Well, we are finally settled in our cabin. It sits six miles south of the Canadian border and is surrounded by the Boundary Waters Wilderness. Our permanent mailing address may be in Iowa. But, this is home for me. It's not because this is the place where we spend the most time in any given year. But because this is where my heart always longs to be.



The cabin dates to 1934. Cedar logs taken from a swamp on the property were used in its construction. To keep their butter fresh, the original owners put it in a box then placed it in a natural spring down the driveway near the swamp. My husband purchased the cabin in the early 1980’s before we had met. In 1993, the first year I started coming here, the telephone company switched the party line we shared with a neighbor to our own line. Over the years Jim has made many many improvements to the property, but the essence of the cabin has not changed.

The first of the wild woodland flowers, the hepatica, has bloomed out, marsh marigolds are in full bloom and the blueberry blossoms are on. Two hummingbirds have visited the feeder and the suckers are in the bay spawning. And the gnats. Holy-schmoly the gnats. They are out with a vengeance. The vegetable garden gets weeded and turned in five minute increments for that is all the longer it takes for a gnat or two to find its way under the head net. Luckily, they will only last a few weeks.



These are just a few of the many seasons which will mark the passage of our 6 months here. Things happen quickly because the growing season is so short. If you don’t listen and watch closely enough, it would be easy to miss something special. And it is this watching and listening which feeds the soul every day. The clutter of thoughts which accumulate in my brain when I am elsewhere, dissipates. I am never moments away from just simply being.