Back and Waiting

Thanks for your patience with me while I consistently leave you hanging.

I never thought that being a mother would come with so many hospital visits.  As you can tell, my life is on hold while I try to get this little boy feeling the best he can.  It will still take some work, but he is doing well.  Thank you to everyone who sent me good thoughts and kind words.

We are back in da Harbor.  It's lovely, really.  With a slight warm up in temps, I am able to push a stroller around town and get B acclimated to Harbor life.  I know he is going to love it here.  He is already a lover of life in general.  Despite his medical hardships, he is smiley, observant, focused, strong, playful and adventurous.  A bit stubborn too -- a good survival skill for the U.P.

I really wish I could update you on things, but I don't know a whole lot!  The snow is melting.  Many areas around the bases of trees are already exposed ground.  The sun shines occasionally.  The wind howls from time to time.

The lakes almost look as if a person could skate on them.  With recent melting and refreezing, the tops are smooth.  I would love to adventure out there, but, well, do I really need to explain myself right now?

So I can't wait for more springy weather.  My little boy will get to go out with me as I wander the trails and look to see what's blooming.  Oh my gosh.  Wildflowers!  What a welcome site they will be!  My heart smiles just thinking about it.  

Though I have not had time to write anything more than a to-do list lately,  a couple of my articles have been published within the last couple months.  Check out the Great Lakes Pilot for my award-winning essay titled "Whichever Season is Next."  That is in Volume 10 Number 6, 2015 on the front page!  And remember last year when I went to Big Bay for the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman classes?  Well that article was published in the February, 2015 issue of Traverse Magazine.  Yeah, Traverse.  Pretty cool, huh?  They called it "Women Gone Wild."  I am proud.

Okay.  Mr. 20-minute-napper is awake, so I must tend.  I really hope to get out for something fun soon, so you don't give up on me!

A New Part of Michigan

Hey.  I am in Ann Arbor, MI right now with my son.  Never been here before.  There is so much salt on the ground that I could rim a margarita glass on the sidewalk.  Hmm... that sounds pretty good right now.

Lots of cars and traffic, but that's the city.  It's not so bad, though.

After my little boy recovers from his heart surgery at Mott's, we can drive hundreds of miles back up to da Harbor.  Aaron will be back by then too, so I should be able to get out and enjoy the natural world.  Bear with me until then, okay?

Thanks.

Keeping It Curious

I've been hanging out with my parents in Wisconsin for a week, so I really don't know what's going on in da Harbor right now.  Sorry.

But I have been out for a cross country ski since I talked to you last.  A ski around Ft. Wilkins with a new friend, Annele.  The conditions were wonderful, the scenery was spectacular and the company was pleasant.

A couple areas of interest along the way were Fanny Hooe Creek with her sleek water sliding over the rocks and bubbling under icy banks.  The white buildings at the fairgrounds were another cool spot.  The uniqueness here was that the roofs were all covered in a fresh layer of snow -- white buildings with white roofs on the white ground against a white sky.  That would have made for an interesting picture with the lack of contrast.

But here's the part that made my heart swell.

While we were out, we passed two people out waking their dogs, one skier with her dogs and two snowshoers.  Usually when I'm out, I don't see anyone except my buddy for the day.  That day I saw five!  And three of them were locals!  Yes!  I love it that people are getting out to enjoy the magic we have out our back door.  I was still giddy about this when I got home.

For another sweet adventure, I took Annele on a snowshoe.  We crunched up to the original spot of Fort Juniper, then followed the Lake Superior shoreline to the mouth of Fanny Hooe Creek.  Here are some shots from the shoreline part of the journey.

Surfboards of harbor ice

Annele above a monster ice hole

An icy shore

I want you to pay particular attention to that last picture.  See that chunk of ice in the middle?  It's blue.  Really, truly blue.  I didn't edit that picture at all.  Pretty snazzy, hey?

On our trip through the Fort area, we were going to take the south trail next to the lake.  It would have been pretty chilly with that bully south wind.  Luckily, Annele spotted a meandering snowshoe trail past the bridge.  We followed that through some trees and camp grounds.  Really a neat perspective that I hadn't experienced before.

Then we saw this spectacle.

A snow-curl slide off a picnic table

So this display was sighted all throughout the west campground on south-facing tables.  A few days before this picture was taken, we had a couple days of sunshine.  That sun heated the tables just enough to make the snow slide slowly but surely off the tables.  As the edge of the snow hung over the edge of the table, it started to bend down.  By the time that bend hit the ground, it continued to curve slowly but surely back under the table.  Pretty cool, huh?

It was another wonderful adventure.

Now I don't usually do this personal stuff, but little Braeden sure looked cute in this mohawk hat.  So here he is... 

Braed-man rockin' the mohawk hat

You don't have to tell me.  That's a cute little boy right there.  He steals my heart daily.

I'll be back to the yoop soon.  See you then!

Adventures Resume

Let me start this one out by saying that I have a wonderful husband.  He makes sure that he is home at some point in the day to watch the Wee Man, so I can go out and enjoy some beauty and fresh air.  "More than just a walk," he says. "Do something fun."

Well, you don't have to twist my arm!

One day, when I only had time for "just a walk," I saw that the harbor was frozen over.  Then I saw ice volcanoes in the gap.  That little spark that is Amanda lit up inside me and I nearly ran across the ice.  I have to go to the gap, I murmured hypnotically.  I carefully crawled onto the ice to check it out.  Shore slush and slight seiching sounds assured me that was not the day.

Here is what it looked like.

The icy harbor 4 days ago

I'll give it a couple days, I told myself.  Ooh, I couldn't wait.  Ice volcanoes are high on my exploration list.

But a couple days later proved that I was smart in not crossing right away.  The south wind took the ice out a day later, and westerly gusts stirred up some waves the next.

The wavy harbor today!

So I'll just wait.  That trek from the Marina doesn't seem as exciting, but at least it's an option...

A couple days ago Duce and I crossed Fanny Hooe.  Oh, the sun was shining and lighting up my spirit.  Here's what it looked like on that lake.

On Fanny Hooe looking East

I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go once I crossed the lake.  However, "up the ridge" was definitely on my mind.  I turned into Paul's Plunge and started climbing.  I saw some "snowcicles" along the way.  I don't know if I've ever seen those before!

Snowcicles on a rock

As I hiked, I just let my curiosity do the talking.  Then I saw it: this open ridge slope.  My first thought was, I want to go up there!  But my second, and more logical thought was, I want to go down that!!!

So I followed the trail up while keeping my senses on that ridge.  It was so quiet in there.  When I stopped walking, the only sound was my pulse thumping through my body.  So peaceful.  Ahhh.

At the top, I just trusted my instincts to get me to that open ridge.  When I found the peak of it, we had a pretty nice view of sunlit Superior through the trees.

Lake Superior in the distance

Then I did what any full-grown kid would do: I skied down that slope on my snowshoes, woo-hooing the whole way.  Yes, I will do that again.  Let me know if you want to go with me.

At the bottom, Duce and I found the lake, and started across.  We did hit one slushy spot right about where it was on the way there.  Well, if we fall in, there are some ice fishermen over there.  Hopefully they will save us!  Luckily, their services were not needed.

So these were just a couple of my journeys.  But let me tell you, when I strap on those snowshoes, I feel like I can go anywhere -- especially if I had a cup of coffee. :)

Keep the good thought going.  I'll find you again, down the snow-covered road!

Post Holiday Report

Happy 2015!  Hopefully I am another year wiser.

Remember how I mentioned the Winter Wonderfest last time?  Well, I thought it went pretty well.  The weather was warming up, but we still had snow.  And quite a few folks came out.

Folks and crafts at Winter Wonderfest

One of our local artists Donica created and donated this huge wreath for a raffle.  Those are life size doors, people.  What a honker!

Donica's massive wreath

And outside stood the snowmen, tall and proud.  Most of them were made by Staci, the one who decorated her mini golf course with them one year.

These two found the mistletoe

These two know how to party

Donny: the jolliest of them all

The leader of the light brigade

The lighting of the park was also lovely, though I didn't see it first hand.  Lydia took this picture, thankfully.

A pan of the park 2014

And the next day it rained.  I thought, well, there goes all that hard-earned snow.  But I won't lie.  Personally, a little break in the winter was nice considering what we went through last year.

The following day it snowed again anyway, so we were once again fluffy and white.  The trees were absolutely gorgeous.  I mean I stared in awe at them.  I realized that we live in a post card up here.  Everywhere I looked was picture perfect.

If you plan to come up to see this living post card, be aware that the Portage Canal lift bridge will periodically be closed.  The next predicted time for a prolonged closure is January 17th from 9pm to 7am.  I think this is pretty cool, actually (yeah, now watch me get stuck on the side I don't want to be on).  I mean, we live on an island up here.  That bridge is out, and the only option to the other side is a cold swim.

Otherwise you can expect short delays while work is being done on the bridge.  Just be prepared for that!

Since I talked to you last, a few places have reopened: The Pines Resort, Bear Belly Bar and Grill in Lac La Belle and Mount Bohemia Ski Hill.  Winter life has started here with snowmobilers and skiers, so that is promising, I suppose.

Aaron and some of his buddies are out on the east side of the harbor ice fishing for their first time this winter.  I heard there's 4-6" of ice on that side.  And they're actually catching some today!

Braeden needs to get bigger before I can take him out on winter adventures, so just be patient with me on that.  But when he is ready, we are going to have a blast.

I'd like to thank Grandma Mary for being here today, so I can actually get to this computer and focus long enough to write to you.  You should thank her too.  She keeps the little man entertained, that's for sure.

Thanks for your patience while I keep him entertained for all the other hours of his sweet little life.  I'll be with you soon, I hope!

Winter Lull

Well, I just left you hanging like an icicle on a roof gutter.  I guess time flies when you feed and change and kiss a baby all day.

It's still winter here.  We don't really have a lot of snow on the ground.  Today I went for a walk in my hiking boots and jeans around the Ft. Wilkins trail, and that was all I really needed to ward off the snow.

The snowmobilers are up, though.  Especially on the weekends.  I think I saw almost 30 sledders walk into the Mariner on Saturday.  That's a lot of testosterone!  So the snowmobile trails started getting groomed December 1st, I believe.  The cross country ski trails are not groomed in da Harbor yet, but I bet they are at Swedetown and Michigan Tech trails.  They are so on top of things in the big city.

I really don't get out a lot for exciting excursions.  When Wee Man is able to enjoy the winter outside of my down jacket, I will take more liberties.  For now, we stick mostly around town.

But there are still interesting things in that close proximity.  Just a couple days ago I went down to the shore of Her Majesty.  I noticed the bell buoy was gone.  Well, I sure missed that brigade.  And I realized that I really missed staring out at that enchanting lake.

So I took a few moments and stared.  Just stared.  That feeling of peace came over me again.  Oh, that lake, she gets me every time.  I just need to get her in my sites!

I brought Braeden down to the lake several times, but he is always asleep by the time we get there, so I don't even think he's really gotten to see it yet.  When he's older, he'll be able to appreciate it more anyway.

Enough chit chat, I suppose.  I have taken a few photos of the world around me lately.  Here they are in no particular order.

Brockway's nose full of snow

Frozen waterfalls line the Harbor Haus dock

Duce and I ventured onto frozen Fanny Hooe

Reminiscence of big Superior waves

Tracks from the "civilized world"

This is definitely the time of year when a person needs friends or a partner up here.  Sometimes by 8 pm there's not an open sign facing the road.  If you want to be social, you have to call up your buddy and hang out.  Otherwise you're left with your dog or cat or Candy Crush game if the internet is working.  My point is that this is quite a realization if you get a wild hair.  You have no where to go besides out into the cold.  This, my friend, is one of the reasons we go crazy.

And just another reason I make my own wine.

But life is good here in da Harbor.  I'm participating in the town-wide Secret Santa game.  Though I really don't give much of a hoot about Christmas, I like this activity and how the locals get to interact.

Speaking of Christmas, the Winter Wonderfest is Saturday December 13th from 10-6 pm.  Lighting of the park, local crafts and artists, decoration station for the kiddies and a bake sale!  It's all right here in the township park.  Maybe we'll see you there!

Okay, the baby is waking up again, so I'll see you... um... maybe next year!

What's that number again?

29.5 inches.

That’s the official snow report from Keweenaw County for the last few days.  I couldn’t really guess how much it was when it was blowing around here because some areas drifted three feet and some were blown clean to the grass. 

29.5 inches is a lot.

29.5 inches on its way

So happy winter!  People are frantically trying to dig out of their houses.  They are slightly worried because they didn’t get their winter tires put on yet (we still need to order ours!).  I don’t think many people were ready for this.  Luckily, fingers crossed, we have all our firewood for the winter. 

If we don’t, we are going somewhere tropical.  Last night Aaron came in the door from the blizzard and said, “That’s it!  We’re buying our tickets to Hawaii right now!”

Luckily he got his plow put together yesterday, so he can push that mass of snow around in the driveway.  Last year winter started on Thanksgiving Day when we got that 12 inches.  We’ll see how all of us yoopers fair this year!

Luckily little Braeden doesn’t even realize what’s going on out there.  Babies can’t see that far out the window, let alone understand the change of seasons.  Well, maybe he does.  He did choose to live in Copper Harbor with us....

Today I got out for a snowshoe.  Oh, man was that amazing!  I even made a snow angel and watched the snow fall as I laid there enjoying the peace and wondering how I was going to get back up. 

Here are some wintery shots of the scenery.  Ehem.  The winter scenery since it really is winter now.

A nearly frozen bog

Bareberries with a new layer

Looking southwest across Lake Fanny Hooe

A handsome beast in the wonderland

Speaking of beasts, I saw lots of deer tracks on my shoe and also a couple otter slides!  The otters must have transferred from Lake Superior to Fanny Hooe.  Smart little buggers.

I guess I don't have any events to report at the moment.  They could possibly be going on, but I am out of the loop!

I guess it's time to dig out all my winter wear from the basement.  Take care!