A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Missed Colorful Opportunities

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Missed Colorful Opportunities

HAPPY OCTOBER!!!

Ahh, the month I look forward to the most every year. It's here! I love you, October!

My last trip to town was a flop for you. Before the rain started, I got some great videos as I drove south on 41. The colors were just amazing! Oranges, reds, purples, yellows, pinks and everything in between. I was so excited. I knew you would be proud of me for my wonderful footage.

Then I got home and looked at my videos. I accidentally pushed the stop button when I meant to push start, and visa versa, so I only got videos of me setting the camera on my lap and exclaiming how beautiful the leaves were. Sorry. I really am. I hung my head for you.

I did get this picture, though. Ehh, it's okay, but not what I was hoping for. It was raining, however, so it's better than nothing at all.

Remember how I told you that the winds were going to get crazy? They did. Not quite as bad as they were predicting, but the power did go out around 4 pm. Up here, we are used to the power being out for hours when the wind is blasting like that.

So Aaron and I shared a bottle of wine that I picked up that morning. Nothing else we could really do, and, for some reason, I just never feel like being productive when the power is knocked out. It's kind of like school being cancelled early, you know? You just want to shout "woo hoo!" and be lazy or mischievous.

At 6:14 pm, the power came on. What a buzz kill.

Then it went out 4 minutes later. Yes! Back to the chardonnay! The power went back on and off a couple more times before finally resuming at 9:15 pm. I was surprised it stayed on all night.

Color Update:

I kick myself in the head because I went to the top of Aetna Ridge today and gazed south without my camera. Oh, lordy lordy. The colors were in FULL bloom. It was even better than the Covered Stretch the other day! I mean, oh, I don't even know how to explain it, but the southern Keweenaw is certainly peaking. Copper Harbor, on the other hand, is still pretty green. That lake, she keeps those leaves hanging on to their youth.

Other than that, the town is abuzz again with lots of color-seeking tourists. People are everywhere on the weekends, at least. So now that October is here, I am anticipating the 15th. Two more weeks!

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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, October 2, 2011

Missed Colorful Opportunities

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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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