Of Moths and a Girl

“We Limberlost people must not be selfish with the wonders God has given to us. We must share with those poor cooped-up city people the best we can” (34).

The Book

There is something special about novels that were written over one hundred years ago. They give us a peak into what life was like, how people interacted, and what interested them. A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter is no different. Readers get lost in the coming-of-age story, set in smalltown Indiana, on the edge of the Limberlost Swamp.

Elnora Comstock is an earnest girl who cares for others and loves sharing what she knows about the Limberlost. She will do anything to attend high school, overcoming her mother’s opposition, fear and embarrassment, and classmate snobs. When Elnora learns that attending high school will cost money, she is uncertain how she can afford it. On the way home one day, she sees a local advertisement to buy moths, butterflies, and dragonflies. Elnora already collects these in the Limberlost and makes a deal to sell them to the Bird Woman (Gene Stratton-Porter modeled this character after herself).

Over the course of four years, Elnora wins over her classmates, continues to patiently endure her mother’s bitterness, studies hard, and is actively involved at school. Even though she doesn’t receive love from her mother, she finds it with neighbors and friends. Just before graduation, Elnora’s mother does something that is the last straw for Elnora. This is a turning point for her mother, leading to a better relationship between the two of them.

Originally planning to attend college, Elnora lacks the money and accepts a natural history teacher position for the local grade school. During the summer, she continues to collect specimens, hopeful that she’ll earn enough for college the following year. A young man from Chicago, Philip, helps her hunt months and wanders the Limberlost with her. Philip shares early on that he is engaged, but an astute reader will wonder if he and Elnora are falling in love. If you want to find out what happens between the two, you’ll have to read the book!

Through dialogue and descriptive language, Statton-Porter develops her characters and propels the narrative forward. At the right moment, she reveals an important piece of information to help the reader better understand a character. Even the minor characters have a bit of a backstory that prevents them from being one-dimensional. The novel is easy to read and the reliance on dialogue makes for a quick read. There are moments when the narrative slows, the dialogue ceases, and Stratton-Porter zeroes in on a particular moment. One of my favorite lines was, “Early June was rioting in fresh grasses, bright flowers, bird songs, and gay-winged creatures of air” (181).

The Place

The Limberlost State Historic Site preserves a small piece of what was the swamps of northern Indiana. It was here that Gene Stratton-Porter lived, wrote novels and articles, and took nature photos.

The site is made up of a visitor center, Stratton-Porter’s home, and multiple swamp and marsh trails. On our visit, we started with the Rainbow Bend Trail which goes around and through the swamp. We saw massive trees, dragonflies, heron, and many frogs that hopped across our path. Next, we toured Stratton-Porter’s home. Here we learned that she was the first to photograph animals in the wild, going deep into the swamp to capture nature in its element. The tour guide did a great job sharing about the life of Stratton-Porter and elements of her life that ended up in her novels. We finished the day with a hike through the Loblolly Marsh, about a 15-minute drive from the home.

I recommend that you start at the visitor center, where you can get a map of the trails and sign up for a tour of the house. It is free to walk the trails, but there is a fee for the house tour. Tours are available three times a day, Wednesday through Sunday. We had an enthusiastic tour guide who went into a lot of detail and answered our many questions, resulting in a two-hour tour. When planning a visit to Limberlost, it is important to know a few things: you need to drive from the home to the trails, you will definitely need bug spray and sunscreen, and the trails are not paved.

Hawthorne’s Muse

“Half-way down a by-street of one of our New England towns, stands a rusty wooden house with seven acutely peaked gables facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst” (6).

The Book

In his preface, author Nathaniel Hawthorne calls The House of the Seven Gables a “romance”. There is love of power, love of land, and love of money. It is not until the end that the reader encounters a taste for what we would typically call “romance”. Woven throughout these “loves” are themes focused on guilt, sins of forefathers, fear, and a touch of joy. 

Hawthorne begins the story in the past. His third-person omniscient narrator explains how the Pyncheon family came to own the land where the House of the Seven Gables stands. It was by nefarious means, during the witch hysteria, resulting in a curse on Pyncheon descendants. The current resident of the house is Hepzibah, an old maid who has lived in seclusion for over 25 years. She leases a few rooms to a young man, Holgrave, who mostly keeps to himself. Facing poverty, Hepzibah is forced to open a cent shop on the first floor. The narrator paints a pitiful portrait of a women anxious about failure and interacting with her neighbors. It is not long after the cent shop opens that two more people take up residence: Phoebe Pyncheon, a young cousin from the country, and Clifford Pyncheon, Hepzibah’s brother who seems to have experienced something traumatic. The three Pyncheons fall into a comfortable routine, with Phoebe bringing joy and light back into the house. 

This comfortable routine is rocked when Phoebe returns home for a brief stay and Judge Pyncheon, another cousin, demands to see Clifford. Hepzibah is desperate to protect her brother and the reader is left suspecting something sinister is going on. Hepzibah only relents when Clifford agrees to see the Judge. To avoid giving any more away, I will leave my readers in suspense with this statement: it was hard to stop reading chapters 15 through 21. 

The House of the Seven Gables was an engaging read. The narrator has a sense of humor, commenting on their own abilities and what the characters do. The book doesn’t have much dialogue; instead, the narrator spends a lot of time describing the mundane every day, character personalities, and reactions of characters. This helps the reader feel like they are a part of the story, present in the House of the Seven Gables, and invested in what happens to Hepzibah, Phoebe, and Clifford. I enjoyed the ability to picture what I was reading, both from the narrator’s descriptions and my tour of the actual house. Without giving the ending away, I will say that you will be satisfied with how Hawthorne wraps up his tale of The House of the Seven Gables.

The Place

The House of the Seven Gables is about a 15-minute walk from the center of Salem. It stands on the banks of the Salem Harbor, with views of the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Visitors are able to wander the grounds behind the house and step into the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne (the building was moved here in 1958). We visited in mid-April and I can only imagine how beautiful the grounds would be when the spring flowers are in full bloom or the fall colors are out in force. While we were able to walk up and purchase tickets, this may not be possible during busier times. 

Visitors have two options when purchasing tickets: the Mansion Tour Experience (which includes a Grounds Pass) or a Grounds Pass. I would recommend the Mansion Tour Experience; after all, the reason why this is a tourist locale is the House of the Seven Gables. You are free to roam the grounds at your own pace, but the Mansion Tours have set times. I had not read The House of the Seven Gables or seen the movie prior to visiting. The tour guide did refer to some characters on the tour, without explaining the plot, but it did not detract from my experience. My favorite part of the tour was walking up a narrow and steep staircase to stand beneath the gables. It was here that our tour guide showed how the house was built with a small model.

Intended for National Purposes

“No matter how many times he visited the National Cathedral, there was always something else to observe, to learn from, to wonder at” (186).

The Book

Murder at the National Cathedral by Margaret Truman (the daughter of President Harry S. Truman) opens with a wedding at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and ends with the solving of two murders. One murder victim is found in the National Cathedral, another in an English countryside church. The story follows law professor Mackensie Smith, who is a recurring character of Truman’s, as he investigates the murders and provides legal counsel to the National Cathedral.

Truman does a good job of drawing the reader into the action. Several of the characters have already been introduced in previous books, but a reader does not need to know all the details while reading Murder at the National Cathedral. Any significant details are written in a way to catch a new reader up to speed and gently remind a returning reader.

The Place

In Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 Plan for the City of Washington, he said, “This church is intended for national purposes…and assigned to the special use of no particular sect or denomination, but equally open to all.”

The Washington National Cathedral is a beautiful place to visit. The design reminds visitors of European churches, even though the National Cathedral was begun in 1907. It is a fully functioning church as well as a tourist destination. There is a fee for sightseeing, but if a visitor wants to worship or pray in the many chapels that is free.

The National Cathedral is located fifteen minutes northwest of the National Mall. There are several varieties of tours that are available as well as changing exhibits. The tours include behind the scenes, music demonstrations, the gardens, and a climb up to the bell chamber.

The UP

“It wasn’t going to be all fun, but they didn’t know it yet. This would be the beginning of an experience that all three would never forget” (48). 


The Book  


Terror at the Soo Locks by Ronald J. Lewis is a follow-up mystery novel to Murder at Mackinac. The characters are different, but there are slight nods to the characters and themes in Lewis’s first novel. The story follows Professor Bradley Kendall as he travels the globe and dodges international crime plots. Assassins follow him from Michigan to Hawaii to Singapore. Along with his friends, Professor Kendall works to stop a plot to bomb the Mackinaw Bridge when two high-ranking politicians are participating in the annual Labor Day walk across the bridge.

Once again, Lewis pays close attention to detail and proves that he has traveled to the places he writes about. Because the Soo Locks are one of the largest locks for international shipping, the reader learns a lot about the ships and shipping procedures in the Upper Peninsula (UP).



The Place   


Michigan’s UP has many attractions for visitors. The Soo Locks are a fascinating lesson in international shipping. When my family and I visited, we rode a tour boat into the lock and watched as the water lifted our boat high enough for the next lock. During the tour you can see Canada across the lake. There is also observation tower where you can watch the large international ships go through the locks. Farther north in the UP is Whitefish Point on the shores of Lake Superior. Whitefish Point is home to a lighthouse and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The waters of Lake Superior are some of the most treacherous and the museum pays homage to the many shipwrecks. The most well known shipwreck is that of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975.

If you are looking for a fun place to eat after exploring the UP, The Antlers provides good food and an interesting atmosphere. The restaurant is decorated with stuffed wild animals like polar bears and lions. Hanging from the wall are mounted heads of deer and various antlers.  

Island Lost in Time

“Little did Roy suspect that his noncontroversial, nonpolitical, academic life would be plunged into turbulent chaos and life threatening entanglements, both controversial and political” (4). 


The Book  

Murder in Mackinac (Mackinac is pronounced Mack-i-naw) by Ronald J. Lewis is a mystery novel that you read just for fun. It follows the story of Roy Nelson, a college professor who gets caught up in solving a series of murders. The mystery takes the reader from Mackinac Island to Hawaii, from World War II to the present day, from politics to organized crime. The fiction might be hard to believe at times, but that is what is great about reading. Sometimes you just need a book that doesn’t make you think.

The best part about this book is Lewis’s decision to include destinations in and around Mackinac Island. This is my favorite part of the novel because I can picture the places I saw when I visited Mackinac Island. 

The Place   

Mackinac Island is a place where time has stood still. No cars are allowed on the island, visitors and residents must take a boat across Lake Huron to reach the island. Once there, you can take a tour of the island on a carriage pulled by horses. Highlights on the tour include: the Grand Hotel and Fort Mackinac. One of my favorite parts of the tour was the Arch Rock. High above the lake is a look-out point that shows visitors a rock formation in the form of an arch. Visitors can also rent bikes to ride around the island.

Mackinac Island is also known for its fudge. Down by the harbor are several local shops that sell fudge and other gift items. When we visited, we had lunch in Fort Mackinac and had a beautiful view of the harbor below. You can also see the Mackinac Bridge, the third largest suspension bridge in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere.

Silly Old Bear

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

“It’s the same thing,” he said (page 147).


The Book  


Growing up, my favorite stuffed animal was a small Winnie-the-Pooh. My favorites VHS tapes were the Disney versions of the classic Hundred Acre Wood stories. But, it wasn’t until recently that I actually read the original book by A.A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard is a collection of ten short stories that introduce the world to the animals Christopher Robin loved. They are narrated by A.A. Milne who tells the stories to Christopher Robin. All of the original characters are included, except Tigger who is introduced in Milne’s second book, The House at Pooh Corner. The stories are familiar and the characters act in the same manner as Disney portrayed them.

The stories have a bit of dry humor that makes them enjoyable for children and adults. Milne interjects commentary and questions from Christopher Robin, making it feel like the reader is watching Milne tell the stories. Broken up into ten chapters, each story has a unique title. My favorite is “Chapter 9 in which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water.” It is retold by Disney in Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day.

The Place


In the introduction of Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne mentions visiting a bear in the London Zoo. That bear would inspire the stories he wrote in 1926. Not many people know that the bear in the London Zoo actually came from Winnipeg, the capitol of Manitoba, Canada.

Last summer I visited my friend in Grand Forks, ND. There isn’t much to do in Grand Forks, but Winnipeg is only three hours away. In the heart of Winnipeg is Assiniboine Park, similar to Central Park in New York City. The park consists of a conservatory, sculpture garden, children’s garden, zoo, duck pond, and numerous walking trails. In the center of Assiniboine Park is a visitor center with the Pooh Gallery. Visitors can see original sketches from the book and the first versions of the stuffed animals from the stories. A short walk from the Pooh Gallery is the zoo. Right inside the gates is a statue of the original “Winnie” and the man who brought him to London, a lieutenant in the Canadian Army.

You can easily spend all day at Assiniboine Park, but if you are in Winnipeg for several days The Forks is another fun attraction. The Forks is located where the Red River and Assiniboine River converge. There are indoor and outdoor shops and restaurants, piers onto the river, and an outdoor amphitheater. A glass building towers over the fork and allows you to view the surrounding areas of Winnipeg.