A Little Slice of da Harbor...: Still Making the Best of Winter

Monday, March 31, 2014

Still Making the Best of Winter

*This was supposed to post Monday, March 24th

So, yeah. It's still really wintery outside. So cold. Such high snow banks. Happy Spring.

Today I walked outside to go to the post office and, I tell ya, if I wasn't able to control my emotions, I probably would have cursed this blasted winter. But I know better. It is what it is, and it can stay as long as it, gulp, has to.

I made my peace.

But here's a picture honoring of the first day of Spring!

The Rogers residence under all that white stuff

I did get to have some fun adventures this week.

One day Duce and I snowshoed up Stairway to Heaven to the top of that ridge. Then we slid down the two ridges on our way back. Now that's what winter is for: sliding through the snow. Do it on a sled, skis, snowboard, snowshoes, buttocks, whatever. Just do it, and winter won't be so spiteful.

Another thing I got to do, that I can only do in the polar vortex of winter is snowshoe to Porter's Island with my buddies! We had a great time checking out the huge ice formations. We couldn't see any open water that day, but it has been pretty chilly. Sorry, but I didn't bring a camera. I've shown you lots of pictures of that stuff anyway.

For the weekend, my ambitious husband hosted "Superior Gales," a snowkiting event. Fifteen people came up to ski and snowboard through the harbor itself and Lake Medora. They had a blast. I at least got some shots of that!

Resting kites, the shanty and a kiter on the Harbor

Kiter by the lighthouse! See him?

Grillin' out. Those boys godda eat!

Though I didn't kite myself (I was way too cold out there), I still got a cheeseburger. Those boys stayed out until dark and had a bonfire on the ice. If the ice wasn't at least three feet thick, I would think they were crazy. Fire melts ice, you know.

It sounds like they all had a good time, and the wind cooperated for the most part, so that helps. You can't kite without the wind!

What else can I really tell you about? What are YOU wondering? Am I missing something here? Feel free to comment with your inquisitions and suggestions. I can certainly explore this time of year better than others.

You stay warm now. Or stay hot, if you live in a tropical climate. Lucky.

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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!

Monday, March 31, 2014

Still Making the Best of Winter

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Unofficial Overview from a Resident's Point of View

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