Winter Fantasies

Winters here can be hard to get through for people such as myself, who don’t enjoy being outdoors in low wind chill temperatures. As winters go however, this one hasn’t been all that bad in terms of amounts of snow we’ve had to fight; mainly, it’s just been day after day of low temps and low, leaden, endlessly grey skies. I’ve not been fighting depression, but I do think I’ve come up against a certain amount of S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder). 

Thus, I can honestly say, my job has become my lifeline and even though the hours have dropped significantly now past the holidays, I cling to it as the preserver of sanity it has become. Other than my occasional aggravation of working with the one person, the job offers up only positives for both my mental and physical well-being. 

Some things I thought might get accomplished this winter are being put off. For instance, I have several pieces of furniture I want to refinish or paint but have decided the necessary stripping and prep are things better left outside in the sun room where I can have necessary ventilation and won’t worry about the mess. I can’t say I use my time constructively at this point, spending many hours working jigsaw puzzles (addicted), reading, or doing massive amounts of internet research. What am I researching? Well, there are all the possibilities of island and stove hood design and various materials to consider. I read house décor and design blogs and relish what others have done on Pinterest. I research areas of the greater Great Lakes as to areas or things I may eventually want to see or experience, and lately, once again, I am heavily researching boats. 

Having a boat has become a major priority for me—for Marc, not so much. He said he is not opposed to it; he just doesn’t feel the time is right. But if not soon, then when? With each passing month it seems we experience the infirmities of old age creeping yet farther into our bones. We are both becoming so riddled with arthritis, some days moving body parts is downright almost impossible. Does having a boat at our age make sense? Not in the least, but alas, it’s one of those bucket list items for me that I see running out with the sands in the hourglass. 

So, I spend countless hours contemplating styles and types of boats, what size, how we might primarily use one and where (with Wisconsin’s 10,000 lakes, 33,000 miles of rivers and two Great Lakes it won’t be a problem), looking at for sale ads, and then vacillate back and forth between what we may eventually purchase. Notice I use the word “may”—gotta keep a positive attitude about this happening! (The picture is actually the Georgian Bay area of Ontario, but definitely on my wish list since it is so close!)

I love the platform of a pontoon with an economical outboard, but I also lean towards a cabin cruiser gas hog that would allow us the opportunity of camping on it overnight (with room for the cats of course!). An old boat of course—not to break the limited budget. Something like this 26 foot 80's Sea Ray:

The possibilities for boat camping are endless—motoring past and docking at the historic towns along the Mississippi River; traversing and fishing for lake trout around the Door Peninsula in Lake Michigan; island hopping and camping the beautiful and wild Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. Even enjoying the smaller lakes like the ones we visited last September where we could just anchor out instead of hauling the RV to the campground.

Moving on, this is the way the kitchen shelving came out; now awaiting Marc’s next visit home to install the corbels he made. They will cover up the iron brackets to make a much neater and finished appearance. While he was in the basement working, he also decided he needed a routing table, so started working on building one. He gets so excited by the opportunity to putsy around in his workshop; I know it’s a huge hardship for him to be away from home for years at a time, but unfortunately, there is no end in sight even though he turns 65 soon.