What’s in this blog?
Monday, December 1st, 2008submitted by: Bob Evans
From the beginning of this website, we have been talking to friends, colleagues, and members of bulletin boards to decide what would make this blog helpful, interesting and consistent with memories of northwoods experiences. This blog will evolve, but to start, we will address some of the suggestions shared with us so far.
The “General” category will continue for things of general interest that are non-specific and of broad application. We will also use this section to introduce new sections of the blog, new ideas, things of timely nature, and notices about information of a new or different nature elsewhere on the site.
A “Trips” category may be of interest to some. Every winter, when we develop our trip ideas for the following season, we talk with folks who have made similar trips or who have been in an area we have not visited in a long time. When we visit an area for the first time, we seek out trip reports to help in planning. We certainly consult our outfitter for help. In this same spirit, we will include a category on our trips. We have been making two trips of a total of about four weeks for the last several years and plan on continuing a couple of trips each summer for the next few years. We will narrate our trips in this category, hoping the information may be interesting and helpful to others. Where appropriate we will link photos and short video streams. We will try to add notes to each trip report on the relative difficulty, for use by the less experienced paddlers.
One thing that surprised us was a request from two friends who are also professional colleagues. Neither has ever made a trip into canoe country. Both of them asked about information for planning their first trip in the future, or to just learn about the area even though they may never make a trip. So for you, Jim, and your son, and for you Charlie and your two young sons, the “For Future Paddlers” category is for you and all the others who have not yet made a trip into canoe country. We hope to hook you on the idea of making a trip into canoe country. We will include in this category general information for your use. When you begin the planning of your trip, you should select an outfitter to help you. Your outfitter will provide you with the specific help you need for your trip.
Over the last nearly 40 years that I have paddled in canoe country and for the last 20 plus years that Edwina and I have been paddling canoe country together, we have been constantly learning about the area. Both of us spent a large part of our professional careers as teachers. We have passionately pursued learning about the Ojibway who lived in the area long before Europeans arrived. Their culture, religion, and history have been a core around which our experiences have developed. The “Ojibwa: Original Inhabitants” category is included to share some of what we have learned with you.
In addition we have tried to learn about the geology, biology, and ecology of the area. We will be adding an “Ecology” category very shortly.
We have used a wide variety of “Resources” in our research for this site and our multimedia projects. We have studied many books, spent hours in libraries, and visited with many individuals who have knowledge of canoe country. In this category, we will review some of the books we have studied. We will acquaint you with libraries with which we are familiar. And as we complete multimedia projects and add them to our store, we will provide descriptions here.
As I began writing drafts for these categories, it became evident that we, who paddle the area, use many terms that are known to us and are a part of our daily vocabulary. However, some of you who have not been into canoe country, or have made only a first or second trip, may not know these terms. So we included the “Canoe Country Language” category. When we write, we will link these terms to the explanation in the “Canoe Country Language” category so that those who don’t recognize the terms can go there easily. Those who know the terms will not have a lot of extra words in front of them. Where appropriate we will include pictures and streamed video with the explanations.
And finally, a category entitled “Our Story” relates our family history in Canoe Country. We wanted to relate a bit about why this area has become a special part of our lives. In it are several posts with pictures of things that are special to us. Many of you have similar histories in this area, and perhaps, some of you visiting here are only beginning to develop your own history that someday will have a title similar to Northwoods Memories.
And we will listen to suggestions from visitors to our site and blog to find other areas of interest. Edwina and I hope to share northwoods memories with those of you who have already created them, and interest others of you in taking the first trip to the area to begin forming northwoods memories of your own.
Smooth paddling!
Bob
Tags: Canoe Trips, Ecology, For Future Paddlers, Ojibway