Back to nature

Last Fall Gamini, Bill and I went to North Shore of Lake Superior. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Bill and Gamini convinced me that dragging hundreds of pounds of cameras and tripods all over North Shore area would be fun. Now I know why Ansel Adams wrote to his father once: "In the beginning of the season I can buy a burro for $20. At the end of the season can sell it for $10. Good investment."

Duluth harbor: cold wind, offal, and - almost as an afterthought - a beautiful vista.


Next day we got up early and, skipping over the rocks lining shore, headed north.

We saw little wildlife along the way. A goose or a seagull here, a mushroom there. My friend Jeff seems to have consistently better luck finding interesting subjects around seashores.

Hi-res	Hi-res
We met few people, but the ones we had encountered were most friendly. One, a recent immigrant named Atinuch, was up early. She was practicing marksmanship, with a weather-beaten post for a target. I asked her why she was not in a zoo. "I was in the zoo, at first," the ape replied "but it was too much like socialism back home. You got no choice over what mates you get, when the grub comes and iron bars are all over the place." "I skipped out after two weeks. Got a job as a Web designer. Much happier than at the zoo."
Hi-res	I asked how the zoo-keepers took her escape. "Not well. That's why I waste perfectly good spare time practicing." Atinuch let us try out her tool, an Erma submachine gun. We squeezed out a few rounds each and passed the weapon back. "It works," she said. "the muzzle doesn't climb much. Pity even a big girl like me can't easily hide one under a jacket."

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