The Royce Files

I am lead to believe this motel was not built or run by Finns. An air conditioned sauna really defeats the purpose of sauna, no? Nor Scots, since why waste all that money to cool something that was meant to be steamy hot. Perhaps it was a gimmick to draw in the curious. I suspect "air conditioned sauna" was a euphemism to describe Selkirk in summer. The place is still there in Selkirk but looks like the air conditioned sauna was ditched for a hot tub.

Sunset in Voyaguer's National Park In August the Man of 3 Name and I took a canoe trip into Voyaguer's National Park in Northern Minnesota. To our surprise we were the only canoe we saw in the park (notwithstanding the canoe party from Illinois that was leaving as we were entering the park.). Voyaguer's is a big water kind of canoe area. Most of the smaller lakes are interior to the Kabetogama Penisula. We traversed the eastern bays of Lake Kabetogma to the big waters of  Namakan Lake and base camped in Junction Bay. The weather was pleasant but did drop in the 30s one night. We also had a spectacular show in the evening skies- meteor showers. I digress as this post is about the sauna we found in the wilderness. On our way to Junction Bay we passed through a narrow gap between 2 islands. As we got closer I thought I saw some type of building on one of the islands. However, we paddled on without investigating. The Sauna On our way out we came through the area a...

Took some time off to find snow and go cross country skiing with my mostly Finnish wife at Mapelag Resport . We had an incredible time in this snowy place. We skied something like 30 miles in 3 days. And my wonderfully mostly Finnish darling took an icy plunge into the lake after a sauna. We had any enjoyable time and had some delicious food too! 

I promised many months ago that I would show you the authentic sauna that my MFG's father built. And I am hoping to build my Finnish readership. This sauna is quite spacious. It think it can hold 5 quite comfortably.  It is heated by a wood stove. You can see the interior above and note the corner part of the kiuas (see the rocks) It does not have running water so one needs to bring pails of water out from the house. It is a reinvigorating experience.

Where I work we get packages from around the world and occasionally they are packed with newspapers from these places. Just the other day I had a box with a Russian language news tabloid that had the story of Michael Jackson's death a few years ago. But here we have an advertisement from a Finnish DIY store- Starkki  (something of a cross between Home Depot and Menard's.) But instead of loads of other krep which you would see in Home Depot ad, this one focuses on the most important one to Finns- the sauna. And it is important to note how it is pronounced- 'sow- nah.' This differentiates it from the 'saw-na', which is usually a dry heat contraption masquerading as the Finnish sauna. I have heard it said that sometimes Finns have built their sauna before even having a home. In fact some have even lived in their sauna (without the steam of course.) This may be hyperbole. Starkki has all a Finn would need to build or improve their sauna- doors, benches, cedar, ...

Lots of things to discusss. So let's get on with this digest. Red River Basin Flood Spring has finally sprung upon the landscape on the Great Plains. The always anticipated spring snow storm never arrived. The flood waters continue to recede in Red River Valley. As of yesterday I could see most of the paths by the river. This by no means will abate the continuing debate concerning future flood control. It was just heating up as the crest arrived a few weeks ago. A North Dakota diversion seems very popular. It gets more good press then a Minnesota diversion which the Corps of Engineers have stated would be the most cost effective solution. Neither solution seemed to answer adequately the concerns of pushing floodwaters further north . Our hydrology correspondant, DJ George, has advocated some form of water retention for years and not only because of flooding but to increase available water sources in the Valley. U.S. Representative Colin Peterson seemed to echo DJ ...