Fire

Stef has e-mailed me a bunch of stuff about a devastating fire up in the Boundary Waters of northern MN.  She has more of a historical connection than I, yet I carry a lot of important memories from some wonderful times we spent there.

Our first trip together was up to the Gunflint Lodge, on a lake not too far from Seagull Lake where the family cabin is.  We also took Stef's mom and sister there one Christmas, and that's where my SIL's wedding reception was in 2004.  The Lodge is still okay--it was a staging area for the firefighters in fact--as is the cabin for now, but many people in the area have not been so lucky.

K's wedding was at a Lutheran camp that has been thoroughly destroyed, though the chapel in which she was married yet stands.  As we approach the first anniversary of her death I find myself extremely sad and looking for symbolism in this fiery cleansing.  I'm reminded that even after the worst destruction, life can begin anew:

Perhaps that's a little glib coming from someone who hasn't experienced the fire firsthand and suffered losses from it, but whatever.

ntodd