2/29/08

Friday, 8:30 AM. 17 degrees,a veritable heat wave. Wind E, calm. Fog obscures the Island, and fluffy flakes of snow are falling steadily. We may have an accumulation of a few inches.
Lucky and I were pioneers this morning, the first to trod the new fallen snow through the woods. There were no fresh tracks of any kind. The hemlocks, white pines, white spruce and balsam fir were all robbed in their characteristic mantles of snow, each clothed a bit differently in their snowy attire because of their dissimilar needle and branching structures. I noticed again how narrow the trail is in the snow…only a foot or so wide. It forces one to put one foot precisely in front of the other, as we used to say as kids, “Indian style.” If one steps off the narrow path you may sink over your boots in the snow. I have heard it said, and it seems to make sense, that in the old days a white man’s trail was always distinguishable from an Indian’s because the toes pointed outward, as if accustomed to carrying a heavy load, while the Indian’s toes pointed inward, unencumbered by any burden except the barest essentials of hunting and war. This knowledge probably comes from watching endless Saturday afternoon cowboy and Indian pictures at the Grace Theater in West Allis, Wisconsin. I have no idea whether any of this makes sense but it seems a harmless observation.
Which brings me to an update for resident and visitor alike: Howard Paap, local author and expert on Ojibwa Indian lore, is giving a slide lecture presentation at 2:00 PM at the Historical Society on traditional Ojibwa maple sugaring. It will be very good, I am sure, since Howard is a retired sociology professor and author of several books, the latest being “Raspberry River,” a a collection of short stories about contemporary Ojibwa life, and an excellent read.