#Minnesotawayoflife – Emy Minzel

Last night was rough, I woke up wanting to go home, like right now. During the late-night, I had a tummy ache and needed to climb the hill with a flashlight, not once but three times! Ugh! I was doing my best to be brave while making a lot of noise at 1 am in a dark forest alone.

Listen I like to rough it, I don’t mind getting dirty, fighting dangerous waves, caring heavy loads or even sitting out a thunderstorm in a tent. Turns out that this girl draws the line at tummy tribulations in the Boundary Waters! I know I am not alone here.

I was feeling better when I got up at 6 am with the dawn, even though the skies were clear the sun did not peek over the treetops until around 8:00. As I sat drinking coffee, soaking in the scenery and contemplating if I was going to stay the one more day as intended or pack it all up. It was hard to decide.

Slim Lake sunrise

Emy in contemplation

Ride back home

Slim Lake Entry/Exit Point

The weather was warming up, and the sunshine was trying to talk me into staying. I wanted to stay, and I wanted to go home too. The weather was not going to be warm enough to swim for very long. Which was a bummer because that’s one of the reasons I go up the Boundary Waters to get some very needed hydrotherapy.

About an hour later, while I was cooking breakfast two canoes full of a family with mom and dad and three children family paddled by. They inquired if I was leaving today and I told them I was thinking about it. The other campers at the campsite they passed to get to me told them they were going later as well.

I felt terrible that they didn’t have a campsite free, and I think they were also bummed to have to paddle all the way to the other end of the lake to see if possibly the last of the three campsites on the lake would be open. If not, they would have to wait it out while we packed up.

As they paddled by me again, I felt the urge to tell them I would be packed up by noon. Giving the family at least some hope of getting settled soon if they could not find another open site. Had they not paddled by would I have stayed? I don’t know. Maybe I used their search as an excuse as I convinced myself I was being kind by making sure that family had a place to sleep tonight. Or perhaps I really had been there for long enough?

I certainly proved to myself what I knew I was capable of all along. What else did I need to prove? Going into the Boundary Waters alone was something I did for me. I needed to push myself in a way that was not connected to others needs. I needed to level up my courage and confidence for my personal development to prove to me that I can do the same in other aspects of my life.

The Boundary Waters is a holy place, you may think you come for the beauty of it and to get away from it all. What you don’t anticipate is how it changes you so profoundly in just the short time you are there. Having the time to be alone with only your thoughts and allowing the tranquility to seep into your soul that enables you to listen to your own inner knowing is powerful stuff.

The solo excursion I embarked on this year is no different. I knew inside that it was okay to leave because I had gotten what I came for. I had reconnected with myself and allowed the spirit of nature to reconnect with me. That morning I realized I could stay, but I wanted to go home.

As an only child of a single mother, I have always been fond of my alone time. I get cranky without it. Yet while out in the wilderness, I did not feel afraid or lonely, I did think that something was missing. I missed my husband and my dog, and this just confirmed that even though I don’t mind being alone, my life is much more enjoyable sharing it with those that I love. I learned that I must work at bettering myself without help, but it sure is nice to have support on the sidelines of life.

As the family paddled away to leave me to pack up in peace, I did just that. I did not rush myself. I did my best to enjoy the end of my journey. Even taking the time to put my swimsuit on and get into the lake one last time. The water was warmer than the air temp, so it was steaming as it was chilly only 59 degrees.

I did not allow the weather to detour me from getting the swim in I needed. I am Minnesota tough dontchyaknow and did not flinch as I made my way down into the water via the boulder shore. Where I could fully submerge allowing the healing stillness of the big water to wash away all that I did not need to bring back home with me. That last swim felt great and gave me the emotional boost I needed to get going.

After all, my gear was packed and loaded into the canoe. I sent a prayer of gratitude up once again. “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!” This experience had all the emotions and tests that I needed and came for. The Boundary Waters Wilderness never lets me down and always centers me to a much calmer space deep within. I am beyond grateful and blessed for this experience once again.

The wind was picking up, but this time the waves on Slim Lake carried me back to the bay. I took my time enjoying one last paddle soaking in all the scenery and the musical harmony of nature I could possibly absorb. As I pulled into the entry point, I was a little melancholy not wanting this healing time to end, yet also happy to be on my way to home sweet home.

Thank you, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Thank you for all the lesson’s past, present and future you continue to bless me with. Until next time my friend, you still hold a part of me.

Sending joy and blessings to you,

Love, Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

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Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

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I have lived in Minnesota my whole life. I have traveled some but not nearly as much as I like to yet. However, every time I leave home, I come back with a renewed appreciation for my State. Minnesota may be known as the land of 10,000 lakes but there are over 11,000.

I was lucky enough to be raised in the beauty of Northern Minnesota on the Iron Range. I then moved to a much more populated area of Coon Rapids (a suburb of Minneapolis) where I would graduate from High School. I have since settled in an area of Central Minnesota known for family farms and country living. I love the quiet country life that city of Princeton has to offer.

Throughout my lifetime, no matter where I have lived, there was always one common theme that happened in our short Minnesota summers. We were all headed to the lake or goin’ North for the weekend to enjoy what I now call our ‘Minnesota Way of life’.

It didn’t matter if you were well off or just making a living. Most people had a cabin to retreat or a family camp somewhere on a Minnesota lake “Up North”. I am a water baby to the point that my husband calls me the Queen of the Hydration Nation. He understands how much I appreciate water and especially water quality.

The Minnesota way of lake life that includes; clean drinking water, fishing, boating, camping, canoeing, hiking and swimming was (and still is) something that I truly enjoy! The beauty Minnesota offers is unmatched in any of the places I have been. We have four seasons which push us to enjoy each of them in different ways. Even when it is below zero temperatures, us hearty Minnesotan outdoor enthusiasts choose to go ice fishing on our lakes, or skiing and sledding.

I notice that most of our recreation revolves around the blessings of our most valued natural resource; our abundance of clean WATER.

I have learned to water ski, tube, fish, canoe, kayak and have made many happy memories that included our Minnesota way of life. Once I learned one fact about my beloved State though; I absolutely knew in my soul I must do something (anything) to protect the Minnesota that I know and love for future generations.

This fact is that; (according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) over 40% of our water in Minnesota is too polluted to swim in or eat the fish out of. This is almost HALF of our 11,000 lakes! What? No fishing?!

When I learned that political leaders of Minnesota were considering and might allow toxic mining here in our most pure and precious areas of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and the watersheds of the Great Lake Superior. I thought “How can this be?!”

I could not believe that our “Leaders”, who are supposed to look out for the greater good of the people and the future prosperity of our state, would allow this. They should not be looking for what might make money for right now (or for a short amount of time) if this means poisoning our most precious resources. Our people and our water permanently.

These Sulfide-Ore Copper mines have a bad history of a 90% failure rate and leaving toxic pollution, so devastating, that the areas of contamination are doomed for over 500 years. That’s over six generations of your family that will not be able to enjoy the same beauty of Minnesota that we have grown to know and love.

When these mines fail, as history shows they likely will, Lake Superior would be toxic and unable to support recreational life and tourism as we know it or would the BWCA.

Even though leaders know that Lake Superior holds about 10% of the world’s fresh water. They still seem to want to allow a mine that will undoubtedly pollute it for foreign profit our native Minnesotans will never see. History shows that tax payers get left with the clean-up bill and the devastation of their water tables nearly every time. I believe true leaders always do what is right for the people they are paid to represent.

Therefore, I chose to change my life path drastically to run for the State House of Representatives. I believe I have been divinely guided to this opportunity to run because my intentions are pure. I wish to protect the Minnesota we know and love for ourselves and our future generations.

We must demand that our leaders do not sell us out for profit we will never see. I am just a Minnesota girl standing up to protect what I love.

We must demand that leaders start viewing our environmental protections as a public safety. Without a healthy environment there is not a healthy population. Scientist continually tell us we are on borrowed time (on this planet) if we continue to live in a way that we are.

Poisoning our own water resources for profit seems to be a poor moral decision in my book. We already know most of the State is already suffering from high nitrate levels in our waters, why would it seem like a good idea to risk the water that is still good and healthy?

To me, a true leader looks around, beyond their nose and sees that all over the Nation we are indeed in trouble when it comes to our water. Look around. Flint Michigan without water for years, Chicago now turning off water to public schools. Fracking for natural gas is poisoning water tables all over the place, Florida is seeing costal devastation from human activity.

We are seeing a great deal of drinking water pollution all over the Nation and we need to be proactive at protecting what we love and take for granted here in Minnesota, our water.

Now, like I said, this girl loves water, because we need it to sustain all of life. To me, a leader protects the necessities to live, because that’s their job.

I do like to keep my blogs light hearted and positive but sometimes life forces us to look at things that are not happy. I became interested in politics because of my concern for our environment, turns out they are intrinsically connected.

I am choosing to share what I know, in the only way I know how to do it. I am normally a happy person, but when you mess with my family or what I hold dear, my congeniality disappears, and I will do what I feel is right. Protecting what I love seems to be the right path for me.

I want to win this election, so I can stand up for our environment since the planet cannot talk for herself. I believe it is my purpose of why I was put here on earth. I am sure of it. What matters to me most is to protect our Minnesota way of life and the water I love.

Speaking up when I saw something was not right for the greater good, is what I feel I needed to do. Doing so got me where I am today. I believe Minnesota and the planet still needs more of us to do so.

When will ‘leaders’ start choosing what is right instead of what is good for business?

There is a moral responsibility here. I refuse to give in to the false narrative that says we must choose putting our environment at risk to make a living. I call BS. This is where my campaign slogan “Protect what you love” came from. We deserve better and so do our future generations.

Let us move forward to clean energy solutions as it seems imperative to sustain the Minnesota way of life we know and love.

Thank you for reading my blog today!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

@EmyforHouse15A

http://www.EmyforHouse.com

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Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com