Butternut

A short while ago on the way over for a canoe camping trip on a wild flowage I went through the town of Butternut, WI. Population 407. It was pretty small and was surrounded by trees and some farmland. The rolling hills were a part of pastoral scenery and good weather made it a terrific day. The canoe trip was fine. The winds had picked up a bit so we had to dig our paddles into the water firmly to even cover a little ground. We camped on a little island. The place was similar to the Boundary Waters which is about an hour and a half north but this flowage did have some slow motorboats. The loons called in the night and day and it was warm enough to go for a swim in this tail-end of summer. Now in Duluth the temps have dropped 20 degrees and the frost warnings have started in areas away from Lake Superior. We still are harvesting assorted squashes from our garden and tomatoes that haven't been totally devoured by slugs or by our neighbor's basset hound who sneaks over for a treat. The parsley and kale did well this year. Next year we'll do potatoes again.
I got hooked on the DVD series Centennial based on James Michener's book. I did a 'marathon' viewing over the last two days. I love the feel of the olden days. There were definite challenges and well I don't think I'd like to dress up too much. How the American Indians survived on the plains is something to learn from and how some of the whites and natives chose to be friends is also something to learn from.
This blog was originally supposed to be out thinking more about wood. All the things we have made of wood over the centuries. All the types of woods- soft and hard. The fragrances, the wood products. We have the Iron Range which certainly is American history of being the source for iron made into steel but I'd also like to thank the wood. The wood making homes, furniture, art, and, of course, instruments.