Whiz, Bang, Zoom, Boom: Remember that meteor shooting through the western Siberian sky in 2013? Unfortunately, that landing caused more than 1,000 injuries and property damage, reported here by ABC News. When Northern Minnesota got its own version this week, though, it mainly involved a flash and a boom. KBJR6's Kevin Jacobson reports, with videos, on the Northland version, though streaks have been seen widely thanks to the Geminid meteor shower that shows up this time of year. "The Geminids are widely recognized as the best annual meteor shower a stargazer can see," according to NASA. On the The U.S. National Weather Service Duluth station posted this on Wednesday: "Good morning everyone! We received a few reports of something falling in the sky earlier this morning, and it wasn't snow! We received reports of a bright flash of light around 6:50 am this morning from a meteor! Did you see it? One report was from Bennett, WI in Douglas County." The site also posted a video from the dashcam of a Pine County Sheriff's squad car, a still capture of which is shown here.
Coming to Town, Really: On Saturday, Santa Claus really is coming to town and there's a map to prove it. He will make a loop through Ashland, Wis., starting at 2 p.m. Santa's spreading a bit of Christmas cheer in his sleigh from the back of a truck (the reindeer need to rest up for next week). Visit Ashland has a route map for those who want to get in a wave to Jolly Ol' St. Nick.
Switching Tracks: CN Rail has confirmed it intends to sell the Algoma Central Railway that runs in Ontario between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst, according to a story by the SooToday staff and republished in Northern Ontario Business. It's uncertain how the sale might affect the popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train from downown Sault Ste. Marie to Agawa Canyon. The tour train's website says that 2021 tickets are available only for the peak season of Sept. 18-Oct. 12. The site also talks about Algoma Central Railway's long history, dating back from Aug. 11, 1899, when it was incorporated. The line even hosted some of the famed Group of Seven artists for a month in 1918 when even Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald and Frank Johnston rent a boxcar fitted out as a portable cabin and traveled to paint in Agawa Station, Hubert and Batchewana. "They continued to travel the ACR on painting trips until 1923, joined on various occasions by A.Y. Jackson and Arthur Lismer," the history notes.
Plow Bunyan?: The Minnesota Department of Transportation says it wants residents to "blow it away" with ideas for names it will give to eight snowplows – one for each district. "MN DOT is looking for "creative, punny and fun ideas" that can be submitted until Friday, Jan. 22. In February, the DOT crew will share its favorite choices and invite votes. "The eight names that get the most votes will then make their way onto a snowplow near you," they promise. Apparently in Scotland, according to NPR, the plows or "gritters" already get monikers, among them For Your Ice Only, Grit Expectations, Snow-be-gone Kenobi, Sprinkle Bell, License To Chill and Gritty Gritty Bang Bang. For Minnesota, we're liking one we heard already: Plow Bunyan. We pushing for that for District 1, DOT crew.
Dog Gone It: Last issue of Around the Circle This Week, we showed off those intrepid U.S. Coast Guard pups, Loki and Thor. The post was on the Sector Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page, and we said they were located there, but we should have remembered that they are stationed in Marquette. (This week, as you can see, the two helped encourage cleaning.) Lucky for us, a reader with a gentle manner and a great story about the Marquette Station gave us a heads up. "Thor and Loki are residents/recruits at USCG Station Marquette," notes Susan Roubal, who calls them "very well behaved and well-trained pups." Then she adds, " I have a special interest in all things USCG Station #9 Marquette. I grew up here in Marquette and my Dad was in the USCG Auxiliary for many, many years, even serving as the Commodore for the entire 9th District, Great Lakes Region. I get more than a little sentimental about the Coasties. Because of Dad's connection, he would ask me to fix up a big plate of cookies for 'the fellas down at the station,' and made sure there were plenty of cookies heaped on the plate. So, I figure, I started baking Christmas cookies for the station when I was in about 7th grade and have been doing so every year, even when we lived down state, because we would come home during or after Christmas! … When we moved back to Marquette in 2006, I 'adopted' the Coasties at the station (now men and women) as their "Birthday Mom" and started baking them a huge banquet-sized birthday cake (December's is seen here) each and every month in honor and memory of my Dad. Believe me – they are thrilled every time the 'cake lady' rings the gate bell! I get so much more out of it than they'll ever know. 😊 The Station always treated my Dad with so much respect. When I let them know he was at the Jacobetti Veteran's home and not doing so well, the XO, CO and crew paid him a visit and presented him with a crew-signed Station #9 Life Ring and a special USCG Challenge coin. It was a treasured moment for him. He was so proud. The station has invited my husband and I to view the Marquette 4th of July fireworks each year, too. I eventually donated his beautiful dress uniforms, medals, prized life ring and Challenge Coin all to the Marquette Maritime Museum for display. Sorry for going on, but I really do get sentimental about the Coasties. They are in a special place in my heart – somewhere close my Dad."
Mr. Artist, I'm Ready for My Close-up: Chris Artist, a Thunder Bay photographer we've featured in the magazine, had a close encounter of an ungulate kind while on the trail looking for good photos this week. This little buck came almost nose-to-lens with him. Jokes Chris: "I am kind a Big Deal around these parts. These guys see me with my Camera and think that if I take their picture they will be Famous."
Speaking of Close-ups: Photographer Mike Mayou posted a Minnesota video that's been getting a lot of attention. With what we trust was a respectful use of his drone, Mike got a cat video worth posting. "Yesterday afternoon, as I was out on a photography adventure, I stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Down by the St. Louis River, I noticed a few creatures moving across the ice. After flying a drone over to investigate, I discovered that there were three bobcats venturing together! These cats were very comfortable being up close and personal with the camera, thus this footage. It's quite rare for humans to see bobcats in the wild, but the drone allowed me to interact with these animals in a unique way. Enjoy!"
Jingling Jangling: Visit Duluth is partnering with local musician Teague Alexy to create a Duluth "holiday home movie" to his new song, "Christmas Bells, Holiday Drums (Jingle, Jangle)." The crew at Visit Duluth is asking folks to submit wintry videos for potential use in the finished version, and they posted a teaser to see how that might go down (or slide down). Romps on the trails, making snow sculptures, snow diving with dogs … all such activities sound like viable options. Videos can be from the past or from recent holiday adventures. Upload your video by Monday morning (Dec. 21) to be considered. You can listen to Teague's full song, too, for inspiration and with this holiday wish: "Let’s all mingle ‘round that shining star/It’s Christmas in Duluth, I hope it’s Christmas wherever you are."
Just What We Need: Hope – it's just what we need right now. Thunder Bay author Jean E. Pendziwol didn't know she'd be delivering the equivalent of a vaccine for a pandemic-rattled year when she wrote her children's book, I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, published in September by Groundwood Books. “Who would have foreseen that we would be in the midst of a global pandemic when this book came out?” muses Jean. “I wrote it in 2017. It was written kind of as a response, or a for me to process, the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. In the process of dong that, I read a number of pieces written by Rebecca Solnit about hope – how hope is an action rather than a state of being. Hope involves intent to move forward in the face of the unknown and the unknowable.”
In Jean’s poem, a little girl’s shadow becomes the comfortable normal, and when it disappears because of night, cloudy days or other lack of light, the girl must muster up confidence about its return. When the wind howls like wolves, the girl calms the beasts (and herself) with a story. In
the book, the girl learns how to take control of the fears and uncertainties and still nurture hope. The lesson is embodied, she discovers, in the fall buds of the cherry tree, ready to blossom in spring, confident there will come warmer days after winter. One delightful surprise for Jean came with artist Nathalie Dion’s illustrations. As often happens, a children’s book author is not involved in the illustration process, so Jean was delighted by the introduction of “Shadow” the cat, who becomes a steady and silently wise companion. “She has done an absolutely incredible job with that,” Jean praises Nathalie’s work. “The cat doesn’t appear anywhere in the text … and it works brilliantly to enhance the story.” Jean, who reads the book in this YouTube video, has already had plenty of feedback on the book, from virtual gathering for a Toronto book club to high school students around the country. “This resonated so deeply with them and so clearly about what hope looks like,” says Jean. “This book has been positively received not only by young readers … but it’s spoken to older readers as well.” Jean frequently finds meaningful metaphors in nature that have made their way into her nearly one dozen children’s books. A native of Thunder Bay, Jean grew up with her family who sailed around Lake Superior (and even lived 14 months on a boat sailing to and around the Bahamas). “From a 16-foot boat, we graduated to a 32-foot sailboat and spent a lot of time on the north shore of Lake Superior … north of Thunder Bay, by the Slate Islands and the Pukaskwa coast, up that way.” The Big Lake plays into many of her works, including her debut adult novel, The Lightkeeper’s Daughters, set on Porphyry Island. The book has been translated into 16 languages, sometimes with title changes, Jean says, including one she especially likes that translates loosely as “the lighthouse at the end of the world.” She was taken, through that work, by how many readers are “fascinated by Lake Superior, the isolation and the ruggedness.” With relatives across Canada, Jean’s family has had plenty of other choices for relocating, but the Lake and the boreal forest won’t let that happen. “Having grown up in Thunder Bay and having spent so much time on Lake Superior, I respect the Lake, I admire her beauty and I find the isolation, the ruggedness – particularly on the north shore between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay – I just feel that that really speaks to me artistically. … This place is part of who I am, it’s part of me.” Jean even admits to enjoying our long, long season of white. “I love the Lake in winter. I love when everything works together … that it freezes for a time,” she says, reflecting on the water’s movement even beneath the hardened surface. “The music underneath the ice. I find that just magical.” How to find magic under the Big Lake ice and hope in the autumn buds of any tree are good lessons for us all.
Hat Check: Just a fun little notable with which to end … in last week's ATCTW, we linked to a December/January story from Lake Superior Magazine that spoke about Duluth author Margi Preus' "hat trick" of published books. This week, the origin of the term "hat trick" surfaced, a term that we Northlanders connect to hockey when a single player scores three goals in a game. (These hats just happened to be our twill caps, which are nice hats, too.) According to Merriam-Webster, hat trick actually grew out of a different game … and an actual hat. Says the famed dictionary publisher's website: "It may surprise some people to learn that the term 'hat trick' as it relates to sports actually originated in British cricket. A bowler who retired three batsmen with three consecutive balls was entitled to a new hat at the expense of the club to commemorate this feat. Eventually, the phrase was applied to a single player scoring three goals in any goal sport and later to three victories or successes in sports as different as horse racing and golf. The phrase finally broadened to include a string of three important successes or achievements in any field."
Photo & graphic credits: Pine County Sheriff; Visit Ashland; Agawa Canyon Tour Train; MN DOT; Susan Roubal; U.S. Coast Guard Station Marquette; Chris Artist; Mike Mayou; Visit Duluth; Heidi Feroe; Groundwood Books; Ryan Pendziwol; Lake Superior Magazine