Above: Stephen Dunker, Proprieter : What Goes 'Round / BayfieldBooks.com
Of Books and Bayfield : What Goes Round - Bayfield Books
Warm observations from the California Desert Far Away... by Shawn Smith
Lake Superior's Apostle Islands is an amazing part of the world. One many Americans don't know exists. But in Bayfield County, along the Superior National Lakeshore, it's a stunning drive from Duluth thru Port Wing, Herbster, Cornucopia - to the Red Cliff Tribe of Ojibwe' Chippewa and their casino - on to Beautiful Bayfield. Its like a little Cape-Cod harbor town as you come over the hillside, oddly out of place - in the middle of the Midwest! But there it is, a gem sparkling beside the emerald waters of the Great Lakes greatest lake: you're in Bayfield Wisconsin.
With summer travel plans, toursists flock to Bayfield. For good and bad; "Those who come here change the thing they came to see - They change it to become where they came from." And so Bayfield changes with it into a truly horribly-delightful tourist trap. Season by season. But Lake Superior is so huge, so indelible, utterly unalterable -- It's majesty stands the test of time, resists all: Against modern life, of Bayfield Bed and Breakfasts, Sailboats, Fishermen, Loggers, Ferry Boat Riders off to Madeline Island, Shoppes and Shoppers, Fine-dining, Visitors and Tourists. And how would Bayfield exist without Apples, the Apple Orchards, Cider, and AppleFest Weekend! ALL come to visit and share what the otherwise sleepy bayview town of Bayfield has to offer.
In the depths of winter, off-season, this tiny town becomes a bit barren. It shrivels like the slow-moving produce at the town's IGA grocery. Yet ice-fishing, dog-sledding, snow-skiing still fill the void left after summer. Dog-sledding runs and well-groomed snowmobile trails throughout the Chequamegon National Forest await. Bars, restaurants, beer, burgers and hot apple cider are still there for visitors seeking warmth from the cold. Some resist the urge to hibernate like the bears, and venture out - beyond Bayfield perhaps to Washburn and Ashland, something for everyone still persists.
Ah, but to curl up with a good book! New, or tattered and used; To escape the sticky summer sun, or before a crackling winter fire: Stephen's books can help you learn more of this Great Lake Superior and the lives and regional history that surrounds it - or take you off to faraway places of the mind and geography. A used book gets another Go 'Round to show you much bigger world than that which only stands at the tip of Northwestern Wisconsin.
So while you're here; Stop and visit Bayfield Books - What Goes 'Round. And say Hullo! to the book-hound Stephen Dunker. Ask about your interests, tell him of your loves and passions... and let him point you in the right direction: To the right title, to the right bookshelf. It's a wonderful place to pause and read, to open up your mind to Things That Were, or Things That Can Be. Like that birchbark canoe you always wanted to build - just to see if you could make it over to Basswood Island and back. Buying the right book or two may make your northwoods visit just that much more memorable.
Shawn Smith - Former Herbster resident, now far away
Who misses coming 'round to What Goes 'Round
