I'm still adjusting to life in the Midwest. Growing up in Massachusetts, the North Shore meant the part of Massachusetts that was on the ocean, north of Boston. Up here, it means the North Shore of Lake Superior. If you want a sense of the geography click here. I live on the south part, at the base of the peninsula that contains Houghton/Hancock and Copper Harbor. (I'm just above that little cluster of mountains.) If you drove on highways all around Lake Superior, it would be over 1000 miles.
My friends Letha & Scott and I just spent 40 glorious hours on the North Shore (9 miles north of Grand Marais) in a house belonging to friends of theirs. It was glorious. The sun was shining. It was cold (but not as cold as it could have been, given that it is winter and we were in Minnesota). We played tons of games (Scrabble, Five Crowns, cards) and ate great food. We drank way more than our share of red wine. I proved (against some odds) to be the Fire Queen, getting some good fires going in the big stone fireplace. Letha and I took a great hike on the Superior Hiking Trail.
Wildlife abounded. We saw cardinals, blue jays, gulls, nuthatches, chickadees, and eagles. A bald eagle flew in from over the water yesterday and spent about 20 minutes in a tree across the street until it headed off to fish. Today, it (or another?) came back while I was in the shower. Several small red squirrels that chided us whenever we left the house and disturbed their meals at the feeders.
We walked on the beach yesterday and today. The north shore's beach is really rocky. The lake has not frozen this year, and some interesting things were happening on the beach. The rocks froze in clusters. We saw these amazing ledges made from ice, gravel, and larger rocks. As the sun melted the ice today, they were collapsing. As we stood there, we could hear the rocks dropping four to six inches.
There was also a deer carcass on the beach, which had fed a host of carnivores. Our best guess is that it was hit on the road nearby, wandered onto the beach, and died there.
In the house, we had no cell phone coverage, no internet, no television. I feel rested and recharged. Total miles driven for this adventure: 589.
About Me
- Fran
- Milan, New Hampshire, United States
- I'm an Episcopal priest who loves the outdoors and being creative. In my work life, I find joy in helping others to learn that they are theologians. I believe that each of us is called to work for God's justice in the world. My husband David and I live in Northern NH, next to a beautiful state park, with our standard poodle Ollie.
1 comment:
Do you have to go 589 miles to get that far away from civilization in New England? I lose cell service not 15 miles away from our house, and we both know that having a TV antenna means nothing if you're not at the top of Mt. Tom. Sure, you get radio, but even that gets sketchy as you hit the VT border.
I love to go out into the complete wilderness and just be every so often. I haven't done it in a while (since we lived out west), and I'm thinking I might take some time this year. Given all the other things I have going on, all of which will have to fit into the 7-week summer vacation, such a journey into the wild will have to wait another year.
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