30\u00a0 bar rises 30.00\u00a0 1mph\u00a0 windchill 28\u00a0\u00a0 Samhain<\/p>\n
Waning Gibbous Dark Moon<\/p>\n
Kate is my wife, friend and partner.\u00a0 I had a conversation with her this morning.<\/p>\n
“Kate,” I said, “I want to do something substantial before I shuffle off this mortal coil. (Dad used that phrase a lot.\u00a0 I don’t\u00a0 know where he got it.)”<\/p>\n
She smiled and waited, her face turned a bit up to ease the strain on her neck.<\/p>\n
“It’s not that I don’t like my life and what I do with it.\u00a0 I enjoy diverse things that require different skills.\u00a0 I’ve accepted that’s the life likely to be lead by a valedictorian.\u00a0 Good at many things, deep in none.\u00a0 Still.\u00a0 I’d like to work on and complete a substantial writing project.”<\/p>\n
“What’s your question?” she asked.<\/p>\n
“What should I do?” She’s good at answering questions like this.\u00a0 Most people are not, but I trust her and have trusted on these matters for years.<\/p>\n
“Lake Superior.\u00a0 That’s the first thing that popped into my mind,”\u00a0 she said, “We could have monthly Lake Superior meetings.\u00a0 Get a large paper pad and work on the project at least once a month.\u00a0 We could make a point of going once or twice a year to different parts of the (true) north shore and\u00a0 pay close attention to it for a week or so.”<\/p>\n
“Thanks,” I said, “That’s what I needed.\u00a0 Now I’m going to go get groceries.”<\/p>\n
On the drive over I considered her suggestion.\u00a0 It was a good one.\u00a0 We could work on it as partners.\u00a0 I have a shelf full of books and two large file drawers filled with information on Lake Superior.<\/p>\n
A few years ago I started in earnest on an ecological history of Lake Superior.\u00a0 I made three trip around the lake, visiting local historical societies as I went, purchasing books and making notes.\u00a0 Taking picture.\u00a0 I made notes, created an outline and a research plan, dug up many good websites.\u00a0 I still have all this material.<\/p>\n
I may have stalled the first time around because I’d made my objective both too specific and inflexible.\u00a0 Lake Superior as myth, as geological feature, as water, as story, as an expression of a coming zeitgeist are all rich avenues to explore.\u00a0 Painting, music, lore.\u00a0 Some mix of these, positioning Lake Superior at the heart of the continent and the center of a worldview.\u00a0 Something along those lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
30\u00a0 bar rises 30.00\u00a0 1mph\u00a0 windchill 28\u00a0\u00a0 Samhain Waning Gibbous Dark Moon Kate is my wife, friend and partner.\u00a0 I had a conversation with her this morning. “Kate,” I said, “I want to do something substantial before I shuffle off this mortal coil. (Dad used that phrase a lot.\u00a0 I don’t\u00a0 know where he got … Continue reading What Should I Do?<\/span>