First Snow

Just a few days ago it was looking like Fall was about to reach its apex when a series of very windy, wet days ensued, knocking most leaves prematurely to the ground. So much for Fall....

So, this morning with temps running a good 15-20 degrees below normal, we woke to our first snow skiff. I really think we could be in for a blast of harsh winter weather this year with it coming on so soon. It's a good thing I already thought to locate the snow shovel!

I'm not sure what exactly brought about some changes at my place of employment but my primary tasks have been changed up. What could, I guess, be viewed as a demotion?: being pulled from the donut line, has turned out to be a Godsend of better hours and shifts. I now primarily will be packaging and pricing, which involves bagging buns and rolls, packaging cookies, pies, croissants and danish, and then dispersing them to their allotted shelf or table space. In addition, I still participate in the "pull" which involves going into the freezer to pull all the the donuts, buns, etc. and arranging them on their trays, which will be needed for the next day's baking. I'm just as busy so time flies, but I now get up at a more humane time to make the 7-10 a.m. shift. I like it! Occasionally, I guess when needed, I will still man the donut fryer and get messy with the frosting (I am slated for one early morning this week) but a new guy has been hired to fill that shift. 

I'm very happy with my little job and I look forward to going into see everyone and move so quickly for those few hours nearly every day. It keeps me from being a recluse and it's nice when I look at the bank account to see deposits of money I've earned mounting up. How else am I ever going to get that pontoon houseboat I'm yearning for? 

Fleeting Fall

It has been such a rainy past month in Wisconsin that I haven’t been able to get out and enjoy the fall colors as I normally do. Now, leaves are rapidly falling, and I may miss the entire thing, oh no!

Having made the decision not to go west this winter I was faced with how best to spend my time alone. Marc now only gets a home visit every six weeks and I abhorred the idea of being stuck inside all winter by myself, with boredom potentially following. So, I decided for my mental and financial well-being it was time to go back to work! 

Waupaca has a very low unemployment rate and just about every establishment has a Help Wanted sign out front so finding something was easy. Knowing I did not want to cashier, I decided to take the first thing offered where I also first applied, as a chance to have a somewhat flexible part-time schedule and be a job where I’d learn new skills. I can now say I’m known as the “donut Queen”, as I work at the bakery of a local supermarket, primarily responsible for producing and frosting/icing the donuts that get made daily. Here’s an example of my daily output for the "case" and in addition we often have special orders we fill--on this Sunday I also did a 5 dozen church order!

I am also being trained to bag and label/price the various rolls, breads, muffins, etc. that roll out of the oven without break during the wee morning hours. Yes, my work is primarily the graveyard shift; weekends I arise at 2:30 a.m. to make it to work by 3:30 to do a five-hour shift. Otherwise, I have a more normal 7-10 a.m. shift bagging and pricing. I’m trying to stay at not more than a 20-hour workweek but suspect that will rise around the holidays when it gets super busy. 

I still have found time to work in my volunteer work with the shelter, although given the early morning work hours I often must nap during the day. Being in a set routine and sticking close to home I suspect my blog may grow strangely quiet this winter, so bear with me. I’m undecided yet as to whether I will continue working when summer rolls around and I have so much yard work and watering to keep up with, to say nothing of the annual shelter rummage and bake sale responsibilities. I enjoy being active and busy and feel those who work or are engaged in civic activities/volunteerism maintain a much better outlook as they age, so who knows?

Ghostly Endeavors: Fayette, Michigan

What is it about ghost towns that so attracts us? The fascination of how our ancestors used to live; the thoughts of a slower pace of life (was it really though?); digging through antiques, or merely gazing upon something which has stood time’s test and nature’s best to knock it down? 

We descend, literally, onto Fayette State Park’s shelf as it sits in all its glory, faded and sandwiched between a dazzling sky and the endless view of Lake Michigan disappearing into the horizon. We are practically the only ones there. It literally almost takes my breath away and I feel like a kid with a counter full of candy jars in front of me, not knowing which one to pick from first. To have a whole town to ones’ self to explore—how enticing! Even though that only lasts for about a half hour, the town never does become crowded during our visit.

Fayette, for all the buildings missing, is very intact with 20 still standing. Michigan state parks system keeps it in a state of arrested decay and occasional restoration, creating a few vignettes in some of the buildings with furnishings from the period. Others are left with their ghosts, their cobwebs, peeling wallpaper and dusty floors and are not available for touring so the best one can do is snap photos against window glass. Incongruous as it may seem, there is also a modern dock and harbor for visiting boaters, sitting amongst the pilings from over a hundred years ago which stretch around the bay like jagged bad teeth.

It was essentially a company town, started by the Jackson Iron Company to bring charcoal pig iron smelting closer to the source of the ore for shipping. Lime kilns were also built to provide lime for the furnaces and for mortar to build with. The 500 residents were primarily immigrants from Canada and northern Europe with half the population children; with the tiny homes crammed, they must have been suffocating.

Simple plaques record diary entries from residents, putting together a story for us to follow today. The park service has also worked hard to delve into architectural clues to obtain information on the day to day of life in Fayette and some buildings offer up guess boxes for visitors to guess at answers about the town’s life.

Eventually the hardwood forests needed to create the charcoal required for running the huge blast furnaces played out—early photographs show the hillside cliffs entirely denuded (nothing like the lush forest we see today)—and the mill closed. Residents drifted away to other endeavors and even the town’s highly touted hotel closed by WWII and the remains of town became a state park in 1959.

Although off the beaten track of Highway 2, on the Garden Peninsula of the U.P., it is definitely a worthwhile detour.