The coming week will bring a taste of spring to town and, farther inland, something nearer to summer. Temperatures will rise to seasonable levels, with dry, sunny days and a steady wind over the weekend; conditions well suited to fire and therefore requiring care. Clouds will return next week, bringing cooler air. The longer outlook suggests a warming trend.
Change continues in the village. The Grand Marais Tourist Camp announced its opening on May 15, which is expected to bring an increase in automobile travel along Highway 1. With national reports placing the daily toll of motor accidents at alarming levels, the police chief notes that traffic laws, perhaps loosely observed over the winter months, will now be strictly enforced. Those who keep to them will be pleased to learn that the Gunflint Trail is open and reported in good condition. Frank Cherry’s bakery, whose pastries I can attest are of high quality, has installed a telephone.
Anglers are reminded that the pickerel season opens May 15, both by hook and line and by spearing. Not all will find that development equally stirring, though trout season opened last month for those inclined otherwise. Washington Irving, writing as Geoffrey Crayon in Tales of a Traveller, observed that “there is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse.” It may be that the change of seasons offers such relief to most, for others it may be a change in fishing holes for this newly elevated fish.