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Spring Allergies With the coming of spring, there is so much to be grateful for! The spring ephemerals bring color back to the land – even a flower as tiny as the little purple dog violet is a sight to behold after winter. The animals bring sound back to the forests – chirping and tweets rather than just howling north winds.

Is it spring yet? Is this spring; or just the tail end of “the winter that never really took hold”? We have had bare ground, mild temperatures, and a lot of sunshine for weeks. I have been fighting the urge to start digging and expanding gardens and flower bed areas; unfortunately the ground is still (March 18) frozen.

One spring I played hooky for a day during the State High School Hockey Tournament. A buddy named Mike – a nice kid – was able to get two tickets for the first day, the all-day Thursday games. That was in '88, so my senior year, and we were all collectively coming to the end of the Hockey Tournament's Great Eight era in which all the schools in the state played in the same class. The last Great Eight was in '89, I think. I remember that included Richfield and Grand Rapids, Roseau, Roseville, East, maybe Burnsville or Kennedy or Jefferson. After that the schools around the state were divided into classes based on school size or school district size, so class A, class AA, and class AAA – and I always disliked them classifications – which made way for three total state champs and for smaller schools to win championships more regular. But it took away some of the excitement, and much of the magic of an all-school, all-state tournament, where a little Warroad or White Bear Mariner could win its region and then play Hill-Murray or Edina… And maybe, just maybe, win.

We drive by these places as we commute to Duluth and Thunder Bay and we wonder why they are named as they are. Here you go, courtesy especially of the Minnesota Historical Society’s Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition.

A Study in Contrasts THE FIRST PLUS— Hawaii is warm. We’re vacationing in Hawaii for two weeks, and it’s lovely.

The Retreat I recently went on a Writers’ Retreat. This is an opportunity to get away from the everyday rigmarole - a.k.a.

Former Grand Marais resident Anna Hennessy's dream of racing and completing the Iditarod sled dog race came true on March 14 when she finished the grueling 1,000-mile trek. Anna, now living in Willow, Alaska, completed the race in 11 days, two hours, and thirty-eight seconds, averaging 3.62 mph.

A lack of snow hasn’t stopped people from racing their snowmobiles on lakes. On March 9, a large field of snowmobilers cams together to see who had the fastest machines over several categories. The event was staged by the Cook County Ridge Riders snowmobile club.

So, with little to no snow on the ground and lake ice thawing due to warmer temperatures than usual, thoughts of spring have been on Northlanders' minds for some time. But put those thoughts away, at least for the time being.