Good morning all:

Weekly Wisdom from deep within the north woods:

“Deep in the dark forest there are two ways to spread light; build a campfire or the mirror that reflects it.”—from our north woods everyman we’ll call Claire

It was Russell Baker who stated; “Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” Now that the heatwave is fading let it be said that the summer in the north woods has been spectacular with no suffering whatsoever. And, no matter what Claire says, the sun provided us plenty of light.

However, the Canadian Shield has given little protection from the sucker punch this week’s market managed to land.

On a much better note, we had had great visits from all of our kids and grandkids. The best! Let me fill my morning coffee mug and I’ll continue.

Activity time – Yesterday ended the patter of little feet, shrill laughter, and the (very) occasional melt down as Jason, Cathy, Marin, and Dinah were the last of our gang to pack up and leave Northern Comfort for another summer.

This leaves just Marcia and this old coot to enjoy the sights and sounds on our lake. As an aside, about the only thing we can’t get here is the song of an outsized animal – the whale – which must be sung in accompaniment with Judy Collins. Since Judy is missing in these parts it means there is no whale song either.

It was Jason who suggested that it would be fun to tour the Soo Locks and this we did last Monday. Getting to the locks is a bit of a pain in that we had to first cross back into the USA. What did make it interesting was handing the border control agent a stack of six Passports, then watching his eyes. Anyway, the two hour tour which includes two passages through the locks and a close-up look at the large steel mill on the Canadian shore is amazing. The locks operate by gravity and raised/lowered us, and the over 10 million gallons of water we were floating in, 21 feet—in a mere 6 minutes. Then envision a 1000’ long, 115’ wide, ore-carrier passing through these locks.

Jason and eight-year old Marin have made climbing the rock-slide of Rock Candy mountain an annual event – this week’s was number two for Marin. The sheer climb is well over 300’ nearly straight up. The climb starts by scampering over Volkswagen sized boulders, these eventually become shoe box sized rocks and, near the top, its pea sized loose gravel. But, it’s the view from the top that never tires and makes it all so worthwhile.

The final “high-point” of their two week stay with us was a horse back ride through the spectacular Algoma countryside. Marin and Cathy each rode spirited horses and Jason rode tandem with Dinah in front. Jason & Dinah’s horse had a two month old foal which ran free alongside (and occasionally did a little nursing). Part of the ride went through an open pine forest with a high canopy and minimal undergrowth. Returning, they couldn’t get over just how special the ride had been.

Finally, probably a bit of a bore to you readers, but I can’t forget just how special driving the pontoon is to the kids. This was no exception for Dinah and Marin and they asked for their turn moments after arriving. Sure enough, they got their turn.

Animal Planet –

What can I say? Hour by hour something new and exciting occurred—non stop.

Closing – I’ll be alone at the cabin for a few days. This morning Marcia is driving into Michigan with Donn and Marlene to attend Uncle Jim’s funeral on Monday (Uncle Jim was Marcia’s mom’s youngest sibling).

Earlier this week I took the old television antenna down. Canada is moving into the digital world and this thing was not only an eyesore, but it’ll soon be completely useless. I kept the pole, rigged a pulley system at the top; now, it’s been transformed into a stunning flag-pole. A few years ago my Uncle Joop gave me a Dutch red-white-and blue flag and these days it can be seen flying proudly above the cabin. We’re not that particular, so, if you have a favorite flag you want to be displayed over Northern Comfort just send to me.

Then, yesterday I finished installing the rear gutter (written with great pride) – now we’ll see what new project will take priority; more drainage stuff I suspect.

Make it a great week everyone.

Cheers,
Dirk