Learning for Yourself

Happy Wednesday!

Were you one of those kids (or adults) who always had to find out why you weren't supposed to do the things your parents or teachers told you not to do?

I was.

And so is Brady.

Every time we get out lately, he wants to go down to the shore to watch the lake. He watches every wave as it crashes. He is quite a meditative soul... watching until he gets a chill.

He's a wave watcher!

Usually we do it together.

Shore duo

Thanks to our sweet Esa for the cool pics!

On a sunny day, he saw some rocks at the edge of the shore line. "I want to go throw rocks down there," he told me.

"Uhh, Braeds. Those rocks are covered in a layer of ice, and they are all stuck together in a giant clump. You're not going to be able to throw them." I mothered.

"Yes, I want to throw them," he persevered.

I tried to convince him otherwise, but, deep in my heart, I knew he needed to see for himself.

The trek down was all ice, so we held hands and found our way to the shore. The wind was blocked behind us, and the sun sparkled on the rocks.

Shore jewels!

While basking in the glory of the moment, I heard him making whiny sounds. "Mama, help me!"

"What's up, Brady?"

"Help me get the rock!"

I slid down next to him and tapped on the rocks with my mitten. Even my boot!

He saw that none of them budged.

"See?" I told him. "All the rocks are covered in ice and frozen together. It's winter, Dove."

"It's winter," he repeated.

He sat for a bit longer and tried a few more rocks to no avail. Then I saw him shift.

"Are you ready to go back up?" I asked.

"Yes, let's go up."

We got up safely and went for a little walk around town.

I didn't need to reiterate my point, but I think he understood the condition of the shore after that.

Sometimes we just need to try it for ourselves... and hope that somebody patient and understanding is there for us.

Soooo, I hope that you are patient and understanding!

My big surprise is not ready yet. Hopefully by the weekend.

But I'm going to tell you what it is, and how you can find it.

Are you ready?

I'm starting a podcast! Woohoo!

If you don't know about podcasts, they are audio (or video) files that let basically anyone upload content about whatever they want to talk about and stream it directly to their listeners' devices.

If you already have an app for podcasts, you just might love this one!

It's called A Fresh Air Inspired Life and showcases Copper Harbor from the inside. As a blog reader, you are the first to hear about this in a public notice. Congrats!

The episodes are scheduled to air the first and third Tuesday of each month starting in February.

I will have unique and local guests, adventures and thoughts on why it's important to be a nice human. (Brady P. enforces the last one. Wink.)

Here's the link to the Copper Harbor Vitality site, and when the page is ready (hopefully this weekend!) I will make it live and you can click the first green "podcast" line or click on "Podcast" in the menu bar to listen to the intro episode!

I hope you love it as much as I've enjoyed creating it! 

I'm working one-on-one with the Virtual Yooper to set it up from files and codes, so you can hear independently run episodes created just for YOU!

Thanks, Virtual Yooper!!!

Alright, you beautiful soul. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Triple Treat

First off, I have to tell you how quiet it is around here.  It's so peaceful during the week.  It certainly is that time of year when we only see people we know.

Secondly, you will be so proud.  Especially if you have been on this journey with me since A Little Slice of da Harbor.  I got to adventure three days in a row!

That's right.  No death-defying Brockway mountain descents, but some of my most favorite things to do around the harbor in the winter time.

I better back up and say that this was the first week in a month and a half that I didn't need to blow snow or take care of administrative duties while Brady P. was at his short three days of school.  So I took some freedom time.

Monday my friend Stacia and I traversed the harbor from the Harbor Haus lot to Porter's Island.  It was a blue sky day, baby!  Just what I was hoping for.  

The ice was thick and the wind was tolerable.  Here's a picture of the ice.

 

Sleek and sexy bubbly ice

I try to make it there every winter to check out the ice volcanoes and broken tundra of ice fragments, but this year I saw something new.

Other people's tracks.

What???  Other people went out there too?

Yes, siree.  It filled my heart with glee!

We saw snowshoe tracks and fat bike tire tracks.  Signs of life from friends in the harbor!  Here is proof of the bike track next to the lake.

 

Bike tracks on Porter's Shore

Now don't be upset that the background is blurry.  I was focusing on the tread in front.  Besides, I really didn't get any good landscape pictures to do the scenery justice.  I'm a writer, remember?  But here's another try.

Looking toward East Bluff

Tuesday was a super duper treat because it just doesn't happen every year.

WE ICE SKATED ON THE HARBOR!!!

Yeah, buddy!  As Stacia and I traversed Monday, I thought, Man, I bet we could skate on this!

So I told my pro ice skater friend Tanya about it, and she was all in.

We shimmied out a bit past the snow patches until we found a decently smooth area for two.  Before you knew it, we were spinning, jumping and whirling through the air!  

No, wait.  That was Tanya.  Only Tanya was doing that.  I just marveled at her and tried my own meager tricks.  I only fell hard once!  (If I ever get pictures of that day, I will post them here!)

It was awesome.  We seized the day.  It's pretty much the way to do it up here.  I'm so grateful for my friends that are up for anything when I get the chance to be just Amanda again.

Wednesday was a bit drizzly, but there was one other place I've been eyeing up during cross country skis this winter: the ridge across Lake Fanny Hooe.

Brady P. and I take the wagon out to the fishing dock by the boat launch on Fanny Hooe often, so I knew the ice was thick.  I couldn't find anyone to go with me in a pinch this morning, so I just went alone.

I've done dumber things alone.

Looking east on frozen Lake Fanny Hooe

One cool spot of note was Manganese falls, of course.  

 Manganese Falls from the bottom

And here's a slow motion video from below that bridge for you just for fun!

After that rushing action, I climbed pretty much straight up the ridge until I hit the Keweenaw Point Trail.  Someone had been skiing up there!  

Want to know who else I saw evidence of?  Otters!  I imagined them sliding down those slopes on their bellies (because I saw their slide marks) as I huffed up the hills.  Ah.  So lovely.

It was really refreshing to be out there all by myself after all this time that I used to do those adventures everyday.  Now they are sparse, but I am still so grateful to be breathing that fresh air, following my curiosity, finding treasures in Mother Nature and just plain feeling connected to the earth.

I think we all need to do that, so I am glad that it's still a priority for me when I can swing it.

Well, thanks for spending another few minutes of your time with me!  See you next week -- spring break for us!

Sir Slips-a-Lot

We don't have a lot of snow right now.

But we have had some nice, smooth frozen puddles -- perfect for sliding on.

I've been trying to teach Braeden the different textures of the ground the past couple winters.  

Snow, ice and dry road.

I know I've mentioned that before, but he has a new affinity for the ice.

He knows that it makes him fall down, and it's hard to get back up.  So he flounders.  He pretends to not be able to get up at all, actually.

It's hilarious for us both.

He just giggles and cracks up as he spins around and around on the ice.  Flipping over and squealing. 

I haven't been lucky enough to capture this ice capade on video, but I did record the time that started it all.

That time he came inside the house after walking through the snow in his cowboy boots.  He had some snow caked on the soles, so he instantly slipped on the wooden floor.

And he couldn't get up.

My biggest regret about this video is that I was laughing too loud and I overpowered his laugh -- one of the cutest sounds on the planet.

But I will say no more about the scene, so you can watch for yourself.

Well, I just wanted to make you smile today. I hope it worked!

Rock Sliders

Since I switched from writing A Little Slice of da Harbor to writing this blog, I shifted the focus away from adventure, seasonal attributes, events, and other aspects of life in da Harbor.  But one aspect -- perhaps THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect -- of da Harbor has gotten a little too lost.

Especially this time of year, she seems a little lost to me.  I can't always hear her.  I can't always watch her undulations.  I can't always lose myself in her tumbling waves.

She has been frozen.

Quite literally.

Brady P. has been thoroughly confused as to why he can't throw rocks into Her Majesty Lake Superior.  He looks at me in charming disbelief as we sit on our usual shores and he can't even see her.  She is gone.

"Where is Lake Superior?" I ask him?

He swings his arm from side to side to motion to what he remembers as Lake Superior, but he doesn't seem convinced.

"We can't see the water right now."  I try to rationalize.  "It is under all the ice and snow!"  We dig into the snow as I describe it as white, soft and poofy.  Then we touch the ice as I describe it as smooth, hard and shiny.  

Yup.  The lake was under there for a couple weeks, if my memory serves me right.  Since the temps were in the single digits, and the lake was frozen over, we did not venture down to our shore spots.  No way.  As much as Braeden hated that bitter cold, the shore was not the place to be.

Besides, Her Majesty was hidden.

But guess what.  She came back!

A couple nights ago the pack ice blew out of the Harbor.  When I came home on Monday and saw her glimmering waves, I was elated.  It's as if her life was renewed within me.  It's as energizing as seeing the sun for the first time in days... or weeks.  If you know this feeling, you are a fortunate soul.  Appreciate that about yourself.

Since the temps promised to rise into the 20's, I vowed to take Brady P. down to the shore on Tuesday.  

To throw rocks!

We haven't done that properly for a couple months, but he still asks me nearly every day to throw rocks.

Fortunately, our sweet friend Bryce planned ahead and scooped up a bagful of rocks for a day just like Tuesday.  So I put some rocks in a bucket and pulled Braeden in the sled down to the Harbor Haus shore.

However, when we got there, I saw that my eyes deceived me from three blocks away.  Sure, the pack ice blew out, and I could see the water, but it was covered by 1/2" to 1" of ice.  We wouldn't have splooshes, but we would have a whole new experience.

I chucked the first rock firmly, hoping to chip through the ice.  No dice.  Instead, that rock smacked hard, bounced and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiid over the glossy surface.  It made a really cool sound.

Lucky for you, I took a video this time.

Sliding the rocks!

Brady P. was just as happy to chuck those rocks sailing across the ice.  It actually lengthened the lifespan of each toss because we got to watch it slide so far.  

The sound was so unique.  It was unlike anything I have heard before, and it wasn't my first time sliding rocks on Lake Superior!

Well, I'm glad you got to be a part of that with us.  Here's hoping that magical aspect of Copper Harbor can stay a bigger part of our daily lives besides sending us all those snowflakes!