A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Letter to the Snow

Monday, January 11, 2010

Letter to the Snow

Dear Snow,

How have you been? I miss you. I know you have been briefly by in the form of flurries, but I really miss the times when you would stay longer. Sometimes you would come so big and thick that I couldn’t drive, and the plows would have a hard time keeping up with you. Isn’t that a fun game? Don’t you want to play it again?

Snowboarding at Bohemia is just not the same without your fluffy softness to turn on. Cross country skiing is not the same when I crunch over pine cones. Sledding is not the same on the ice. Snowshoeing isn’t even a challenge right now because I keep stomping through my old tracks.

But it’s not just me who noticed that you haven't been around lately, it’s the whole town! How are the snowmobilers supposed to get here and spend money if you don’t give them more snow? How are kids supposed to have fun at the terrain park without more snow? I know it’s a lot to ask right now. Maybe you’re busy in other parts of the world. Maybe I (and the rest of Keweenaw County) are just impatient and used to being spoiled.

Have we offended you in any way? Are you mad at this little jut of land in the middle of Lake Superior? What can I do to make it up to you? Does Jake need to do his snow dance? Maybe I should do a snow dance! What if I went for a long drive without mittens and a shovel? Would you come and bury me in the snow to make me learn a lesson? Do I really need to go to drastic measures to see you again?

I really am sorry to bother you like this, but it is winter. And I know this isn’t the worst winter we’ve had, and I should just be happy with what I have right now. But, gosh darn it, Snow, I really miss you, and everyone else here (well, almost everyone) misses you too. So maybe one day soon you can stay for a long visit, and I can be tired of shoveling. That will serve me right, won’t it?

Okay. Well, anyway, Snow, I just wanted you to know that someone down here is thinking about you. We hope to see you soon!

Lots of hexagonal love,

Amanda

2 comments:

Capt. KurtJanuary 11, 2010 at 10:39 PM
It hasn't stopped snowing in Negaunee Township since yesterday; about a foot more of your "missing" snow. Come take ours; you haul it, you can have it, we have more than enough.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AmandaJanuary 19, 2010 at 6:05 PM
I'm sure you're sick of shoveling by now!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

“If you’ve never been there, you wouldn’t understand” is a quote printed above an outlined picture of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on a t-shirt sold in gift shops in the area. Some people cock their heads in bewilderment of what this could mean. Well, if you’ve never been there (to da U.P.), then you wouldn’t understand.

It’s simple really. Where are you guaranteed to see more trees than people on any drive or walk? Where can you sit in a bar in April and know everybody’s name? Where can you wear flannel and Carharts anytime of the year without a flinch from a passerby? Where can you end most of your sentence with the colloquialism eh, eh? Where can you go to truly get away from the civilized world? If you answered “da U.P.” to all of these questions, why, you must have been there.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula makes up one third of the state’s land mass, but only 3% of its entire population. It’s no wonder the average number of people per square mile is 19.3. Nineteen people per square mile! Its lack of inhabitants combined with a plethora of wilderness, unique geographical features and an abundance of water is a big part of what makes the U.P. so unique. In fact, it was included in the Sherman Travel worldwide “Top 10 Places to Go in 2005."

And unique in itself, at the most northern tip in the Keweenaw Peninsula sits the little village of Copper Harbor. “Tops in Michigan,” “the beginning of the road” and quite frankly, the hardest place to leave once your soul has found its peace. It’s the least visited and most revisited place in America. Returning visitors make an appearance at least once a year, no matter what gas prices are. And when they’re back at home, they dream of their next visit to the end of the world.

Why would people want to return to a place where their cell phones don’t work and they can’t get a Big Mac for at least 54 miles? Once you drive through the one and only blinking stop light in town, you are 99% guaranteed not to see any authorities. The town can take care of itself for the most part, and people respect each other and each other’s property.

To the local residents and the handfuls of returning tourists (of which some have been adopted), Copper Harbor is the only place where they can be themselves -- completely and shamelessly (at least until the next morning). Fashion does not exist, but comfort is a must. Possessions mean nothing, but attitude means the world. Loitering is encouraged, and talk is ceaseless. Fresh air is plentiful, and serenity is down the block on Lake Superior’s shore. Ahhh.

Only 90 people can bear to live there year-round (good thing because the post office only has 130 mailboxes), but the population peaks around 250 in the busy summer months when people reopen their business or their summer home.

Copper Harbor and the rest of the Keweenaw Peninsula average 270 inches of snow each season. Whether it falls consistently throughout the winter or all in one dump, it’s guaranteed to fall if it isn’t drilling sideways. Only four businesses stay open through these long months because sometimes, there’s just nobody there.

U.S. Highway 41, which runs all the way to Miami, Florida, begins in Copper Harbor, and yes, it gets plowed the whole way up. A half mile north, six miles east and five miles south of this landmark puts you in magical Lake Superior. I know it’s magical because I’ve caught myself and many other people staring, mesmerized by its pure vastness, undulations and crashing waves.

When you can enjoy every breath of Lake Superior air, wear clothing soley for funtion and not mind seeing the same people day after day after day after day, then, my friend, then, you’ll understand.

A Little Slice of da Harbor...

Copper Harbor, That is!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Letter to the Snow

2 comments:

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

Blog Archive