Pulling Up Stakes

Nomadkins dispatch, 9.9.23

Somewhere on the Gunflint Trail. Thankfully, my rig actually has a tad less rust!

Like the Lake Superior loons starting to feel a shiver in their feathers (low temp. tomorrow night 41 degrees 😳), I’ll be flying back south for the winter in a few days. In times past, I’ve heard their haunting, winter-time calls on Bay Springs Lake in Mississippi so maybe a few of them will end up there.

Which, coincidentally, is exactly where my next semi-permanent stop will be.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll bump into one of my migratory friends soon on some misty morning at the Bay Springs boat ramp…

LOON: “Dude, I remember you from Grand Portage! Bear troubles? Bum knee? Friend of the Ojibwe?”

ME: “Yep, I’m the guy. Small world!”

LOON: “Indeed. How long ya here for?”

(Before I have time to reply, Loon suddenly disappears below the surface of the water, then re-emerges with a fat minnow in its beak.)

ME: “Dunno, a few weeks maybe. You?”

LOON: “All winter, my friend! (talking/mumbling with its beak full). This lake is filled to the brim with tasty morsels. Besides, the wife and kids like it here, too.”

(A second Loon suddenly paddles out of the reeds with two baby loons riding on her back, nuzzles her man. Did she just wink at me?)

***

And before you decide I’ve lost my mind (“Convos with imaginary loons? Really, Mark?”), I’ll just hop back to reality by posting the upcoming Nomadkins itinerary, beginning Sept. 17—God willing and the creek don’t rise:

1. Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway + Apostle Islands + Ashland, WI

2. Baraboo, WI. + Aldo Leopold Farm & Shack

3. Shawnee National Forest, IL.

4. Bay Springs Lake, MS. (Piney Grove Campground)

Bone-cold and rainy today on the Minnesota North Shore. Which of course makes it a good time to be mentally planning my departure for home turf, family and friends. But it’s been an amazing summer of adventure and enlightenment, a lot of which I won’t be able to process and/or relate until it’s thoroughly in my rearview mirror.

Until then, I’ll leave you with a few final words of wisdom from another Mark that seem relevant to my experience:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, charitable, wholesome views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the world.”

Mark Twain

As always, thanks for your readership and support!

Peace & Love,

Mark