A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Picking the Nose

Friday, August 3, 2012

Picking the Nose

I am so grateful that all the berries don't come out at once. Bils and blues are declining. Thimbles are peaking (but I have enough of them...). Chokecherries are huge this year, and I got a couple gallons for making wine this fall. Whew. All in due time. I think the berry rush is pretty much over for me. I can spend time doing dishes and sweeping up dog fur. Oh wait, that's in October.

So here is a big Thank You to the great weather and Mother Earth for a wonderful berry season. I am still picking some around my house for cereal and such. It's not over, but it's been waaaaay better than last year. Yee haw.

As for Brockway's nose, I found out that a Federal Highway Grant (I think that's what it's called) was obtained for this project. The construction project involves a two tiered structure that allows for access to those in wheelchairs on the top level. It's making this lookout more of a landmark and saving it from crumbling down the side of the cliff. They are still working up there, and I can see more and more stone from town.

They are also working to rebuild some of the stone walls along the side of the road as part of the project. Oh, it all makes sense now. However, I apologize that I forgot some of the details.

Garden Brook Studio is opening up today. You can find it up Manganese Road at the Garden Brook crossing. Local artists are featured for their unique crafts and designs. The grand opening is today from 4-8pm. I'll be working, but I wish my friends the best!

It is August. We just had a full moon. I did sunrise yoga on the porch this morning. Aaron comes home from a trail project in Duluth tomorrow. Life is good. No, life is wonderful.

Wow, I think I need a nap, but I will go to work instead. I hope you can make some sense of my words. Toodaloo!

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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!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Picking the Nose

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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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