Minneapolis

On Tuesday, May 21, I started heading west on US2 through the Michigan and Wisconsin forests that were just budding out.  This leg was bittersweet.  I said goodbye to my favorite Marquette person, crossed over the state line, and looked forward to my adventure.  Misa gave me a fork, knife and spoon for side of the road yogurt and peanut butter sandwiches.  We had made an emergency Doncker's run the evening prior for gummy bears for the road.  Those gummy bears lasted me some of the way through Minnesota.



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Misa and I saw five loons fly past us over the lake.  A good sign.  Two weeks prior a very large turtle crossed our path in the middle of the forest.  He just passed in front of us before we came upon him and he froze and looked at us.  Or maybe it was a she.  Another good sign.

Somewhere in this time Carmen and I had made some plans to canoe the Boundary Waters, but alas, we postponed this trip.  We still have to do that and it will be a good reason to return.  Minnesota has good vibes.  And clean water.  In the meantime I'll read Woman of the Boundary Waters.

I stopped in Duluth for lunch at a bakery with no menu- you have to build your own sandwich from the list of items. I found the library, found where I think Steve used to dance, and enjoyed the industrial/artsy melding that is Duluth.  I took Skyline Parkway for a little while but a thick, thick fog had rolled in and I remembered the gut-dropping feeling I get from heights when the road became such that strategically placed boulders and whiteness were between me and an unknown distance down.  So I got back on the road.
 

I headed south to Minneapolis where I stayed with Fayyad, whose parents were also visiting him.  Therefore my Arabic got a big kickstart.  I had a momentary lapse time prior to coming up with responses but it started to come back.  I also learned how to make yogurt, filled my belly with kibbe and farmer's cheese and labne and olives.  Fayyad's mom gave me ma'moul and quzha for the road the next morning.  Yes please.  I didn't even pretend to say no.  Fayyad's dad sat with the purple house finch nesting on the balcony- he told me he does that for a while every morning.  We do this every day, we sit together a while, he and I, he said.  He told me I'll always have a home in Palestine.  I have to go back.  I also would like to get this book

I'll have to let Sahowla know how it turns out when I do yogurt.