Work day

I worked today, a lot.  I was in the woods at about 8AM and left after 4, so it was a long day.  I did feel for the first time sine I have been up here that I accomplished something.  I found a better spot and cleared quite a bit of space.  It is uneven, though, and I will need to bring in quite a bit of fill but I kind of expected that.  I suspect that everywhere I would have chosen would have required that I spend some quality time with a wheelbarrow and a shovel.

My reward for the progress was a walk on the beach.  The weather was exceptional, and I found this nice beach in nearby Herbster, a small town a little ways away.  I took a little nap on the bench and I found these white rocks along the way.  The red picnic table?  Well, that was just a bonus.

It was...

a very nice day.  Really.

I spent much of the day in Superior, the nearest big city.  I didn't go for the metro feel of the town, but I was heading for a gun show.  Really.  It was an experience, one that I probably could have lived without.  It is a bit odd to be in a room where you are the only person who voted for Obama.  I didn't mind the guns, but the rhetoric was hard to take.  I heard more comments and conversations about the Affordable Care Act than I expected  I would and I didn't hear or see one favorable comment or bumper sticker.  I am still processing it all, but generally I would rate it as a negative experience.

The town itself was kind of fun.  It was the weekend of the East End Family Festival and since I was driving through it, I had to stop.  It was a mostly a big garage sale but there were the required mini donuts, so in mind it was a darn good festival.  The East End of Superior is not the subdivision filled with McMansions but rather it is decidedly blue collar.  It really has more of a mill town feel, so that is kind of fun.  I even found a camera!

The best find of the day was a radio station out or Cloquet.  It was an independent public radio station and it was a blast.  It really was fun, and it was so unpredictable as to what would play next.  From Abba to Bach to Cold Play to Dillon to Electric Light Orchestra to Fleetwood Mac to well, you get the idea.  And yes, there was a "G" band.  They played a Guster cut.

I found the sunflowers just outside of Iron River.  While I was taking photos, I met the owner who shed his previous life to raise hops to sell to small micro-and nano-brewers.  That is kind of brave, thought I. I told him about growing potatoes and he mentioned that the local mead maker is expanding into spirits--maybe he will start making potato based vodka.  The water photos are from the mouth of the Brule where it enters the big lake.  It is a Zen-like spot.  I even saw a fish.  No bears, but I did see a bunny.

Just another day

I should write more, but I am tired and tomorrow is just another another day.  I spent most of a day on the "farm" but it someways it was frustrating.  My goal was to just "make" or find a spot to build a little deck to make a campsite.  The idea was to clear an area and then build a small deck.  Then, I hoped that this small spot would be a place to "be" while I looked around and found a spot to build Casa de Tetzloffski, the home for the baron of the estate, a palatial 8X12 or maybe a bit bigger cabin.

Well, I guess not.  There is just too much brush.  I could handle cutting down a tree or two, but not if I have to fight brush and scrub  trees.  Considering my fairly limited chainsaw skills, I can't imagine trying to do that with brush grabbing at a me/the saw.  I like my legs/arms/digits.  So I spent some time talking to some folks who can can make a driveway of sorts and clear about a 60X60 cabin spot. That would take me months and perhaps a limb.  To have someone else do it would cost about $6-700.

I have been wondering about why I am interested in doing all this.  I blame it on my literary youth.  I read and loved books  such as Farley Mowat's Two Against the North and other adolescent lit books where people where thrust into the wilderness and had to survive and be self-sufficient. I think that this feeling or need grows as I am or my livelihood is threatened and is uncertain, I move more towards this survivalist (in a good way) mode.  I joke that I might need to be able to live off the land and sell potatoes and candles to survive.  I hope it doesn't become that dire for I would hate to be in a pre-apoclyptic world that would depend on my carpentry skills.  Or my gardening or candle-making skills.

The pictures are pretty easy to figure out. The photos of the flowers are of the wild flowers seen on my land.  The glade is not an air freshener but the spot that I have cleared out for a possible starting point.  The sunsets are from Cornucopia and there is one random tree with color.  There isn't much color--it may be at least one more week.

 Today I will go to a gun show, think about what kind of freeze dried food is best, and then buy a manual typewriter and a dictionary so I always spell manifesto correctly.  Or, go have a latte and a scone, and find someplace that I can find a salad that is not a quarter head of iceberg lettuce with French dressing.

Birthday blog

Yep, it is that time of the year.  I dress in black, play sad songs, and mope because I am one year older. Not really.  I do hate staying at home alone, though, on this day.  I think about it, and in the past  10 years I have celebrated it in Ireland, England several times, Prague twice, Italy and in several other places in this country.  Weird that I escape for this day, even if it is to be alone somewhere else.

This year I am in Northern Wisconsin, which is pretty fun.  Except for the rain and fog.  I was up early and it was dry but  very foggy until about 9:30, but it has rained pretty steadily since then.  But I can say that I haven't had a single wood tick call me home.  Yet.

I stopped for breakfast at 6:30 in the little dinner in Port Wing, and it was great to listen to the local gentry share news and gossip.  I learned a lot-who had a 7 centimeter hernia repaired, who caught an otter while fishing, and that they shot a 586 pound bear way less than a mile from my estate.  Wow.  I'm not a big fan of hunting, but I have to say I am kind of glad that monster isn't roaming through my campsite!  I am not sure what I would say to him (or frankly, what I would say to any of his smaller cousins) if I did come face to face.  Hi?  Salted nut roll?  I did see bear poop before, so I know they are there, and my neighbors bait bears just on the end of my land.  I guess as long as I see bear poop and don't make up part of their poop I am ok.

I am killing time in a great coffee shop while I wait for my favorite place to eat to open for the dinner rush.  Broiled whitefish livers followed by grilled lake trout.  I bet it will be considerably better than Roberto's.

Iron River

I am in Iron River, Wisconsin.  I suppose I was supposed to be in New Mexico but life and money got in the way, and this is a far more cost effective retreat.  I have several days off, as I am in danger of losing vacation, something that I am morally opposes to doing, so I fled town for a few days.

I meant to leave early today, but I ended up stopping at work for just a bit, which meant that I didn't get out of there until almost 2.  I got quite a bit done, and I left more for the program assistant to do--isn't that what bosses are supposed to do?  I call it "developing a good team" but I suspect that she calls it something else.  It was a long ride up here, and not just because I stopped at unclaimed freight for a bit of shopping.  As we transition into fall, the weather is having a hard time deciding what to do. By the time I got to Hinkley, it was so foggy that it was impossible to drive more than 35-40 miles per hour, and that fog lasted most of the 80 miles or so to Iron River.

Once here, I was starving, so I went to that famous Italian (actually the hotel staff referred to it as that "Eye-talian" place) named Roberto's.  Interesting place, and not at all Italian.  I had broasted chicken (good) and a glass or two of wine (bad).  I was the only soul in there which is always a little creepy to me.  I hate it when you are the only person that the whole wait staff can focus their attention on--besides, I always wonder if there is a reason no one else is there.  Is the food that bad?  Is there a health department van parked out front that I missed?  Is it because the cole slaw was bubbling?  Warm mayonnaise isn't that bad for you, is it?

I am up north to hang out, and really, not to be at work.  Ahh, work.  Not my happy place of late.  Oh well.  I plan to conquer wood ticks and get lost on 20 acres, if I can.  And answer three questions, if I can.  They are:

1.  Do I have to be a dean?
2.  Do I want to be a dean?
3.  Should I even be a dean?

Big questions, ones that may/will shape my life for a few years.  I honestly do not know, or at least haven't fully answered these questions.  Maybe I don't have to know right now.  Or maybe, there is an opening at Roberto's.  I would welcome other input on these questions as I try and answer them--please write.

I think I remember how to do this...

It was foggy this morning, and I wish I would have had more time...the light/fog was changing fast, and I was slow to work.