My husband, Bob, and I go to Ontario at least twice a year - for business and pleasure - if we can manage the time. We often get asked questions about this “foreign” travel.

How hard is it, we are asked, to get across the border?

On our latest trip this summer, to go from the United States into Canada took about two minutes or a few questions, depending on how you time it. The questions always essentially are: Where are you from? Where are you going, for how long and is it for business or pleasure? Do you have firearms, alcohol or tobacco? Are you bringing any gifts into Canada?

I always feel badly about that last question because we rarely bring gifts. It seems like somebody should get something for our pleasant experiences on Lake Superior’s northern shores. I do wonder about the border officer’s question; it feels like a “mom” question geared to make me feel guilty and to teach me a lesson. Did you bring a gift? Did you have enough gum to share with everyone?

To get back into the United States, it’s a little more complicated, maybe a three-minute process - similar questions and, lately, you must show identification. At least until 2008, a driver’s license for each adult in the car has sufficed. In 2008, a passport might be required, but we’ll keep you updated on that situation as that year approaches.

The border officers on both sides are almost always patient and friendly. We have not yet been stopped for the random vehicle searches that do occur - although my Scandinavian heritage now tells me that we will be searched next time just because I’ve said it hasn’t happened. Even if it does, we won’t panic.

We declare anything remotely declarable. At the border, they have no interest in our most regular purchases: dog toys to appease the princess for leaving her at home. (We don’t let Samantha read our stories about how simple it is to take a dog across the border.)

We do have a list of “to buy” items in Ontario. This issue features a cross-border shopping list gleaned from those who regularly cross into the “other” country. It will give you ideas on what to buy … or what gifts to bring for “the other side.”

The other question Bob and I field revolves around what it is like to get around in that foreign land. My response is simple and quite true. Big cities - like those one finds in the southern part of Minnesota - seem stranger to me than any of the cities and towns around the lake. After all, we drink the same Great Lake water, and we generally share similar immigrant histories, similar industrial and business interests and use familiar “lake” language like the wind-chill factor or the is-it-hot-enough-for-you weather pattern. Everybody understands Lake Effect Snow, whether you get it or not.

What our three states and our province (I do mean “our”) have in common, we celebrate on these pages.

Our communities reach for kindred goals and face the same issues or concerns. In this issue’s story on Thunder Bay, Ontario’s efforts to reclaim waterfront space for public use is a tale that has or is being played out around the lake.

We also share responsibility for not just our little corner of Lake Superior but should keep an eye on the entire watershed. What happens in Las Vegas may stay in Las Vegas, but what happens to the water and land on Lake Superior anywhere eventually gets around to all of us.

In each issue of this magazine, those who know Lake Superior will find much that is comfortably familiar and, we sincerely hope, many pleasantly surprising facts and ideas to add to your knowledge. This magazine is the place for our “neighborhood” conversation about our heritage and future.

Creating this common ground for our Lake Superior community is, I gladly declare, the gift we bring.

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