One of our favorite families stayed with us on Friday night, and headed into Tuscarora Lake to camp this weekend.

Ingrid and Chris are longtime friends.
I first got to know Ingrid on our guide/training trip at Wilderness Canoe Base. (Mostly I’m including this photo for Daryl-the one in the mustard colored shorts and the ketchup colored shirt). This is the way I will always think of him, even though he is now a very official looking principal. Daryl is a worth a separate entry all his own.

Ingrid and I are on the left side of the photo–she’s the one with the perm.
The summer of this photo, Ingrid had a little crush on the naturalist (who was Chris). He had a voyageur/naturalist spiel for every camper group that came through, and at the end he would sing The Garden Song, by Arlo Guthrie or Pete Seeger- the folk song that goes–“Inch by inch…row by row”. It’s no wonder she fell for him, the way he sang that song made everybody swoon. At the time I was falling for the pontoonist (who was Andy).

Who would have thought, as we chatted about those men in the tent, that almost 25 years later we would be sitting on the couch talking about the resulting five people (her children and mine)?

Lucky thing I got to hang out with them on Friday night–it reminded me how much I like them, and when I get to talk to them, it’s never enough. I especially have always admired the way that they dig into life.
Ingrid gardens (inspired by the song? ..maybe). She keeps bees, and turkeys and chickens; she paddles with the Wikki Wikki Dragon Boat Team. That boat flies, and those intense paddlers win things, like the National Championships. Before kids we used to take interesting trips together–kayaking and hiking, paddling. I believe the onions I packed contributed to her hernia on Isle Royale. They are the kind of people that are always collecting stories. She harvests fish and deer and wild rice and blueberries and apples and honey …one July she allowed herself to only eat the food she had personally harvested….just a little experiment. I have to admire that, and maybe I could try it one day if only I could figure out how to harvest coffee—and chocolate.

Chris is a teacher too, and founded Black River Sleds (note the spiffy sleds they all have–he makes them). He also harvests, and paddles and creates adventures for his children. I’m pretty sure he can still sing the Garden Song, although I haven’t heard that one in 25 years or so.
They brought their friend Charlie, who has some stories of his own. Do you think he looks a little like Peter Pan? Because he is somehow related to Mia Farrow.
He just completed the Arrowhead 135–from I Falls to Tower MN. I’d never really heard about the winter bike racing, that sounds a little chilly to me. Some of those racers are now in Alaska, doing an Iditerod bike race. Charlie’s daughter Sophie is already a biathlon competitor.

I like the way these people raise their kids. We’re just coming on the best time to winter camp, in my opinion. And there are a few people out there this weekend, including Glen Sorenson, who stayed in a cabin with his group before they headed out with their Yurt to Missing Link. Glen does a BWCAW winter guiding business: Wilderness Snow Journeys.
Sam Cook also went out with Glen and maybe he’ll write a little about it. People are very happy in the woods.
It’s warming up beautifully. I have to say, it’s a great way to venture out to create your own family stories..