A Slow Transition

Hey there!  I didn't mean to leave you hanging for a week.  In fact, I wrote a blog last Monday, but it did not publish for some reason.  My sincerest apologies.  If you like to read these posts in order, please read that one first.  It under this one.

Otherwise, it's still winter.

Roofs are dripping (it's really "roofs" and not "rooves"???) and puddles have formed in the streets for a few days now.  Yeah, yeah.  That's what I said three weeks ago when I was getting the fever.  Spring Fever!!!

This weekend, a couple of my besties and I snowshoed to Manganese Falls, just to see if it was starting to flow.  It's not.  But the sun was warm and the snow was soft.  Here are a couple pictures.

The bottom of Manganese Falls -- usually dramatic

A wannabe artsy shot of the snowy bridge at the bottom

We did hear some running water, but it was all under the snow.  Give me a few weeks, and I'll be out there again!

Today I snowshoed to Porter's Island with the crew from the Ore Dock Brewery in Marquette.  They all came up to sample beer at the Brickside Brewery the night before.  Beer-lovers seek out good beer.  What else can I say?

I must say, for as many times as I have been to Porter's Island (especially this winter) this time was so different because I went with eight people and six dogs.  Instead of just seeing snow and ice and trees, I saw this:

The crew heading north to Porter's

And though I have taken many pictures of this ice shelf, none of them put it into perspective like this one does. 

North of Porter's along the ice

The wind was whipping from the east, but when we were sheltered, the temperature seemed mild and almost enjoyable.  All the dogs were well-behaved and nobody fell through.  

To the north, we could see vast open water!  Pictures of a greyish-blue strip don't do it justice, so I'll spare you that this time.  But the water is closer than it's been for weeks!  Hooray!

A few places in town are now on seasonal hours.  I know The Pines is closed until some time in May (though they are open on Wednesday nights for the trivia team).  I believe The Tamarack will be closed for most of April as well, so bring your own breakfast to town!  The Mariner opens at 11:00 am each day for lunch and dinner until 8:00 pm at least.  And the General Store is open daily.  So is the Laughing Loon Gift Shop!

So now we just sit and wait for the snow to melt.  On sunny days we chisel tributaries in the ice so the water runs where we want it to go.  On sunny weekends Keweenaw locals drive up on a "cruise."  On warmish days locals hang out in t-shirts trimming up the snow and ice in the yard.  It's a transitional time of year.  Just a slow transition.

Spring will just be that much more precious.  Cheers to that!