Published July 4, 2004 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
Jump back! I’m on the go.
Last week, I wrote about our tour of Northern Michigan. This past weekend, Christina and I went on our first-ever camping trip to Bear Head State Park near Ely.
What do the two have in common? Bears. Allow me to explain. I forgot to mention a Michigan story last week. On our trip to the U.P., we overheard some fellow tourists (henceforth known as “city folk”) telling their pre-teen daughter a story. They were looking at a trash bin sign that warned visitors of nearby bears. The mother said, “We used to see bears at dumps. Those were places where people took their garbage, but we don’t have those anymore.”
Apparently, these people live in a magical land where garbage morphs into chocolate silk pie.
The woman continued, “Bears are unique because they don’t live in Europe.” I don’t why this is unique. Obviously, she had never heard of the western European sun bear. That’s not surprising, considering the rarity of the sun bear. But of all the lame fake knowledge to claim in front of your kid, why profess dual expertise in bears and solid waste disposal? Come on, lady. Your SUV looked pretty nice; can’t you claim that your family once owned Michigan or something.
I bring this up for a reason. This past weekend, we camped at BEAR Head State Park near Ely. Catch that? Bears. We didn’t see any bears, which helped me keep one of my New Year resolutions: “Don’t get mauled by a bear.” Perhaps the bears were out at one of those mythical dumps we read about from days of yore.
Like I said, it was the first camping trip we took together and the first ever for Christina. It didn’t help that overnight temperatures were in the 30s both nights we camped. Apparently booking outdoor activities for late June is still a little dangerous in northern Minnesota.
People often call camping “roughing it.” It’s hard to call what we did “roughing it.” We had stoves, air mattresses and numerous pre-packaged snacks. One night, we cooked Italian food. In addition, other campers were set up just a few dozen feet from where we were. It was a lot more like a refugee camp for the L.L. Bean mailing list.
Still, we had a pleasant time, even if our skin still smells like the food that fell into the campfire.
IN OTHER NEWS: By the time this column appears in print, I will have viewed the Michael Moore documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” on Thursday, listened to the speech of a major presidential candidate in Cloquet on Friday and toured patriotic parades throughout the Iron Range on Saturday.
We live in trying times, full of anxiety and political arguments. Some people deal with this by tuning out the news. Some become bitter. Some write columns about bears.
On this Fourth of July, regardless of your opinions, let us share pride as Americans that we’re allowed to disagree, stand up for what we think is right and question what we’re told. Terrorists can attack us. Corporate crooks can send our jobs overseas to line their pockets. Distant politicians can rob our schools of funding. But we can always speak up, and if enough of us do – positive change will happen.
Happy Independence Day.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune.