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I doubt everyone reading this can identify with what I am about to say, but I have a strong inclination to believe many of you will! Remember the first snow as a kid? Or perhaps a really big one that canceled school and left you with an entire day to play? Remember how excited you were? Your heart pumping faster, your mind moving about twice as fast as your body could keep up? Perhaps it was a struggle to put on boots and a jacket, or maybe you were fortunate/unfortunate enough to have to wear a snowsuit or bibs to keep your legs dry? In any case, you just could not make all that had to happen occur fast enough to get out and play in the snow.

I had a case of that this past Friday, when the cold rain changed to snow and started to accumulate around here. It was right around sunrise and I was still in the midst of finishing up my morning work. I didn’t have too much to do, but it did need to be done before going out to play! So I did my best to hunker down and keep my nose to the grindstone, but could not help but to look out at the beautiful flakes falling from the sky from time to time.

When it first started, it looked like temps would be too warm for it to accumulate on anything and I was also worried about it changing back to rain, so that only heightened the desire to be out in it and take some pics. I did manage to get all my work done and then my “snow suit” on in time to get out while it was still falling and to my delight, it had started to accumulate on a few things, like the truck.

Bleau had gone to school with Nora and Grace, so it was just Huck, Millie and I out in the snow, but we had fun walking around in it and watching it fall. With the rooftops turning white, I figured I would take a front of house shot, the first of the season with snow in it! A few minutes later, much of the ground had begun to turn white as well. I really love it when the first snow falls during the color season. The mixes of green in the evergreens, the reds, yellows and oranges in the hardwoods combine so beautifully with the white of the snow.

I missed Bleau’s first experience with snow, but Nora reported that he loved it and trounced around in it like a bucking bronco! He sure is a cutie. Still aboard the slow train to being potty trained, but at least he is not headed in the wrong direction! He is learning very well to come when called and responds to me saying “no” pretty well, but still struggles at times to think Nora and Grace are being very serious when they say it. All will happen in time.

There is an interesting game of strategy going on between him and “the big dogs”. They have accepted him in to the pack, but still want to keep him in his place. Bleau is very strong willed and tries his best to assert himself, but always ends up backing down when Huck or Millie decide to give him the stink eye. The other day, Nora tried to get Bleau to go into his crate and stay there while we ate. She did this by putting a toy inside the crate, but not forcing Bleau in or locking it shut. Bleau went in, played with it for a minute or so and then got bored and came out. Only he thought he would outsmart the big dogs and close the door. He cannot latch it shut, but did a good job of closing the door. Pretty impressive. About a minute later. Millie came along with another toy in her mouth, dropped it right in front of Huck who was laying down about 6 feet from the crate. Then went over to the crate, opened up the door in a nonchalant manner, grabbed the toy inside the crate, walked right past a defeated Bleau and took it into the other room to play with it.

It will be fun when Bleau is big enough to play with Huck and Millie. They will still attempt to play with him from time to time, but he still thinks that he is the Roman and Huck and Millie are the lions. They just never have been good at playing in a gentle manner.

The other main event this week was the arrival of Nora’s brothers to bird hunt. This is the 3rd or 4th year in a row that they have come up to hunt and Nora loves to join them. I am not a hunter, so usually stay back and tend to the homestead. This year, they were joined by Grace, who is not old enough to shoot a gun, so she brought her bow and arrows along instead. I really thought that they all would get skunked, as we have not flushed a single bird while being out in the woods in the past 2 months. Turns out, they were able to flush quite a few and while they did not get any while on that hunt, Nora’s brothers did get two in an earlier hunt.

I joined the hunt on Saturday. Not as a hunter, but as a observer and “flusher”. We headed down into the Jacobsville area and it was a nice day to be out in the woods. No sun, but no rain and temps in the low 40’s. The colors were near peak and they were not the only amazing sights we saw on our romp through the woods. We came across this maple burl that might make some decent veneer someday. There were also a number of species of mushrooms growing, including these that looked a lot like ice crystals or coral. Might have even been coral mushrooms.

It was also clear that lightning had been a frequent visitor to these woods recently. Here were a pair of charred poplar trees. I could not determine if it was one lighting strike that got both or two different ones. My vote would be one, as it is somewhat rare to have lighting strike a regular object like a single spot in a forest, but without a more thorough investigation, the world will never know. Here is another popular that took it on the chin, or should I say trunk? Among the less violent creations of nature was a little field of moss, quietly growing amongst the pines. It looked like the perfect place to take a nap!

There are several nesting pairs of bald eagles in the Jacobsville area and here is one of their nests. In previous visits to this spot, we have found the bones of small animals on the ground, directly below the nest. Eagles must keep a clean house, but seem not to care about their yard. We did make it to the waterfront to relax for a bit and watch one of the woodland creatures climb a nearby tree. She sure loves to climb trees and rocks and just about anything else that can be climbed!

The colors in our woods are very near peak. I have not ventured too far from our house, but would suspect the trees south of Houghton in the higher terrain to be at or even just a tiny bit past peak. It looks like we will hit our peak in 2-4 days. We have not had much sunshine, so I have not taken too may pictures specifically of the colors, but on yesterday’s adventure, I did come across this single maple leaf standing out and showing off it’s autumn outfit.

Speaking of our adventure yesterday, it consisted of checking out a waterfall that is probably the closest to where we live geographically, but also one that I have never been to and is a bit hidden. I would suspect that only about half of the locals have even been to it and very few visitors to the area. Anyway, a friend of mine from northern IL was up visiting with his two boys and stopped by to say hi. We got to talking and he had mentioned they were waterfall viewing and had tried to get to the falls near our house, but turned around. So I said that I had never been to them, but knew how to get there and so we hopped in his Jeep and headed out into the bush.

We got out of the Jeep and walked a bit and in a short time were able to hear the sounds of the falls. A bit later, we came upon the river flowing through the woods, which made for a beautiful photo itself. We were not 100% sure of where the main falls were, but I speculated downstream, as that is where I knew the terrain change was greatest. So we picked our way through the woods, following the stream through the oranges and yellows and were soon upon the main falls. We really lucked out, as I have seen other pics of these falls during the autumn and the water flow is typically much lower, but with all the rain we have had recently, the river was flowing at a good clip and made for a very dramatic sight. The kids had fun playing on the rocks, we all went downstream a bit more to see what we could see and then turned around and hiked back to the Jeep.

All in all a very fun trip and one that I think I will be taking more often, as it is about a 5 minute drive from my house and another 5 minute walk or so. It is on private property and I do not feel comfortable giving more info, which would be considered permission by some to go and check them out. There are a number of spots where one false step could get a person into some trouble, which doubles the importance of not opening the door for folks without permission from going. The good news is that one of the most dramatic falls in all of the Keweenaw will soon be open to the public and I believe will even have handicap access. It is the Douglass Houghton Falls between Laurium and Lake Linden. The owner of the land these falls are on has just recently signed the land over to the state of MI and they will be developing an access trail to them. For now, the falls are still off limits, as they are very dangerous, but in a year or two will be another part of all the wonderful reasons to visit the area!

Well, I am out of pictures and things to say, so I guess that means it is time to sign off. Until next week…
Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

It may not be desirable in most folks eyes, but the clouds, showers and temps in the 40’s and 50’s this past week was quite uplifting for this Northwoods Boy. As I traveled out and about this week, I did so with a smile on my face most of the time and it was because all seemed as it should be in this land at this time of the year. For sure the Keweenaw can have its warm and fuzzy moments, but for me the main attraction is the raw and natural beauty that it holds. The historic autumn storms, the crippling snowstorms and yes, the warm and sunny days of summer.

So, to me, the overcast days, with periods of rain and drizzle and chilly winds fit right in with my vision of the Keweenaw. The interesting thing is, I feel like I share that same sediment with many of the folks that live up here. In many other areas, such weather would have brought about a significant amount of complaining, but up here, the folks just sort of took it as it comes. Much like they do when we get pounded with snow all winter long. Perhaps they do feel the same way I do, but just do not outwardly vocalize it. In any case, the weather was very real up here this week and it feels good.

I can say that Monday we had a beautiful day, with temps topping out in the upper 60’s, sunshine and a nice breeze. It allowed me to get a lot of the outdoor chores on my list done. I was able to replace the weather stripping on the bottom of the front doors to our house. I also was able to replace the entire door to the shop, get the grass cut nice and short and even put up some siding on the utility room addition. The final three jobs will not take too long, but do need dry weather to do. They are to build shelters for the pool heater/pump/filter and also for the generator, as well as fix some of the ice melt cable on the roof of the addition. It looks like tomorrow and Thursday will be my best chances to get those done.

The color show is getting ramped up around here. As is always the case, some areas are further along than others. I took a trip down to Twin Lakes this morning to try and get the web cam at Krupp’s Resort going and the trees there are probably a few days away from peak. I would guess the second half of this week will be the peak for them. The leaves up this way are about 50/50 and look like they will be nearing peak next weekend and probably reach peak early next week. It looks like it is going to be a good show this year. Despite that last picture, most of the trees are in a pretty equal level of change and the colors look to be quite vivid.

That last shot was taken soon after I arrived back from my attempt to fix the cam at Krupp’s (I could not figure it out, but left them with some tips to try and it should be going fairly soon) and we then proceeded to head out into the woods for a walk. This is probably one of my favorite times of the year to walk in the woods and with a beautifully painted canopy above us like we had, its no wonder. A second trip into the woods is actually planned for after dinner this evening.

With all the cool and wet weather of late, the fungi have been blossoming in the woods big time. Spring and autumn are the prime seasons for the mushrooms, but I think our spring weather is so topsy-turvy that they do not grow as well as in the autumn. I do not care for mushrooms to eat, so I am not even tempted to research any of them to see if they are edible, but I am fascinated by all the different varieties, shapes and sizes that exist. Perhaps on the walk this evening we will come across more and I can share next week.

The “shrooms” are not the only thing clinging to the trees in our woods of late. Gracie has been having a blast climbing as many as she can. She is not afraid to high at all, which warranted the idea of her getting a rock climbing helmet to wear while climbing. She thought it was a great idea, so no selling was needed. She even HAD to get out into the woods to try it out when we got home on Thursday, even though there was some light rain falling. If she keeps going higher, we might have to add to her fall-protection with a harness and safety line! It sure is fun to watch her climb. She can really get herself into a pickle, but does not panic and always finds away out of it!

Perhaps the biggest news this past week was the snow that fell Friday night and Saturday morning. I did not see any fly at our house, but while we were at the farmers market in Calumet yesterday morning, it was snowing! Hard to tell from that pic, but there is a white streak in the image on the far right, over the road and another on the back of the dark blue mini-van. Some places even had enough fall overnight to whiten the ground. Here is a shot taken from the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge Saturday morning. Not really enough for even the “rock”-skis, but it was cool to see the flake flying!

Things have been going pretty good in the puppy department. Bleau is getting along very well with Momma-Millie and Uncle Huck. They are not shy about putting him in his place, but are also fair about it. They could be a little bit more gentle when they play with him. He seems to think they are trying to kill him, but Huck and Millie have always played very rough with each other, so there is still some adjustments to be made by all three of them when it comes to play. He is still having accidents in the house, but the past 3 days or so they have been less numerous. Yesterday he made it through the entire day accident free and then sort of made up for it from around 7-8:30 pm. Both Nora and I think that he gets moody when he is tired, as he really becomes a little brat. Biting, barking and messing the house. This all happens like the flick of a light switch and also stops just as suddenly. Only when it stops, he is out sleeping. There is no question that he has a very strong will and is adventuresome, but also has a heart of gold. He made two trips to the school this week and absolutely loves interacting with the kids and staff. It is almost like he knows the school is future.

I think that about covers it for this one. A reminder, the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club is holding its annual trail work session on October 19-20. Free lodging is being offered to workers at the Trailside Lodge in Calumet and Lac La Belle Lodge in Lac La Belle. I met with our groomer boss this week to get started on making a list of jobs to be done and will be meeting with him again this week to do more work. There will be plenty to do, so all are welcomed!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

 

No doubt about it, summer is gone-zo! It left in pretty quick fashion late Monday. I last wrote on Monday and as I was writing, the temps were falling and Tuesday’s high was only 53 degrees. We then spent most of the rest of the week in the 50’s for highs, although did sneak up to 63, but today’s high has only been 43! We still have not had to turn the heat on, but the fireplace has been turned on a few times. I believe I will turn the heat on once I am done putting this entry out, as I do not want to wake up to a super chilly house and I also do not have any desire to see how long we can go without turning the heat on.

While out and about the past few days, I did smell the smell of wood burning, so many folks have turned their heat on and those using wood are casting that wonderful smell. I guess that is about the ONLY thing I miss about not heating with wood anymore. The smell was always nice, especially at this time of the year. Just really set the mood for autumn. However, I am not even remotely close to missing the smell of wood burning to go back to heating with it! Nor will I ever, I suspect!

The trees are all in a state of changing color. Very few are at or even near peak, but the greens of the summer are all fading away and giving way to the yellow’s, orange’s and red’s of autumn. I suspect that in about 2 weeks we will be close to peak, which will be about average for us. Hard to tell if it will be an unusually magnificent color show or just our regular form of magnificent, but it is really neat to see the change underway.

Yesterday morning I took Huck and Millie on a quick walk. Temps were in the 40’s, with sunny skies and that crispness in the air that only autumn seems to bring. As I looked around at the trees in the midst of change and the beautiful blue skies, I couldn’t help but to smile a big old smile. “This is what I spend all summer waiting for!”, was my thought. No snow yet, but it has gotten close. Just the other side of the big pond, the snow has been falling already. Some of the inland areas of the north shore of Superior have already seen their first wet coating of snow. It looks like some areas of the upper Midwest could see their first snowflakes of the season later this week. It is always a touch and go situation for us, as the lake modifies the air enough that we can see rain, while areas just a bit to our south see snow.

I’m fully ready to feel that tingle and spark of joy at seeing the first flakes of the season, but also am content to not see much in the way of accumulation. I still have some outdoor chores to take care of and need around 3 days of decent weather to get them done. It looks like tomorrow will be a good day for sure and I suspect that there will be at least 2 more before the cold and wet or snowy weather sets in for good.

It seems hard to believe that we are at the final week of September already. I think September goes by faster than all the other months. December is a close second, but the excitement for Christmas seems to keep it from racing by as quickly as September does. I think what really made this September go by so fast is that we had August type weather happen right through the 16th of September. So in reality, we have only had about a week of September type weather, but the month is just about over.

Not a whole lot has been going on up here, except for Nora and I chasing Bleau around with a role of paper towels and cleaning up his messes! He is making progress, but still has quite a few accidents in the house. I will say that he is the most unusual dog to get house broken I have ever experienced. At one time, he seems to have the hang of it, by giving us a little warning and then waiting for us to get there to let him out, while at other times, he just will let it rip. Even when he was just out less than 5 minutes ago and went, sometime more than once while outside! He does make it through the night and seems to be able to hold it longer if he is in his crate. Life sure will become more laid back when he is finally house broken, that’s for sure!

The one thing that became very apparent to me when he joined our family is how wise Huck and Millie are. I know they are pretty well behaved and are very low maintenance, but all the little one work commands that they know I just took for granted. It may sound strange, but they even seem to realize their wisdom and many times seem to want to impart it upon the new guy. For his credit, he pays very close attention to them and almost seems to idolize them. He follows them around where ever they go and the other day they were both playing with a stick and he just sat down and took notes.

He is growing too. Just a week ago, I watched Huck stand over his food bowl, but not eat from it, as he knew it was not his. Bleau came from underneath, walked between Huck’s two front legs and proceeded to eat while standing between Huck’s legs. He would not fit underneath Huck without crouching down now. I think it will be more fun for all of them once he is closer to the size of Huck and Millie. Right now, they see him as more of an ankle biter…which…he is!

As I have mentioned in previous journal entries, the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club will be holding its annual trail work session to get the trails in shape for when the snow flies and the snowmobiles start running on them. We have been busy with some projects already. A bridge on trail 124 was replaced this week. It was a pretty old one and in dis-repair. The new one uses a steel frame with wooden decking and should last a lot longer. There are still the railings to build and that might even be one of the jobs for the work session October 19-20. I will be getting together with our trail boss this week and next to travel most of the trails and compile a list of jobs that need to be done. Sounds like a pretty good crowd is already planning to attend and I know we can use all the help we can get!

So I guess that about covers it for this one, perhaps the next writing will have some pics of flakes in the air!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

That has been the main activity around the Dee house the past 8 days. Learning. Lots of learning! No just the Little Boy Bleau, but Me, Nora, Grace and the “big dogs”. So far things have been going quite well. Not perfect, but better than might be expected. My main two concerns with the new guy hanging out with Huck, Millie and I all day were: 1) Him getting along with the other two and 2) Going potty outside.

I am happy to report that after a few days of having to put him in his place, the three dogs are getting along very well. There was never any time where Huck or Millie was mean to him or hurt him, but they had their territory invaded by another dog and they wanted to let him know that they were not going to be taking a back seat. We actually did some research on how best to introduce and familiarize a new dog to existing pets and other than making their first introduction on neutral ground, we followed the script pretty well. I really do not think things could have gone too much better to get to this point. Huck was the first one totally comfortable with him hanging around and Millie is now fully comfortable as well. So much so, that he can walk up to them while they are eating and they just carry on. They may stop, give him a look like “not getting any of my food “Bucko””, but there is no aggression. Bleau even playfully nipped at Millie’s tail and rear leg this morning and she just shrugged it off. I still am not ready to leave them all alone for very long, but am so happy that Huck and Millie have grown comfortable with him in our house and all are getting along.

When Bleau first arrived, we were referring Huck and Millie to him as their brother/sister and vice versa, but after some time together and seeing the huge maturity gap, I have found it more apropos to call them “Uncle Huck and Miss Millie”. They seem to enjoy the titles as well. Bleau has gained some nicknames. Bleauie is one, Bleau-Bleau another. One that is growing on me (especially when he is in my good graces) is Bleaus Mobile. I am sure there will be more that come down the pipe as time goes on, but he has learned his name and also will come running anytime someone whistles.

Among other things he is being taught is to like his kennel. He does spend most of his time free and that will be the case when he gets older and is home. While at school, I think the plan is to have a bed for him and that is where he will relax when not working. Although there will likely be a kennel there for him if needed and there will also be times where he might have to be in a kennel, so Grace has been helping Nora and I get him used to being in there. Of course, if you are going to be a dog living in the Keweenaw, you have to know how to hunt, so Millie has been showing him the ropes in that skill. It was no coincidence that he was watching Millie very closely in that last shot. He actually pays a lot of close attention to them, as if to be learning from them.

As far as the potty training goes…that is still a work in progress. He is much better at going #2 outside than #1. He did make a little mess in the bedroom this morning, but I think the last time he did #2 inside the house was last week. So we are getting close with that. #1 still is a bit of an issue. He is averaging around 2 accidents in the house a day. We do take him out at least every 2 hours, many times every hour. Sometimes he will go outside, come in and 10 minutes later have an accident. I am not 100% sure why, but the ideas range from he just does not know he should be emptying his bladder all the way and not saving any like a male dog might do, or perhaps his bladder is just not that well developed yet, or maybe he just wants to mark territory in the house. What ever the case may be, he is getting better, with his frequency of peeing in the house going down from when he first got here. The kennel will also help with that training.

With the weather being more like late July and early August than mid-September, we have all been going to the beach quite a bit since he has been here. There have been 3 visits to the beach in the last 8 days. Friday evening, the temps were still in the upper 70’s to around 80 degrees, even as the sun was setting, so we all took a trip to the big lake to have some fun. Huck and Millie sure know what to do when we get there, but he was a little dumbfounded as to what the beach was all about. He is not quite up to even getting his feet wet, but does enjoy watching Huck and Millie swim. The air Friday evening was plenty warm enough to swim, but an off-shore breeze had the water temp pretty chilly. That did not stop Grace from joining the pups in the lake though. Bleau had fun watching her swim as well. I doubt that he will venture into the lake this season, but I have a feeling that by next summer, he will be joining Huck, Millie and Grace in their swimming fun.

Yesterday we all went down to the Jacobsville area to celebrate the birthday of Flora. She is same age as Grace and they have become really good friends. There is another girl that is Grace’s age that lives down there and the three of them have a blast whenever they are together. It was a fairly small gathering, with just one other family besides us and the other girl from Jacobsville family, but still plenty of kids. I believe there were 7 total and they all had a blast hanging out with each other. With temps in the 80’s and dewpoints in the mid 70’s, it was plenty warm enough to head to the beach. The folk’s place we were at is within walking distance to a little beach area, so that is exactly where we went yesterday afternoon. At first, all piling into a garden cart, but then they all gave Tim a rest and walked most of the way.

There was a bit of a surf going at the beach yesterday, so that only made things more fun for the kids, as they swam and played in the waves. All of the parents strategically left their swim suits at home, but actually, the water was warm enough that it could have supported a swim by a wimpy adult as well. This late summer weather we have been having is pretty amazing. It is not that unheard of to have upper 70’s or low 80’s occur at this time of the year, but it is pretty unusual for it to happen 7 days in a row! There has been a little bounce in the mosquito population because of it, but they are not horrible up this way. Temps are in the process of cooling as I type and look to get cold enough to do away with most of the biting insects for the season.

Even though Bleau rested most of the time we were at the beach, the 3/4 mile walk to the beach wore him out enough that he commandeered a ride back to the home in the cart, riding along with Woodland, the youngest of the kids in attendance. It was really cute to watch the two of them ride in the cart. Bleau enjoyed sitting on Woodland’s lap and the two of them looked like they could have been related with their matching curly blond hair!

So not much more in the way of activity up here. As mentioned, we are giving up summer for the season it appears. Temps are falling as I type and it looks like the rest of the week will be spent with highs in the upper 50’s to low 60’s, rather than upper 70’s to low 80’s. You will not get any complaints from me, although with it cooling off pretty nicely at night, I have not been too upset with the late season stretch of warmer and humid weather. It does look to be safe to pull the air conditioners and put them into storage, as well as perhaps change the sheets to the winter setup. I know I am also looking forward to being able to wear long pants and a sweatshirt as well. I still have some outdoor chores that I want to get done before things get too nasty outside and the cooler weather and fact that the three pups are getting along well will help to facilitate that.

The past week or so has also seen more and more color appearing in the trees up here. We are still a long ways from being at peak color, but there is less and less green and more and more yellow, orange and red starting to appear. It should not be too long before we see our first flakes of the season fly. That typically happens around the beginning of October and we are just two weeks from that! The excitement for winter is beginning to build!

I would like to invite you all to the annual trail work session, coming up this October 19 and 20. It will happen in very similar fashion to previous sessions. Free lodging is being offered up to the workers by the Trailside Lodge and also the Lac La Belle Lodge. We will be beginning each day at the Trailside Lodge and also having a cookout on Saturday there. We will not be working on the major washouts from the Father’s Day flood, but there is plenty of work to do, so I hope we can have a big turnout. Feel free to send me an e mail letting me know if you are coming and how many will be joining you, that way we can be prepared with enough work and food! Helpful items to bring would be things like: tools to cut brush (like loppers), chainsaws, pole saws, shovels, gloves. A mode of transportation will help too, like a truck, SUV or ORV, but is not mandatory. Also, on November 9th, there will be a fish fry up at the Bear Belly Bar and Grille, with all proceeds to go to the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club to help get enough money to build a groomer barn.

Guess that covers it for this one!

Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

With Grace, Nora, Millie and Huck, there was already plenty of cuteness around the Dee household, even if I did lower the curve. However, the measurements just went off the scale yesterday at 3:42, when this little guy arrived to join the family. His name is Bleau and he is a double doodle. Double doodles are hybrid of three breeds;  the Labrador Retriever, Goldendoodle and the Labradoodle. I suppose you are all wondering, just how in the world did the Dee’s decide to get another dog? Well, that is a bit of a story!

First let me say that both Huck and Millie are doing great and not in any kind of failing health. So Bleau was not added to the clan to help with the pending loss of either of them. They both turn 10 in January, so hopefully they have several more years with us. The process that led to the addition of Bleau began last spring. The Calumet, Laurium, Keweenaw (CLK) school district received a grant for a service dog. The purpose of the dog will be to be at the school during regular school hours and help kids who are having some problems. It could be as simple as just a bad day or perhaps something more serious on the emotional side. He will not be trained to recognize any health issues, such as seizures or low blood sugar. He will simply be there for emotional support and will be trained for the task.

In the late spring and early summer, when it became clear the district was going to be getting the dog and even had the breeder picked out from which the dog would come from, the process of planning who would be the host family for it began. An automatic reaction was made by Nora and Grace that we should toss our hat into the ring and while I did not shoot down the idea, I did not agree to it right away. We spent quite a bit of time as a family discussing all the ways that the pup would be changing our lives, including Huck and Millie. After a few weeks of great discussion, I finally gave my vote to go ahead and apply to be the host family when the time came.

As summer break was finishing up, the announcement of the dog and then applications went out to all the staff in the district. We spent a nervous 2 weeks while the application process took place and the committee made their decision. Last Thursday the committee met and the decision was made. Nora found out on Friday that we were the family chosen to be the host for the dog and then on Saturday, yesterday, Nora and the school’s social worker (who did almost all of the work involved to get the dog) drove down to Crystal Falls MI to pick him up. Grace and I stayed home and did one last round of checking the house for anything the puppy cold get into and also went to Houghton to get some food, toys and treats for him. To further kill time, Grace and I took down the swimming pool and got it packed away for the season.

At 3:42, Nora pulled into the drive way, parked the car and had this little guy sitting on her lap. We had decided ahead of time that to keep things from getting too out of hand for the little guy’s first moments at his new home, Huck and Millie would stay inside and then be introduced one at a time after the puppy had grown comfortable with his new digs. All went very well, Huck and Millie actually surprised us a bit with how cautious and gentile they were. I was not at all afraid they would be aggressive, but they tend to be very excited when people and especially dogs come to visit. It was a beautiful day to just sit outside and let everyone sniff butts and get to know each other better, although I did get smacked when I went in for a second sniff of Nora’s derriere!  I guess once was enough!

We spent about an hour outside and then went in, had dinner and decided it was a great evening for a walk in the woods, so we all headed out for a short hike in our woods. I got to lead the way, so I chose the path to Old Granddad. I figured if this pup is going to be a part of our family and spend the rest of his life playing in our woods, he had best meet the matriarch of our woods- Old Granddad. It was fun to watch him navigate is way through the woods. At first he was a little timid about going through any brush and walked around any blow-downs, rather than hop over them, but he watched Huck and Millie trounce through the woods and soon he was keeping up with us all and even jumping over the downed trees.

After the walk we all got a drink of water and then Grace took him over to see Grandpa Tree. For those of you who missed the story about how one of our apple trees got the name “Grandpa Tree”, go back to the entry titled “Dreams”. After hanging out at the Grandpa Tree for a while, we all came back inside and it was time for Bleau’s first bath at our house. The breeders did an awesome job of taking care of all of the puppies in the litter. Bleau actually was clean when Nora and Shelly picked him, as were his remaining siblings and in all the pictures and videos of him before he was picked up, they all looked to be well taken care of.

After the bath, it was time to cuddle in the living room, which caused the little guy to fall fast asleep after such a busy day. The only problem with that was that when it came time to go to sleep for real, he had just finished a nice 2 hour power nap and was ready to rock and roll, not sleep!

Today was a pretty busy day too. Up before dawn, some morning exercise, a nap and then off to a birthday party with Grace and Nora. Came back home, played with Huck and Millie some, had dinner and then took another walk in the woods. This time, running through the woods like Huck, Millie and Grace do and jumping over the logs. It has only been a little over 24 hours since he joined our family, but it is already very clear that this little guy is special. He is very smart. He learned his name almost instantly and will come when called. He is also very laid back for a puppy. Not lazy, but just very content to lay with you and be still, which is great, because that will be a big part of his job. Tomorrow he will make his first visit to the school, only for a short while and to get his picture taken as it is school picture day.

It goes without saying that life has changed for all at the Dee house, but its a good and welcomed change. It will take a while longer for us to all settle into the new situation, but things really could not have gone much better so far.

In other news this week, not much happened! I came down with a cold last Sunday and it really had me knocked down for much of the week. At one point before I rolled out of bed on Wednesday, I was a little worried that I might have to see the Dr, as I was really not feeling well at all and they always want me to come in if I come down with something and it seems to be getting worse than it should. Thankfully, there was a bit of a turn around later Wednesday and I am feeling better. Still not 100%, but neither is Nora and she came down with the same bug about a week before me. So looks like it is one of those that hangs around for a while.

The weather has been beautiful the past 3 days, but most of last week was pretty nasty. I will not go on about all the rains, except to say that by the time it finally ended on Thursday, we had picked up around a foot of new rain in 10 days! I know that other areas of the Midwest have seen as much rain and in some cases more. Looks like everyone will be dry for this week, which will be a good thing. In other weather news, the once quiet hurricane season has suddenly become quite active. There are three named storms in the Atlantic right now, here is a beautiful picture of all three taken this afternoon from space. On the left is Florence, which was a hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm and is back to being a hurricane. It looks to become a very strong and dangerous storm in the next few days and could really cause some big problems in the mid-Atlantic states late this week. First with its landfall and destruction from winds and storm surge and then from what could be catastrophic flooding as it moves inland. The storm in the middle is Isaac and is a tropical storm at the moment, but looks to strengthen to a hurricane soon. On the right is Helene, which at the time of that picture was still being classified as a tropical storm, but has since been upgraded to a hurricane.

No hurricanes for us. Just sunny skies and late summer temps this week. Some cooling and rains by later next weekend and early next week. Time to start thinking about pushing the summer clothing to the back and bringing the cold season garb to the front!

Have a wonderful week and…
Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD