Thursday October 14, 2021

 RESPECT

Make No Mistake. This Means You.

    Ulp! I seriously doubted my AARP Minnesota membership nor my United States of America passport card would hold any weight with these authorities after reading that sign, but the sign's straight forward message left me no doubt that had there been more signs like these on the beach heads and hilltops of the Western Hemisphere prior to 1492, they would've dramatically changed world history and the proposed development of the United States. 

   "In 877 CE, Icelander Gunnbiorn Ulfsson (also spelled Gunnbjorn) was driven by a storm to the coast of present day Greenland. He did not land there -- likely because he saw signs like this on the beach and hilltops. Yelling at his crewmen who were desperately eager to set foot on terra firma after months at sea, he pointed at the displays and shouted:

"HÆTTU! Sérðu merkin? Við getum ekki komist hingað! Aftur! Aftur!"

    This, he failed to tell his Norwegian mariner friend, Erik the Red, in 983. Pleading with his crew 'people' (there were maybe women aboard after all) Erik the Red was quoted to have said, to no avail:

"STOPPE! Ser du skiltene? Vi kan ikke komme inn her! Gå tilbake! Gå tilbake!"

    Already mistaken where he was in 1492 --thinking it was India --(am I right on this?) Christopher Columbus was unsure what the signs actually said, although they were multi-lingual, sign-language illustrated (the universal language). Did they welcome him or did they warn him not to land there without proper documentation? The sign read, "Violators subject to prosecution per Chapter 2.5 of the Guanahani Code of Laws."

 "Guanahani? We're not in Florida?? PARE! Veja os sinais? Não podemos entrar aqui! Volte! Volte!"

In 1524, King Francis sent Italian-born Giovanni da Verrazzano to explore the 'New World' -- that is until through his telescope he spied hundreds of these signs all along the coast:

"Sacrebleu! On est dans un tas de potes de merde ! Faites demi-tour ! Sortons d'ici!"

   And they did until 1534 and 1536, when French mariner, Jacques Cartier, sailed up the Kaniatarowanenneh, River of the Iroquois. He had become familiar with some of the Native people there and is quoted to have said, upon seeing one of these signs,

"Salut mon ami! Vous avez une carte d'inscription ??"

   Ah but these were but a few examples. Luckily we were in the company of an enrolled member of the tribe who said she would vouch for us if we bought dinner in Bayfield, and so weighing the problem of getting back to where we started by ourselves -- and the fact we were getting hungry too, we gave in, hardly being in a position to negotiate. We resigned ourselves to our fate -- spending some wonderful time in the company of our Red Cliff family on the shores of Gichi agaaming.

    Like home here, there was an amazing abundance of mushrooms this year, from red ones to black ones to those that resembled fried eggs and scrambled eggs... Those you can eat, and those you can't.

A red mushroom

A sorta black mushroom

A mushroom that looks like a fried egg

And one that looks like a scrambled egg

 

Wet footed mushrooms

 

Soiled

Crisply white

Mint

Flora on the bog

Thunder Clouds

The Thunder Clouds. Newlyweds.

Walking back to the woods toward food

Pitcher Plants

Upside down

Frosted top

The End