Another place that my mom and I visited in July of 2002 was the Michigamme Reservoir. I just noticed that my mom spelled it Mishagamee in her memory book. In the UP, summers are usually cool. But occasionally it can get pretty warm, like on the day we went to the reservoir. I still remember wishing that I had brought my swim suit. Here’s a map of the area. My mom and I only stopped briefly at it; we didn’t canoe or fish.
It’s been awhile since I posted here. I took the summer off. Now that I’m back, I’m struggling to figure out how to finish (?) this project. I want to create something with all the work that I’ve done without having to devote too much time to it.
My first step: to finish my mini-project about my mom’s memory book and the summer of 2002. I’m starting here because it’s a relatively small project and because September 30th is the 5th anniversary of my mom’s death and I want to spend some time remembering and mourning her this month.
Right now, I’m revisiting her photo book, finding footage, gathering other materials, and trying to conjure up memories from that special summer when my mom was still alive and we were together. As I began writing this last sentence, I realized that when I think about my mom now, almost 5 years after her death, I almost always think about that magical summer. Our relationship was more than the hiking and talking and eating/drinking that we did that summer, but I think I miss that time the most. Perhaps it also stays with me because I have so many photos + video footage from it?
In her photo book, my mom divides up the month into our visits to different locations around the UP: Bewabic State Park, George Young Recreation Area, Mishagamee Reservoir, Ottawa Forest and Hunter’s Point in the Keeneewaw Peninsula. As a starting point, here’s a map of Bewabic State Park:
While researching Finnish women’s experiences living in the UP, I came across “Marys in Pants” or housu maijat. Here’s a description, found in the great book, Women Who Dared: The History of Finnish American Women:
A small number of women choose to use America as an opportunity to live independently in the woods. These women build their own log cabins and live off the land, hunting, fishing, and trapping….The Finnish American community refers to them as housu maijat, and develop legends about their independence, bravery, and kindness. The legends suggest that while the Finnish American community admired these women, they define them basically as freaks, not considering their behavior could be a form of self-improvement.
K. Marianne Wargelin
I want to make a NPC (non-player character) woman that lives out in the woods. Maybe I’ll name her Maria Keranen (known locally as Loukus-Maiji). The real Keranen lived in the woods and “had a colorful reputation” in the UP in the early 1900s. People often visited her and wrote about her (37).
At the end of a level or stage in a video game, you frequently have to fight a extra powerful enemy called a boss. I’m hoping to have at least 3 bosses in the video game that my son FWA and I (with some help from STA) are creating. All of the bosses are inspired by historical events/true stories in the lives of Finnish American immigrants from the UP.
Yesterday, FWA designed an Alpha version of a Lightning-wielding Tree Boss that the player faces at the end of the farming stage. This tree is inspired by a true story from my dad about a bad lightning storm in the back 40 field that electrocuted a prized cow. Here’s FWA’s vision of the boss (he will eventually shoot lightning bolts out of his eyes/limbs):
And here’s the story from my dad (2 minutes 37 seconds in):
The Farm is located in the heart of the “sauna belt.” Here is a video tour by my dad of the sauna at the Farm. Originally it was a savusauna (smoke sauna), but was later converted into a steam sauna.