Justine was born in 1906. She completed college with a degree in zoology with minors in philosophy and chemistry. She played sports. She had planned to become a doctor. In the late 1920s, her mother bought the Gundlint Lodge resort on the Gunflint Trail in the Minnesota Arrowhead from the family who had begun it, and Mae (her mother) and Justine began running the lodge. Justine was captivated with the backwoods life. I think this picture might be the lodge even before 1930.
Justine learned how to do everything- carpentry, canoeing, being an electrician, guiding, plumbing, trapping, fishing, you name it. She wrote a newspaper column and several books. She was friends with the Chippewa and anyone else who needed a friend. Although she was a small woman, people soon learned to respect her knowledge and strength.
Her son Bruce, and his wife Sue, ran Gunflint Lodge until just a few years ago when it was sold out of the family.
Justine portaged her own canoe until she was 90. She was responsible for a lot of the planning and deveopment of the Gunflint Trail area, serving on local boards. And more. Quite a lady, don't you think? I would love to have met her, but I have met Bruce and Sue, and I have read a biography of her life. The closest I could get to her was to have my picture taken with her portrait in 2009. This picture no longer hangs in the lodge. It probably belonged to the family, and was not sold with the building.
Today was mixed bag. I did an hour of screen time for clients. I prepared for and did three errands and got an oil change. When I got home I ate something and was literally shaking on my feet. Fell in bed like a rock and have basically been there since.
I have to take whatever successes I can get.
 | See Justine's Meatloaf |
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