Madeline Island

Through the North Woods. Populated by pines tipped with new spring growth. Light accents on the boughs. A late afternoon garage sale stop. They've put up a sign. Everything free. I take a couple of shirts, a kitchen towel–things to use while camping. My prize is a small electric rock tumbler. I've always wanted one even though I don't know how to use it. A ferry to Madeline Island. One of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. I hang over the rail. Trying to see more.

A morning hike on Madeline. In the rain. I watch a single drip, drip, drip from the center of my cap's brim just beyond the tip of my nose. Lake Superior slaps the rocks to my right. I look down. The natural direction to look when walking in the rain is down. At the path. Pebbles. Puddles. Plants moving in the rain.

Peeling off my clothes for drier, warmer ones, I take shelter in the screenhouse. Before long, that too is cold and wet. I splash through the brown puddles to scribble a blog post on the page of a magazine in the car. And later sit outside the island's public library to connect to their wireless.