The Cabin

Brother Tim

August 12, 2018

Last week we drove north through Michigan, enjoying the forests, the farms, the green crops. Michigan is shaped like a mitten and a hat, called the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. The hat can only be reached from Michigan by the five mile Mackinac Bridge or through northern Wisconsin. Weird, huh?

Our goal driving north through Michigan was to pick up Steve’s sister-in-law, Pam, who was flying into Lansing from Las Vegas, and to get to “The Cabin” by Saturday evening. Some of my family were to join us later in the week.

In 2013 my brother Cecil was killed instantly when a tree fell on him while he was sawing up wood for the winter, something he loved to do. I knew he had built a “cabin” in northern Michigan near Cheboygan with some of his friends in 2005. Even though many of my family had been to his cabin several times,  I did not get there until the summer of 2016. That year I came with my other brothers and sisters and Cecil’s widow and my 87 yo Dad and nieces and nephews to spend a week with together. I learned it was more than a cabin. It is a large log-sided home with room for a crowd.

The Cabin

The “cabin” is headquarters for snowmobiling in the winter and off-road vehicles like 4-wheelers in the summer. Church groups use it for retreats and families and friends from Ohio share time there. There are 4 bedrooms but both the basement and loft have room for the many many twin mattresses stacked there and in the large attic room.

The view from inside

When we arrived with Pam, I enjoyed showing them around and Pam and I figured out how to turn on the water and the water heater and learn our way around the kitchen. Steve grilled steaks on his little Weber grill and we settled in to enjoy the quiet, the green forest, and the lovely space. The closest town is about 10 miles away, there is no internet, and my phone had no service—that’s how remote and rural we were.

Sunday we explored the surrounding area and happened on a Maritime Festival in Roger’s City where we watched a parade of old cars, old fire engines, politicians, veterans, and floats. There was an outdoor market area that Pam and I enjoyed. It was a really hot day. The cabin, that had been cool when we arrived had heated up by the time we came back for the evening. Monday things cooled off and because it was rainy all day we all acted like vegetables and sat around and read books - except for going to a local dive for dinner at the Bluffs.

On Tuesday the sun was shining and the temperature was 75°. We drove to Mackinaw City to catch the ferry to Mackinac island (yes, they are spelled differently but both are pronounced “naw” at the end).  I had been to the island back in 2016 but it was new to Steve and Pam. We took our bikes and rented one for Pam and rode completely around the beautiful island- around 7 miles. Much of the ride is within feet of Lake Huron which is crystal clear and shallow at the edges. There were many cairns along the lake, built by individuals and families- stacks of rocks that seem to be precariously balanced and defying gravity. We then had lunch and watched huge slabs of fudge being coaxed into large bars that are about 3 foot long and 8 inches wide and 3 inches high. These are then cut into pieces about 1 inch thick and sold to “fudgies”.

An Inn on the island had the most beautiful flowers

Pam and I had watched a DVD we found at the cabin about the Ice Bridge that forms between the mainland and the island during winters when it is very cold long enough to freeze the lake. That is where we learned that the islanders (about 500 live there year-round) call the tourists “fudgies”. We were fascinated to learn that the natives drive to the mainland on snowmobiles over the frozen lake on a 3 mile trail marked by the Christmas trees that everyone on the island has saved for that purpose. Holes are made in the ice and the Christmas trees are placed upright in these holes. I guess when the trees start sinking in the lake, they know it’s not safe for travel anymore. Without that ice path, they feel more isolated and dependent on small planes to get them "out of here". Boats can't go after the ice gets too thick. Summer or winter, Mackinaw Island is a magical place.

Pam at the Arch on the Island. 207 steps up from the road.

Wednesday we had to find a rental car for Pam to take to Detroit to get her flight home in time to meet a niece arriving from California. In the process of getting the car we found the charming town of Petosky where lunch and walking and shopping kept us busy. Before we left in the morning, we had left lasagna in the oven timed to bake by 6:30 pm. My brother, Tim, and his wife Rhoda, and Cecil’s widow, Mary Jane, all from Ohio, were waiting to eat it with us when we arrived back at the end of the day. Pam and Mary Jane had met at our wedding and were glad to have the evening to catch up. Pam left early the next morning.

The rest of the week included a trip to the Sault St. Marie locks and watching ships and boats go between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Lake Michigan is 21 feet higher than Lake Huron and tumbled in a series of falls over a mile before the locks existed. We also put a Thomas Kincaid puzzle together that had 1000 pieces and was extremely difficult- and in my family we pride ourselves at being whizzes at puzzles. Saturday we put the kayaks in the Twin Lakes and paddled through the series of small lakes on a perfectly beautiful day.

Tour boat waiting for the water to go down

Large freight barge going through the locks

Tim and Rhoda

Mary Jane chilling in the sun

Mary Jane kayaking

Steve did some nice drone movies this week but is still learning how to play them back and save them on his computer. So we will wait....

I thought a lot about happiness and contentment this week and although I cannot speak for others, for me happiness happens when I am around people I love and everyone seems at peace and enjoys each other. Conflict, even if it is between others, makes me tense and unhappy. This was a week of being with happy and content people who were happy being together. That makes for a special times better than anything I know.