And just like that Lake Superior has started to freeze.
I had not been down to the big lake for the last few days and once I stopped hearing it, I figured I should check on it.
When I took this picture, I was standing on what would normally be about five feet of water and the ice shelf I’m on is about five feet in elevation. The shore is about twenty yards behind me. The shelf goes out about 100 yards but has not built up very much as of yet. We are expecting a warming trend this week so it is hard to say what is going to happen to it. I am guessing it will remain pretty much “as is” since this is the first time some “serious ice” has accumulated this winter.
Over the last couple days it has been bright and sunny; clear skies and great sledding. When I drove through Pine Stump Junction yesterday there were at least 100 sleds.
Thursday afternoon and evening brought a remarkable display of weather. Within about twenty minutes we had light snow flurries that turned into a ten minute sideways blizzard, followed by a crack in the sky that poured gold over the woods as far as I could see.
On Friday a new group of snowmobilers checked in down the road. This is their first winter here after buying the place in the fall. They invited me over for a beer so Jack, Needa and I stopped over and we shared some Two Hearted Ale and some very smooth moonshine. The group also learned almost everything I know about greyhounds. Lol
Later that night the dogs and I were out walking. It is pitch black around here at night except for when the moon is full. I have lighted collars for Jack and Needa and I carry a light myself. There was a car coming slowly toward us and it stopped when it reached us. That’s what we usually do around her; making sure everyone is OK, seeing who it is etc.
So the guy rolls down his window and we begin some small talk. After a few minutes I introduce myself and come to find out he’s read my books and claimed that he loved them. LOL. Not only that but he lives in Royal Oak! Small world.
The moon has been full so stargazing hasn’t been great, but still worthwhile. I don’t take this beauty for granted because once I find a house in town, it’ll be gone and then small town life will start.
I’ve hired an editor to help me as I write a new book. She has done editing work for me for several years and I am very comfortable with her. She knows my style of writing and is great at what she does. We got to talk today and she made some great suggestions.
For the first time in years I am enjoying listening to music again and have been spending a good deal of time diving into some of my favorite stuff (all generas.) I’ve also been in touch with a close friend. (He's not on Facebook, lucky guy.)
We formed a band back in 1994. Unfortunately we did not have a long shelf life and split up harmoniously, when he moved to Arizona. We recorded quite a bit while we were together and had a limited release EP/Cassette for friends back in the day.
He recently discovered some other material we were working on at the time that I had forgotten about. Over the years he did some work on the tunes . . .and forgotten about them too.
He completed a few of them with vocals and some instrumentation, while others remained in a state of being unfinished and not polished. They were basically forgotten about until I asked him if he still had them. He sent them this week and I think they still respectable enough for public consumption. As a result, we are thinking of releasing an album of these tunes sometime this year.
Listening to what I was doing 27 years ago is a little sad and melancholy.
And we talked about it.
Part of me is very proud of what we did. Part of me wonders where all the years went. And part of me is sad about the chance that we never got. We talked about how our failure to get a record deal in the 1990s might have been God's intent to save use all from drowning in our own puke from an overdose in hotel room someplace because of the way the vile entertainment industry chews people up and spits them out. Sometimes the worst thing a person can get is what they asked for.
There’s words, music, wonder, beauty, and hope emanating from my little haven in Deer Park tonight and I hope the same is happening for you wherever you are.
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