A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

Hi Al, and good to hear from you!

I have seen I think grey, brown and now white pelicans.

There are pelicans out west on the lakes in the summer, so bizarre to see them there at first when I always associated them with oceans.

Seeing this flock fly over me was strange, as they seemed clearly water birds but their beaks look different than those of the brown pelicans I’m familiar with.

Saw a bald eagle flying overhead the other day, too.

Maggie

[Leilanisteve]

We’ve seen lots of white Pelicans along the Snake River (Idaho) and nearby lakes during a couple of trips in May and June. We enjoyed watching them soar and the black edged wings are visiting bake from afar.

[Lily&Me]

Hi there!

Moving farther north and to Lake Superior was a very good decision, as it is cool and beautiful here.

Tho sunny the last couple of days, it has been too chilly to sit outside, but I have a pile of firewood at my site and am going to use some of it before I leave.

I started before I left home another grandchild Afghan to work on this trip, and last night ripped the entire thing out to start again…as it was way too big, probably 10’ in length.

I have a tendency not to measure those, using stitch patterns rather than Afghan patterns, and this one’s length definitely got away from me.

I’m going to pull out my tape measure and get the second version right.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I’m on a quest to find “puddingstones”, since reading about them some months back.

https://99wfmk.com/michigan-puddingstones/

They are apparently a Lake Superior rock, and I found this little guy on top on the beach this morning…others of similar ilk I am sure I have at home from prior trips and beach walks.

But, I want one like that on the bottom.

[Lily&Me]

Found on the beach this morning…

[Lily&Me]

Watching lakefront sites empty this morning, I asked about an upgrade to one, and got this gorgeous spot where I can walk down to the shore from directly behind my site.

A little hazy today, but it’s Lake Superior, and beautiful regardless the weather.

[Lily&Me]

I sat last evening reading with the rear door open almost until I went to bed, watching and listening to the lake as the sun set…sooooo beautiful and peaceful and tranquil.

I felt somewhat transported, and like I had received a special gift in finding this site for my last two nights here.

This is a very friendly campground, too, in not only a beautiful setting but with a really nice atmosphere…camp hosts are smiling and helpful, other campers smile and say hello, often stop to chat a minute, lots of dogs, etc.

Ontonagon Township Park, in Ontonagon, MI.

I’ll be back here.

Went into town early Saturday and did up laundry at the clean, reasonably priced and well-appointed laundromat.

Everything working and in good order, change machine operating, dryers got hot…and I was the only one in there so early, so had the place to myself.

There is also a nice little IGA in town, with all the basics and a nice heat-and-eat section for those who don’t want to cook.

Leaving here in the morning, going to take the southern boundary road thru the Porcupine Mountains and see Presque Isle Falls, which I am told are spectacular.


Have been reading this book the last couple of nights, which is a bit unusual and very good, and I will watch for the others in this series.

“Out of the Dark”, Orphan X Series #4 by Greg Hurwitz:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...ut-of-the-dark

This sentence caught my attention…the aftermath of shock of various kinds is often mind-numbing, in my experience.

We often process shock and trauma best in the after, whatever it may be …and oftentimes pieces that our brain has passed over for the moment, protecting us, I think, gain clarity and inform us only in the looking back.

And that’s a good thing, the clarity that comes with time, and it’s important that we pay attention to the bits that sift to the top of our memory and wake us up at night.

What becomes clear is what’s most important, I believe…what we need to file away for future reference and at times allow to guide our decisions.

At least, that has been my experience.

At any rate, this is a good quote.

[Lily&Me]

We had a “town day” yesterday, as Doug and I used to call them.

I had planned on visiting the Presque Isle River area but got distracted by something and we were late in leaving, so have marked them on my PocketEarth app for next year.

A comprehensive trip thru a brand new WalMart Supercenter for all manner of small things, a wash&rinse at a car wash, a prescription and supplements picked up at Walgreens.

And DQ for the first ice cream of this trip.

Back to the much warmer temps south of the Big Lake, we spent the night with AC running.

Show up for the first HC project of the summer this evening, will be working days and don’t know what signal will be, so may not be on here much for awhile.

I have already told no less than a dozen couples about HistoriCorps this trip, so hope they get some new volunteers.

Our stay in Ontonagon was very peaceful and restorative, and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We arrived at historic Forest Lodge in Wisconsin Wednesday evening to see a shiny, black 2017 Interstate already here.

A couple who had downsized from a Class A, this was their inaugural trip and they have never heard of AirForums.

A really nice group of people, many of whom have worked this long standing project multiple years, several of whom have also been to Bodie and some of whom will also be on my next project.

Lily is one of three dogs here, one of which she knows from a previous project.

She will NOT let them near me…not just showing her teeth and growling a bit but but barking loudly, growling ferociously and running them off. Repeatedly.

She doesn’t try to catch them, eat them or bite them, just drives them off like I have seen her do with deer.

The dog owners are very tolerant, both of whom already knew Lily, but her noise and behavior is disruptive.

In talking with someone about this last evening, I realized that what has changed since we were last on an HC project with other dogs is that she was attacked by a pit bull now almost two years ago.

As I was interacting with the pit when it attacked Lily, I think she believes these dogs may be a danger to me, and is trying fiercely to protect me.

She’ll drive them off very aggressively, than stand between me and them.

It looks protective, and I have never seen this out of her before.

I thought initially it was about keeping them away from her food and treats, but she is doing it wherever we are, so it’s not just about food.

So, we stayed back today and are sweeping and tidying the former barn/Cow Palace that is headquarters here.

As kitchen helper, I am up early to start coffee and help cook breakfast, then dinner, and have the option of working the project or not.

So, there are things I can do at our site that then allows the other two dogs to roam freely and be unmolested up at the job site.

Sigh.


The job supervisor is Denis Moran, a fine and highly skilled young man I have now worked with three times.

His lovely wife, Lauren, who he met right here 7 years ago and married on these very grounds, is also working the project a few days…here with their dog, Auggie.

[Goal15]

Maggie

Will Lily interact with these dogs okay if she is off leash and not right next to you?

Our kids in Denver hike with their two dogs and have experienced this “leash protective” behavior but if the dogs are off leash they socialize quickly with other dogs.

I know it’s frustrating. Our cocker spaniel has become no fun to camp with because she barks at everything even though her tail is wagging constantly.

Dana

[Lily&Me]

Hi Dana, and thank you.

She has been off leash, and she does better with strange dogs if she is not tied up.

Interestingly enough, we got up yesterday morning and she was like I’m over this , and has been tolerating Dante well since then.

She apparently decided he was not a threat.

He is here full time, while the black and white Auggie comes and goes and she is still not sure of him.

So, the situation is much better, and thank goodness.

She’s getting lots of love from the many dog lovers on this crew, and today rode in a golf cart for the first time.

She did NOT like that, and the next time I had to run down the hill and back in the cart she insisted on running along side, instead.


There is a great group of young people here from Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps, helping on this project.

http://www.northernbedrockcorps.org/

Sleeping in tents in a meadow, real worker bees who are on the roof every day, all day.

I’m impressed.

[Lily&Me]

This session of this project ended at noon today.

We’ve had long days and there’s been little housekeeping done by me since I got here.

So I thoroughly cleaned the inside Interstate as soon as I returned to camp, as between the dust and the dog it was pretty filthy and I couldn’t relax, looking at it.

Am staying here another night, then three nights in a campground in town before I come back on Saturday for another session.

Labs Wednesday and then a telemed appt on Friday.

This has been a really nice group, which never devolved into little cliques and backbiting that many groups of many kinds do…which I hate to see and really, really despise.

Everyone very supportive and encouraging of each other, and last night a volunteer couple who live nearby grilled homemade brats for all of us, which were delicious.

I have really enjoyed the Northern Bedrock volunteers, who are just a fine group of young people, and late yesterday one of theirs, Ava, treated us to a fiddling concert…from the roof, of course!

We took a group photo this morning from this same roof, and with some encouragement and spotting from others I climbed up there and sat on the roof with everyone else.

I’ve been getting up at 4:30 every morning all week, so am looking forward to a little down time.

[Lily&Me]

I have cleaned and cleaned, and then cleaned some more.

Laundry in the morning, then back to our campsite.

Met up with my friends from Minnesota for lunch yesterday.

We found a nice place with an outside patio out back that allowed Lily to accompany us, and they then let us sit undisturbed for several hours so we had a delicious meal and a good visit.

Tho Lily doesn’t know it yet, it is going to be 90 here today so I am going to hook up a hose to my water spigot here and give her a bath and trim her nails.

She stinks.


One of our work crew took this picture of our group on the roof at Forest Lodge Tuesday morning, and that’s me in the denim shirt, bottom row by the chimney.

We’re missing a couple of the Northern Bedrock crew, but they’re in the other picture I posted.

Daniel, one of the Crew Leaders, in the yellow hat with his dog Dante, just put him under one arm and climbed up the ladder with him.

Dante was not pleased, but was hoisted up there and then back down without wrestling himself free.

I might have gotten someone to do the same with Lily, but didn’t want to put her thru it, so she moved to the back porch steps where she could see me and which was as close as she could get on the ground to my perch on the roof.

The two women to my right both worked the roof.

I am feeling well rested after a couple of days at a lesser pace, and Lily seems the same.

[Lily&Me]

My second session of the Forest Lodge HC project ended at noon today, and we were on the road soon after.

Another really nice workgroup, with lots of support and encouragement for each other, random acts of kindness, all that good stuff.

My alarm goes off at 4:30am on project days, I start about a gallon of coffee percolating before anyone else is up, we then cook a big breakfast and dinner for 12, and I don’t get a shower until 7:30pm or so, so have been putting myself to bed with a wet head of hair about 8 each night. Yikes.

I am tired, and looking forward to no alarm clock for the next two weeks until the lighthouse project starts.

But, it was very enjoyable, and I thrive on the multi-tasking challenge of cooking for so many people.

Cooking and kitchen chores I can do…reshingling a roof, not so much, tho there are lots of little things I could and did do, like fetching items for those on the roof and light construction tasks.

Lily had a third camp dog to contend with this week, plus resident Dante and the in-and-out Auggie…an adorable, young and rather unruly wire-haired terrier named Louie.

No blood was shed, but Lily rolled him a couple of times trying to get him to settle down.


One fairly major mishap this afternoon…my refrigerator door swung open while I was driving, as it has done before, and the door fell completely off.

A couple of plastic bits on the floor, tho I got it back in place it is secured with duct tape.

I’m going to examine it and the pieces closely with a flashlight in the morning, when I feel more like doing it, but suspect it’s going to have to be replaced.


As the roof work was nearing completion, I was looking at the large piles of partial shingles which were destined to be kindling at the fire pit, and asked our project supervisor about donating some of these to a group that would make things from them, as it seemed almost a sin to just burn them up.

He asked me to make some phone calls, and within minutes I had a place for one load and then thru a local contact he found a high school teacher with a shop class to take some more.



The Senior Center near here is making Little Library boxes and were delighted to have the cedar, so I bundled up four large stacks and dropped them off when I left today.


We are in a little NF campground for the night. Going to clean good in the morning and see what I can do with the frig , find a laundromat and a car wash.

But nothing more tonight, except a shower and some reading.


This is Daniel, one of our two crew leaders, and his dog, Dante.

That tent in the background is our cook tent.

Yesterday morning I made drop biscuits for breakfast on the big griddle in there, and people loved them.

[Hittenstiehl]

Miss you when you are off network but know you are having fun and doing good deeds.

Darn fridge couldn't that wait till you were on the way home. Duct tape to the rescue.

[Lily&Me]

I did check these forums morning and night, because we had WIFI at the Cow Palace home base, but don’t think I posted much on work days…just too busy, then tired and ready for bed once showered.

Denis early on offered to me a spot backed up to the Cow Palace…which actually is an old barn…so that I could plug in to household current, which was really, really nice, so with electricity, WiFi, showers and running water this was luxury accommodations for an HC project.

At the lighthouse project, we will have pit toilets and nothing else but a place to park, so I will have a full tank of freshwater and fill both solar showers before I head up there.

Standing and visiting with others yesterday before we left, I noticed a baseball sized rock surface visible on the ground that I’m pretty certain was a Puddingstone.

https://99wfmk.com/michigan-puddingstones/

I didn’t dig it up, of course, but did scrape around it a bit to get a good look…I want to find one that I can take home, as they’re so unusual.


Doing some thinking about my refrigerator, I’ll bet that I can find supporting hinges of some sort that will attach to the frig door and the wood surface nearby, that will hold the door in place.

If I can’t install them myself , I can probably find someone to do so, and more easily than replacing the door or the frig itself.

Going to find an Ace Hardware or some similar place, where staff know everything and can help me problem-solve.


Going to poke around the UP a bit, then explore Drummond Island before the next project.

This last has been very enjoyable, but I am going to relish the slower pace for a couple of weeks.


We were down to bed early last night, and I didn’t let myself get out of bed until about 5:30 this morning, so am feeling pretty well rested.

Pulled out my little teakettle and am enjoying Starbucks instant coffee as I type.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

One of the volunteers did much of the cutting and installing of copper flashing around the chimneys this past session, and had us all sign our names to the inside of one piece…for posterity, not to be viewed until someone down the road has to replace it.

[Lily&Me]

I am a sucker for tote bags of all sorts, and keep a supply of these reusable ones in the Interstate for their invaluable use for schlepping things in and out.

Colby, our other Crew Leader this project, had one of these from the little grocery in town, so I had to stop in yesterday and get one on my way out.

[Lily&Me]

Finishing up the laundry in Ironwood, MI, this morning. I asked a man about my age if he knew of a good hardware store nearby, one that had knowledgeable staff who could help me problem-solve a frig door that had fallen off.

He directed me to a builders supply place not far away, that he thought was named “Hayes Lumber”.

I smiled and told him that was my late husbands/my last name, so this sounded like the right place to go.

Got in there, actually Forslund Building Supply, and asked for someone in hardware who could help me solve a small but pressing issue.

The girl at Customer Service called Kathy Viebach, I explained the problem and showed her a picture…she thought a hinge would a) be more than needed, and b) that permanently marring the closet door could be avoided.

She suggested rigging with Gorilla Tape, pulled out a partial roll from behind the counter, and insisted on coming out to the Interstate to help me fix it.

What a woman, and we got it done.

Careful use until I can find a place to order a new frig door for me ought to keep it functioning.

I then bought a large roll of black Gorilla Tape, which she said is waaaaay better than duct tape and would hold a vehicle together if need be , and we were done.

Then I told her that the man in the laundromat had told me to come to what he believed was Hayes Lumber, that because of that name I thought it was meant to be, and was this actually or once “Hayes Lumber”?

She said it was not, and that there is no “Hayes Lumber” anywhere in the area.

Is that not a bit wild???

Synchronicity, kismet, whatever you want to call it, she was the perfect person at the perfect time to help me with a temporary fix...my gut instinct being that “Hayes Lumber” had to have the solution.

Doug watches over me, I do believe that.

I got the name and email address of Kathy’s supervisor, and have sent him a note giving her 5 stars for customer service today.

[Lily&Me]

A brief stop at WalMart, and on to a FREE campground, on a lake, in Wakefield, Michigan.

Water available, and some sites have electricity…FREE.

I liked this one, filled up at the water spigot my solar shower and 2 liter bottle for the Simple Shower…they are now warming in the sun, so I will have an outside shampoo and an inside shower after awhile.

A beautiful spot, and did I mention…FREE???