Scatter Brained

There is no shortage of excitement here in da Harbor.  We have events every weekend.  This weekend it's been Thunder in the Harbor (a festival of motorcycles) and Battery D (reenactments at Fort Wilkins).  Next weekend is the Copper Man Triathlon, the weekend after that is the Art Show in Eagle Harbor, and the weekend after that is Copper Harbor's Art in the Park.  That's as far ahead as I can think right now, but you get the jist.  You can get it all at the "Copper Harbor" link to the left.

I have a fun berry picking story for you.  My friend Hannah and I went out to pick thimbleberries early in the morning one day after it rained.  I wore my quick-dry pants, thankfully, but they sure don't dry when they keep getting wet!

With bilberries, I kneel or bend over to pick them.  Where we were picking thimbles, however, the plants were over our heads.  It's like a jungle of green thimbleberry leaves!  And this particular morning they were all wet.  We started getting damp from meandering between the huge, fuzzy leaves.  But soon enough, our pants were completely soaked from hip to ankle and our shoes made squishy noises when we walked!  We laughed.

This did not deter us from our magnificent magenta berries.  Neither did the mosquitoes which I have become quite accustomed to.  One other thing that actually kept me going was all the raspberries mixed amongst the thimbles.  I could pick them in the same handful!

And guess what.  I ate the absolute biggest thimble I have ever seen.  Hannah found a bush of ginormous ones, and a couple were ready.  I mean if it was a cup, it could have held an ounce of liquid.  Like a thimbleberry shot glass!  It was cosmically delicious.

Please pardon the scatteredness of the rest of this post.  I'm just cramming lots all into one

The people are here.  Every day of the week is busy.  At the Harbor Haus, we have a wait for dinner every night -- lots of families and big groups.  I think we have about 5 more weeks of constant craziness before things slow down a bit.  My coffee tolerance is quite high already, however, and I still have to make it through August!

Last Sunday Hannah and I went to Keystone Bay.  Oh, I haven't been there in two summers.  Man, it is just beautiful there, and we were pretty much the only two people we saw the whole time.  The air temp had to be about 90 and Lake Superior must have been in the 50's.  We shocked our systems a couple times going in and out of the water, but it was certainly a beautiful day off!

Every Sunday morning until October, the Harbor Haus is putting on Sunrise Breakfast on The Flow.  The Copper Harbor Trails Club built picnic tables and a chef's table on a serene outlook about 3/4 of a mile from the top of The Flow trail.  Then the crew from the Harbor Haus brings all the ingredients, and mixes up breakfast right there on the trail!  The first week we had Keweenaw raspberry crepes.  This morning we had a choice of asparagus and cheddar or chorizo and cheddar omelets with tabouli salad and fresh fruit.  Everyone who came up was delighted and impressed.  This breakfast goes on each Sunday from 8-9am.  We take donations to benefit the CHTC.  Hope to see you there!  Stay updated at this link.

Gosh, that's probably enough for now, though I have found out what they are doing on Brockway's Nose, so stay tuned!

The People are Coming, The People are Coming!

Here they come!  Motorcyclers, four-wheelers, mountain bikers, families, campers, kayakers and travelers of all sorts.  They are here, and more are coming.  I feel good about it, though.  It’s going to be okay.  

Now it’s not even July, and I have eaten a handful of blueberries and bilberries.  Can you believe it?  The rose hips have already taken the place of the petals and are turning pink.  It’s not even July!  But it sure has been warm, and we’ve been getting a decent amount of rain.  Ooh, watch out, you little berries… I’ve got my eyes on you!

I have become ever more curious about the plants up here.  I’ve been finding more to identify and find medical and nutritional uses for.  Hey, I want to be useful in case the world ends!  Plus, my curiosity takes over when I find one I don’t know, and I nose through all my identification guides until I have conquered my new findings.  That is quite fulfilling for me.  It’s like I’m in my own little plant school.

How are you doing?  Are you sweating just sitting in your chair?  It is stinkin hot up here, so I can only imagine that anywhere south would be hotter.  I won’t even complain about the heat to you.

Yesterday, however, my friend Rachel and I made the best of a hot day and went to Bete Gris Beach down by Lac La Belle.  Oh, I haven’t been there in a couple years.  The sand flies were out to bite, but the sunshine was glorious.  And Lake Superior herself is still a bit frigid, especially with the west winds that have been turning her over.  But I jumped in a few times anyway.  She sure is refreshing in that hot sun.

Hunter’s Point has been a nice breather too.  As long as the wind is blowing over the Big Lake, we are golden out there.  And cooler.  Ahh.

I would imagine that because I have only worked two days of the last three weeks, I am not nervous about the week of the Fourth of July.  I feel ready to take it on, actually.  And like I hinted to earlier, I am excited to see some people up here.  It’s been a little too quiet for this little tourist town.  Okay now, remind me I said that in August. 

Have a great day, and stay cool!

Parking Lot Shock

On Saturday my heart stood still.  My breathe became hasty and shallow.  My stomach knotted up.  My brain was paralyzed for a moment.  There were cars everywhere!  What is going on????  Why are all these people here???  It's only April!!!

And there I stood, watching all the cars pull in and out of the General Store -- some on the side of the road because the lot was full.  My body was in shock like it was July.

Breathe, Amanda, breathe.  I told myself.  It's okay.  You don't have to go to work and serve all these people.  It will all be over soon.  After a few deep breaths, I relaxed to my normal self (Ha!  "Normal self" is an oxymoron).

I was reminded later that it was the weekend that Michigan Tech and Finlandia University graduate.  Whew!  Just a bunch of college kids and their parents and families.  I'm doing much better now.

But that brings me to wonder: if  I feel like that for a few seconds just because the Gas Lite and the Mariner's parking lot are full,  HOW DO I SURVIVE THE SUMMER WHEN IT'S LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME???  

You might think I'm being dramatic.  You are entitled to you're own opinion.  But let me tell you, it's moments like today, when nobody is around, that I wholly appreciate the spring time.  I can do whatever I want in this beautiful land and be myself.  Be free.  Be in solitude.  Ahhh, I just can't get enough.  So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the woods!

Checking In

Oh, geez, it's been over a week since I talked to you!  Time is really flying by, and I barely get the chance to sit at the computer.  But that's okay; it's not my favorite place to sit anyway.  I'd rather be in the sunshine!

The annual Art in the Park is this weekend, so town is, once again, crawling with people: vendors, artists, families and so on.  Don't worry, I've been handling them pretty well these days.  Whew!

I'm sorry, but I don't really have much else to say right now!  I could, but I fear it won't be very interesting. All is well, though, in da Harbor.  

It's Not Just Me

Okay, so maybe I'm the only one that will think this little story is cute, but I want to share it anyway: 

Yesterday I went for a roller blade.  On my way out the door, I saw a girl running in a pink shirt.  Cute!  And I'm wearing a pink tank top!  As I rolled down the pavement toward the beginning of U.S. Highway 41, I noticed another runner -- wearing a pink shirt!  Cool!  Everyone out on the road is wearing pink!

My  roller blade was quite wonderful.  I spun back down the hill in front of the General Store and my trail runner friend popped out of the trail head wearing -- you guessed it -- pink tank top!  Oh, the glory of pink.  It has power in numbers.

And just so you don't think I'm the only person affected by summer up here, let me tell you of another realization.  Yesterday I started collecting door prizes for the Fat Tire Festival.  As I went around talking to various business owners, I got the same daze-eyed look from many of them with the arm flail and comment, "It's August."  

I know!  So it's not just me who gets thrown into a hardly-a-moment-for-myself-I-can't-believe-all-the-people-around-I-can't-wait-for-October tizzy.  Why?  Because it's August.  That's all I can really say.  But hey, at least we're busy!