A GOOD ONE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE OR LIVE OR LIVE IN AND LOVE the town of GRAND MARAIS. And for those who want to know more about our little town and who have many of the same thoughts about where they live. What do you value? And what do you celebrate from where you're from?
We live in a singular place. No doubt, many others feel the same way
about where they live. But mention to anyone in the state where you
are from, and there is either a nod to the cold or a light in the eye.
We still represent wilderness, natural beauty, remoteness, the old
way, and our centerpiece is Lake Superior.
People come here, I believe, almost as a pilgrimage. It’s not quite a
“trip to a holy place” (Cambridge), but almost. For some, it is spiritual. For others, it is a coming home and a return to places they knew when they were young.
Still, for others, it is what Sigurd Olson described as a “jumping off
place,” not only to the canoe routes but of soul and spirit. We come
here to regather, to refresh ourselves, to touch back to the old values, to be lifted.
We take these pilgrimages not because we have to. The place
doesn’t need us. But we come because we want to remember. We
want to be reminded.
Just this past week, my wife and I went up the Gunflint Trail to a camp where we met. Why? Why did we go? We met here, and, it just so happens, it was our anniversary. There are secret memories at
Seagull Lake only known to us.
Pilgrimages are places we go to “show our respect.” (Cambridge
Dictionary) It acknowledges something important happened at this
place. There is a person, family or friend we wish to honor.
Sometimes, we also go seeking.
We are fortunate in the Arrowhead that many come to pay tribute to
some past part of their lives. Our town is a place of pilgrimage for
many.
Perhaps it is the long drive up from Duluth where we finally arrive
and catch that first glimpse of expansive blue water.
But, more than this, it is a return to the lake, for some mystical in its
power and majesty. For others, the latticework of lakes, a return to a
part of the past that is so outrun now. For still others, it is a time of
memory. And for others yet, a time of discovery.
All this, from our little town.