Grateful for my wife and kid. For an unhurried breakfast. For Lake Affect Builders. For sun. For my car. For The Current. For Star Route. For Head Start. For our libraries and librarians. For the ice road. For the horizon. For friends. For the new 9 to 5 four days a week that I love. And that allows this day to be spent with my first loves.
2 Comments
Update 12/3/19: We just got 3 feet of snow in one week and I want to play! I've been browsing all the resort/hill websites today to contemplate the best getaway and I want to put this here as a PSA to everyone with 4th-graders this year (and a reminder to myself for when I have one!) : https://www.spiritmt.com/index.php?slug=fourth-graders-ski-free https://www.skiandboardmn.com/member-program-offerings-20192020-season The rest of the info below is a little dated and I don't feel like updating, but I still think a good place to start when ski dreaming... Anyone know what's up with WhiteCap these days? Are they open yet? At all? Do they have a Magic Carpet? I didn’t really get into skiing when I was a kid. I didn’t learn when I was little (like a lot of my friends did) and then was always just more comfortable reading a book, or playing cards in the chalet. But returning here, it’s become one of the things I look forward to most in the winter. The first winter I was home, Jen brought me a pair of used xc-ski boots and skiis, and there hasn’t been a winter since that I don’t enjoy getting out on the xc-ski trails. There are several options for xc-skiiing up here. Listed in order of my faves: Mt Valhalla Recreation Area has trails and parking lots on either side of County Road C, 8.5 miles north of Washburn. I really love the B-loops of both the Teuton and Valkyrie trails. Fun rolling hills, but nothing too hard or scary. The A-loops are great for learning on too. There is a parking fee (maybe $5) or you can get a season sticker at the Forest Service office or Leino’s Gas Station in Washburn for around $20. Mt Ashwabay has a great system of groomed trails for all abilities and hosts a fun women’s XC-ski group on Wednesday nights with free rentals. The Jerry Jolly Trail has one downhill that is scary, and grooming can be a little less consistent, but otherwise is a beautiful trail, especially along the creek. Dogs are welcome on the first stretch. And it’s fun to ski over to the Ashwabay chalet for a drink. I also really love when Jen and I stop and try a new trail when we're drivng home from visiting friends or family south of us or in the U.P. There are so many to check out! photo by Kaite, Wednesday sunset ride at Mt. Ashwabay Honestly, I've never gotten into downhill skiiing, but in recent years I've started snowboarding, and love it! Jen has started tele-skiing and together we have been taking advantage of the exchange program included with our Ashwabay Season passes, offering one free pass to each of the following ski areas.
***Please confirm hours by checking the website or calling! I wanted to collect this info, so I'd have a go to spot when deciding where to ride next, but I also know that with this type of business especially, hours can change!*** Big Powderhorn in Bessemer, MI OPEN 9am-4pm daily A great hill for beginners, with long gradual runs and little rollers. This is where it really clicked for me and I love to come back. Mt Zion in Ironwood, MI OPEN Tues/Wed/Thurs 2-6pm & Fri 2-9pm through Feb. 26 Friday 4-9pm; Sat 9am-4pm; Sun 12-4pm through end of season We went here in 2018 and it was super fun. Similar size as Ashwabay, but with tubing, a fast lift, and fun run at the top of the hill with lots of little tangents through the trees and homemade jumps. I highly recommend checking it out. Mont Du Lac just west of Superior, WI OPEN Tues-Thurs 4pm-8pm, Friday: 4pm-9pm Saturday: 10am-9pm, Sunday: 10am-6pm A similar feel to Ashwabay, but with less lake affect snow, more night skiiing, and more active bar scene. We went on a Thursday night for "Tunes and Turns" and had a great time despite the icey snow conditions. Mt Ripley in Hancock, MI OPEN Mon-Thurs 3-9pm. Friday 1-9pm Saturday 10am-8pm, Sunday 10am-5pm (shorter hours in March) Another smallish hill, with just three lifts, but it has a few really fun glade runs to cruise through and the main chair lift offers great views of the tricky college kids in the terrain park. The slopes face the west, so on the afternoon when we went it was sunny and the snow was kind of soft (but still fun). We've heard though the mornings after a sunny day can be pretty icy. Porcupine Mtns Ski Area in Ontonagon, MI OPEN Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday 9am-5pm for downhill A small hill with one three-person chair lift and a tow-rope across the top of the mountain, and yet a variety of fun runs, GREAT powder, and the BEST views of the lake. After a few runs we packed a little back-pack with our sandwiches and a couple beers and had a picnic lunch on the top of the mountain. Great for xc-skiiing too! Some year I want to go to the Porkies for a week or long weekend. You can rent the Lodge in the park which has modern facilities and sleeps up to twelve for $190/night (call (906) 885-5275 x 0 to reserve). There is a four-night minimum to book, and I could stay there the whole time and coordinate the trip. Others could come for 1-4 nights. Maybe each night we divide the $190 by however many people are there to determine how much everyone pays. Who's in? :) Also part of the Ashwabay Season Pass exchange program: Chester Bowl in Duluth, MN OPEN Mon/Thurs/Fri 4:30-8:30pm; Sat&Sun 11am-4:30pm and Marquette Mountain in Marquette, MI OPEN Mon/Tues 11am-5pm; Wed-Fri 11am-8:30pm; Saturday 10am-8:30pm; Sunday 10am-5pm March 20th thru April 12th – call ahead as times change due to conditions. We have yet to check these two out, mostly because we have enjoyed going to some of the bigger hills nearby that aren't part of the exchange program, but offer a local rate Sunday through Thursdays (which is when Jen and I have been more available to get away for a ski day). WhiteCap south of Saxon, WI OPEN 9am-4pm daily maybe call ahead to be sure (715) 561-2227 I couldn't find the local rate listed on the website, but it was half price when we went last year, so $22.50 for a full day adult lift ticket or $19 for a half day. This place is really... retro? But super fun, has a cute little ski-in wine hut, and we've been told is cool with people bringing in their own food and drinks too. Indianhead just east of Ironwood OPEN Daily 9am-4pm and Blackjack OPEN Saturday 9am-8pm, Sunday 9am-4pm Local Rate is $30/day, kids 9&under are FREE with an Adult lift ticket The closest big hill, but I'd rather not give them my money until they change their name/imagery Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN OPEN Mon-Fri 10am-8pm; Sat 9am-8pm; Sun 9am-6pm They don't offer a local rate that I know of, but it seems if you buy ahead online, you can get a pretty good deal mid-week. I just looked it up for next Tuesday and was quoted $25 for an adult lift ticket. Giants Ridge almost to Ely, MN OPEN Mon-Thurs 9:30am-4:30pm, Fri-Sun 9am-8pm Didn't see a local deal. Only $18 from 4-8pm. Lutsen Mountains south of Grand Marais, MN OPEN Mon-Fri 9:30AM-4:00PM, Sat/Sun 9am-4pm From their website: "There are many nice ski hills in the Midwest, but only one true mountain resort. By any measure – vertical rise, variety of terrain, resort facility, value – there is no comparison." Of course this also means lift tickets are $82/day. Because of the distance to get there, and lack of a local discount, it seems the Getaway Package would be the best way to go-- two days skiing and two nights lodging for under $300 a couple. They also offer $39 lift tickets if their season extends past April 8. Mount Bohemia north of Houghton, MI OPEN Mon-Fri 10:30am-4:30pm, Sat&Sun 9:30am-5pm (some nights later) This place has a lot of hype and likely the best snow conditions. Lift tickets are $62 "any day, any age, any time" or you can buy a 10-year season pass for $599 I travel because I miss my people who aren’t here. I am grateful for who they are and how they have been a part of shaping me. Even though they live sprinkled across the country and world, I carry them with me, everything I take in sparking memories. I am so grateful for our continued FaceTimes, emails, snapchats, or even shared thoughts and photos coming across my FB newsfeed. Technology has always been a balm to me, an extrovert whose home is surrounded by many more trees than people. In high school I found reading lists online, made friends in chatrooms, created an angelfire website to publish my poetry. When Jen and I decided we wanted to build our own little home in the woods (after a few years of renting and living in others’) we knew we could live without running water for awhile, but internet and electricity were a priority. And that’s where I am now. At my laptop. Surrounded by trees. Spotify playing. Wood-fire burning. Cat purring. My busy boy started Headstart this week and is so happy. Four hours every morning in downtown Bayfield. Seventeen preschool age kiddos who will likely be his classmates, teammates, and party-mates for the next many years. And then a bus ride to his Ya-ya and Grandpa’s house, the farm a few miles outside of town where my parents live, and where I was born and grew up. A place where he will maybe take a nap, or at least pretend like he might so he can go through the routine of being read books, and then sung too in a dark quiet room, of cuddling up to his Grandpa on the big bed and waiting for the snores to come. (Now more likely from my dad than O.) On his first day of headstart instead of taking the bus to the farm, I drove O to daycare in Washburn for the afternoon. On the way, he asked where we would go after daycare, and when I was indecisive, I heard him in the back making plans: “We should go to Theresa’s house and we can eat dinner with them and play for awhile. That would be a good plan.” Always on the go go. My boy. I read an article a couple weeks ago that someone had shared on FB on how flying affects your carbon footprint more than anything else, or something like that, I can’t find it now. It’s not a new topic and I’m sure it had been a headline in my newsfeed before, but I hadn’t clicked to read the article or heard what it had to say. Probably because I didn’t want to hear it. A year ago I was flying alone across the Atlantic for the first time since having O and it felt so good to do so. I was also fantasizing about the trips I could take with O someday to reunite with friends in Hawaii, Austrailia, and visit other countries I’d never been to. In April we flew to Florida. In June I flew to Boston. A few weeks ago I flew to LA with O. I’ve valued every trip. The chance to catch up with friends, to be in a different setting and climate. But now I’m honestly ready to just be here. (Which is kind of new for me, especially in November.) After doing a little more research, I don’t think I need to feel guilty for flying away when I can. And I will. I know I will. But it feels good to want to stay.
I’ll be starting a new job next month that I am genuinely looking forward to. I'll be working with WEOP (Wisconsin Educational Opportunity Programs) to help high school students who are potential first generation-college students be aware of the opportunities available to them and make smart decisions on the path to college/career. I’ve always loved being a support person in this vein to my friends and kids I’ve coached, etc. In my 20s I considered going back to school to become a school guidance counselor, but was dissuaded by someone in the field who said it’s increasingly an area that schools cut from their budgets, so there aren’t a lot of jobs and the jobs that exist ask too much of one person. But this. This is exactly what I’ve always felt I should do. And in the place I’ve felt I need to be. It's half-time so I can still farm and mom, which is important too. I started crying when I told my parents I had gotten a new job. I told them I didn’t even know it was possible to find a job that suits me like this one does and can fit in with the rest of my life. I have made the farm and family a priority, and I don’t regret that at all, but it feels so good to know I don’t have to give up on also having a part-time professional career that builds on my study and experiences away from the farm. I wasn’t especially excited about the prospect of commuting fifty minutes to Ashland and wearing nice clothes everyday, but with a new (to me) car with a working heater and good snow tires, a backlog of podcasts on my iPod, and a bag of hand-me-down office clothes from Kato (who recently traded in her office job for the wilderness ranger job that she has always been destined for), I’m feeling prepared. The lake was angry the day I interviewed, waves eating away the beaches and throwing driftwood onto the highway. I had to drive detours and walk through gale force winds to get to the office. I was smiling when I met my friend Karrie at the door. Today is a good test, I told her. I must really want this job. With a fat beet. Yikes. Over five months since our last blog post. It’s been on my mind to write. Little notes here and there. But only now creating the time, to sit at my laptop with my back to the woodstove, wet hair drying after another nice fall run and shower. Fall has been more relaxed than summer for sure, but still kind of busy-- farm wrap-up, vacationing, negotiating winter work, finalizing details to finally build our house, out and abouting with O.… Today I brought him to the farm to hang with my parents for the afternoon. My mom was in the kitchen in the midst of a batch of pickled beets. It’s a good beet year in the garden. She told me she had harvested two large bags already and encouraged me to go out and harvest more. I have a goal though to enjoy and use the garden, but not let it stress me out. I enjoyed planting a couple heads of garlic in one of our raised beds with Oscar this morning, but was ready to move on with my day. I did incorporate beets into our dinners this week, a sheet pan dinner, and this awesome crockpot borsht that uses beets, carrots, cabbage, and venison (subbed for the beef). I’m partly making a point to write this post now, so I can find the recipe link again under my soup tag. This blog, for me, is both a way to connect and share, and a place to record and file away recipes, memories, books/articles, places to visit, etc. Blog posts coming soon (maybe) on my recent recommended reading and U.P. vacation spots. (In six words: the latest Sherman Alexie and Marquette.) This time last year, Kaite and I were dreaming and writing this blog into existence. I don’t need it in the same way this year, but I’m glad it’s here, and I wanted to say hi. Need any beets?
“We didn’t even fight at all!” Jen exclaimed, as we recounted our trip, and what a good one it was for all of us. Ate seafood almost every day, even a serendipitous Easter dinner of Chicken Oscar at Little Bohemia on our drive home. Warm temps, visiting friends and family along the way, a kayak, a hike, a couple new kites, some well-researched spots to eat and lay our head, a kiddo that was content on planes and long days in the car, and even decided he was down for using the toilet regularly. Two weeks ago we flew to Tampa via a night in Chicago and reconnecting with a couple of my friends from college-- acquaintances then really, but who I share Chicago with and love getting to know better when our paths cross. Hopefully in our backyard next. :) We flew to Tampa for three reasons. 1) It’s the cheapest flight south. 2) We went for a week last year and were sad to leave. We loved what we were able to explore and had more we wanted to check out. I don’t remember fighting on that trip either. Maybe we’re getting our family vacation groove on. Or maybe it’s just Florida. 3) The main reason really: A friend of ours had found a nice used Jeep for us to buy and drive home. We stayed at this funky Airbnb in Gulfport, FL. The accommodations (and Gulfport) were relaxed, everything you need, not too manicured (which is a plus when bring a kid along), affordable, and half-way between hip St. Petersburg and the Gulf coast beaches. I think I could come back to this same spot every spring. There was an extra bedroom if anyone wants to join us. ;) A few recommended places from this trip and last years: -Stella’s. We went here for brunch two days in a row. In Gulfport, delicious, and queer! -Bought our kites at Windworks in Madeira Beach -Fort De Soto County Park. The softest sand I’ve ever felt. Free indoor showers. -The Island Grille & Raw Bar in Tierra Verde. Big dining patio and play area for kids. -Honeymoon Island -Olde Bay Cafe in Dunedin -St. Pete Bicycle. Rented bikes and trailer and cruised on a bike trail along the Bay. -The Conch Republic Grill in North Redington Beach In the future, I’d like to -camp or cabin at Fort De Soto or another beach park -swim with manatees? -bike on the Pinellas Trail -check out some of the St. Petersburg breweries -explore Braedonton, Myakka, and beyond… Our time in the Carolinas was the heart of our trip. It was so nice and relaxing to visit family and friends in Beaufort, SC and Holden Beach, NC. Sharing meals at home and out. Getting out on the water to kayak and fish and swim. Sharing stories around a fire. Even watching TV together. I could make a list of the places we went or ate, but really it was just about being with people who we care about and don’t get to see very often. Because they were also Jen’s family and friends first, it was meaningful for me to get to visit their homes and get to know them better. Of course, everyone we stayed with loved to hang with Oscar which made it especially relaxing for us. We knew the drive north would be long, but we broke it up with visits with friends (and their kiddos!) in Durham and Chicago, and a night at the Natural Bridge State Resort park in Kentucky. There was a moment in Kentucky when we missed breakfast at the resort restaurant and drove around hangry, when things could have gone south, but instead we made the best of lunch for breakfast, and a hike where we coaxed Oscar along by peering into tree stumps and behind rocks for bears, before getting on the road again. Ask Oscar what his favorite part of the trip was, and he replies “looking for bears.” (My favorite/proudest moment was after I was in a panic because I had accidently locked the keys and Oscar in the jeep and was in the gas station calling the cops, Jen successfully and calmly coached Oscar through the window to unlock his door with his toes.)
Grateful to have a choice, but still often thwarted by this question. So I'm gonna put some of my tried and true ideas in one place for me to scroll through, share, or reference when away from home. And because I live thirty minutes from the grocery store, here I am on Friday sitting in my part-time office in Washburn, trying to decide what I want to eat tonight, this weekend, what the rest of my family wants, what will get used and not go to waste... Nothing brings on my anxiety like the possibility of wasting food. Or packing.
When several of my friends share a link, I will read it. This morning it was this article. I have no doubt that Trump's plan is to "become tremendously, and untraceably, rich, by looting any coffers that come within reach." The possibility of a coup? I needed my dad's opinion on that. I emailed him a link to the article and asked for his thoughts. This is what he wrote back: "Magdalen, Well, it is scary stuff. But even if completely true and not exaggerated, remember, this is a big country--a huge geography and a huge population--for any 'coup' to subdue--and a majority of the people who voted, voted for Hillary--and half or more of those who voted for Trump are not his loyal base. Also remember (if you are fearful), we have a big military with strong traditions. Of all Federal institutions, the military was the earliest to be integrated--and today is the most thoroughly integrated. Professional soldiers of the highest rank and of many diverse backgrounds in this country take great pride in the oath they take to protect the Constitution--not the president--they are duty bound to defy any order that they deem to be unlawful. Trump is playing with fire--and in my opinion he is going to get himself burned if not hung (metaphorically speaking) and no private security force of 'hired guns' is going to save him. Hopefully it doesn't come to 'coups' either from within or without. We do have checks and balances in this country, and ways of deposing dictators short of civil war--Jefferson Davis, Hughey Long, General MacArthur, Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, and a few others found this out. But in the end, Trump and his little 'inner circle' will be up against 'the American people'. If they think on some level the people 'will get tired of protesting'--they should think again--and when congress and the courts join the protest, THEY will be backed by our military--not the other way around. Dad" I exhale as I read his words. I believe them. I am grateful for my dad. Grateful for those who serve. Still grateful to be an American. (Even with Canada winking at me from across the lake.) I've been feeling a need to read some real stories to balance all the theory (of why Trump was elected, of what he will do). I appreciated today when a rugby friend shared this video along with her family story:
"My paternal grandfather came to the USA after serving with the British Merchant Marines during WWI. He was born in Japan and liked it here so he stayed. He opened a restaurant and married a fifth generation German American. They had 4 children, one would go on and serve in the Korean War as an interpreter for the USA army. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the events that would unfold would forever define my life. Of the events the one that sticks out most for me is when my grandmother (a natural born citizen) lost her citizenship because she refused to divorce my grandfather.... they were in love no less. I grew up knowing all this, knowing not only did my ancestors struggle to be with the ones they loved but that I myself would struggle as well for different reasons. I fear for what the repercussions will be in light of recent hasty actions. It has been nearly 3/4 of a century and I am 2 generations removed and yet it has shaped my life, my career as a history teacher and my desire for equality for all in a country that has fostered the dreams of many." I've also been thinking of and collecting family stories. How did I come to be (educated, rural, hard-working, liberal...)? How did our ancestors weather the hardest times? (binding together, snapping beans...) And I started a list of books I want to read. A Hope More Powerful than the Sea is at the top, followed by some on this list of "Books to Help Kids Understand What It's Like to Be a Refugee." What's your story? What are you reading? UPDATE: My newsfeed brought me these story-based articles today and I'm so appreciative.
Yesterday I intentionally skipped in the inauguration, as many other Americans did. I’m still in disbelief that the Obamas aren’t our first family and that Trump indeed won the election. Nobody’s jumped out from around a corner yelling, “You’ve been punked, HAHAHA!” like I’ve been hoping for over the past two and half months. But today I jumped out of bed--rushing down the stairs to clear our dining room table, spreading out the images I had collected from one of my favorite street artists, Shepard Fairey, shuffling laundry upstairs, and then texting friends to drop by for an impromptu sign making party before the Women’s March began a block down from my house. When I first heard mention of our local march I wondered what it’d be like? Five or so ladies standing around in the circle thrusting signs into the air until they got wet and cold and then I would invite them over for tea and cookies? With further thought, conversations, and a look at a nationwide map of the sister marches happening across our country in solidarity with the march on Washington my “why” rapidly shifted. Emily decided to skip her breastfeeding class in favor of marching with her growing babe as a more meaningful feminist move. We giggled and used school supplies as we thought of sassy slogans and discussed how cool it is going to be for her to be able to tell her daughter that she too was part of the biggest protest in U.S. history. My neighbor dropped by for pink construction paper and Oscar showed up in his bee costume with mamma Mag ready to attach a sign to his backpack carrier. Lizzy and Jesse walked up to the door just in time to join us on our way to the march. My mom had already arrived and was sending inquiring texts. Over 500 area residents showed up in a town of 487 people. More than once I heard myself saying out loud, “this is why I live here” and it must have passed through my thoughts a million more times. Everywhere I looked I saw my favorite people or someone that I wished I saw more of. Someone that I needed to hug. Solidarity. Community. Love. This was it. Full heart. Marching through town to our lake, traditional songs sung by tribal women on the ice as we hummed along to their Ojibwe eloquence, brunch, and giggles with my crew and suddenly I was tucked in back home watching movies the rest of the drizzly January day thinking about how proud I am of where I call home. How important and easy it is to be a participant in this community. The people here are hungry for collaboration and participation. I couldn’t feel a stronger sense of belonging. Thankful for my mamma showing me how to be a feminist, proud of my step dad for marching, and grateful to be linked in arms with my best friends beCAUSE. The future of this country and the world is surely unstable, but today, even just for a moment I couldn’t have felt more stable.
And that makes me think we, the people, will figure this all out together. So many beautiful familiar faces filling the main street of our small town. Walking down the middle of the road while the sidewalks are slick with ice. To the lake. Children playing and women’s voices singing Ojibwemowin on the ice. I'm glad I can linger. I stop by the farm. Lean against the woodstove and talk with my mom. Leave Oscar to nap with my dad. I don't mind the rain on the windshield as I cry to a Dear Sugar podcast while I drive to Washburn. Remember the rain in Cologne the morning the election results came in. Can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon than finishing a puzzle and eating soup with Theresa, accompanied by the chatter of Svea and one of her besties playing nearby. Leslie texts a picture of her Aunt marching in Paris and asks, "wanna be political with me?" Jen has a couple hours at home between dogsled trips and coming to meet us in town.
|
AuthorsMagdalen Dale and Kaite Sweval grew up a layer apart, overlapping and paralleling. Belonging to the shores of Lake Superior and yet not quite belonging. Laughing and dreaming on the bench outside the ferry booth as Mag passed the time and Kaite chose her time. Left to explore as soon as they could. And then as adults returned home, perhaps to their surprise. But glad to have each other... ‘cause we know there is strength in the differences between us and comfort where we overlap. Archives
All
|