At the Frontlines of the Global Transition
WAWA, ONTARIO — This town of 2,700 hosted gold miners at the turn of the 20th century, iron ore miners in the decades that followed, and was only reachable by plane until 1962 when the 145-mile segment of Trans Canada Highway 17 opened from Sault Ste. Marie. Even now, well into the 21st century, Wawa feels like an outpost. More than 1,400 residents have departed since the early 1990s. Storefronts are dark. Dust swirls around …
SILVER BAY, MINN. — Where land meets the cold waters of Lake Superior north of Duluth is where 4 billion year-old basalt, granite, sandstone, and shale welled up from volcanic fires in the years of Earth’s formation to eventually declare a treacherous truce with mankind. The shoreline is all hard rock and freshwater spray, a long ribbon of impenetrable defense against the sort of fierce storm surges and steady erosion that wash away homes and …
ASHLAND, WI – A great big thank you on Saturday morning to Nick Pechacek and Eric Schultz, expert bike mechanics. Nick works at Bay City Cycles here in Ashland. Eric works just up the road 10 miles north at Washburn Hardware in Bayfield, which also is a Specialized bike dealer. I encountered these patient men of the Upper Midwest following one of the stupidest oversights of my life on Thursday. Following a short stop at …
MARQUETTE, MI – Circling Lake Superior. The world’s largest lake. Just 200 miles north of our home in Benzonia. It’s not been a lifelong desire. And over the years since my life started in Michigan in 1990, I’ve visited much of the Lake Superior shoreline in my home state, and a good bit in Wisconsin and Minnesota as well. It’s just this: what’s happening on the Canadian shoreline? We had a nice break in our …
