So here we are…Memorial Day weekend. The “traditional start of summer”, or perhaps the kickoff to summer. Up until this week, we have not had anything even reminiscent of summer weather up here, but as if to follow some kind of a play book, mother nature has finally decided to become a player and join the rest of us. We have not been hot or humid, but then again, in a typical summer up here, you can usually count the total for the season of such days without having to take your shoes off.
Nope, no swimming weather yet, but that is fine by me. I will be ready for swimming weather in about 2 weeks or so. We have had “turn the furnace off”, “leave the jacket on the hook” and my favorite, “hang out on the screened porch” weather. The whole family enjoyed a nice quiet evening on the porch yesterday, just chillaxing. It’s amazing how relaxing it is to sit out there and just listen to the birds chirp, the wind blow through the trees and an occasional gibber from a red squirrel. I am so glad that Nora insisted we make that part of the addition 4 years ago. I did not fight it, I just did not think that we would use it that much. In addition to putting you out into the woods, it keeps us safe from any insects.
Speaking of insects, they have not been too bad so far. We all have been able to be outside without having to put on any repellent or even have to do some serious swatting. There have been a few mosquitoes that have flown around and an occasional black fly will buzz around, but I am cautiously optimistic that the black fly season will be another mild one. I don’t know if those things have peaks and valleys in their population like other insects and even woods critters do, but the past few years have been nothing like the first 5-8 years I lived up here. One can hope, but I will not call it a slow season for them for another week at least, perhaps two. The mosquitoes are a different story. All we need is some warm weather and rain and their population will surge. So far this season we have had plenty of rain, but not warmth.
It’s been another slow week as far as material for the journal goes. The family has been kept busy just plodding along through life. Nora did get round one of plants for around the house and in the garden. She has not put them in the ground, but Gracie and her are outside as I type and Grace just came in from outside and asked where her gardening gloves are, so maybe they are up to something. I have been sharing my time between the office, the woodshop and the great outdoors. The shelving project for my office is still not done, but I have been taking my time at it. Also, I worked a bit too long yesterday, as my thoughts started to get a bit foggy. I ended up making two bone-headed mistakes that caused me to have to re-do a few things. Nothing too major, but they did give me a good chuckle. Had I been under a deadline, perhaps a scrap piece of wood would have been tossed in frustration, but I am not under any strict deadline, so I just laughed out loud at myself. The first mistake was to attach the false front of one of the drawers inside out. So I ended up putting screws right through the show face of it and had to make a new one this morning. The other mistake was to build the drawers too wide by not accounting for giving room for the drawer glides. I suppose when one is doing everything off the top of their head and not off of any plans, mistake number 2 can happen. Both mistakes were corrected this morning and this afternoon I started the finishing process on that one false front. So with a little luck, the project will be done by tomorrow.
The warmer weather has things finally starting to look like summer around here. The trees are not fully filled out, but probably over halfway done, which you will see in a video coming up in a tiny bit. I did cut the grass for the first time of the season yesterday and we even fired up the smoker and smoked a brisket yesterday! I figure the pool will go up in another week or so and then we will be off to the races.
Gracie has only two more weeks of school left and then she is out for the summer. Its funny how things have changed. Back in the days of kindergarten, she was dreading the last day of school and even had some crying sessions just thinking about it. These days, she is all excited for the summer break to come. I believe she still loves school as much as she did in kindergarten, its just that she knows that she will have lots of fun not having to go to school. Plus, she will be able to stay up later and sleep in longer. Nora works the summer, her job is full time and does not get the summer off like students/teachers. For the most part, she enjoys the change. Things are much quieter and she still has things to do, but can do it at a slightly more relaxed pace and is not constantly interrupted. Plus, she can adjust her hours so that she goes in a bit earlier and then gets out earlier and can enjoy most of the afternoon.
It is easy to tell that most of the snow-birds have returned from their migration south and that there are even some summer tourists starting to show up. The highways and by-ways are starting to get busier up here and even the stores seem to have more folks coming and going. I don’t mind the pick up in population too much at all. Sometimes the traffic can get a little more noticeable, but that usually means that you are number 5 or 6 behind the lead car at the red light and not number 1 or 2. So kinda hard to complain about that!
I can report that the Laurium Glacier finally melted for the season. It did so late in the day yesterday. I have yet to go to the discussion board to see who the winner is, but plan to do so tomorrow and let them know.
So, other than sharing a little drone video with you, I do not have any media to go along with this entry. I guess that is what happens then nothing too miraculous happens! The video I have to share today was shot just before I cam in to write this entry. Its a good thing I did it when I did, as there is a line of strong thunderstorms marching towards us from the SW and will probably be here before I even finish writing this. Anyway, it is just a quick flight I took from the house. I figured many of you would like to see more of the house than just the “front of house” shot, so I fired up Eagle One and flew it to an altitude of 400 feet above ground level and then did a pan of the neighborhood. Hope you enjoy!
Good night from the Keweenaw!!
–JD
