Heely Tricks with JamesG: August 2020
Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Hawk Ridge
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Photo courtesy of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth.
All aboard for this week’s PDD quiz! Test your knowledge of local railroads, depots, and other train-related trivia.
The next PDD quiz will review this month’s headlines; it will be published on Sept. 27. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 27.
One nice thing about hiking on county roads is that if a deer fly is pestering you and you happen to walk by a freshly killed skunk, the fly will transfer to the skunk and leave you to hike in peace.
There are also fewer ticks on roads than on trails, and you are less likely to get lost. But the benefits of a trail instead of a highway are obvious and substantial. In particular: the natural beauty of the land is a bit less interfered with on a trail, there are no motorized vehicles to watch out for, and on hot days there is usually some protection from the blistering sun.
Those are the basic pros and cons as I hike through the town of Summit in my quest to follow the North Country Trail through Wisconsin. As I’ve explained in previous essays, the trail isn’t built yet in the area near the Minnesota border, with the exception of the Nemadji River Valley, so there is a road route connecting sections of the trail.
Last summer I hiked county roads W and B to Pattison State Park. So far in 2020 I’ve hiked from Pattison to the border between the towns of Summit and Gordon. All of this has happened without any overnight camping or serious day of dedicated hiking. It’s just casual car trips to walk the road in there-and-back stretches.
Things the camera saw looking out of a Lake Superior trench.
The weather has been spectacular, we just had a long weekend, it’s time to check in on what people considered a #perfectduluthday
This song by Richard Gary Hofacre, which hit YouTube in 2012, has roots going back about 60 years.
In this video Raina Costello talks about her work researching ticks and mosquitos at the Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center, about 15 miles north of Duluth.
This postcard was mailed 70 years ago. The date on the postmark is not clear, but it looks like July 8, 1950. The signature of the sender is also not entirely clear, but it appears to be Helen Lold. The recipient is Henry Maursey of Midland, Mich.
The “impudent phallus.” Like many mushrooms, they have both uh masculine and feminine qualities; in their egg stage they are called “witch eggs.” They also have qualities of both life and death: although uh generative in appearance, they have the strong stench of carrion — which attracts the flies which spread their spores. Wikipedia entry.
Director Max Haben was one day into a shooting a documentary about the world’s oldest hockey player when COVID-19 put a stop to the project. Duluth’s Mark Sertich was still skating when he turned 99 in July. He died on Aug. 24 from complications of a stroke.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Weather
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
One hundred years ago the Stewart Shoe Company was on its way out and American Bakery Company was on its way in at 324 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth. The building there was constructed in 1894 and today is occupied by Wussow’s Concert Cafe, which opened under the name Beaner’s Central in 1999.
My wife and I were eager to spend the afternoon alone together as we ambled through the Leif Erickson Rose Garden. Four pre-teen girls stood across the way giggling together as we concentrated on the bushes and trees aflush with blooms in the mid-July sunshine. The scent of flowers was already adrift as we approached one tree, and we drew closer. We love the smell of flowers. Often, we pick up a bouquet at the grocers on the way to the milk, bread, and eggs. On this day, we inhaled the soft scents before they were cut.
Back on the sidewalk, we turned toward the Lake and, from this higher vantage point, we saw the Aerial Life Bridge in the distance. The Lake is calm, for the most part — there are no white caps to indicate a brewing storm. An easy breeze cools our skin and clothing, even from an eighth of a mile away. A footbridge crosses well above the interstate highway. For about 45 seconds as we walk across, we hear the thrum of rubber tires against the tarmac below. Three-fourths the way across, we hear a group of teens with their two chaperones palavering behind us. Excited about an adventure on the Lakewalk, they quickly approached from behind us to the ramp in front of us that slanted from the footbridge to the lakefront. We hastened to move to one side of the bridge so the teens could run at their pace, and we could stroll at ours.
