Category: Uncategorized

Greetings from a very beautiful Keweenaw! I tried my best to write last week, but life has been crazy busy for the past several weeks. That’s what happens when you already have a lot to do and then get sidelined for 3+ weeks! I am slowly catching up on my list and thanks to Nora and Gracie, a lot of the work that had to be done to get our stuff out of the old house is also done. While I was lounging around in the hospital, Nora was busy not only holding the fort down, but also getting things from the old house packed up and put in storage. 

I would say that we are probably 90-95% of the way towards and empty house and only have around 2-3 hours of work left to get that number to 100%. It’s just been hard to go inside there and do that work while it is so beautiful outside. We have at least a month or two, maybe more before the house will be taken down, so there really is no big rush, but Nora and I also would like to have that work behind us. So I guess we’ll see which one wins out in the next week, enjoying the weather or getting that work done. I have a feeling I know already, the weather. However, Grace has something going on after school almost every day of the week, except Friday’s so Nora and I (mostly Nora) are pretty tied up until late in the evening most week days.

Even though the weather is not feeling like winter is close at all, Grace and I have really gotten the bug to ride the sleds and Grace wants to do some big air jumping this winter, so we built a nice ramp for her to hit and work on her Supermans, heel clickers and maybe even a backflip if we modify the ramp a bit. All we need to do now is clear some of the trees in the landing zone. We did realize that the take off runway would not be long enough to get going fast enough to maximize her jumps, so we decided to remove the garage of the house. Now she can take off from the road, go up the driveway, through the backyard and hit the ramp at full speed.

Now, if you believe all of that, I have a bridge I can sell you… on the moon! Hopefully all of you figured that some work for the new home and some demolition of the old house has already begun. On October 17th, a pair of machines were dropped off and the first thing that they did was to connect the apartment to the well that was feeding the old house. That was a wonderful thing for us, as we had been using what we call a crock well. It’s basically an old hand-dug well that taps into water that is sitting around 8-10 feet below the surface. I guess it was the source of water for a lot of the homes in Jake back in the day, but we did not trust it to be free of pathogens, so we only used it for things like the toilet, shower and washing the dishes (with a rinse bath of treated water). Now we have full use of the water that is coming out of the faucets!

After bringing the water line over, they scraped the topsoil off most of the backyard to get down to firm ground to place the foundation on. That is where the big pile of dirt came from. Since that picture was taken, they dug trenches for the footings and put in the forms and rebar for the footings. The plan is to pour the footings on Tuesday and then put a few courses of block on the footings. We are actually doing a slab foundation, but for some reason the inspector wanted the slab to be tied into footings that would be below the frost line. This one puzzles me because the slab will be heated and even though there will be insulation underneath the slab, it will still bleed enough heat to the ground to keep it from freezing and causing any heaving of the slab. Plus the slab would otherwise sit on about 2+ feet of sand that extends several feet out from it. The sand would not hold enough moisture that could freeze and cause the slab to heave. However, he’s the inspector and what he says goes!

One of the reasons I wanted to write last week was to talk about the snow that fell in the UP. We did not get any accumulation here in Jacobsville, but an inch or two coated most other areas of the Keweenaw, with a few more inches than that in the highest of terrain. Other areas like from Ironwood to Lake Gogebic and the higher terrain of eastern Baraga and western Marquette counties saw 12-15″+. I’m REALLY glad we did not get those big totals here. October snow never lasts and just makes a mess of everything for at least a few days. My brother bought a new place in late summer and he is in the higher terrain south of Houghton and did pick up a few inches. I was dropping something off at his place a bit after it had started to accumulate on the 17th.

In addition to the warm temps, we have had loads of sunshine too. The combination has made it almost too good to be true for this time of the year. It’s not that odd to have a day or two of weather like that, but in the past 10 days, we have only had 2 where the high temp did not reach 60 degrees and it looks like we could extend that out to this Thursday before temps drop into the 40’s and low 50’s. The sunrises and sunsets have been spectacular the past week or so as well. Here is a shot I took of the sunrise on Tuesday morning. Don’t worry, I did not have to get up exceptionally early for that shot, it was taken around 8:30 in the morning!

Today we went to some friends place on the lake for a visit. They too are building a new place and have demolished most of the old home. As we walked around and looked at the new place under construction, it just did not seem like November was two days away! We sat and took in the lake, chatting and it really felt like it was sometime in the first two weeks of September. I was kind of bummed I missed almost the whole month of September up here, as the weather is usually so nice. Looks like I did miss that weather afterall! Funny thing how everything seems to work out…if you just let it!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

Who can guess what that number represents? It’s not our street address. It’s not the amount of money in my bank account. It’s not the balance on my credit card. I’ll give you a hint. It is time related. Take your time on this one, but really to be fair, you would really have to be hyper-in tune with my life to be able to figure it out. So here goes…It’s the number of days Nora and I have been married! Actually, a few more days than that, as there have been some leap years as well, but if you divide 6570 by 365, you should come out with 18. Who can perform that mathematical task without a calculator? I’m pretty sure I could, but would not enjoy the process!

It’s been a very busy last two weeks for me. I’m still playing catch up with all the things that did not get done because of my extended stay in the hospital. I have an unusually full plate at this time. Why? Well, when Nora and I purchased the house we are in now, our plan was to renovate and do a little adding on to modernize things and give us the room we need to be comfortable. Well, through the course of the past 3 years, we have found quite a few issues with the place and have spoken with come contractors and the conclusion that was met was that we would be better off tearing down the old home and building new.

So that is what we are doing. For a good chunk of the summer, we have been working on the apartment above the shop to finish it out. I finished the rest of the electrical in the early spring and then we had drywallers come in late spring. Nora, Grace and I then painted over the summer, as well as put flooring down in the entire space. I was preparing to do the trim when I came down with my blood ailment, so that did not get done. I never expected to be in the hospital for so long, that by the time we entered week 3, it was decided to have the trim work done by the same contractors that will be knocking down the old home and building the new. It took them around 3-4 days and were finishing up when I finally came home from the hospital.

The next thing on my list was to remove the cabinetry from the old home and bring it to the shop for a fresh coat of paint and then install in the apartments kitchen. Still being way behind schedule, we had the crew that did the trim remove the cabinets and bring them over to the shop. Nora and I have been sanding and repainting them one by one for the past week or so, but that process had to be briefly put on hold this week, as I had to travel to Duluth on Friday for a checkup with the hematologist. Nora and I were able to get back on it this weekend and today I was able to install all the base cabinets, the new countertop and sink. we still have a few upper cabinets to paint and hang, but the apartment kitchen is really starting to look like a kitchen and is also becoming much more functional. The 2×4 and OSB contraption I had built back when we had to stay here for a few weeks before moving into the house back in 2019 just was not much good- except for supporting the sink!

Once the rest of the cabinets are done, then I just need to finish up emptying out the workspace behind the garage. Nora, Grace and I got the garage all cleaned out about a week ago. The new home is not going in the same spot as the old. It will be set back further from the road and will be built in the backyard of the old home. So all we need to empty before the contractors can get going is the garage and workspace behind it. They will tear those portions down and be able to get their equipment and materials to the site of the new home. We do still have to empty the house and some things have already been removed, but we are not in a huge rush.

So once the workshop behind the garage is empty, I FINALLY get to organize my shop and get it in full working order! It’s been in differing states of unorganization for the past 3 years and I think that right now it is in the most disorganized shape it has ever been in! I actually love to organize things, especially my shop, so I am very much looking forward to being able to dedicate most of my free time to that. It will be very nice to have it in full working condition, especially as I plan to build some cabinets for the office and then all the kitchen cabinetry for the new house.

As far as a timeline for starting the new house, we are close. The contractors have told me that they really would like to have the foundation work done before October ends and then they will be working on the place through the winter. If all goes pretty smoothly, then we could be moving into the new home by the end of April or perhaps May. Words cannot describe how excited Nora, Grace and I are to live in the new place. Plus, it will give be added content for the journal all winter long!

So as mentioned, today was Nora and my 18th wedding anniversary. We chose to keep our nose to the grindstone rather than get all gussied up and celebrate. Plus, Grace had skating this afternoon, which would have complicated doing too much of a celebration. I suppose the age old question is: “Does it feel like it has been longer or shorter?”. My honest answer is that it feels like it should. Nora and I have been through a ton of challenges. Probably more than the majority of couples face in their first 18 years, but we have come through them all and I think that each one has helped to make our relationship stronger. I knew very early into our relationship that I wanted to marry her and that we would have a long and happy marriage. It’s funny how your gut can just tell you things like that.I’m sure that there have been moments when Nora wanted to kick me to the curb and I have had some where I wanted to kick me to the curb as well, but we always find a way to make it right and grow from those experiences. Those same experiences have added some gray hair and wrinkles, but all in all, I’d say we don’t look half bad for a couple in their 50’s.

The color show is in full swing. Jacobsville has not yet reached peak, but it sure is a pretty drive coming and going from our little hamlet. The thought occurred to me this past week that it is a real shame that the color season does not last longer. Winter last several months. Summer does too. Even spring hangs around for around 2 months, but the color show is only around a week or two long. How nice would it be to enjoy the full glory for a month or two?! Or even a few weeks? Oh well, I guess like a lot of things in life, you need to enjoy what is happening around you now and not put much energy into what lies ahead. It will come in its own sweet time.

Much of the western UP snow belts saw their first flakes of the season. We did not have any here in Jacobsville, but on my drive to Duluth on Friday, the roofs in Painesdale were white from their snows overnight and I drove through a pretty healthy snow squall while traveling through Ironwood. Thankfully by Friday, all the inclement weather had moved on and left the region in typical mid-autumn weather for Grace and the rest of her cheer group to be outside and cheer on the football team.

I guess that covers it for this one. Once again, I have to travel out of town for a doctors visit. This time it will be back to the Mayo in Rochester, but it is to see if perhaps a med change or two can help my heart pump a little better and make it easier for me to be more physically active. Right now I have the stamina of a pretty healthy 70 year old and would really like to rev that up and put my in the 50’s where I should be!

Until next time…

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

Well, as the title implies, I finally made it home. It took 3 weeks and 2 days, lots of tests, prayers from myself and many others, but I was actually released Thursday night, with the premise that I would stick around in Rochester to have a blood draw done in the morning to make sure everything was on the right path. Before I go on, I need to explain why this is appearing on Wednesday and not Sunday. I did write Sunday, but when I went to login to my website and it said I was locked out because of too many failed in login attempts. I had not tried previously, so I gave it a whirl. No go. My wait time to login was 6 hours and as much as I wanted to get this out on Sunday, I was not going stay up to post it at 2 am! I tried again Monday and Yesterday and same thing. I finally wised up and contacted the support team for my host server and they jumped right on it and got things going! I’d love to know who was trying to login, have Moose and Rocco pay a visit and politely make sure they never try again!!

So back to our regularly scheduled programming. So my first order of business once set free was to go and check into the hotel I had booked a reservation at. I had to stay in the hospital until 6 pm so that they could give me one final med and draw blood one last time. After checking in, I walked a couple of blocks to a steak house and ordered me up a nice juicy ribeye. I was able to order outside food to my hospital, but the drivers were not able to deliver to the room and quite frankly, the few times I did, it was not as fresh as it would have been while eating in the restaurant. So the steak really tasted fantastic and I almost finished the whole thing, but ate too many of their bacon/cheese mashed potatoes! After a pretty good night of sleep, I awoke early enough to get to my blood draw appointment at 6:30. I was very grateful that downtown Rochester has such a wonderful skyway/tunnel network to get to almost all of the buildings at the Mayo Clinic, as well as many of the near-by hotels. It was in the mid-40’s when I went for my blood draw and I did not have a jacket, as nearly a month had passed since I was admitted and there was no need for a jacket then! I was able to take the skyway/tunnel system back to my hotel and then to my choice for breakfast. I ordered up the establishments namesake and a dish of mini-doughnuts. I was unable to finish the doughnuts so took them back with me and then proceeded to forget them in my room after checking out! Se la vie!

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in the previous entry, but I was not at the Mayo (St Mary’s to be more exact) for the entire time of being in the hospital. My first stop was at our local hospitals emergency department, Portage Health. I think that hospital is very good, as are it’s employees, but they are a small hospital and cannot always give the treatments or take the tests needed. So I was flown out to St Luke’s hospital in Duluth. This was my first time there, but I found it to be of great service and personnel. What also made that experience so good was the fact that it sits about a block from Lake Superior and I was able to snag a room with a lake view! It helped to pass time by watching the freighters and other ships/boats come and go. I arrived in Duluth on Wednesday night August 31^st and then was driven to Mayo on Sunday the 4^th of Sept. So my stay at Duluth was much shorter then Mayo. I did not get a room with a street view, but rather looked across at the other side of the building I was in. The room itself was quite nice, the building was fairly new and thus the rooms there were very modern. So that made it less stressful to be there so long. The biggest help in keeping me sane nearly the whole time I was there was the fact that my best friend and neighbor, Tim, came down on September 5^th and stayed for 2 weeks! I cannot find the words to express my gratitude for his company for such a long time. He also was my connection to the outside food work, bringing me fresh fruit as well as sweets and chips and was my pick-up man for when I ordered out. I have know idea how I will ever repay him I just pray that it will not be similar circumstances.

Another huge thank you goes out to another friend. One that I got to know through the website and have ridden both sleds and side by sides with him. He goes by the handle “Scottyking” on the discussion board. He lives about an hour away from Rochester in a SW suburb and also has a cottage in Twin Lakes MI. With Tim back in Jake and a release looking very likely. I called him to see if he was heading to Twin Lakes this weekend and when he said yes, I explained my situation and asked if I could hitch a ride. He was kind enough to first drive down to Rochester and then we headed north to his place and met up with Nora and Grace and made the ride home.

I missed a lot while I was gone. I will save the details for another entry, but it felt both wonderful and a little strange to be back. I had grown so accustomed to the hospital, that being back in the outside world and home was a bit foreign. Even a bit stressful if I can say. Not over the top stressful, just a bit uneasy. I think the only way I can describe things is from the movie Shawshank Redemption when the old man that was the librarian got released and could not handle it. Now my case was not even 1/100th the experience he went through in the movie, but had the same foundations.

I don’t have a lot of pictures to share from the Keweenaw this go around. I really have only been home a little more than 48 hours, but I can report that we/they have gotten a ton of rain the past few weeks and look to get more in the next 2 days. No snow yet, but just the other side of the lake from around Wawa to Gearldton look to get a coating in the next day or two. The colors are in different stages of change, as is the case every year. Driving through N WI produced the most colors, but they were only around 50 percent. The hardwoods around Mass City and Twin Lakes were around 10-20 percent and here in Jake there are just a few hints of colors. Here is a shot I took yesterday just past the Dreamland Bar and here is a shot nearing the end of Jacobsville Rd. I have seen some picks of the higher terrain in Keweenaw County and their colors are around 40 percent. So it looks like the peak will be near average time for most areas.

I guess that does it for this one. Thanks for stopping by and,

Good Night From the Keweenaw..
–JD

The bear rolls onto his other side. It’s a Finnish phrase used to mark the halfway point of winter. Sometimes I like to think of the winter version as a bear and not a sleeping/hibernating bear. In which case, it has rolled over and briefly awoken to see it is not yet time to break it’s summer slumber. However, in it’s subconscious, the thoughts of waking up and doing it’s thing are starting to become common.

We are only two weeks away from Labor Day weekend and three weeks away from what has become the traditional “first taste of the pending snowmobile season”, Haydays. I wish I could attend this year, but I will be traveling to Rochester on Labor Day for some tests and an appointment the next day to see if they can get my heart rhythm in better synch with med changes and not have to do an ablation. It really does not matter to me how my rhythm gets improved, I just would really like it to be improved. I am able to get around OK and even do mild physical activity, but things like going up more than one flight of stairs or backcountry snowmobiling are not really able to be done. So, because I will be in Rochester late Monday into Tuesday, I really do not feel like getting back home very late Tuesday or pre-dawn Wednesday, only to turn back around and do most of that drive all over again on Friday. I guess I will just have to learn about what Arctic Cat has instore for their next chassis platform, as well as anything else that gets revealed at the event.  

Last week I talked about how there were hints of autumn coming, but no big changes in things yet. That remained the same this past week. Still no real colors in the trees, the weather has remain quite summer-like, with the exception of the nights being cooler and dropping off into the 50’s almost every night. What did change for me was the desire for autumn weather to move in. I am not fully ready for that, but a few weeks ago I had no desire for the summer weather to go away and now there is at least some desire. I suppose some of that has to do with some of the work on my to-do list. There are a couple of trees that need to be taken down, cut up and move to a friends burn pile and that is not summer work! Also, I am looking forward to not having to dress for autumn in the early morning 50 degree temps, only to convert to summer clothes by late morning and the rest of the day when temps are in the upper 70’s and 80’s. All in good time!

The three main activities this week were to keep working on the apartment above the shop, travel to Hayward WI to pick up a new lawn mower for myself and Grace’s birthday party Friday afternoon into Saturday morning. The work at the apartment is still the flooring. It could have been done several weeks ago, but my knees and back do not allow me to work for much longer than an hour at a time before one or both body areas has me throwing in the towel. We still have a little more to do, which will probably take around 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete. Then I will move onto the trim work, then finish up getting the kitchen all set up and then it will be all ready for occupancy. Once that is done, then all attention will focus on the shop and getting it finished. That includes setting up the central dust collection system, putting the wall material up and organizing the tools and fixtures that will hang on the walls. I have no idea when that will all get done, but I am hoping for sometime around Halloween.

The trip to and from Hayward was event free, except for picking up the mower. I decided to go with a make and model that will likely last me much of the rest of my mowing career and got the Ferris ISX2200. I have put it through its paces since arriving back home with it on Wednesday and so far I love it. The ride is probably and luxurious as it can get on a lawn mower, it handles wonderfully and cuts like a dream. It is almost making me wish I had more yard to cut! That will actually happen in the years to come, as I plan to expand our yards back into the woods a bit more than they are now.

The third main event, Grace’s birthday party, did happen 2 weeks after her actual birthdate, but this was the weekend in which it worked best to allow for a sleep over with some of her friends. The girls started the festivities with an axe throwing session at the Copper Axe in Calumet. It is a recently opened axe throwing facility and is a fun place to check out. You are allowed to bring in your own food and beverages (including alcohol if you are of legal age). It’s $20 for an hour’s worth of tossing and would make a fun pitstop for snowmobilers heading through Calumet.

The first couple of tosses had axes flying in all sorts of directions, but it did not take long before the girls were getting things dialed in and even getting some bullseyes. I gave it a try and did not fare a well as the girls. My first 10 tosses did not stick, but the 11th did and once I found my distance and other techniques, I was getting the axe to stick nearly every time. I did not partake in any of the games the girls were having, but did toss enough to realize that it would be a fun thing to do with some friends. So hopefully I can get some friends and take them there! The event ended with a photo of all the girls in front of the targets.

The rest of the party was spent down at our house. They swam in the pool, went to the beach, played some games, had some wrestling matches (yep, girls do that too these days). Even a game of nerf war was played Saturday morning after breakfast. At night, it was decided to pull an all-nighter and all but a couple did! By the time things ended around midday, they all had hit the wall and I am sure most of them were very quiet for their parents the rest of the day!

Yesterday evening, Nora and I had a party of our own to go to. It was a neighbors 70th birthday and her husband and daughter threw a little party for her. There was a local band playing music, catered food and beautiful weather for the event, including a stellar Keweenaw Sunset.

That about covers it for this one. Until next time…

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD