A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Back in da Woods

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Back in da Woods

Oh baby, I am BACK! I get to enjoy life in da Harbor, and it sure is beautiful!

I’ve gotten to take a couple good hikes lately. Lots more wildflowers are opening up. I saw my first blossomed pipsissewa today! Most of them are still closed. Only two were open on my whole journey, and I was tickled.

Know what else I saw? Green blueberries and thimbleberries! We are going to have thimbleberries in July; that might be a first! And the blueberries look like they’re going to be abundant! Oooh, I can taste them in my mind…

I’ve sited and identified some new flowers: purple meadow rue, northern water speedwell, northern bush honeysuckle and smooth red-tipped rose. I’m also working on telling apart the wild carrot, cow parsnip, water parsnip and water hemlock. This is especially important because two are edible, two cause skin irritation and one causes death if ingested. They all have very similar flower clusters, but the leaves are where I will have to take notes.

Let me bring you out of the peaceful woods and into town. It’s the Longest Day Fishing Tournament. Lots of boats. Lots of people. Lots of Old Milwaukee. Lots of sunburns too! So town is a little crazy, but next week will probably be even more so.

I go back to work Wednesday, which is nice because I’m starting to feel like a bum while all my friends are working all the time. I’m enjoying my time off, of course, but tis the season to make hay. And when I go back to work, it will be a hay day. I will be running my butt off. Tourists will be everywhere. Here we go again!

But life is good in da Harbor, and I just need to remember that. I am one lucky lady!

1 comment:

MichaelJune 24, 2012 at 12:05 AM
Welcome back Amanda! Hope you're fully recovered and able to enjoy your slice of paradise. I'm sure you're making the most of the never ending days up in da Keweenaw this time of year. Happy Solstice!
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!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Back in da Woods

1 comment:

Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

Blog Archive