For the past two months, the so-called ICE surge has consumed our lives in Minneapolis. But the Winter Olympics are still happening. And as a writer, it’s always a thrill to get the cover story, which I wrote for North Magazine.

For my piece on “Olympians of the North” I interviewed Jessie Diggins, Chad Salmela, 1960 Gold Medalist John Mayasich (age 92) and Olympian Cindy Nelson to get their thoughts on why so many champions come from here.

For my piece on Devil’s Track Lake, I got to dive into the place name history of the lake along the north shore, which is steeped in mythology.

In any case, bit of fun to distract from all that’s happening here. Take a break to cheer for them if you can!