Day 11-12 – Crosslake - Minneapolis/St Paul  - October 15, 2018

    Yesterday we had lunch with Dodo and Leo Frasier. Dodo is 92, been married 70 years, and lived in Crosslake since 1948 when the roads were gravel.  She had a photo of my grandmother taken at the Pine River Dam in 1954 in the Crosslake historical book.  That was the only mention in the 200 page book.  After lunch we drove them and went to the historical village where Dodo, head of the Crosslake Historical Society, gave us the history of each building. She showed us where the old country store used to be, it is now a liquor store. I remember it fondly as Mr. Peepers, my grandmother’s  mallard duck, would follow us down to the country store waddling all the way and then fly home. Today that wouldn’t work as there is too much traffic, but it was easy to see how that would have worked in the day.

    I did have to ask Dodo about her name as can you imagine the bullying that name would invoke today? One of my piano parents had mentioned that she bet she was Norwegian and she was. Interesting, as to her the name was one of endearment not derogative at all.

   I had found my grandparent’s property through the land recorder. I had spoken to the owner and the neighbor so we had permission to walk the land. I feel certain that the small house on the property was one of my grandparent’s three cabins. The two other cabins and the main house are gone. In its day, there was a hand pump for water in the kitchen. They had it mounted outside so it was fun to see. The owner told me they had added a bathroom and indoor pumping other than that it looked the same.

   It was too bad that it was so cold, 29 degrees as it made walking down to the lake miserable. It was still pretty with crystal clear water. One of my fondest memories was going down the steep steps to the lake run to the end of the dock, jump in and swim back to shore and then do it again. The fun part was having my two cousins run with me, followed by their dog and of course Mr. Peepers. Mr. Peepers would waddle to the end of the dock, jump in and the swim back to shore quacking all the way.

    This morning was warmer with no wind, so I went for a walk in the woods around the hotel and soaked up my last bit of northern woodlands. I also saw two deer roaming around next to the hotel. I love the birch trees so before we left we stopped by the gift shop and bought a birch ornament. That will always be a reminder of my time in MA, Minneapolis and Crosslake, MN.

    We then drove back to Minneapolis and stopped by Snelling and University where Al Gordon was murdered by Murder Inc. We then drove to the house where I was born and except for the color, looked just the same. The sidewalk was probably the same one I used to walk up and down as a child. I used to take our Siamese cat, Lorraine, dress her up, lay her in a doll buggy, cover her up, and off we would go.

     It was a definitely a few days walking down memory lane.

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” – Lovelle Drachman

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Tom and Holly