

Ice Cream Cake, 1988
In Minnesota, the lakes dot the northern woods like footprints after game-play. And in June, the sun sits high and hot in a bright blue sky, then gives way to still, humid evenings, mosquitoes, and a starry sky brighter than you could imagine. It was the summer before I would leave for college. Ponto Lake was still and warm. My brother, Cory, and I had gone up to the cabin to spend the night with Grammy and Papa, and to celebrate my birthday the next day. We took the old grad