Novelist Carla Hagen returns to Baudette to launch her newest book, Muskeg, to her hometown community at the Lake of the Woods Historical Society. Muskeg is a follow-up to her award-winning novel Hand Me Down My Walking Cane, which was a fictional look at the real-life 1930s resettlement of Faunce, Minnesota.
Read MoreThe morning of the day after I arrive, my mother wakes me up and takes me to see the wild purplish-blue irises that grow in the wet places in the woods. She’s wearing formless green work pants and a cream shirt, the same kind of uniform she’s worn since I was a child.
Read MoreWhen I drive alone from St. Paul to my native Lake of the Woods, I call my mother from Kelliher or Waskish. “O.K.,” I say, “I’m heading into The Bog.” Which means that if I haven’t arrived within two hours, she’ll call the sheriff and have him drive south from Baudette down Highway 72, just to make sure I haven’t been sucked up into the mysterious depths of The Bog…
Read MoreAt 10:30 PM, the twilight in this place on the northern edge of the United States has finally slipped into darkness. A cool wind chased away the humidity and–for now at least–the mosquitoes. No other night sounds yet. Later perhaps, an owl, a whippoorwill or the deer that sidle into the clearing to graze, long-legged and graceful as ballerinas.
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