Letters to the Editor
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"God's" country
I'm an atheist, but if there was a God, and he wasn't drinking beer in God's Country, he'd be hunkered down in ... Ely, Minnesota. The reason is, nothing much changes in the woods around here. At least not yet. The lake is the same blue/green/brown/grey serene/windy violent/calm structure year after year. The old cabin stands, never leaks, never breaks a window even. The sauna perches on the edge of the lake, ready to heat us all to a burning sweaty hellfire. A tree falls here and there, but the rest just grow and stand straight. There are new droppings in the woods each night. The rocks and grounds shift slightly. Perhaps the water is getting a little more polluted. The snake in this paradise comes from fertilizer, leaking septic tanks and boat motors. One year there might be a mini-flood. Maybe/certainly the weather is changing due to global warming. But from our tiny view, people die, children are born, people break bones on the cabin stairs, people's ashes are distributed in the lake, and another generation takes over. Almost a hundred years now. And the lake and trees and cabin remain the same, unlike most anything else. Time will tell whether "god" has forsaken even this place.