Weeks 22 & 23: Ice Caves, Sweetie Pie, and Faith

So, I've been writing a memoir about my journey to faith--always a lifelong journey and one with many twists and turns. While I've been writing my own story of faith, Larry and I have been reading stories about other people's lives of faith, including R.A. Dickey's book Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball and Alan Kaufman's Drunken Angel, two very different stories, but both about adversity and finding that not only is faith  possible no matter the circumstances, faith is what can heal us from our challenges.

It's been a quiet life on Clam Lake. I write most days, Larry tends to the house, cats, birds, deer. The temperature, until recently, has been hovering around zero degrees, so walks outside haven't been particularly inviting. However, Larry does take George the dog out a few days a week. We take trips into Hayward and Cable for shopping and to hang at local coffee shops.

We did have two big events over the past couple of weeks. We drove up to Cornucopia, on Lake Superior, to see the Ice Caves, frozen over with gigantic icicles, for the first time since 2009. On the weekends, more than 8000 people might take a walk on frozen Lake Superior to ooh and ahh at the natural sculptures. We went on a Tuesday; it was far less crowded, a beautiful sunny day--and spectacular.

We stopped in Washburn for lunch on the way and it looked to me that there's plenty to do in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Dancing, theater, art projects for the community. We stopped at a cafe that had gluten-free options and boasted a full-on house made menu of items.

Then to the ice caves. . .

On the way back, we stopped in Ashland, drove around its historic downtown area and did a bit of shopping.

By the weekend, it was time to start rehearsing for my next Sweetie Pie performance/workshop at the Cable Natural History Museum. This time we made pancakes and talked about the science of baking soda and explained--and demonstrated--what happens when you mix baking soda with an acid (like vinegar or buttermilk).

It was a good time for all--and the children--and even some of the adults seemed engaged and happy to be there. A very satisfying morning.

Now, back to my writing on faith.