OK, so before I get into the “meat” of this entry, I would like to make a really big, huge, phenomenal, tremendous, announcement. The Journal will be moving to Monday’s. Yep, the top brass made the decision this past Sunday. The primary reason is that since I am now retired and do not have to do work on Sunday anymore, it is a family day. I would imagine that some of you are saying “OK, but today is Tuesday, Einstein!”. Well, yes it is, but yesterday I was busy in the day with some chores and then took Grace to skating practice in the evening. She is still on the summer schedule for skating, but the winter one also has skating on Monday’s, but that will be in Calumet, not Houghton. So either it will not take as much time, or Nora and Grace will stay in Calumet after school and then go to skating. OR, the top brass will move it to Tuesday night! Oh, the suspense!
We have arrived at my favorite time of the summer. The second half of August. That favorite time extends into the first 2-3 weeks of September. It is my favorite time of the year because the amount of out-of-towners starts to decrease, but does not go away and cause the tourism industry up here to hurt. Also, the weather is still very nice (most of the time). It does get dark at a fairly reasonable time, so we are all going to bed and it is dark out. With the increasing amount of darkness, the nights are getting cooler. We can hit 91 like we did the other day, but then cool off to the low 70’s by 7 or 8 and have an overnight low in the low 50’s. Last, but certainly not least is the bugs are barely a problem at all. This year the bug issue is nearly zero. We did get some good rain early last week, but it has been dry since and looks to remain dry until Saturday.
I am beginning to feel the excitement of autumn creep into my thoughts. I am not ready for it yet, but that will likely change in around 3-4 weeks. Same goes for winter. Certainly not ready for it yet, but am starting to get excited for its pending arrival in around 3 months or so. I even am excited for snowmobile season. If all goes well, I plan to trade in the Kamo M and get something new. Probably not a mountain sled, but rather a crossover. So if any marketing folks from Poo, Cat or Doo, or dealers would like to play “Let’s make a Deal” I’m all ears!
My first picture for this entry is a late comer in the local wildflower category. It’s not the flowers fault, but rather mine. Somehow I missed a group of Black-eyed Susan’s we have growing behind the shop. This next one is another flower shot, but not about the flower, but rather the bumble bee inside it. Nora took that one morning last week when it was in the upper 40’s. The bee had crawled in there and gone to sleep! I had no idea that they slept inside flowers! Pretty amazing for Nora to get a shot like that. I wonder if they snore?!
Our resident rafter of Turkeys are still meandering the hood. It looks like their numbers have taken a hit. I counted 11 the other day and Nora said that earlier in the season, she counted 21. Kind of sad, until I remember what we have every Thanksgiving and the Circle of Life thing. I wonder what kind(s) of predators have been taking them? We for sure have several kinds, like coyotes, raccoons, skunks, fox, eagles, hawks…to name a few. Just about every night, the coyotes make a racket, so I would not be surprised that they are responsible for at least some of the missing turkeys.
This past weekend, we all took a trip into “The Keweenaw”. I know that we actually live on the Keweenaw Peninsula, but for a lot of local folks, it is Keweenaw County that is the Keweenaw. I have to say that it was nice to be back up north. It’s been a while since I was in the high country and almost forgot how much elevation change there is! I snapped a shot of Lake Superior off in the distance as we drove down a seasonal road. The main reason for the trip up north was to go to the Eagle Harbor Art Fair. We packed a lunch and stopped at a roadside park along the way to eat it. The sandwich was PBJ, but I was the ham. Grace is really growing up, but still as sweet as she ever was. Nora and I are just blessed beyond words to have her. It is just so much fun for me to watch her grow up and in 3 weeks, she will have attended her first day in 7th grade!
So this time of the year also brings lots of berries. Strawberries are long gone and the raspberries are just about done-zo too. However, the blueberries are still cranking away and today Gracie and I took a run out to Rice Lake to get a box of them. All told, there was 10 pounds there. That’s a whole lot of antioxidants! We were not able to eat them all in one sitting, so we will freeze them and have them throughout the winter in all sorts of things. The blackberries are just turning ripe and as I mentioned in a previous entry, there is a bumper crop of them. In fact, I don’t think I have seen the vines so laden with them in my entire life. I did not go to pick today, so I cannot show you the vines, but will go tomorrow and snap shots for the next entry. One thing I can attest to is that they are magnificent! So sweet, juicy and flavorful!
Grace, Bleau, Kashi and I took a walk this morning and headed down our road about a mile or so. That is the longest walk I have probably been on in around 3 years. I did just fine, did not have to stop, even on a pretty good hill. My heart is really starting to kick into gear since the surgery back in spring and I am loving it. That is a big reason why I am excited for snow and to get a new sled! I do have one more procedure to have in September or early October, but it should not set me back much at all and by the time the snows are here to stay, I should be in even better shape than I am now. Anyway, we came to section of our road called “lovers leap”. This picture explains clearly why it has that name. I do not know of any lovers that have leapt off of it, but if the water were deep, I think I would be tempted! Looking straight out from the cliff is a great view of the northern end of Keweenaw Bay and the Huron Mountains.
We sure are so lucky to call this place home. Everywhere you go, you will find amazing things to see and do. With me feeling better, I really hope to get back out and start seeing it and sharing it with you all again! It’s been WAY too long since I have done exploring up here.
Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD
