22 and Counting

22 inches since Saturday (5:15 p.m.) and still snowing! Last night's illustration collapsed shortly before 10:00 a.m. this morning. This is the last photo I posted on the blog last night.

I got up at 2:45 this morning to take some medication for a headache, and the pile on the deck railing was even more impressive at that time. I should have snapped another photo. Here's how it looked at 10:12 a.m. today shortly after the collapse.

It was still snowing when I took that photo, but we were having a light spell. It didn't last very long. If I look out the window in our office, I can see the snow on our roof.  Here's the view of that section of roof from Sunday afternoon.

Same roof - 23 hours later. 

Steve and Cocoa worked on our driveway this afternoon. Cocoa plants herself at the driveway entrance with her back toward Steve as he works. She looks down the road - first in one direction, then the other direction - guarding Steve as he works. When he goes down the street to shovel for my mom, Cocoa goes with him and resumes guard duty. She's such a good dog.

Here's one more photo tonight. This is a shot of the front of our pickup this afternoon. You can see the driver's side mirror.

We're getting buried and we're lovin' it! We'll keep you posted on the totals. All is well in the snowy Keweenaw.

LES Continues!

LES continues to fall. They say we may have more than 20 inches by Tuesday morning! Isn't that exciting? It's the beautiful light powdery stuff. Here's a series of photos illustrating the changing view from the kitchen window in the last day.

Photo 1 was taken yesterday. This shows the snow depth after a few days of warm temperatures.

Photo 2 was taken earlier today during a very brief lull in the flakes.

Photo 3 was taken about 2 hours ago. 

All is well in the Keweenaw!

LES is Beginning!

When we see that abbreviation in our local forecast, we get really excited - Lake Effect Snow! We may have more than 10 inches of the white stuff by Monday morning and a "very significant" accumulation of LES during the next 2 weeks. Yahoo! 

We've had a pitiful week with warmer than usual temperatures. Much of our snow depth was lost in the last 3 or 4 days. We could even see several patches of grass in the yard by daylight today, but we didn't despair. The temperature dropped continually all day, and the forecast told of better things to come.

Steve went outside to feed Cocoa at 5:15 p.m. Sure enough - the LES was just beginning! Everything was fresh and white (without a tire track on our street) by the time I looked out the front door at 7:00 p.m. We're well-stocked with food for our tummies and gas for the snowblower, so bring it on.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

Bye Bye Burgers!

Bye Bye french fries. Bye Bye chocolate cake and ice cream. We'll miss you. January means we start eating healthy again--at least until the end of April. When we took our last drive to Copper Harbor, we decided to stop at The Hut (our favorite restaurant) for one last burger. Steve usually orders the Hut Hut Burger--a one pound burger with cheese and an order of fries or onion rings. Since he was trying to get in the mood for healthier eating, he downsized by ordering the 2/3 pound Hut Burger with cheese and an order of soup instead--Bacon Cheeseburger Soup.

OK, Bacon Cheeseburger Soup wasn't the healthiest soup on the menu, but it was fantastic!

I ordered the smallest burger they have--the modest 1/3 pound Steakburger Deluxe.

You can tell it's a lot smaller than Steve's 2/3 pound Hut Burger in the next photo.

Steve carefully stacked all the toppings on the burger and slathered the bun with mayo. He was visibly giddy with anticipation as he removed his glasses and hoisted the delicious burger toward his mouth.

He ate the whole thing--no problem. He's a "burger man," you know.

The Hut is fairly rustic and is decorated with historical photos. I'm not sure why they display the next photo at a restaurant known for such large meals.

Big Lydia seems to be a better advertisement for salad. Of course, the salads at The Hut are huge, too!

All is well in the Keweenaw!

Dashing Through The Snow

All we were missing is the one-horse open sleigh when we drove over the hills to and from Copper Harbor on Friday night. They put on quite a nice Christmas light display with about 40 trees decorated in the park next to the community center. We've both been a bit under the weather, but we didn't want to miss it, so we ventured out. It was snowing lightly as we left Calumet, and we met some snowmobiles hopping off the trail at the end of our street.

By the time we made it to our road in Keweenaw County, the flakes were getting larger.

We headed down our road to meet up with Hwy. 26. We wanted to follow the lake from Eagle Harbor to Copper Harbor.

By the time we got onto Hwy. 26, it was really too dark to see much of Lake Superior, but that road is always fun anyway. We did see a few deer, but they were kind enough to stay out of our way. It was almost 6:00 p.m. when we drove into Copper Harbor. The town was hopping--a typical Friday evening in the Keweenaw.

Yep, that's Hwy. 41-- the main drag through town! We forgot our thermos of cocoa, so we stopped at the general store for a couple of 20 oz. pops. Steve told the guy behind the counter that we drove up to see the Christmas lights. "Oh, are they on?" he asked as he stretched his neck to look out the door. Steve got the impression that he would have switched them on for us if they had been off. Here's a photo of the Copper Harbor Community Center.

The park between the community center and the one-room school is where they have the large display. I took some photos for you.

Copper Harbor's motto is, "It's worth the trip." Well said. We decided to take Hwy. 41 out of Copper Harbor on our way home. The first stretch is often called "The Covered Road," as there is very little shoulder and the branches of the trees literally cover the road. It's beautiful any time of year, but it was spectacular to drive this road in the wintertime darkness. Snow was falling in big flakes and snow was hanging on the branches over the road. It was so lovely, but I wasn't able to capture it on film without getting out of the car.

You can see the effect a bit more on the video I shot, but it's not nearly as dramatic as it was in person.  What a peaceful drive.  We also wanted to see the little church in Phoenix that's decorated each year.  As we came down the hill, we spotted these two trees next to the church first.

Then, we pulled in front of the building, and I snapped another photo for you--a lovely setting.

As we made our way back into Calumet, I took a few more photos of some of the beautifully decorated store windows on Fifth Street. They have a yearly window decorating contest for the shop owners. Here are two of the windows in Copper World.

We had such a pleasant evening, but it's always nice to see our own front door again.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

Merry Christmas!

Snow has been falling softly all day; the house is warm; our tummies are full; and we're sitting in the living room in the soft glow of Christmas lights.  It's a perfectly lovely evening in Calumet.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

Christmas Eve

Whiter Than Snow

Many of you are getting a real good taste of winter right now.  We're getting snow here, but they're only predicting about 5-7" for the Keweenaw.  That's typical winter weather for us - nothing to be concerned about.

When we look out our windows and see the way the snow has renewed our yard (covering Cocoa's previous tracks), we can't help but think about Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."  The snow gives us a beautiful picture of God's forgiveness. 

Remember some of the words in the old hymn, "Whiter Than Snow?" 

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;

I want Thee forever to live in my soul.

Break down every idol, cast out every foe

Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

   Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow

   Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, before You I patiently wait;

Come now and within me a new heart create.

To those who have sought You, You never said "No."

Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

   Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow

   Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

All is well in the Keweenaw!