Snow and the Gay Stack

As I look out the window

snowflakes fly by 

like swarms of bees searching for pollen

from bobbing anthers.

That season is past

as today the first snow sticks

to my ribs

and the grass

and the pavement

and the cars

and the ice 

so I can skate down Main Street

in my unlaced boots.

I figure I owe you something a little different.  I hope that poem did the trick cuz I sure don't have any pictures today.

"Dag nabit, Amanda!  No pictures again???  How am I supposed to stay connected to da Harbor without pictures and videos?"

"Simmer down, dear Reader.  I am a writer.  I paint pictures with my words."

"Ugh, but that is so much work to read all of your words!  Don't you know this day and age is full of constant stimulation and bright flashing colors?  How am I supposed to stay entertained if I have to read???"

"Well, dear Reader, reading is a skill that will soon be lost by our youth as they only text in sentences made up of the first letter of each word."

"All right, all right.  I'll read on.  But it better be good.  I'm a busy person."

There.  Dialogue.  That's different too.  And you read it, didn't you?  Good job.

As you may have picked up from the opening poem, it's snowing right now.  But this time, it is actually sticking to the ground!  That means it's pretty stinkin' cold out there.  Windy too.  And gray.  It has that wintery feeling.  Though I know it won't continue without a warm up, I embrace it fully.  Another season of change.

I've been pretty busy, trying to keep up with writing projects, teaching a few friends how to make wine, trying to get to the great outdoors and hanging out with the family.  Both sides of the fam!  I am glad they all love it here too.

Want to know the coolest thing we did?

We drove the Gay/Lac La Belle Road along Lake Superior's shore.  We got out at Brunette Park to marvel at the sandstone beach and the glistening waves in the distance.  That lake, she's a beaut.

When we got to Gay, curiosity pulled my family to the huge stack right on Main Street.  "What could that have been used for?" we asked ourselves.  "There's nothing under it."

But we were wrong.

Just behind it was concrete foundation after concrete foundation.  Such a different style of construction taking up a vast amount of space.

Now I was out there with family members 58 years old and beyond.  

They were like little kids!

Sticking their heads through openings, yanking on stakes, crawling through arched doorways, hopping over rocks to get a better view, bushwhacking to explore farther down and exclaiming:

"Oh, wow!"

"Look at this, guys!"

"What do you think this was used for?"

"This is so neat!"

"What a huge place!"

"We're on an adventure!"

Personally, I felt a bit like I was in The Goonies movie myself, crawling in and out of gaping concrete holes and exploring a new place with my goony family.  Just kidding, guys.  You know I love you.

After we came out, we checked out the old school, and then saw the historic sign that told about where we were: The Wolverine and Mohawk Stamp Mills from the early 1900's.  I even bought The Gay, Michigan Story book, part of a series by Clarence J. Monette from Copper World because we all found the place and history fascinating.

But it's just fascinating in the Keweenaw!  Past, present, and, if we are all lucky, future!

Well, thanks for sticking with me this long, but I better get on with it.  Hopefully this week I will remember to take a camera out with me!