Ojibwa Spring

At last, life returns to the North Woods.  Throughout northern Minnesota people gather surging maple syrup and the first carrots coaxed from the thawed soil, and combine them with the last of the supplies laid in for the winter, including wild rice, collected locally in the fall, and dried fruit.  Taken together, all this makes…

Just East of Flagstaff

After the best night you’ve had in years, eased to sleep by the train’s gentle swaying, you and your traveling companion dress and make your way to the dining car.  After the steward seats you and hands you menus, you survey the options.  Everything tempts, reinforcing how hungry you are. French Toast is a renowned…

Syrup’s Rising Soon

Vitality stirs within maple trees, the sap (syrup) beginning to surge, awakening the trees from their hibernations. That’s good news for the trees, as it begins a progress that takes them to this point: (Photo taken early last summer of a maple tree, in the parents’ yard, the author started at age twelve, from seed. …