Where the hell did summer go? I know I’m old and that’s clique but this one really got away from me.
And while I’m at, “Get off my fucking lawn” and “200 feet the shore is NO WAKE asswipe”.
Got those of my old fat guy chest.
Made it back up after a three week hiatus. Last time I was up there was for a “guys” weekend.
Mrs S had a few observations. “Thought you said you cleaned the place” was how the conversation started. I’ve been married long enough and seen enough Law & Order to know the difference between a legitimate question and a trap set by a DA. I answer with very confident “huh”?
Best to keep the options open when being interrogated by the opposite sex. I don’t always know where the conversation is going, if you know what I mean.
But the circumstantial evidence was stacked against me.
- Bedroom window left wide open.
- Coffee in the coffee maker, with an interesting fuzzy white top.
- Beer can left on the soap shelf in the shower. I don’t anything about that except to say… never mind I have no answer.
- Night vision goggles on the table. Not so much messy thing but she was wondering A) Where they came from and B) what do 5 guys in their mid to late 40’s do with night vision goggles.
- 5 empty CO2 cartridges on the deck and an empty can of pellets.
- A receipt from the local store for bottles of Jim Beam and Tanqueray. A second receipt from the same store, three hours later for another bottle of Tanqueray, a pack of Marlboroughs, a pack of Winston’s, 5 Hershey bars and tub of wax worms. When I run into the guys who were here we’re gonna have to have a little conversation about receipts and evidence. Amateurs.
“Was not me, we had a few smokers over and there’s still some Tangueray, how’bout I fix you a G&T my precious luv dove.” “Shez Sank, only missing was midget wrestling and a newly dug grave”. Obviously she didn’t get over behind the garage.
This is why I could never commit a crime, I don’t know how to destroy evidence so well.
So that’s how the weekend started, yours truly in the dock getting prosecuted. And when I get prosecuted by my spouse I’ll freely admit that always more about damage control and containment as I am, in almost all cases guilty of something. This was no exception.
Moving on.
This was the last weekend that the oldest would be at the lake until next summer, unless we make a winter trip. And the possibility of that isn’t very good as he’s not home all that long in the winter, so this was it. He didn’t make it up there very much this summer either due to the field work he was doing on the Upper Peninsula for school. Field work mapping places that have been mapped by thousands of geo students before them and an added surprise project as all available geology, engineering students and professors still in town over the summer were summoned to help out when a bulldozer fell into giant sinkhole while digging out the foundation for the new Mineral Museum.
Michigan Tech is a building a new facility to house the Michigan State Mineralogical Museum. Basically it’s the state rock collection. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a damned fine collection and should you find yourself in Houghton Michigan for some reason it’s definitely worth a stop. Of course Houghton Michigan is just about as remote a place as you get and still have running water and WIFI so I’m not sure any of you dear readers will get there, but should you, you should go.
I digress.
It seems that in the digging of the foundation the crew discovered a stope that that been lost to the world for last 100 years or so. Frankly you can’t hardly dig a hole around Keweenaw Peninsula and not hit a shaft or a stope. Apparently about half the foundation is over mine fill, tailings and abandoned equipment the other half empty stope.
Stoping is the removal of the wanted ore from an underground mine leaving behind an open space known as a stope.[1] Stoping is used when the country rock is sufficiently strong not to cave into the stope, although in most cases artificial support is also provided. As mining progresses the stope is often backfilled with tailings, or when needed for strength, a mixture of tailings and cement.
Personal note you learn more reading this blog, you can all thank me for a new vocabulary word, you’re quite welcome.
The stope and the tunnels to access it that had to be found and plotted and all that sort of thing. And a plan had to be developed to figure out what to do about it to make the foundation for the new building stable and on and on. The lad got so spend a day or two surveying and interpreting ground penetrating radar, while other kids poured over historical mine surveys and plans to try to figure out what they had and where it went. Turns out it was part a system of tunnels that were used to transport ore from the mine down to the shore of Potage Lake where stamp mills once pulverized the ore to extract copper or whatever it was the were looking for. Today there’s a neighborhood down on the lake built on the acres and acres of lake that was filled in by the fine sand that was the result of this operation.
Or so I’m told.
Lookit that, more general knowledge for you people, my gift to you!
Lost in my own mind again.
Sum up- kid hasn’t been up here much this summer. Twice actually. Now that he’s 21 it would have been really hand to have him up here. Certain errands can only be asked of persons 21 and older and since asking Mrs S to make a run to the booze outlet at 11:15 am, well at almost any time, rarely works out the way I’d like it too, it’s nice to have a kid to do it.
We spend some time on the water, the two of us, fishing away the last weekend before he departed for British Columbia for a few months. Fishing was slow, but in some ways I enjoy it. I like the problem solving of trying to figure out what the bass are doing and what techniques will work to catch them. Took an hour or so, but we found fish, they were deep and in a negative mood which means they were not really biting. So slower presentations, patience and getting in the right place meant we were able to land a dozen or so decent fish over the two days. But you sure had to work for them.
And the work did pay off, I got a 23” bass that came in at just over 7lbs, shattering my personal Blake Lake and lifetime records. That was pretty exciting.
State Fair starts on Thursday this week, which means the traditional summer time vacation stuff is coming to fast end. Sad. Every time the State Fair gets going I’m a struck with a little melancholy as I realize that we got a lot less 80 degree days left in the year than we do 20 degree days.
But I like 20 too, in its season. And that’s certainly coming.
