain with our friend Bev Johnson. Basically we went to London, York and Edinburgh with a few extra stops in between. Everywhere we found interesting things to see and do.


Some sightz stood out above the others. In London we went to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London at about 10:00 p.m. one night. This is a century’s old ceremony that locks the tower (and the Crown Jewels) up for the evening. Standing in the dark and watching certainly gave us an idea of what it must have been all those years ago.

The same thing happened went we visited Winston Churchill’s underground war rooms. In one particular room the workers just locked the doors on the last day of World War II and everything remained the same until preparations got underway for this museum.

One night we went to see the stage play “Warhorse.” Making out a full sized horse around two men was fascinating. The dance they did to give this horse life and a full range of emotions made your believe it truly was a horse on stage.

Up in Edinburgh we visited Holyrood Palace which is the official home of Queen Elizabeth when she visits Scotland. As part of that visit we went into the Queen’s Gallery. They had on display the most unbelievable set of anatomical drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. Done is 1510 the drawings could have been found in the most up-to-date anatomy book on the market today. To make them even more amazing, you just had to remember that they were all done with a quill pen and ink.

A big surprise of the trip was how good our meals were. Bruce particularly enjoyed the bangers and bacon for breakfast. One day for lunch we stopped at a small café that roasted whole pigs each day. You could have sandwiches of varying size. They were so moist and delicious. Dinners varied from traditional to eclectic but everyone had a wonderful dessert which we always sampled.

I could go on and on but things are going on around here too. Saturday night was our fall wine dinner. It was put on by Carol Valentini who owns and operates Valentini’s Vicino Lago in Duluth. We had 71 people and if anyone didn’t go home stuffed, it was their own fault. The servers told me that many people were eating less of each course as the night went on. Because every cook has a little extra when fixing a meal like this, the managers had Porcini Pasta for Sunday lunch. Tonight Bruce and I will be eating pork osso buco for dinner. I am sure that is what you will be eating for dinner too.

This weekend the moose have reappeared on the trial. My picture is from one of our weekend guests. The moose seem to have been concentrated between the Loon Lake public landing the Gunflint side road. Another group was spotted up by Moose Pond Road. Needless to say, I haven’t seen one of them but that is probably because I have my camera in the car.

End of September

If you like fall color, this is the week to be up north. It is perfect everywhere I look. The sun has brought out all the color and the temperatures are perfect for walks in the woods. The only downside is that there is a little breeze all the time. The wind is blowing the leaves off the trees. Of course, I love to walk dragging my feet through leaves.


This ten-day period is our time for women’s groups. Last weekend was the Fall Women’s Getaway. They have been coming up here for over 15 years. It is like old home week when they are here. They have their favorite cabins, hiking trails and meals. Adam took a group of them out for a day canoe trip and fish fry. The next day we cooked a fish fry for the entire group. Rain held off and everyone was able to eat outside. Fried walleye just tastes better when it is cooked and eaten outside. After eating the group just sat on the porch and enjoyed a wonderful fall day. About 4:00 it started to rain but no one complained because the morning and early afternoon was so perfect.

Midweek has been filled with small parties up to drive and hike in this fall color. It is like they taking advantage of the last wonderful weather to be in the woods. I agree.

This weekend is the BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman) group. It is sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. About 90 women composed of instructors and students will participate in courses teaching practical outdoor skills. It is easier learning this way than from your husband. We have hosted this group several times, usually about every five years. They are a fun bunch. Many states have programs like this.

My garden got a last bit of attention today. I harvested carrots. It is the best crop I have gotten. Some of them will go down to Lee and Eva and the rest are for us. I thought my parsley was finished but it had other ideas. The entire bed is covered again. I will be cutting it for the lodge tomorrow. Chives will also get a haircut before I go. The strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb look wonderful. Next summer should be a huge harvest for all of them.

Bruce and I and our good friend Bev Johnson leave for two weeks in England on Sunday. We will spend four nights in London, two nights in the Midlands, 2 nights in York, two nights in Scotland, two nights in Edinburgh and then back to London. We have all be studying our books to make the most of the trip. Bev found a factory that is billed as the first pencil factory. We might visit it. Of course, picking restaurants is high on our list. I like museums so we will be visiting Churchill’s War Room from World War II. Bruce is our great driver but it still takes all of us. Those roundabouts are really tricky. Sometimes we make a couple of trips around them before getting off.

We expect to be home around the 24th and will write to you all then.

P. S.  Overnight BWCA permits are not effected by the government shutdown because they are not required after October 1st.

Fall Projects

Last night we got our first good hard frost. I don’t know how low the temperature got but everything was drooping a bit. Luckily I have closed up all the beds in the garden except for the carrots. Today I will empty all the flower boxes when the sun comes out a bit more. If I can get just one project done at a time, pretty soon we are buttoned up for the winter.

Another project has been to use up all my zucchinis. We are eating them as fast a possible but it still seems like an endless supply. I have made enough zucchini relish to last the next ten years. Bruce wanted me to make zucchini bread so I did. It turned out well and we have both been enjoying it. When he commented on how I should make it more often, my reply was that the two loaves (standard size) the recipe made contained three cups of sugar. We will wait a bit before making them again.

The other thing we have just finished using is green beans. After trying several different varieties of beans, the Blue Lake seem to be our favorite. Of course, once they start to come, you are eating beans every other day. I talked with a neighbor who is a great gardener to ask if she knew how to successfully freeze green beans. She says the frozen ones in the store taste better than what she can do. So the Kerfoot family will make pigs of themselves when the fresh beans are in season and buy the rest of the year.

Partridge season opened last Saturday. We have six in the freezer and one meal in our stomachs. We have also been driving over lots of roads we only see while hunting. A couple of them are really growing in. They look like no one but us has been through. You wonder how long it will be before those roads are lost.

The fall color is really starting to arrive. The next ten days to two weeks will probably be the best time for color. Every time I get in the car it seems that a new spot has colored leaves. Driving down the Tucker Lake Road has shown me different spots for beautiful color. The ash trees have just about completely turned. Poplar, birch and maple are starting to show up. The tamarack have not yet started to turn yellow at all but they are always last.

Bruce has got a new building project for this fall. Up on top of the hill and across the road, we are putting up a new staff housing building. It will have 16 double occupancy rooms. Each room will have its own kitchen and bathroom. The entire building will be winterized. In addition to providing more housing, this will let us tear down a couple worn out buildings.

Plans have not yet been completed for services for Dennis Todd. It appears at this time that there will be a spring/early summer memorial service up here. I will let you know through this column when something definite is set up.

Remembering Dennis

For those of you who knew Dennis Todd, I am sorry to report his death in a boating accident on Trafalgar Bay Thursday afternoon (September 12). The boat made an unexpected 90 degree turn. Both Dennis and his passenger were thrown from the boat. She had a PFD on and was able to swim to shore. He did not have one on and could not make the long swim in cold water.


So here I sit remembering Dennis from the over 25 years that he worked for us. He was a very generous man. Anyone who was unable to get out to fish could count on Dennis stopping by with a few walleye for dinner. The afternoon of the accident Dennis sent home with Bruce three dinners worth of walleyes. They are in my freeze right now.

For the past several years Dennis brought up enough Missouri Walleye (catfish) for the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center to have a fish fry as a fund raiser. Generally speaking there was not a piece of fried fish left. In fact the volunteers who served and cooked the meal made sure that they got their share of fish too. Dennis never appeared at that event and just took it for granted that you did what you could to help out. Supplying fish was what he could do and the museum was grateful for it.

Some of you may remember the years that we raised pigs at the stable. Dennis would bring them up from Missouri in his boat. In the fall he would help butcher them and he taught Bruce how to make bacon. There were some might fine meals from those pigs. Also many of the kids who stayed with us got to see a live pig for the first time.

Trafalgar Bay was probably one of Dennis’s favorite places to fish. He certainly found lots of walleyes for his guests to catch. Bruce and I went up there several times with him. The first time we went up Dennis took a small walleye off my line and banged it on the side of the boat. All of a sudden a huge eagle appeared to receive the tossed fish.

I soon learned that this was George a semi-trained eagle. Who knows how Dennis got started feeding this eagle but the bird knew who Dennis was by the time we saw him first. Apparently George knew the sound of Dennis’s motor and only came when he heard that motor. It is quite an experience to see an eagle catching a walleye right next to your boat.

Many of you have enjoyed the smoked ribs, salmon, prime rib and chicken done on our large smoker. What you don’t know is that Dennis arranged to have the smoker built for us in Missouri. He also made sure that we never ran out of hickory wood to use for smoking these meats. Again it was just something that Dennis did because he saw a need that he could help with.

Next summer is going to be an eye opener for us. There will be holes in our lives that Dennis filled and we have forgotten about. Many of you will also be remembering your great fishing days with Dennis. Think about him when you eat your next walleye dinner.

It is Fall!

Fall is here but before I talk about the glories of fall (my favorite season), you need to hear about a group of four women from Milwaukee who returned last week from a canoe trip with us. Everyone at the lodge loved them when they came in for meals. At the end of their canoe trip, they sat on the patio enjoying a cold libation. Coming in the discussion was about whose hair was the worst. By dinner time they had showered and looked pretty good again. Missy waited on them at all meals and had a great time. We all enjoyed having such a cheerful group in the dining room.


Now back to glorious fall. If I had written this four days ago, it could have been about blue skies and calm winds. These last two days it has to be about wind, rain and overcast skies. But it is still fall! The leaves are changing.

My garden is yielding more than we can eat. It is also dying out quickly. Potatoes have been put into a five-gallon pail. Broccoli is finished. Blue Lake green beans will give us a couple more meals. Zucchini are still prolific and getting huge. The last of the lettuce went down to the lodge yesterday for an emergency fill before the food truck arrived. It looked like the parsley was done but it has come back stronger than ever. I will dry that for use all winter. Basil is also doing well. Now it is a race to get every bit of growth but not let a frost bite those tender basil leaves. Thursday we are supposed to get a frost so I will harvest basil tomorrow and make pesto. Tomatoes are not doing well. Maybe I will be able to figure out a way to get one. I also have 2 spaghetti squash and one pumpkin. The fifty sticks I planted for raspberries and the tiny bits of strawberries are ready to give me a big harvest next summer. That is the garden for this year.

Earlier this week the power company was up. They are stringing line for broadband and reached my house. This is still a long way from getting broadband but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Once the fiber optic line is at my house, it can be hooked up even in the winter as long as the line is buried to the connecting spot coming into the county. That is still the sticking point. Eventually it will all come together.

Most of our students have gone back to school. There were a couple of weeks when staffing was a challenge. About 5 or 6 people have joined us and that makes all the difference in the world. It seems quiet now but there are some big weekends coming up before November.

The first weekend in October the entire resort will be taken over by a group called BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman). It is close to 100 women here to learn about outdoor skills. We will have a good time with them.

Another busy weekend is the last one in October when Carole Valentini from Valentini’s Restaurant will be a guest chef. She will treat our guests to an evening of Italian delights. Bruce and I changed our vacation plans to make sure that we were here for her meals.

What is a typical day?

Once again the days seemed to have flown by. This is turning out to be the busiest month we have ever had. That means we don’t really have enough staff so the managers having being filling in more than they usually do. It also means you can never count on what is going to happen next. Yesterday was the perfect example.

Monday is Dave’s day off so Marilyn is on the front desk alone until 2:00 in the afternoon. I usually come in to help her. Monday’s are always busy with people getting fishing licenses, new guests with questions, the phone ringing with more questions. You get the idea. Marilyn is much better than I am on the front desk but I can answer more questions than she can about the area.

So it is almost 2:00. The place is a zoo with guests, people for lunch, riders for horseback and lookers. All of a sudden Bruce appears to ask if I am ready to go. Go where? It seems we are driving down to Lutsen Resort to get some plans for their staff housing. We are going to build new housing this fall. It is really hot out so a drive in an air conditioned car sounds pretty good. Also it is a good chance for us to just talk for three hours. Off we go.

An hour and a half later we are at Lutsen talking with Nancy about what they did for staff housing a few years ago. After about 20 minutes we are back on the road home. In Grand Marais we stop at Dairy Queen and also gas the car. The ride home seems easy and we should make it for me to be the hostess at dinner.

Just before we get to Trail Center, there is a truck in the ditch. While going off the road, the truck hits one of the green boxes that splice together the main power line. The box is burning and there is a piece of line sticking up in the air. No sign of the driver, but the truck did not roll over. We will meet the ambulance and fire truck as we continue home. The driver was OK but probably a little shaken up.

The next issue is that this accident took out power for the entire trail. We know that Don is in one of the emergency vehicles we passed. At the lodge soups are slowly heating on our gas fired stove. Salads and cold sandwiches will round out the gourmet menu for the night. Paper plates come out of storage. There is some light in the lodge as we have a special circuit that is cut off from the main line. We start serving meals. Five-gallon buckets are stacked in the entryway for lake water to flush toilets. Dave has a key to open the cash register so Bruce goes to find him. Meanwhile Sheryl finds her key to do the same thing. We are functioning for dinner.

Just as Bruce gets back, he and I and Adam walk down to Cabin #5. Adam is going to marry a couple and we are the witnesses. Luckily it is not a long service but it is nice.

About 8:00 p.m. the power comes back on. We start to fire up the electric appliances in the kitchen. This takes about 30 minutes. Now we can serve the bistro menu to those who have not eaten yet. Things are still a little chaotic but the worst is over. As usual the staff adapted and pulled us through.

Around 8:30 Bruce and I go home. I had made some soup for dinner. That was about all we were up to eating and it tasted very good.

You just never know what is going to happen during the day at Gunflint.

Thanks to Hundreds of Volunteers

For the past week, hundreds of Cook County residents have been involved in the search for a local man who appears to have been lost while blueberry picking. It has been a long and frustrated job for everyone who has participated. Using a grid pattern, over 500 acres of land have been walked once, trice and sometimes three times. Sitting reading this, you might wonder how an eighty-year-old man cannot be found.


If you have seen the country, all questions would be removed. It is right in the heart of an area that was affected by the 1999 Blowdown and the 2007 Ham Lake Fire. There are blown down trees, burned tree trunks, and 4-6 foot brush everywhere. In addition there are granite rocks, cervices, and caves. Added to this is extremely wet conditions that make for slippery footing. Every step must be carefully considered. To give you an idea of how thick the brush is, three searches came across a moose in the brush. Everyone looked at each other and then went their separate ways. We wish the searchers well and give them our thanks for such hard work.

Yesterday Bruce and I took a couple hours off to go blueberry picking with two of the guests. We motored over to Magnetic Lake and found a small open spot amidst granite rocks. The area was covered with blueberries and they were huge berries! We have never seen them so big. Many were as big as domestic ones. Of course they have a lot more favor. I spent two hours this morning cleaning and freezing our berries. Tomorrow I will make a blueberry pie for us all to share.

When we got home, everyone was thankful that the trip was accomplished without a stumble or a fall. None of the four of us are as agile as we once where. Between climbing out of the boat, up the rocks, over half burned trees, down cervices to the big ones, back up again, then down into the boat, not a single berry was lost. What a wonderful way to spend a couple hours. I will remember this when my Grandson Grant calls to remind me to make more blueberry jam.

The middle of August is not here yet. Even so the days are a little shorter. The nights are a little cooler. The shrubs along the side of the road are starting to turn color. We still have weeks to go before fall color is upon us, but these shrubs are the first signal that summer is coming to an end. Except for one week in July, it has been a cool summer with steady patches of rain mixed with sunshine. It is why the blueberries are so huge.

Now the raspberries are ripening. I made nine jars of jam yesterday. These jars will help answer Granddaughter Mae’s questions about when we pick raspberries. At three she just sits and picks and eats. That sounds good to me.

More Berries

The last week to ten days has been really busy so I never did get around to the blog. Now is the time to catch up.


Sheryl sent me several pictures including this one of a baby mallard. The babes and mothers are feasting on corn from all our guests.

Family reunions have hit us. No matter what the size and ages of the families, they still have a lot of people at dinner. Then last night after we had already turned down two groups of 14 who called, a group of 16 walked in. With them standing in front of you, it is hard to turn them down. Naturally there was a little rain so they could not eat outside. There was a period of about 30 minutes when every table and every bar stool was full with people waiting. I know this is good but at the end of the night, it is also tiring.

Also at this time we have kids all over the place. It really puts pressure on the kitchen staff to keep those cookies coming out. Someone saw one boy take four cookies and stack them up. That way he could just bite out of all four of them at a time. Occasionally the hot chocolate machine is “out of order” while we wait to get more hot chocolate delivered. None the less, I have parents of children them me how their kids talk about cookies and hot chocolate all winter long. We are glad it makes an impression.

Bruce took off for a couple of days with Son Brian and his three children. They went over and camped in Red Rock Bay for three nights. Fishing was tough but Brian did the best with a crawler harness. Even so, they only got 1 walleye. Bass and a northern filled them up for dinner appetizers. They did hit a bonanza for blueberries. I had made 30 jars of jam and they brought me enough berries to make another 30 jars.

Bruce and Grandson Sam had an interesting experience. They stopped to look at an empty campsite. The canoe was pulled completely out of the water onto some rocks. The two guys were in the back picking blueberries at an unbelievably rich site. Suddenly they heard a noise. The wind came and picked up their canoe and dropped it (right side up) into the lake. There went the canoe floating down the lake. Sam had to bushwhack for about ¼ mile along the shore until he could call Brian to come and get them.

The raspberries are starting to ripen up. A small bag of them made it back from the canoe trip. I had them on my cereal this morning. My oft repeated story is that when I sit down with the first bowl of wild raspberries, I think about the ½ pint container of berries that sell in the store for $3-4 with no taste at all. It is then that I know that my life is truly rich.

Rain! Rain!

Wednesday, the Gunflint Trail had their annual canoe races at Gunflint Lodge. In spite of the fact that the weather was chancy and there was a downpour in the early afternoon, the turnout was very good. The wind calmed down. There were a very few sprinkles of rain during the evening. Over $12,000.00 was deposited in the account of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. Not too bad for a one night event. Of course, the only thing that made it possible was the hundreds of hours of work put in by friends and neighbors up and down the Trail.


Everyone knows that we need a strong, well equipped fire department and ambulance. The guys and gals who run the department put in many hours of training and answering calls. The rest of us do our share by seeing to it that there is enough money to get the training and equipment. So Wednesday night was another successful night of doing a small part to fund this operation.

It was a good thing that the races were Wednesday and not Thursday. Yesterday was one of the rainiest days we have had in years. One of the neighbors on Loon Lake recorded 4” of rain. Throughout the day a series of squalls kept rolling in to drench us for a period of time. Then things would settle down until the next squall came in. Everything was accompanied by thunder and lightening. In fact, I was able to lie in my bed for the early part of the night and just listen to the thunder come in. Some of the lightening strikes seemed really close but by morning there was no evidence of them.

The biggest evidence of the rain is my garden. Everything is suddenly huge. That includes the weeds. After I am finished writing, it is time to get out and weed. The ground is still wet so weeds come out very easily. Of course, the dirt also adheres to my clothing very easily. I will be a mess by the time the job is done. But then, who said that weeding is ever done?

All this rain has been great for the berries. I understand that blueberries are starting to ripen in the sunny areas. Raspberries can’t be far behind. It is a good thing. My grandchildren are anxious to get jam. Three-year old Mae even called this winter. Her very small voice wanted to know when we picked raspberries. She will sit on the ground and eat the berries right off the bush. Bruce and I have our work cut out for us to keep the family in jam. After all why would you want to buy jam in a store when your grandparents can make it for you?

Canoe Races

Berry season is here. Right in our driveway is a good little patch of wild strawberries. Bruce is a great picker of berries. Our strawberries are so small (no bigger than the tip of your little finger) that he tries to pick one whipped margarine cup (about 1 cup) each time he goes out. It takes 5-6 cups for one batch of wild strawberry jam. All the picking is done on hands and knees. Because we have had regular doses of rain this summer, the berries are really good. Even so it is a lot of work to get enough for a batch of jam. Those who get gifts of this jam are definitely on the A list.


Just looking out at the dock area will tell you that school is out. Every day we see more kids in the small kayaks. For their first experience the dock boys put PFD’s (life jackets) on everyone. Then the kids are helped into one of the kayaks. A few short instructions are given. You don’t need too much. Unlike adults, kids will keep trying different strokes until they make it work. Once they learn to go forward, it is like releasing them to the world. They can go everywhere! I never tire of watching them on the water just as they never tire of being on the water.

One of our summer favorites is eating on the patio overlooking the lake. There is something about eating beside the water. It doesn’t make any difference which meal it is. Guests just love to sit outside. Sometimes they just want to sit. Hold the food! Hold the drinks! Just leave me alone to soak in the fresh air. By sunset the bugs have also discovered how nice the patio is but we are past the worst of the bug season this year. Now it is just absorbing the outside before winter comes again.

This coming Wednesday is the night for the annual Gunflint Trail Canoe Races. For over 25 years neighbors have been getting together to raise money to support the local volunteer fire department. The first sign is canoe races is when volunteers start selling raffle tickets at Trail Center. These will be sold until the raffles actually start. There will be 300-400 people at Gunflint Lodge to participate in everything starting at 4:30. One of the neighbors gets out his accordion to liven up things. Two huge raffles give out general gifts and then a Winonah canoe is the grand prize for one raffle. There is a silent auction. Various canoe races for all ages run through the night. Local women sell sloppy Joes, calico beans, hot dogs, homemade cookies and treats for all. My favorite is the minnow races. Each child is given a minnow to “race” down lanes made by PVC pipe. Of course, every child wins these races.

So if you are in the area on July 17th, stop in for a night of fun. It is like a giant neighborhood picnic.

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! It is a beautiful day on the Gunflint. There is not a cloud in the sky. While the temperature is high, a cool breeze makes it a perfect day. Life at the lodge will be very busy today. Last night we were filled to the brim with diners. With nice weather, the patio becomes a third dining room. I expect that the same thing will happen tonight.


The wildflowers are out in all the beauty along the Trail. Along a drive, there are lupine, hawkweed and daisies. Most along the roads have been brought in and are not native to the area. Even so they add lots of color. Further into the woods are the twin flowers, iris, bunchberries and many more. These are all native to this area. We are also starting to see the wild strawberries ripen. Soon it will be time for jam. It is a truly wonderful time to just look out on the Trail.

One of our guests had an unusual experience yesterday. The two adult brothers went out kayaking on Gunflint. Back in the summer home bay they spotted a loon gliding along. The loon came up close to one of their kayaks. This brother said to the other, “I can almost pet the loon.” He reached out his hand to pet the loon. The animal gently took each of the human fingers in his beak. Then the loon just sat there while the man pet its head and back. Finally the loon glided off into the weeds. Neither Bruce nor I have ever heard of such an occurrence.

The canopy tour is very busy. Today and tomorrow we are full with about 45 riders each day. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. Lee says that he is also very busy on his new canopy tour (Kerfoot Canopy Tour) down near Belle Plain and Henderson outside of the Twin Cities. He is a little bigger than we are with ten zips and the longest is over 1200 feet.

My garden is producing broccoli for the dining room. Three times I have harvested enough for dinner. Of course, Bruce and I have yet to eat any of it. By the time we sit down to eat, it is usually just a salad or sandwich. One would think that we would lose weight but it doesn’t seem to work that way. I think it is too many cookies while at the lodge.

As I look out over the lake, there are kids everywhere. It is not just the human variety. Our mallards are hatching too. Everyday there seems to be a new flock of little ones. Besides the corn, they like to hang around the dock because the eagles are not comfortable swooping in to pick off another young duckling. All the kids splashing and the dock with hiding places makes this a very scary place for the eagles. I wonder if the eagles actually feel “scared.” I think that is just a human emotion assigned to eagles with no idea if they have emotions like we do. There is a name for that but I can remember.

At any rate, have a great day. I’ll be watching my fireworks on PBS at the National Mall tonight.

Who Makes Up Your Family?

Sheryl sent me this picture of Bruce with Robert and Zach. They took off Tuesday with Zach’s Boy Scout troop for a seven-day canoe trip. It only takes one look at the picture to know that they are all related. Unfortunately they have had rain two of the three days they have been out. It is supposed to rain today too. Bruce always tells guests that the weather they get on vacation depends on the life they have led during the past year. I wonder what that says about him.


Meanwhile the lodge carries on as usual. This past week and next week Tom and Jan Daniel’s family has had a reunion for 19 of them. The purpose is to celebrate Tom and Jan’s 60th wedding anniversary. Every five years the entire clan assembles here to celebrate. They first came up here in 1969 for Tom’s family reunion. It was the first summer Bruce and I had been married. Tom and Jan alone or with various of their children and grandchildren have visited us 24 times over the years. We even ran into them once in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. (I had to look that up to spell it correctly.)

I have taken up a new hobby. Since we moved the number of boxes devoted to old family pictures in our home has multiplied It is like a message from on high that maybe I ought to try to organize the genealogy of the family. I went and bought a program called Family Tree Maker complete with instructions. Bruce feels that I am crazy but we will see what happens.

The Kerfoot family tree will be easy. Someone years before me actually gathered it all up in a book of which we have a copy. Even the Spunner family (Justine’s) has a fair amount of information easily obtainable. Both my maternal and paternal families are woefully lacking in information. I am only the second general born in this country on my mother’s side and the first on my father’s side. Nothing like a good mystery to keep me busy.

The real problem is that I am not interested in filling in blanks on a family tree chart. I want to know the stories of these people’s lives. For example Bruce’s grandfather George Kerfoot was a president of Hamline University in the St. Paul. He was a minister and they were social very correct. They had four boys and one daughter. During the Depression Justine and Bill were desperately poor. The house Grandpa and Grandma Kerfoot lived in need to be reroofed so Bill and Justine came down to do the job. It might have been the first time that Grandma Kerfoot met her new daughter-in-law.

At any rate during those years, there was no way that Justine could have been described as social correct. She came down in her bib overalls and climbed up to help with the roofing project. Then to add insult to injury Justine took a break by having a cigarette on the roof. Grandma Kerfoot reacted the only way her generation could. She took to her bed.

Over the years Grandma Kerfoot came to appreciate her unorthodox daughter-in-law. When she lay dying, Grandma asked to speak with Justine. None of the four adult boys but only Justine was asked to always look after daughter Margaret. The promise given was never forgotten.