Sunday Eagle River
We traveled from metropolitan Chicago to the north woods of Wisconsin. The change in environment is dramatic, shocking. Chicago sprawl, the commercial hub of the country, with suburbs extending horizon to horizon contrasts with tall pine and birch forests, and lakes, and small town communities. Eagle River is a community larger than some. It’s a popular draw for tourists and for families with the means to purchase a lot in the woods and build a “get-away home.”
The great metropolis of Chicago and the north woods are connected by means of individuals like me. Travel and communication in our time, means that everything, absolutely everything is connected to everything else. My “Walden pond” is no longer a self contained environment, isolated, pristine, protected by woods. The pond has become an ocean, and every decision, even those that you and I make, have consequences that ripple across the surface with an extent and energy that we do not imagine.
Breakfast this morning at Leif’s Cafe was corn beef hash and two scrambled eggs. I’ve eaten here a number of times over past years of visiting Eagle River. Leif’s is an institution. The community would not be the same without it. Locals and vacationers discuss fishing conditions, and their enjoyment of adventures in this land of lakes and forests.
Did you see those deer that crossed so close to the car this morning? What about the eagle that flew from the top of the pine tree as we passed on our walk to the lake….
I am here to participate in a family funeral tomorrow afternoon. Aunt Clara passed away after a life well lived with her husband Kurt and son David by Sunset Lake. Six of us sat in chairs by Sunset Lake yesterday as dusk fell. We talked about Clara, and how our lives have been affected and will continue to be affected by her life.
Ripples move in a wide arc across the lake.
