Finally, our first accumulating snow! It sure too a while. I did not look up what is the latest date for our first accumulation of snow, but this has to be up there in the top 5. I believe it is the latest since I moved up here 17 years ago. 17 years, really?! Holy cow, I had to stop for a minute and take my shoes off to make sure I was doing the math correctly! It sure does not seem that long ago. I guess it really is true what they say about “Time flies” I guess!
So we ended up with about an inch from the storm. All of the accumulating snow had fallen by the time we all woke up Saturday morning. It was still raining when I went to bed and saw that it changed to snow around 10:30-11 pm Friday night. I was a bit surprised we did not pick up much lake effect snow (LES) on Saturday. It did snow steadily all day and actually into Saturday night and Sunday, but just not a clip where it could accumulate any further. I am fine with that. We have been in the low to mid 20’s since early Saturday morning and things are freezing up hard. I cannot speak for the larger puddles, but I know the smaller ones we had either disappeared into the ground or have frozen. It does not look like much of a warm up will be occurring anytime soon either. We may pop our heads above freezing for highs Tue and Wed, but not by much. Lows look to dip into the teens and 20’s, so overall, things will continue to freeze up. There does look to be some light snows that will fall up here on Wednesday and perhaps again by the weekend. There are even ideas that most areas of the Midwest north of I-80 will have snow on the ground for Thanksgiving. So overall, I think there is a lot to be optimistic about in the overall forecast and I like what I am seeing from the models out beyond day 10. Maybe not the “dream pattern” for snow lovers in the Midwest, but a definate change in the pattern looks to be unfolding that will be more promising for cold and snow in the upper Midwest the next several weeks.
Waking up to the fresh snow Saturday was exciting. Even though it was only 7 months ago since we last had it, it always looks to weird to see snow on the ground for the first time of the season. By midday Saturday…it seemed like it had never left! Strange how that works as well. Most of the Dee’s did not waste any time getting out to play in the snow. It was not even light out yet and we had not even had breakfast. I had gotten up around 6:45, Nora was already up and Gracie rolled out of bed soon after me. She asked if we could go out and play in the snow, to which this kid said “you bet!”. So the pups, Gracie and and got ready and headed out. There really was not enough snow to do too much playing, but if you get Gracie and the pups involved, it does not take much. Some snowballs were made and tossed and there was a lot of general rough housing that went on and then we went in for some breakfast.
A busy day was planned for Saturday, but we still had enough time after breakfast to get back out and play in the snow a bit more. Only this time in daylight. Gracie and I had a snowball fight and then she tried to make a “snow dog”, but the snow was too powdery to be able to form it. So she opted for the season first snow angel of the season. So the first snows have arrived and so has the first snowy front of house shot. Here is one of the woods. Both of those were taken just a little bit ago…before the sun went down. A bit more before any snow play can be considered, but its a start!
So backing up a bit, the weather before the snow arrived was typical of this autumn. Above average temps and fairly quiet. I did take the opportunity to get Big Red ready for the snow season. The oil and filters were changed. I have not exchanged the front lifting arms with the blower yet, but that is something that can be done in around 30 minutes in just about any weather. I want to keep the arms on so that I can move firewood around. Speaking of which, we did finish cutting the load that arrived a few weeks back. I say we, to include my brother and friend I have made from the site who bought a place up this way and has been working on it. It was good timing, as just moments before we started cutting that first load, the second one arrived! My brother and I have taken a decent bite out of that pile and figure we have another 4-5 cutting sessions before we will have enough to get us through the main heating season. Our cutting sessions are one take of gas, which I typically burn through in 30-35 minutes of cutting. That is just about the time we both are pretty sick of cutting and I know I am usually getting sore! I sure am grateful to have him helping me. I did do 4 cutting sessions solo a few weeks back when he was out of town, but it goes so much faster with a helper. I can concentrate on cutting and he does all the hauling/stacking.
So our busy Saturday consisted of us all going to several craft shows in Calumet. Most of them were holiday themed, but also had some of the general items sold at arts/crafts shows up here. After getting home from them, we all had lunch and then I headed off into the shop to work on the dining room table, while the girls got a ton of housework done. I came in from the shop and they were done with the chores and Nora had a yummy dinner in the oven. After dinner, we put up the Christmas Tree and then decorated it. I was pretty pooped out from my busy day, so I helped with the putting up of the tree and getting it ready for decoration. I then was instructed by the boss (Gracie) that we all were responsible for putting our own ornaments on, so she made sure that she got me all of mine and I put them up and then went and relaxed. The pups always seem to be excited when we are putting up the tree. I am not exactly sure why, but they love to hang out and watch all that is going on.
As Nora, Gracie and Jim were finishing up decorating the tree, I was outside with the pups while they went and did their business. A wolf was spotted crossing the road at our house the other day and until the snow is deep enough to keep the pups close to the house, I do not feel comfortable letting them out, as they tend to roam in the woods a bit. There also was a mountain lion spotted just outside of Calumet, so that is another animal that I am worried about with the dogs- especially when it is dark. Anyway, the reason I bring all of this up, is that as I was outside waiting for the pups to do their thing, I was enjoying the crispness of the night and the light snow falling. Then I turned to look at the house and saw the three others putting ornaments on the tree. The moment was quite stirring for me and made me realize just how lucky I am. Sometimes it just all feels like a dream.
I spent more time in the woodshop today and one of the times I came in to get something to drink, I opened the door, walked in and saw these two keeping an eye on the tree. I have to say that Gracie, Jim and Nora did an exceptional job of decorating. I think the tree looks as good as it ever has and I am glad that it is up already. Sure Thanksgiving has not happened yet, but it adds to the holiday spirit and it also makes the post-Thanksgiving routine much more relaxing.
As you likely gathered, I have been spending a lot of time in the woodshop this past week. My work has paid off as I am about 95% done with the construction of the table. Just a few small things left to do and then I can get the finish on it and have it ready for dinner on Thursday. I am pleased with how it turned out and am excited for it to become part of our home. It is capable of seating 8 comfortably when in its standard setup, but I made the ends be able to extend and accommodate a leaf at each end to bump the capacity to 12 persons. That is the exact amount of people we will have for dinner on Thanksgiving and it will be neat to have everyone around the same table, rather than some sitting at the bar in the kitchen or a side card table.
So I guess that covers it for this one. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone and talk to you next week!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD
Category: Uncategorized
Where’s The Snow!!!
Well, another week is under the belt with the new site and I think I am finally getting used to how to update it. I still have a few things to add, but overall, I think things are running pretty well. Items to come are the links page and updates to the snow shot of the day. Which brings me to my first order of business. Please start sending in photos for the snow shot of the day. I realize that for most, the snow has yet to fall this season, but I am sure that there are some good ones from last season or even seasons past. I have 3 lined up and ready to go, but if I do not get more, I will have to resort to posting pictures from my elementary school days and none of us want that! Just send them to me via e mail and include the date and location taken if you can.
So as the title says, we still have not seen our first accumulating snow. I did see some flakes fly Friday morning before the sun came up. They were very small and did not accumulate, but at least I can say I have seen my first snowflakes for the season. Not only has the snow been absent, but we have been very mild, along with the rest of the Midwest. Our temps have actually been just about as warm as places like Chicago and Detroit all week. Lots of sunshine too. Quite honestly, as long as it is not going to snow, I would prefer weather like this. I do not like when we get snow and then it melts, nor do I care much for the typical autumn day we have up here, which is usually temps in the 40’s and a battleship gray sky.
I can report that there is snow on the horizon. Not this work week, but a good sized autumnal storm will work from the Plains into the northern Midwest. Most of the Midwest will actually see the precip fall as light rain, but for the far NW Midwest it looks like snow and potentially heavy. For us, it will be a case where the light rain changes to snow Friday night and intensifies some with the help of the lake into the weekend. A clipper type low then looks to scoot across the region northern Plains and northern Midwest early next week and bring a few inches of snow to much of the Northwoods. So with a little luck, next week’s entry will include some shots of fresh snow from the Keweenaw!
With the majority of the website remodel done and the mild and dry weather this past week, I have been busy outside cutting firewood. When the week started, I had quite the pile still left from the first delivery. I cut just about every day for around 30-60 minutes. Getting some help from Gracie one day, from the pups another. Actually, I question how much help they are, as they generally find the smaller pieces and then rather than haul them over to the wood shed, they take them over to where the pool sits in the summer and have a wrestling match to see who will end up with the stick still in their mouth. I have to laugh at Huck’s look on his face in that last shot. Like he is saying: “Are you getting this Dad?”. Despite the questionable level of help the pups give me, it is a joy to have them outside with me as I cut. They spend most of the time just laying there, looking into the woods for something to chase down. Just having them in my presence is a magical gift.
Yesterday I got some good help from my brother. We only cut for around 30 minutes, but I was able to have a bunch of the logs laid out on the rails, all ready to cut, so that helped to speed things up and we got quite a bit done. Now all that is left is enough to fill the rails and a bit more. Probably a good 30-35 minutes of cutting and then an extra 10 minutes of hauling/stacking and that pile will be all done. It will be good timing, as the next delivery is scheduled for this week sometime and it will be double what the last load was.
This past Thursday was the 41st anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. While we did not have a major autumnal storm going on like that fateful day, we did have some healthy winds. They were sustained at 25-30 mph, with gusts into the 40’s. I figured that kicked up the lake pretty good, so after picking Grace up from school, she, the pups and I headed down to “Buckys” to see the wave action. Pictures, and many times video, do not do justice to the size of the waves. I did not want Grace or the pups getting to close to the water, but I can say that the breakers rolling in were around 6 feet tall, which means that before they hit the shallows about 1/2 mile off the shore, they were probably about double that size. So not the 25 footers reported 41 years ago, but still a rough day on the big lake. Yesterday was also a breezy day. Again, nothing like the storm that sunk the Fitz, but enough of a blow to remind us where we live and what season it is, even if it was mostly sunny and in the upper 50’s!
Other than making wood and working on the site remodel, I was not up to much this past week. I am wanting to build us a new dinner table and have hoped to have it done for Thanksgiving this year. We are going to have around 12 friends/family over and it would be neat to be able to sit them all at the same table. So earlier in the week, Grace, the pups and I went and picked out the wood for it and I did a bit of work yesterday and more today and am probably 1/3rd of the way done with the construction. About another 8 hours and the construction should be done. It will then likely take another 5-8 hours to put the finish on it, but I am not too worried about hitting my deadline. It will be in the form of a farmhouse trestle table and will sit 8 normally and will also have leaves that can be added to each end to up the seating to 12. I have to say that it feel REALLY good to be back out in the shop working on a project. No flakes of snow to watch fall as I take a peak out the windows of the shop, but in due time.
Today Gracie had a piano recital. There were 11 other students that played either the piano, flute or violin. The talent that some of the young kids have is just incredible. If you were listening with your eyes closed, you would never guess that it was a person of elementary school age that was playing. As we were waiting for the program to start, Gracie did a little pre-game exercises with her uncle Jim by hanging out on his lap and reviewing the program. She did not appear to be nervous at all, not just before, but during her performance. She sure is something else!
So I guess that once again brings me to the end of another entry. Big things happen this week. The start of firearm deer season on Tuesday probably has many of the hunters already at deer camp. If you need the services of an independent contractor this week, you may be out of luck up this way! All the major stores are open, but I know of a lot of small, independently owned business that take at least the 15th off, if not a couple of days either side of it. Snows are seen for next weekend and then Thanksgiving will be upon us. I know I for one am very excited for the holidays!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD
A New Era Begins
It may not have been 108 years, but in a number of ways…for me, the change over to the new site look was just as needed as a Cubs win in game 7 of the World Series. In a way, there was just as much excitement and bewilderment in the two for me. Just like it took me a while to get my head around the idea that the Cubs had finally ended the drought, it has taken me a while to get use to the new look and layout. What makes this even more unique is that Friday was not the first look at the site for me. I first saw the general layout around 3-4 weeks ago and in the past 2 weeks, have been working with it more than the old site!
In any case, it was a long time in coming and I hope you all find the new look/layout agreeable and more friendly. For those of you that visit the site via smartphone, you probably see the biggest changes, as the site automatically recognizes what platform you are viewing the site with and provides the best layout for that.
So the reveal is done, but not all the work. You will find some links that still do not work and some things from the previous site missing that will be added. Most notably are the archived journals and the links page. There are a number of other things that still need to be “dialed-in”, but all in do time.
Needless to say, it has been a pretty stressful past couple of weeks for me, with the stress level heightened this week, knowing that there was only a week left before the reveal and there was still a ton of work to be done before I felt it would be right to change things over. Then around the middle of this week, discussions went from the details of the site, to how and when the new look would be implemented. There were many things to consider, such as all the persons involved being available at the same time, the traffic to the site being low and a time where if there were major problems, we would not be trying to fix them late at night after a long day.
All things considered, things went pretty good. No perfect by any means, but the major issue we encountered was really out of our control. That being the new web address for the site to be picked up by all the different webservers everyone uses to browse the web. Not only did we change the look of the site, but we also changed the server it physically sat on. Sometimes these change of addresses go quickly, and sometimes it takes time. This one seemed to take just a few minutes for some and around 4-6 hours for others. Ironically, I was one of the ones in the 4-6 hour time frame! I could get into the site via back channels, but to go in through the front door to all areas of the site, it took me until late on Friday.
I want to thank Scott Niska at Smart Creative for being the point man for the entire change. He came up with the new design and together we worked out dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. He has a programmer that he uses for the most challenging things and I only know him as “Josh” from MN. So a big thanks to him for his work. Then there was my main man when it comes to the Discussion Board- Paul. He has come to my rescue with that board more times than I can count and still keeps offering his services pro-bono. Lastly, the folks at Pasty.net played an important role in helping to get things switched over to the new server. Pasty.net was also the faithful host server for this site for the past 16 years.
I guess that covers the remodel. Keep in mind that there are still some links to be fixed. If you are an advertiser in the Northwoods Directory and do not see your description pop up when your business is clicked on, that will be fixed this week. Not all of that info got carried over and I will be in-putting them in by hand this week. There are a couple of other tricks up my sleeve that will roll out in the coming days/weeks, but I am not going to spoil the surprises!
The entire week was not spend glued to my computer working on the new look. Monday was Halloween and I could not pass up heading out with Grace and Nora for trick-or-treating. I did forget my camera, so there are no pictures….just kidding. I did forget my phone, but Nora got some good ones and I can share them with you.
Gracie’s costume this year was the “Crazy Cat Lady”. She paired up with her friend Jacob and together they hit the neighborhoods to gather as much candy as they could. The first stop was at “Uncle Jim’s”. He was all set up for all of the trick-or-treaters with his comfy chair, iPad, thermos of hot apple cider and some treats of his own. The next stop was just across the street at Gracies past care giver, Susan. A few more homes were hit in that neighborhood and then we dropped southwest into Laurium and spent the rest of the evening there.
I have not lived in the Keweenaw for the 50 Halloweens I have experienced to date, but I do have 17 of them under my belt and this years was by far the best weather have ever had. There have been some pretty nasty ones and some that were just ok, but we had temps in the 60’s and sunshine when we started out and then some clouds, but still a very pleasant day to be out gallivanting around. Just about the whole week has been incredible for the first week of November. We could easily be seeing snow fly, or perhaps a cold rain, but we have been in the 50’s and 60’s for highs all week.
The nice weather has allowed Nora and I to get up to speed with the outside chores. I was able to clear all the leaves off the lawns and then cut them one last time. Nora and Gracie were able to get the garden squared away for winter as well. So now other than firewood to cut and a snowblower to attach to Big Red, all of the outdoor chores are done that need to be done before winter sets in. Actually, as long as the snowfall does not get out of hand, cutting wood in the snow is kinda fun.
The pleasant weather has also allowed us to get out into the woods. The pups and I have pretty much abandoned walking on the roads for now and are having a great time walking the trails that my brother Jim and Gracie made this summer in our woods. They are able to fun off leash and I can go at a pace that is good for me! So all three of us are very happy. We will go back to the roads during firearm deer season from Nov 15-20, but I could see getting back into the woods after that, only on snowshoes!!!
Yesterday, Nora and Gracie joined the pups and I on our morning walk and it was beautiful weather for it. The cold air inversion was just being dissolved by the rising sun, so you would be walking along in 30 degree temps and all of the sudden hit a spot where the temps were in the upper 50’s or even low 60’s. By the time we finished the walk, the temps were warm enough and our physical activity made it warm enough to get around without a jacket on. Not too many times in November you can get around without a jacket at 9 am in the morning!
This morning, the pups and I went it alone as the girls were involved with activities. The trail that Jim and Grace put in does not go by “Old Grandad”, but it does go by close enough that the pups and I have created a little side path over to him. I do not know why, but there is just something about that tree that mystifies me. I guess one things is that it has to be very old for a birch. With a trunk diameter of around 3 feet, it has to be more than 100 years old, but many birches do not make it past 10-12 years. I think another things is that it just sits humbly amongst the other trees. While it is old and very robust at its base, it is not exceptionally tall. In fact, many of the younger trees around it are taller. But yet stands there in the woods and seems to speak to me. Weird, I know, but I cannot lie.
So all this talk of warm weather probably has some of you down in the dumps. I know, I have been there. Over time, I have come to just make the most of what we are given with the weather. I do have my days when that ideology is strongly challenged and even defeated, but this warm autumn has been very easy to enjoy…especially the current spell we are in.
For those of you anxious about the snow to come, I have some good news to share with you. First, I was going through some historical data the other day and happened to see that the record high for November 3rd was set back in 1978. The winter of 78-79 was the record setter for the Keweenaw and a handful of other locations in the Midwest and was a doozy for all of the region. Please do not take this to mean that I think we are going to have a winter like 78-79. I would love it! But I only bring it up to show that even in a year where the record for snowfall was set, we had very warm temps in early Nov.
The second is more like “potentially” good news for you. There are some pretty strong ideas of a change in the pattern that will send temps to below average and allow snows to fall in much of the northern Midwest as we head through the first half of next week. It is still a long way out to have 100% confidence in, but this is something that has been advertised by the models for some time now and with each passing model run indicating it, confidence grows.
This change in the pattern would raise my hopes for this winter quite a bit, as around 4 years ago, it was brought to my attention by a colleague at the TV station in Marquette that Novembers with above average temps do not bode well for the rest of the season. So, to get the change in time to produce an average or even below average November in temps would be a good thing in more ways than one!
So I guess that covers it for this one. Perhaps next week’s entry will include some talks of amounts of snow to come next week!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD
The Winds of Change are Blowing
This is always an exciting time of the year for me. The leaves are down and in most cases, the snowflakes are starting to fly. Our mild autumn continues and we have not had anything but a few flakes fly way back on the 13th of Oct and there are no chances for flakes for another 7 days or so.
Typically, I would be sharpening up my crayons to color in all the pretty colors on the snowfall forecast maps, but with no snow seen to fall this week, I am going to hold off on starting the forecasts.
There is a bigger reason why I am holding off and that is that the website is undergoing a major remodel. It’s been a long time coming and I am really loving how things are turning out. We have the nuts and bolts of the new look all done and just have the filling in of all the data and other info to go. A pretty big job in itself, seeing as how the site has been going on for 18 years and I like to try and have most of its interesting content archived for all to look back on. So that means transferring 1000’s of pictures, dozens of journal entries, historical data, the businesses that support the site through advertising and more.
It was hoped that the remodel would be done by November 1st, but I knew that would be a real feat of accomplishment, seeing as how we did not start things until around 2-3 weeks ago. Plus, as we have been working through the remodel, we have come across ideas that we wanted to implement that were not there when we first started. So I am tickled pick at the progress and can all but guarantee the new look will be rolled out on the 7th of November.
I am not going to spill the beans on what the new look will be like and I also do not want to hype it too much, so as to avoid it not living up to the hype, but I know just about all of you will like the new look better, find navigating it much easier and probably the biggest change is that it will be way more mobile friendly. One of the features to it will be that it will recognize the platform you are viewing it from (computer screen, tablet, smart phone…) and adjust the layout to an optimized view based on that platform. When I first started the site, things like smart phones and tablets were still years away from becoming reality, so the old layout worked, but I realize that the move to smart phones or tablets is a big deal and web content needs to work with those platforms. So I guess the best way to put it is that the shag carpet is out and the newest floor covering will be in. So stay tuned…it should be fun!
With Nora writing her entries, I have a bit of catching up to do. First, the Keweenaw Snowmobile Clubs annual trail work session went very well. We had around 20 workers this year and got a lot of needed work done. It’s amazing how fast mother nature reclaims her own. Some of the trails we did this season looked like they had not been done in 20 years, but were done just 3 years ago! Anyway, it was “mission accomplished” and a ton of work got done.
As has been the tradition since it started, we had a dinner for all of the workers. I fired up the smoker and smoked around 20 lbs of brisket and another 12 lbs of pulled pork. I think I have finally dialed in the cooking procedure with the new smoker and the food was pretty good. Probably the best proof of that is that we hardly had any left overs! After the dinner and before we all mowed down on Nora’s famous chocolate sheet cake, we stepped outside for a group photo. This year we were blessed with the help from some of the members of the MI Tech Snowmobile Club, the Sledheads. Their knowledge and youth was greatly appreciated!
So as mentioned, all the leaves are down…well most anyway. We have a big oak right underneath the snow station that still clings onto about half of its leaves, but the maples and birch are pretty much bare. Which means that the forest floor is carpeted in a new blanket of leaves. Hopefully in not too long that carpet of faded autumn colors will be covered in a blanket of white! Speaking of a blanket of white…its a good thing that it is coming in not too long, as we have almost lost all of the snow left over from last season! Just kidding of course, we usually lose all of that by the 4th of July! That was the scrapings from the ice arena in Calumet! But driving past it does remind me that winter is coming and soon the plow banks will be 20 feet high in that spot.
Not all of the color has gone away. If you take the time and look hard enough, some pleasant surprises can still be found. Like these leaves on a vine growing on one of the old mining buildings in Calumet.
Even though we have been warmer than average and largely snowless so far this season, it certainly feels like autumn up here. Most of the days have highs topping out in the 40’s, it is the overnight lows that are still remaining quite mild and other than a scattering of some nights when the temp has dropped below freezing, we have remained freeze free. It seems to have some of the insects confused. We are done with all of the biting insects, but the other day we had a hatch of some kind of a very small moth that likes to hang out around the house. On sunny days, the cluster flies go through a hatch as well. Then the cold will hit for a day or two and we will be bug free for a few days.
About as regular as any rite of passage from the warm season to the cold up this way is the transition to hockey season. It is at all levels, right from the kids so young that they can hardly walk yet, all the way up to some seniors with the same problem! This weekend was the first of the two annual home-at-home series between MI Tech and NMU in hockey. It’s pretty cool how they play both series in a home-at-home fashion, rather than one team gets both games at home early in the season and another late. We went to the game at Tech Friday night and it was a good one. I waited too long to get our tickets, so all of the reserved seats had been sold out. There were a few singles left, but I needed 3 together. So I bought general admission and Gracie and I were joined by John Stachler and his son Jakob. Since our seats were general admission, we needed to get there early to get a good spot along the rail and we did. We watched the two teams do their warm-ups and then settled in for the game. For the kids, the game is sort of a secondary affair, as chasing the Huskies mascot Blizzard is a more enjoyable thing for them to do.
So the end of October does not only mean the roll over to the cold season theme for the website, but it means Halloween is here! Last night the girls and my brother Jim got busy carving pumpkins and baking the seeds. Nora and Gracie just finished Gracie’s costume for this year and she tried it out. I am not going to spoil that one by any means, you will need to tune in next week.
This time of the year also means cutting or “making” firewood. No special cutting party is planned for this year. If anyone wants to head up and help, you are more than free to, but I think between my brother and I, we should be able to get things done. A load was dropped off about 2 weeks ago and at first I chipped away at it by myself, making just enough wood to get me through the next few days. My brother and I have had two “sessions” in the past few days and each session has resulted in about a cord of wood being cut. It takes us around 15-20 minutes to get that much done and then the saw is ready for a re-fueling and a reloading of the bar-oil reservoir. We both agree that is the prefect length to go at it and then stop. We do not exhaust ourselves, but are able to put a dent in the pile that needs to be cut. Here is the first stacking that I have been drawing from for the past week or so and here is the second cutting we did yesterday before dinner. If you are wondering why the two piles are segregated, it is because the first load of wood I took was sort of an emergency load to give us something to burn until the main loads arrived. That first load was a mix of birch and some hardwood, mainly maple. The birch burns differently than the hardwoods do, so I like to blend it in with the hardwoods, rather than load the boiler full of birch.
Well, I guess that covers it for this one. A reminder that I will be holding off on the snowfall forecasts for another week. If something changes in the forecast and some meaningful snows are forecasted then I will fire them up and put them into the current site format. Otherwise, look for the snowfall forecasts to start on the 7th!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
JD–
Nora’s Discoveries II
As promised…here is part 2 to Nora’s entry…It wasn’t long before the rest arrived and we ventured inside the sauna building. We all jumped in the sauna where it was pretty cozy. Being a person who is not a fan of small spaces I sat quietly wondering just how long we would be in this space. It wasn’t long and everyone was seated in the sauna and the door closed. Making things very dark. It was here that we were played a recording of various sounds….. As I closed my eyes I had a clear picture of what was happening…or at least what I thought was happening. Someone walking down a path, to chop down a tree to use to build a fire, to be used in a sauna stove, while running from swarms of bugs…only to jump in freezing cold Lake Superior before heading into the thick air of a sauna. I was reminded again what we notice when we are listening….really listening to what is going on around us.
Before heading out we stop in the front room of the sauna building where we were able to see who had come before us, what they had eaten and where they had hoped to venture off to.
It was right around this time that us girls had wished we could go to Hansen and Jig’s cabin. We were uncertain if it would happen. As luck would have it Jack volunteered to take us. Man we were pumped!! So up went the pant legs, off came the shoes and before we knew it we were back on the lake headed towards to tip of the island. The seas were rough and we took on alot of water. Noone cared and we laughed like school girls with each splash of Gitchee Gummee that hit our faces…and our arms… and our legs…soaked… we were totally soaked once on shore. Jack tied up the boat and we spread out to search for the cabin. Our directions were to go in at the clump of birch trees. So we walked into the woods, each about 10 feet or so from the other. We walked and we walked. Nothing. After about 45 minutes of hiking and going through some pretty thick brush, I had almost given up. At one point I came out of the woods and walked further down the beach. Heading into the woods again it wasn’t long until I reached the other shore off the Island. I wish I had the camera to show the other side of the Lake but decided against it knowing our trip would be wet. It was then that I had really thought this wasn’t’ going to happen. That was ok. Disappointing but ok. After heading back down to where the dinghy was I found Jack. I verbalized to him that I didn’t want to give up but… Jack stopped me and said, “I’m not giving up!”. Alright! That was exactly what I wanted to hear!
Neither Jack nor myself had seen the others for sometime now. I was pretty sure they were together so I thought they would be safe. Jack and I split up again after the walk back down the shoreline. Wouldn’t you know we found another “clump” of birch trees. It wasn’t long and I heard a faint bird whistle. Jack had found it! I hollered out to the girls but with no answer. I wasn’t sure what to expect really. I knew that a few years ago there were 2 walls left of the cabin and something about a bed. As I approached the structure I just couldn’t believe my eyes. In less than 8 weeks I went from not even knowing about Hansine and Jig to actually stepping in their cabin. I think the only thing that came out of my mouth was “wow…wow”….There was a few courses of one wall left, their stove, some cans and pots and pans and their bed frame. This beautiful, ornate, iron shaped heart. After looking around for awhile I knew we needed to walk back down the beach and find the others. It wasn’t long and there we were….cousins…together in what was left of our grandparents log cabin. Before leaving we decided to jump in gramma and grampa’s bed. We didn’t stay long as we knew we had to catch the boat back to Rabbit Bay. But, it was long enough to be etched in my heart and mind forever.
Once we arrived back to camp we were welcomed by the others who were waiting to hear about our adventure. We learned some information about our family that we had never heard before. One of the fun facts was how Jig and Hansine got their belongings to the Island in the winter. Apparently, they moved their belongings in the winter months by horse and sleigh. The horses were trained and once they heard the whistle they would head back to the barn which was in Rabbit Bay. Maybe a tale stretched some over time? I’m not sure but it’s fun to think about.
Since my trip to the Island I’ve spent some time researching my family. I found out that this woman’s name is Martha Andersen. She’s Hansine’s mother and my great, great, great grandmother. I hear she was married to a Captain Andersen who was once the Mayor of the town where my family immigrated from in Norway. I know Anderson is a common name…it’s actually my maiden name. But, I do wonder could it be more than a coincidence that the home that the Grant Township letterhead was found, is owned by an Anderson? That might be my winter investigation to see if there is a connection.
Two weekends ago my brother Jeff and Joel and nephew Jaron came up for a visit and to do some bird hunting. For those of you who have been following the journal over the years you know we enjoy fishing and hunting together. I’ll be totally honest and say on a good day I can out fish them…ha! Not true but I usually do catch the first fish was does earn some bragging rights. I actually have never shot a bird, deer etc. I don’t know that I could. I’m in no way against hunting but I do wonder if the opportunity were right in front of me, could I pull the trigger? I’m so lucky to have brothers that have had the patience to teach me how to fish and hunt. I’ve definitely learned from the best!
Friday night we decided to go out to Jacobsville. It’s a special place for us kids and we go often. Especially, when they come to town. We decided to do some fishing. As I was gathering up my fishing tackle and rod, Gracie decided that she was going to fish too. So we packed up and were off to Jake. We opted on the old boat ramp. While waiting for the guys to arrive, in true Gracie fashion she made her own fun with a stick. I love that she loves to be outside and explore the world around her. The guys arrived and I was uncertain about what kind of lure to use. Joel doesn’t hesitate and “hooks” me up with something “great”. As he practically runs me over to be the first one to get his line wet! Cast after cast nothing. It then dawned on me that he totally screwed me over and had probably set me up with something that wasn’t the best. I decided on my own lure and it wasn’t long until I almost had a fish. I know you can’t “almost” catch a fish. Either you do or you don’t. I wish we wouldn’t have been talking so much and was paying more attention to my fishing. I reeled up my line and just as my lure was almost above the water I look down and there is a good size pike, mouth opened, about ready to hit my lure. I would have put my lure back in, but Joel had seized the opportunity and was in my spot, trying to catch MY fish. We all had a good laugh and a great time. Gracie did what she calls “wait” fishing…You know when you need to wait for the fish to hit your bobber. She lasted the entire time and didn’t feel the need to reel up every 5 minutes which was a bonus. One of the things we were remembering was how our Grandpa Bergh would wash his SAAB at the boat launch and one of the boys forgot to put the brake on and the car ended up in the drink. Fun times and memories!
The following day we had planned to go out to the family property in Jacobsville. The day was humid, cloudy and the leaves were still on the trees. So not the best hunting weather but we were just happy to be in the woods together. It’s quite the hike to get to the property but once there it’s worth it. Joel and Jaron saw some birds but most were way up ahead and on the ground. Once we arrived at the spot where we needed to hike perpendicular to the water it got pretty swampy and pretty hairy trying to balance on slimmy stumps. It was about that time the bugs started to come out some too. While trudging through the swamp land we saw some pretty apparent signs that a bear had been around….by the looks of this tree, not that long ago and he appeared to be good size. I was feeling somewhat uneasy but then was reminded I did have a gun if needed. We got to the property and stopped for a little break. We were able to get in some target shooting before the rain started. The boys had hunted the property a couple years ago so the decision was made to head to that same area. It was so interesting to see how much of the land changes. From heavily wooded to sandy moss to swamp. We didn’t see any birds on this part of the land but we did find moose tracks and some scat. And what appears to be a lightening strike and a small fire. After a few hours of hiking ( we clocked in about 8 miles that day through the bush) we were all getting a little hungry. The guys had packed some hot dogs, buns, ketchup the whole nine yards. I was impressed! Food cooked over a fire tastes so good!! I couldn’t help but think we were making memories. Some really great memories. Many generations of Bergh’s have had dreams for this land. I hope this is just the beginning of Grandpa Russ’ dream coming true. A place to gather, sit a spell and just to be still.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my writings. Maybe this has made you think about your own family. Where did you come from? Who is your tribe? Most of us know a little about our immediate family and blood line. My sweet Gracie does not. I sometimes forget that she’s adopted. I’ll never forget her birth mothers sacrifice but she’s so much “ours” that I forget our blood doesn’t run through her veins. Of course that doesn’t matter to any of us, but I suspect the day will come when she will wonder and want answers. Answers that she may never find. My hope is that through knowing so much about her family that she’ll have some peace. Maybe it will fill a void. Maybe not. But, for now I know one 7 year old who thinks it’s super cool that her great great aunt was the Sheriff of Keweenaw county! She’s also the same girl who made this announcement on the first day of school. Here’s a little sampling of her latest art work. Maybe a future Rabbit Island artist?
Again many thanks to Andrew and Rob from Rabbit Island! Looks like they’ve extended the date to apply for the 2017 residency program on the Island. Check it out at www.rabbitisland.org
God natt fra Keevenaw…