And a Happy Saturday morning from the North Woods. We literally ‘raced’ through these past two weeks. Our little ‘safe space’ far into the woods managed to not only survive but thrive when fourteen of us gathered here for a total of about fourteen days. And I loved it!

”To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” ~ Barbara Bush

and on the lighter side:

”Our family puts the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional!” ~ Anonymous

Feeding Time – should have been at a trough. A small space and constantly famished people means that the most notable, standout, event was the time in the kitchen – from 7:30am to 10:00pm. Constantly. Without stop or interruption.

Marcia had spent hours making lists, adding item after item to what we already had in stock. We then purchased a package deal of 50 pounds of meats from a local supplier. Finally I ended up taking the newly prepared list and running through the aisles of a just opened Meijer Superstore (two hours driving and a border crossing from us).

Bottom line. We learned a valuable lesson for future planning. Do everything we did, only add a zero (0) behind whatever quantity was on the list. If a quantity of, say, 6 was on the list, make it 60, 4 becomes 40, 12 becomes 120 – you get the drift.

One Year later – It was a year ago that Marlene and I hiked up the lake’s most famous mountain. It was meant to show support for son-in-law Vince and so, at the top, we held this sign.

This is one year later:

Vince, not only are we grateful, but also blown away by your strength, attitude, fortitude, determination, and guts. Taking this picture was a special moment for me.

Animal Planet – It isn’t just the wildlife we celebrate here at Northern Comfort. People too have their place. Here the laughter of the youngest and the stratagem, especially during game time in inclement weather, made for a joyous time.

But, it was the wildlife which made the time for everyone very special. Here are some of the sights:

Finis – Everyone made it home safe and sound, making the transition from temperatures in the high sixties here to those in the nineties at home.

Driving the Briones back across the border to the little nearby airport we drew the ‘winning’ number in the Border Control lottery. We were selected for a complete check, paperwork and a front to back search of the truck. I just know that they were very thorough. I was called over by one of the agents who asked if I was aware that a Canadian Chipmunk had been nesting in the engine compartment. Noooo, was I actually running an ‘undocumented’ across the border?

Happy Birthday Marin, and no, your sly comment of “now you know what hell is like”, although factually true was merely just a bunch of nuts falling out of the Family tree. Love you.

Tonight it’s a ‘survival’ celebration dinner at Brownlee Lake with Donn and Marlene, and Paul and Dia. Here at Northern Comfort any semblance of fourteen bodies stomping around and about has almost vanished. I miss it.

Make it a great week everyone.

Cheers.

Dirk