A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Surprise Guests

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Surprise Guests

Today I ventured out toward Porter's Island. You know, just a walk on the rocks from Hunter's Point. With northeast winds up to 20 mph, I knew the waves were rolling in big, but I decided to try my luck. However, as I stood on the east edge of Hunter's Point, looking across for a ridge that wasn't getting mauled by incoming waves, I knew it was not my day. Porter's Island was really an island.

Instead, I sat on the south side of the big rock that protrudes up from the tip of Hunter's Point. There I would be warm and dry as I wrote. Porter's Island was my subject for the day, and as I looked east past it, I noticed a friend who has come back for the summer: the Bell Buoy! Oh, handsome bell buoy, how did I not hear your lovely dinging as I rode into town? I apologized for my lack of perception, but rejoiced in his presence. He will be with us until the fall.

As I was finishing up my thoughts for the page I was penning, a large and powerful wave found its way over my shield rock and right in my lap! It soaked me! I squealed and stood up to see if anymore were on their way. Nope. Just the one to remind me that Lake Superior always has a trick up her sleeve. Oh, that blue little devil.

I found one of my favorite foliages growing today. Fiddleheads! If they weren't the fuzzy kind, I could have had myself a green little snack. Everyday I notice more and more species budding or popping up from under the brown depths of the earth. Spring doesn't just melt the snow, it melts my heart.

3 comments:

Tom K.May 14, 2011 at 6:57 PM
I paddled my kayak around Porter's Island a few years ago and can still smell that sweet freshwater aroma in my memories. Thanks so much for sharing your very descriptive impressions!
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MichaelMay 15, 2011 at 3:58 AM
Nice little vignette today Amanda. Spring is such a wonderful time of year, so fresh and full of promise. The buoy will keep you company as you watch the season unfold and ease into summer.
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AmandaMay 15, 2011 at 12:41 PM
Tom and Michael,
I'm so pleased you are getting out of my writings what I intended to put in them. I must thank you for your comments; they mean a lot, and they help keep me motivated! ~Amanda
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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!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Surprise Guests

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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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