School is indeed out for the summer.
In Ely, signs abound that another school year has ended and the kids are on summer vacation.
The younger ones have turned Whiteside Park into their playground while many of high school age can now be seen at area businesses working summer jobs.
At age 11, Macy is in that in-between age - not old enough to work yet often she needs more than the slide at the park to keep her occupied.
She’s got a busy summer lined up, with summer softball, art camp, basketball camp and even a few nights in Duluth for STEAM camp.
Macy is an avid, avid reader and a curious sort. She loves animals and science.
So it wasn’t really a surprise Monday, when we had a few hours together, that she turned to me and said: “Dad, do you think we could go to the Wolf Center?”
Ely’s wolf museum attracts thousands every year, and brings visitors from around the globe, but one of its biggest fans lives less than a mile away.
Macy loves all things related to wolves, from their majestic appearance to the science related to their existence.
She has been to the International Wolf Center a few times before and after each visit seems to crave for more.
Hollee was out of town Monday and it was a “Dad and Macy Day,” so after lunch we took the short drive out of town, past the cemetery and joint public works garage. We took the familiar right turn up the winding hill - to a spot that I visited often with my late grandpa Albert Grahek in the 1970s when it was known as the Voyageur Visitor Center.
Of course the Wolf Center, with its much larger footprint, numerous exhibits and theater and of course the live wolves, puts the old Voyageur Visitor Center to shame.
While not generally a fan of the outdoors, science or wildlife for that matter, even I have found Ely’s roughly 30-year-old attraction to be interesting.
No matter your feeling on wolves, one can’t argue that the folks at the Wolf Center have done a superb job - both in presentation and in delivering the goods.
One can put themselves in a pilot’s chair and get an aerial view of wolves in the area’s woods and lakes. There’s wolf-related art and history and an academic can take a deep dive into science and be captivated for hours, if not days.
Macy absorbed it all and even took a quiz at a computer station to show off her knowledge. She all but aced the quiz, getting nine out of 10 questions correct. I’d have been lucky, very lucky, to answer even half correctly.
We spent about 45 minutes in various parts of the museum but the main event was still to come.
Of course the Wolf Center is known for its ambassador pack and a viewing area where visitors can watch the wolves Macy knew also that there were new pups arriving this year.
Our trek began with the hopes of seeing the new pups, and earlier in the day, Macy’s disappointment was visibly measurable when the staffer told us they weren’t yet ready for public viewing.
“Perhaps you want to come back tomorrow?” the Wolf Center staffer told Macy.
That wasn’t to be as Macy turned to me and said “I think I want to stay here today.”
That settled things and after her refresher on the other exhibits and the quiz, she was ready for the wolf viewing area.
Macy knew the current ambassador wolves by name, and it was our lucky day as all of them - Grayson, Blackstone, Caz and Macy’s favorite Rieka - were visible and out and about during our time there.
Macy pointed out Grayson’s distinctive fur and was thrilled when Rieka came out to join the rest of the pack.
At least a couple of the wolves seemed to be aware of the new, yet-to-be-named pups, who were visible to the ambassadors but not to us from our vantage point inside the museum.
They howled, and chewed on what appeared to be chicken legs thrown out for a snack. Rieka and one of her mates splashed into and out of a makeshift pond and seemed oblivious to the fact that behind glass windows Macy and others were enthralled by every move.
For what seemed to be an hour, Macy sat on the ledge right up against the window, taking it all in. And she wasn’t shy about asking questions of Wolf Center staff, wondering if the wolves knew their names and inquiring about alpha wolves and their actions.
The staff seemed impressed with the 11-year-old and her questions, and her dad ranged between proud and impressed.
Macy’s interests vary and seem to be all-encompassing. I was envisioning that some day she’d be telling Wolf Center visitors all about the wolves.
School is out, but Macy hasn’t stopped learning. She even taught her dad a few things on a memorable afternoon.
Thanks, kid.
