Wintering
In order to talk about WINTERING, we need to know something about the setting and the major characters.
If you have an Atlas, you want to find Minnesota, then the chain of lakes that include the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and its continuance, Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. That's where Harry Eide and his son, Gus, set out on a “wintering” journey in 1963, imitating the French explorers, the Voyageurs, who had no idea where they were or where they were going. Harry had some old maps that his son soon found were not all that reliable. Harry wanted to go farther than he'd ever gone before into the vast Quetico. Okay, wintering isn't the real reason Harry wants to leave his home in fictional Gunflint, Minnesota. There's a Gunflint Trail, but no town that I know of. Harry's wife has had an affair with the worst person in Gunflint, Charlie Aas. He's got his finger in every nasty business in Gunflint. Harry is hoping to lure Charlie into the wild for a showdown. We never find out why he risked his son in the process. Charlie will not hesitate to kill Harry's son to get even.
Okay, now we move ahead to the present where Gus has come to the door of Harry's true love, Berit Lovig. She lived with Harry for thirty years before he became senile and walked into the woods again. Gus tells her all about what happened during the wintering trek in 1963. We need to know a little about Harry's background. His father was Odd (real name) Eide, married to Rebekah, Harry's mother. She left him for a phony preacher much like Charlie Aas, Hosea Grimm. Berit was pretty much a spinster; she wound up taking care of Rebekah for years. Hosea Grimm was such a phony he owned a whore house, which Charlie Aas tried to intimidate Rebekah into selling him when Hosea died. She stood up to him, sold it, and gave each of the prostitutes a thousand dollars to live on when they left. Gus never forgave his grandmother and couldn't stand to be in her presence.
Much of this book is about learning how to survive. Harry wasn't lying all that much. Gus and Harry bushwhack and portage their way through the wilderness. They find an old cabin to winter in. Gus cuts enough wood to last the winter; he can feel himself getting stronger; he skiis for days and sleeps in a tent, but he also makes maps that will help Harry and Gus make it home. He's becoming a man.
If you have an Atlas, you want to find Minnesota, then the chain of lakes that include the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and its continuance, Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. That's where Harry Eide and his son, Gus, set out on a “wintering” journey in 1963, imitating the French explorers, the Voyageurs, who had no idea where they were or where they were going. Harry had some old maps that his son soon found were not all that reliable. Harry wanted to go farther than he'd ever gone before into the vast Quetico. Okay, wintering isn't the real reason Harry wants to leave his home in fictional Gunflint, Minnesota. There's a Gunflint Trail, but no town that I know of. Harry's wife has had an affair with the worst person in Gunflint, Charlie Aas. He's got his finger in every nasty business in Gunflint. Harry is hoping to lure Charlie into the wild for a showdown. We never find out why he risked his son in the process. Charlie will not hesitate to kill Harry's son to get even.
Okay, now we move ahead to the present where Gus has come to the door of Harry's true love, Berit Lovig. She lived with Harry for thirty years before he became senile and walked into the woods again. Gus tells her all about what happened during the wintering trek in 1963. We need to know a little about Harry's background. His father was Odd (real name) Eide, married to Rebekah, Harry's mother. She left him for a phony preacher much like Charlie Aas, Hosea Grimm. Berit was pretty much a spinster; she wound up taking care of Rebekah for years. Hosea Grimm was such a phony he owned a whore house, which Charlie Aas tried to intimidate Rebekah into selling him when Hosea died. She stood up to him, sold it, and gave each of the prostitutes a thousand dollars to live on when they left. Gus never forgave his grandmother and couldn't stand to be in her presence.
Much of this book is about learning how to survive. Harry wasn't lying all that much. Gus and Harry bushwhack and portage their way through the wilderness. They find an old cabin to winter in. Gus cuts enough wood to last the winter; he can feel himself getting stronger; he skiis for days and sleeps in a tent, but he also makes maps that will help Harry and Gus make it home. He's becoming a man.
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