Reading Day

It was a day of R&R&R . . . rest and relaxation and reading.  

Rest was the afternoon nap. 

Relaxation was enjoying my house here, potting around , putting things away and watering plants.  It's been dry here in Seymour.  Some of the plants outside probably will never recover. I picked some vegetables that I will take back to the campground tomorrow. I didn't hurry.  

As for reading, I am in the final stages of the Muehl Public Library's adult reading program. I'm on the sixth book.  The theme is "Groundbreaking Reads."

The first was a book by Nevada Barr. I listened to it on CD while I was in Canada. It was the Barr's mysteries that I had somehow missed. 

The second was to be a groundbreaking book.  I read The Outsiders by S.C. Hinton since I had read the others on the list.  I'm not sure what made it ground breaking though.  

The third book was to be about the resistance movement in World War II.  That was Courage and Conscience about those who hid Jews from the Nazis. 

The fourth was Johnny Tremain, a choice from the library's adult book group list. It was an old book I probably should have read back when I was in grade school.  Now that's out of the way. It makes me want to go back to the early part of the American Revolution to find out what was historically accurate. 

I've just finished The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, which was the requirement for a young adult book. I went with librarian Colette's recommendation on that one. It is the first book in a trilogy. I will probably be reading the next two in the series though djinnis and demons are not usually my thing. 

Number six is a double pick. I could read a book published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press or a book about architecture. Yesterday, I stopped at the library and found Encore! The Renaissance of Wisconsin Opera Houses which was published by the WHSP.  I'll read that by Friday and finish the program. 

I am pleased with this last pick.  The second of the opera houses in the book is The Grand in Oshkosh.  I have twice performed there, once as a storyteller and another time as an entr'acte for a community theatre performance of The Front Page.  My job was to perform music between acts.  So I sat at the Grand's grand piano and sang songs like "Bye, Bye Black Bird" in a Betty Boop voice with a Brooklyn accent.  I was on the same stage where Caruso sang, where Aida was performed with a live elephant, where the ghost of the stage manager roams.  

I will enjoy this last book, too.  

Chute Pond Overlook

Tonight, I am back in Seymour to take care of mail, finances and vegetables.

Usually, I take a direct route home, stopping in Townsend for ice cream and in Bonduel to buy bread and fruit. But today, I stopped at the Lakewood ranger station to pick up some brochures for Gary. One slip of paper reminded me of Chute Pond, the county park, and the scenic overlook.  Gary and I had looked for the trail to the overlook before but somehow missed it.  Today, I decided to look again.

After several wrong turns, I found the poorly marked trailhead. I looked at the map and started. The trail was sandy and I knew that on a rainy day, it would be slippery, but this was a sunny, breezy day.  So there were no mosquitoes or other bugs, just a pleasant time in the woods. I wished that I had my aluminum walking stick, however.  The trail proved to be steep.

It was worth the climb.  At the top I found a big rock outcrop.  From there I could look down on Chute Pond and the surrounding area.

If I were to go there with Gary, we would take a picnic lunch and bask in the sunlight.

The most difficult part of a hike is coming down. That is where a walking stick comes in handy getting over the rocks and roots without falling down. It was then that I realized no one knew where I was.  One bad fall and I would be in terrible trouble.  I hadn't even taken my cell phone up to the rock outcrop.  No one else was around on a weekday.  

I went down slowly and made it but I think I will be more careful in the future.

The Viewing

Today Gary and I went to look at a piece of property in Upper Michigan.  On twelve acres there was a house; a chicken coop and fenced in chicken yard set around pine trees; a fabulous vegetable garden, again fenced in; a dog kennel, more fencing; two two car garages, one with a tall door; and a covered area for a camper.

To my way of thinking it was perfect.  There was plenty of storage space, room to roam, the Ottawa National Forest across the road, places to hike and the city of Iron River not far away.  I queried the real estate agent who told me there was a good EMT squad that would take us to the nearby hospital if need be. There were two local swimming pools and fitness centers. There's a fine library and even a writers' group I could join.
 
But we will not be living there.  Gary felt the rooms were too small, in fact the entire house was too small. He explained he wanted the big wide open rooms that his previous home held.  But he also wants the storage area, the big piece of property, the forests.

His sister Kathe has been looking at houses for years and has yet to find the one she wants.  I see this as being an ongoing theme with Gary, too.

So I am trying to settle my mind back to the house in Seymour.  We are likely to live there for years while he looks for the perfect home.  I don't mind this so much, but I don't want to  be part of the looking process.  I hate shopping for clothes, shoes, furniture, electronic gear....anything. I finally put my foot down on going to Walmart, surely one of the most depressing shopping experiences ever created. Gary doesn't drag me in there any more.

And he is on his own in his quest for the perfect house.  When he finds it, he can let me know. 

Zanzibar Chocolate

Ice cream and chocolate are the two most important food groups, so Zanzibar chocolate ice cream is at the top of the food pyramid.  That rich dark chocolate dessert is my favorite treat. The best of the best is an almost custard Zanzibar at the trading post in Iron River, Michigan. Zanzibar's only fault is that it melts quicker than I can swallow it, leaving a sticky mess all over my hands and down the front of my apparel. The dark stains never are completely washed out.

The last time I stopped for it, I was wearing my last clean summer jacket. Sure enough I had chocolate all the way down the front.  I did my best (which is never all that good), but the jacket was ruined.  It is not all that upsetting because I bought the coat at a rummage sale for $1.00.  Still, replacing it might cost more, I thought.

Then I stopped at my second favorite establishment in Iron River, the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. This week all clothes marked with green tags were on sale. There was the replacement coat, originally marked $5 by the ladies in the thrift store, but this week ten cents!

I told Gary I was going to throw the old coat away but he suggested I leave it in the car for future Zanzibar eating.  And so it stays, waiting for even more dark chocolate goo.

Churches

When we drove through Tipler yesterday, the closest village to Lost Lake, I noticed a sign that said there was a Lutheran church there.  We'd never seen it so we went looking for it.  Sure enough, there it was St. Paul's Emmanuel Lutheran Church of the Wisconsin Synod.

One look at that roof and I wondered how long it would be standing. I'm not sure I would feel that comfortable sitting in a pew.  It would seem there is not much future for that church but you never know. My brother used to be a pastor at a small church in northern Wisconsin that was on its last legs, held up only by the endless pastie suppers the congregants held. This past year, a long time summer visitor, died and left the church a bundle, so much they don't know quite what to do with it. But that church will be around for a few more decades.

The Tipler church is just one of the three churches served by its female pastor.  She starts her Sunday with services in Tipler at 7:15 a.m. followed by St. John's Lutheran in Florence at 9:00 and ending with St. Mark's in Iron River at 11:00.  Tires me out just thinking about that.

Gary suggested I go to church services in Tipler while he waits outside for the fire and brimstone when God finds out what I am like. I think God can figure that out even while I am in bed here at Lost Lake.

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Gary and I began our search for northern property in earnest today. More on that as things develop. 

Exploring

Gary plans on buying a house somewhere in these beloved north woods so we've begun to look around at property.  Last week, it was a house near Armstrong Creek. I didn't like the location, which would have us forty minutes from the nearest medical care.  We are getting too old not to think about things like that. The house needed too many repairs, too.

Today, he was searching the Internet for possibilities and ran across a house that looked very interesting.  It was near Iron River, Michigan, so we drove over to take a look.  It was an almost new three bedroom, two bathroom house set in five acres of a wooded area.  It is only ten minutes from a modern hospital.  I was worried about living in Tea Party Central with no intelligent people around, but he pointed out that the Democrats have an office in downtown Iron River. About a quarter of a mile away there is a massage therapist.  Gary thought I might like weekly massages. That sounded fine to me!

There was only one problem and that was insurmountable.  This bargain of a house was going into a foreclosure auction. Gary would have to make up his mind and have the required cash transferred to his checking account by Friday if he wanted the house.  That was too much pressure for him and I agreed. We'll keep looking.  We want to have the new house by next summer and my house in Seymour sold by 2015. No hurry there, he has to clean out all of his junk, aka stuff, aka treasures.

On our way home from Iron River, we decided to take a look at Stevens Lake Campground.  It might be the only campground in the Nicolet National Forest we've neglected to check out.  It is the smallest campground, with only six sites. Four of them only would allow tent camping but two of them would hold our big camper. We are now thinking of trying it out for a week or two yet this fall before we move on to Lake Ottawa.

We've been looking at our "Sites to See" in the Nicolet National Forest.  There are still places we've missed from migratory flowages to the Mountain Fire Tower.  We'll start checking those off.

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Gary and I took our flashlights last night and worked our way to the edge of the lake to watch the Perseid meteor showers. With no moon in site, the heavens showed themselves in all their glory.  The Milky Way was perfectly revealed as could be without the Hubble telescope.  We sat on lawn chairs and decided we would not leave until we each had seen ten shooting stars.  Gary caught the first two almost immediately. Then I had one.  The night was getting colder.  I suggested that we leave when we each had seen five shooting stars.  We waited another five minutes. He saw another.  We were  both shivering.

I suggested we leave when we both had seen two shooting stars.  At that moment a nice one went overhead with a tail.  We got up, worked our way back up the slope, went into the camper and went to bed.

In our defense:  we have seen the meteor showers plenty of times; it really was cold, and we are getting old.

  

Glory Days

Today there was a mass exodus of campers.  From sixteen sites filled we are down to four, counting us. The other three are up at the other end, leaving us in our own private world. Just like that the weather turned lovely and the bugs abated. For only the second time this year, I was able to go swimming. A few more days like this and I will have my summer tan.  

Ranger Bob claims that the campground will be mostly empty from now on.  School starts in only two to three weeks and football practice has already begun.  Families have other things to think about now.

Our neighbors with the three big dogs in their medium sized tent have decamped. I will probably write a short story about them one of these days.  Wade suggested a title:  "Three Dog Night."

So today we sat by the fire or we sat at the beach. I am reading Johnny Tremain, one of those books I should have read when I was young but never got around to.  It's on the list of books for the Muehl Public Library's adult summer reading program. I'll finish it by tomorrow, then will only have two others to go.

So, it would be a "Peaceable Kingdom" here at Laura Lake but anyone who has studied nature knows such a thing does not exist.  I brought two five pound bags of peanuts for the chipmunks. We now have four of the beasties vying for the nuts, and that means chippie wars.  They come from four directions.  When one spots another there is much squeaking and scratching until one runs off, the other in pursuit, while a third comes rushing in for the spoils.

Gary filled five hummingbird feeders with nectar. There seem to be only two " bumblebirds" feeding but if they meet each other, there's another battle.

Nature is frenetic right now getting ready for winter. The loons have finished their parenting duties.  This afternoon they were splashing around in sheer joy from what we can tell.  As we watched an eagle swooped down and caught a fish.  Even the chipmunk behavior makes sense.  They aren't as chubby as last year's batch.  They need to get ready to hide in their burrows on a pile of peanuts.

So our days go. In less than a week, we move up to Lake Ottawa for another two weeks.  We always end the season at Laura Lake.  I will be home once in a while but Gary doesn't expect to return to Seymour until mid-October.  The nights are cool, the days warm and sunny.  These are the glory days when I fill my soul with enough sunshine to put off winter.