I had no idea the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was so recent...

Well, its been a while blogosphere...sorry I haven't written to you lately, but you know how crazy things get. It's not you, it's me.

I was called away to the sea on short notice. The North Shore is a seductive mistress, sometimes fair and pretty, sometimes angry and violent. I guess you could say the sea has a beautiful mental illness, and that is what keeps me coming back.

We left for Grand Marais, MN last Saturday morning, and I was so busy getting ready (not to mention that I had to spend half the day at the mechanic's due to very poorly timed car trouble) that I plum forgot all about the usual Friday random ten...it'll never happen again. Which reminds me, there will be no Friday random ten this Friday, as we are leaving on a getaway this Friday that will take us to exotic locales all around the Dairy State. I suppose I could just do it on Thursday and then post it on Friday...yeah, I think that's what I'll do. Sorry, I'm just thinking out loud here, I probably should've edited this out.

Anyhoo, whilst in beautiful Grand Marais, we ate at two excellent restaurants, one very good restaurant, and one pretty good place. An interesting thing we have noticed is that the city seems to import young ladies from Russia and the Ukraine (or is it just 'Ukraine', no 'the'?) to work as waitstaff over the tourist season. One of our waitresses was named Tatania and asked us "What eggs you likes?". Adorable!

We also learned that the good ship Edmund Fitzgerald sunk on November 10, 1975. I had no idea - I had always thought it happened back in the 30's or 40's. That Gordon Lightfoot, who recorded his song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" later that month, had to either be very inspired, psychic, or a saboteur in order to get it done that fast. Mr. Lightfoot, where were you on the night of November 10, 1975? Do you have anyone who can vouch for your whereabouts?



Right before we left to come home, we stopped to check on the prayer flags we'd left for our dead friend last year. Only a few scattered threads remained, clinging to rough edges of tree bark. Then we went and played in the lake, wading in at first and eventually becoming completely drenched by the strong waves that overwhelmed us and nearly stole a flip-flop.

And that's why this was the best summer vacation ever!