A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Sunny Daze

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sunny Daze

I can tell that Summer is coming. Every weekend, progressively more and more unrecognizable vehicles drive through da Harbor. Mountain bikers, day trippers, fishermen and a variety pack of others are coming to town. I can't help but get that knot in my stomach. When Summer is here, my life, as I now enjoy it, comes to an end.

No need to go into detail why. I think I have tastefully ranted enough in the past. But when people ask me what my favorite time of year is here, I can never decide. The thing I know for sure, is that I certainly don't love Summer, and yesterday's mountain bike ride reminded me why.

Rachel and I took a ride up the hills we call the trail system. At first we couldn't figure out why we were feeling miserable. Then we noticed we were sweating in minimal amounts of biking attire. That's when it hit me that Summer is hot. It is too freakin hot! Since when did 65 degrees become too hot for me? Since I started sweating in it.

During those busy Summer days, I am so grateful to get time to go out and enjoy the wilderness. Biking is usually my first choice. But biking up the mountain in 70 - 80 degree weather? No thanks. So while making that miserable climb yesterday, I realized how lucky I am to work in an air conditioned restaurant and stare out the giant windows at the sun on the Lake. I don't have to be out sweating in that sun with everyone else.

Maybe I've just gotten accustomed to the cool weather from my wonderful friend Lake Superior. And when Mr. Sun puts the kibosh on her refreshingness, I get agitated. Don't get me wrong, I do love the sunshine for the same reasons you do. But after 15 minutes in its stickiness, I like a little relief from the bombarding rays.

So I have found another reason why I am the luckiest girl I know: when the weather is not conducive to me wanting to be out enjoying the weather (which all the visitors seem to like), I get to stay inside, where it is cool and comfortable, and make hay. This really is my favorite place to live in the whole wide world.

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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!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sunny Daze

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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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