332edit
Editor Konnie LeMay coolin' it.Let me tell you, I’m one woman who looks forward to a good breakup every year.
For an Up North gal, an annual break up means spring, not heartache.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not a winter hater, quite the contrary. It’s really only recently that I’ve become a fan of spring.
When I was a youngster, spring meant the end to the snow animals my dad sculpted. Trust me, few things are sadder than seeing the head fall off the snow horse you’ve been riding all winter.
Back then spring also brought looooong weeeeeeks of a tongue-clucking Mom trying to keep mud outside and off the kitchen floor. Meanwhile, we traipsed in the soupy yard, creating dirt soles ready to transfer onto linoleum or, if we got that far before a cluck, onto living-room carpet.
For a kid, spring added up to an unnecessarily fussy season.
Now spring invokes visions of sidewalks free of a pedestrian-flipping glaze.
Worrying about icy walkways is relatively new for me. Used to be, I simply ran on them, upended with a shriek and landed painfully on my bum, then promptly forgot and repeated the whole scene the next day. Was I a slow learner or just more flexible? Either way, I now welcome seasons of ice-free travel surfaces. These days, I prefer my ice in a glass, thank you.
Prevailing sentiment is that Up North we love spring so much because winter seems endless. Not really. Here, spring, like all seven or eight of our individual seasons, has special charms. Water makes it so.
Besides dissolving ice from the sidewalk, spring takes ice off lakes and rivers in displays of heaving glacial chunks that crash down swift, swollen rivers gorged on melted snow. Lions, we know Up North, are not the only things that roar.
This issue likely will reach you as spring thaw begins. If you can’t get out to see raging rivers, we’ve got you covered with a photo feature that lets the rivers run free - ice-free. “Spring Rush” showcases waterfall and whitewater views from several of our top regional photographers.
Sticking to the river theme, I gathered a story to celebrate the St. Louis River, once so polluted that it had a palpable stink and a slime surface. Today that river between Wisconsin and Minnesota is a recreational hub and desired residential area. Cleanup work continues, but spring is a great time to review this “River Revival.”
For those of you who can’t get from spring to summer fast enough, this issue helps you transition from mud into blossoms.
In “Blooming Buddies,” two Duluth neighbors share a passion for gardening. They’ve flowed their flowers across the street to a public lot that’s now a popular stop for residents and visitors. Be prepared for a pleasant splash of floral color to wash you into gardening mode.
As you get antsy to get out, this is a perfect time to flip through our Lake Superior Recreation Guide to plan your spring and summer. The focus is on camping - rustic and RV - around the Big Lake region. Campground managers tell Bob Berg how to make the most of your camp-and-stay getaways.
Also in the guide, writer-runner Felicia Schneiderhan takes us along trails in Michigan’s “upper” Upper Peninsula for “Run the Keweenaw.”
With all of this outdoor activity, of course, who has time to make big meals? You do, if you follow Juli Kellner’s advice and pull out the slow cooker. Dinner can be waiting with several great ideas in Recipe Box.
Oh, before you completely abandon indoors for out, let me encourage you to search your own recipe boxes and enter our Holiday Recipe Contest. You’ll find your invitation to send us some family favorites. It’s our first-ever Recipe Contest and we’re looking forward to sampling and sharing some regional greats.
Now, get out there and enjoy the season … but remember to take off those muddy boots when you get back home. Cluck, cluck.