The Long Way Home 11.29.24

The Book of Face recently reminded me of the eighth anniversary of our return to Grand Marais. On the day we unloaded the Uhaul, truck and trailer, an early winter storm greeted us with sleet, wind, rain, and snow. With the invaluable help of friends and family, we triumphed over the weather and settled into what we hoped would be our forever home, where we truly belong. 

One of the joys of Facebook is the daily reminders of past experiences. As a long-time user, these memories often stretch back a decade, reminding me of events and people that fade all too quickly from my aging brain.

As nostalgia wafted over me, I realized I’d been writing this column in the Northshore Journal for two months shy of three years. If you’re wondering, that means I’ve penned 148 columns, and based on my average word count per column, I’ve used enough words to more than fill the average novel.

I am deeply grateful to Christine, the publisher of this wonderful community weekly, for taking me on as a freelance writer in late 2021. Her trust in me keeps me trying. 

After reporting a handful of stories early in 2022, I humbly asked if she’d also accept a weekly column from an old guy in Cook County. And she said yes.

Here’s the lead I wrote in that first column: 

“My corporate overlord here has consented to publish a weekly column from me, The Long Way Home.  I sold the idea to her this way. ‘I'm thinking of using a column to put out some smaller stories from here (Cook County). Maybe a cranky rant or two about the weather, fishing, spouses, local politics, or?’”

“Bring it on,” she wrote back.

I was overjoyed when Christine took that chance and agreed to publish my weekly column. I immediately posted the good news on my Facebook page, sharing my latest venture with friends and followers. 

Mr. Jackola, my sixth-grade teacher at Centennial Elementary School in Richfield, MN, and recent Facebook friend congratulated me there: “From your posts on FB and as I remember you as my sixth-grade student, you have a lot of wisdom to share with the members of your community…I hope you will realize that the rewards for your effort are not what you get for it, but what you become by it.” 

Some of you might think I haven’t progressed much beyond the sixth grade, and in many ways, you’d be right. Others may conclude that the common sense that I try to bring to each column reflects a bit of the wisdom that Mr. Jackola attributes to me.

I’ve made sure that my email address is printed with the column each week. Feedback from you, the readers, is one of the rewards Mr. Jackola wrote about in his encouraging message to me. 

I occasionally get emails from readers, most of which are positive, what the new-agers might call affirmations. Those delight and humble me.

Sometimes, emails disparage my opinions, intelligence, upbringing, or worthiness to enjoy this forum. Those delight me even more. 

I’m likelier to share the disparaging ones with my publisher than the affirmations. She usually finds them delightful, too.

Sometimes, my columns lead to ongoing correspondence with great people who I now consider friends, even if they don’t always agree with me. I know that these days, disagreeing with someone is supposed to end friendships, not foster them. But that just wasn’t true in my time, and it’s not true for me now. 

As I proofread everything above, it looks like a farewell column. 

Well, it ain’t. 

As long as my corporate overlord in Silver Bay gives me this space, I’ll continue to fill it. There’s so much more to write about. 

My email address is here, so please let me know if you’d like to disparage my opinions, intelligence, or upbringing. Make my day.