Spring!

We are finally getting flowers blooming on Mackinac! Planted in the ground flowers, not ones that were started in a greenhouse and transplanted. Mine don't get quite as much sun as the tulips at Grand Hotel, so mine aren't quite this far along. Flowers always put me in a good mood so I'm glad I get to see these every morning on my walk to school...

Classic Mackinac

The other day when I said we got "a few" groceries, I may not have clearly explained how many groceries we actually picked up. We hadn't left the Island in months, so our cupboards were bare - quite bare. Everything on that cart is ours. (You can't see it in the pictures, the everything on that cart is labeled with our name.)

As is typical on Mackinac Island, we asked the dray to haul our groceries to the house. (We live about a mile from the dock, up hill.) Using the dray service is fairly cheap and everything is usually up to the house in a couple of hours. That was the case the other day. Except...

When we started to unpack we discovered one bag, the denim blue cooler in the top right of the picture, wasn't ours. It looked identical to ours, but didn't have our name on it. Someone had inadvertently taken our cooler and left theirs on the cart with all of our stuff. Since the entire cart was ours, the dray driver  assumed the cooler was ours too, and delivered it. It looked just like ours so, at first, we didn't even realize there had been a mistake. Once we discovered it, we weren't super worried. Our cooler had our name on it, so we knew we'd get it back. We also knew the owners of the other cooler would be concerned; their bag was full of high-end cuts of meat.

After an hour or so when we still hadn't heard anything, I posted a photo of the cooler in the Mackinac Island Residents Facebook group. I hoped someone would see it, realize their mistake, and call me. Nope.

After another hour, I decided to call one of the police officers, just to let them know the pricy meat was safe and that we would happily return it to whoever it belonged to. Luckily, he decided to pop down to the dock were he met a very worried man returning our cooler which he accidently took because it looked like his. (He didn't notice our name until he was ready to unpack it.) Small towns being what they are, about 15 minutes later the police came up to the house, swapped the coolers and everyone got busy happily putting away their items. 

Later that night I did get a message from a parent who had seen my Facebook post and given my phone number to the owner of the unlabeled cooler. The Police Chief just beat them to the punch and got everything moving in the right direction before they cold get ahold of me. 

Hopefully the new island family learned a few valuable lessons about island life from their experience:

1. Label everything with your name and phone number. It makes getting things back easier in the rare occasion of a mistake.
2. Check to make sure what you take from the dock is yours. Refer to #1.
3. Whether or not you appreciate Facebook, the Mackinac Island Residents page can be a very useful tool.
4. Mackinac Island people are honorable. Things might get "misplaced" for a while, but things are almost never "stolen."

Snowmageddon '26

Did we get snow in March 2026's snowstorm? Why yes, yes we did. Mackinac Island got a shit-ton of snow. Those are my classroom windows on Monday morning. (School was cancelled, but two teachers live right behind the building and went in to take pictures.)

We easily surpassed two feet (over 60 cm) of snow in this weekend's blizzard, and the wind caused huge drifts.  Luckily Mackinac didn't get any of the ice build up they were expecting, nor did we lose power.

I wasn't able to catch Allen before he started digging out the snowmobiles, but they really need to be on top of the snow to work right. It took us quite a while to get them all dug out and ready to use - not to mention cutting into the bank left behind by the snow plow. Thankfully, the neighbors came over to lend a hand.

Folks also came down to the school to help. Numerous volunteers helped dig us out so we could go back today! This morning I had beautiful sunlight streaming in my windows and clear paths of egress in case of emergency. Definitely a storm for the history books. I can't remember another time we got that much snow in such a short time.

Filling Up

In case you are grumbling about the price of gas in your neighborhood...

This winter, gas on Mackinac Island costs $7.30 per gallon. Last week, we paid about $39.00 to fill up one of our snowmobiles. Please know - I'm most definitely not complaining about that price; I'm thrilled to have gas available on the island. Thank you Rock Hardware!

We can get about 60 miles on a full eight-gallon tank, so we only need to fill up every couple of weeks or so. We just drive our snowmobile out onto the Coal Dock, and fuel up. 

We've had such mild winters lately, but this year is turning out to be much more like the winters of old - snowy and cold. (I think the high today was 11 degrees F (about -12 C.)  We have two snowmobiles, since Allen and I both work and regularly need to be in two different places during the day. People are often surprised to find out we only have one car. About once a summer we end up wanting to be at two different places (off the island) during the same weekend, but that hardly necessitates paying for two cars all year long. Our car sits in the parking lot more than we drive it! The snowmobiles really are our daily transportation...

Stuck

Due to the blizzard northern Michigan is experiencing, there are no boats to or from Mackinac Island today. That means we're stuck on the mainland with no way to get home, which is just part of living on Mackinac. In the 33 years I've lived on the island, I've been stuck on the mainland twice - once for three days. There have been other times where I was stuck on the island, but since I wasn't trying to leave and it wasn't a big deal, I didn't keep track.

Luckily, my mom has a house on the mainland with plenty of  room for guests. While Mackinac Island hasn't lost power during this storm (yet), my mom's house did lose power for a few hours this morning. The power flickered on and off in a way I've never seen before. It almost seemed like someone was jiggling the powerline that fed the house for a couple of minutes before it finally went out for good.  In addition to her furnace, my mom has a wood stove, and we wanted to make sure to get a good stockpile close to the house so she wouldn't have to trek out to the woodpile if the power stayed out. (In April, she was without power for a full week.) So this morning while she shoveled, Allen and I hauled wood. It wasn't pleasant with the wind whipping snow in our faces, but I was glad to do it. And I'm happy to know, now that the power is back on and she'll use less, she has a few weeks worth of wood just outside her back door.

Too Close for Comfort

Putting up the window candles for the holidays is typically a fairly dull task, but this year it brought a bit of excitement when the light* pictured above caught fire. Luckily, the fire started quickly and my daughter was still close by. After she came down from her adrenaline rush, she found it quite ironic that the object intended to mimic a flame had actually burst into flame.

She grabbed it by the as-yet-not-on-fire base and ran outside. Luckily, her fleece bore the brunt of the damage, and apart from a scorched spot on the sleeve and some melted plastic on the window, all is well. Thankfully. Had my daughter put that lamp up in a different room and then walked away, this would be a very different post. So, today I am feeling extra grateful for my quick thinking daughter who, while thoughtfully trying to lighten my holiday load, quite literally saved the day. 

*The lamp was UL listed, had the correct wattage bulb, and was plugged into a wall outlet (not an extension cord.)

Perfect Timing

Mackinac Island awoke today to a blanket of snow. We had a smidgen yesterday, but today we had more than enough for our snowmobiles. Not much makes us happier than that! For me it was perfect timing - now getting several large boxes down to school in the morning will be much easier.

Teachable Moment

Mackinac Island kids aren't usually able to get up close and personal with semi-trucks. When a truck showed up today to drop off a load of wood chips for the play ground, I asked the driver if he'd talk to the kids about his rig. 

They learned how it was loaded, how many cubic yards of wood chips it could carry, and how much it weighed when it was full. He even let them climb up so they could peek in the cab and get a quick tutorial on all the dials and levers he had on the dashboard.

He was an absolute peach of a guy to answer all of their (and my) numerous questions. The fact the kids found the most surprising was the truck could only travel three miles on a gallon of diesel (about 1.8 km per L). 

Morning Musings

The sky was beautiful this morning. There's just something about my morning walks to school...

I'm not sure if it's the exercise, the solitude, or the quiet contemplation, but whatever it is, it gets my day started on a positive note. 

 

A Beacon of Light

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the person who suggested I call Beacon House. After the whirlwind drive up to Marquette to be with my son, it was wonderful not to have to worry about where I was going to sleep, finding a parking spot, or figuring out where I could find a cup of coffee. Beacon House took care of all of it. Plus - it's just a quick walk to and from the hospital. Let me tell you, it's been a godsend. 

Probably my favorite thing so far has been the guest book. Inside, it has the name and a photograph of the couple who sponsored my room. Guests are able to leave a note in the book, which at the end of the year is given to the sponsors. What a lovely way to for them to see the impact their generosity is having on people. 

If, heaven forbid, you ever happen to be dealing with a medical emergency in the Marquette, Michigan, area call Beacon House. They'll take good care of you.

Current Situation

I'm hanging out in Marquette for a few days with my son. He was brought by ambulance last night from Houghton to the hospital here. Apparently the medical center in Houghton isn't really a "hospital," so they thought it best to send him to a place able to provide a higher level of care. We didn't know where they were going to send him until after the last boat yesterday; and since Grand Rapids, Marquette, and Green Bay were all listed as possibilities, I couldn't really start driving driving I had a clear direction to go. After catching the first boat off the island this morning, I headed north and caught up with him at about noon.  Please don't worry - he's going to be OK, and is in good spirits.

Positive Vibes

Today, as I was riding home from school, I was overwhelmed with happiness. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever just been filled with joy at the thought of being alive? It may be a little on the sappy side, but that was really how I was feeling today.

I hope your day was every bit as wonderful!

Scary

The horses on Mackinac Island are generally considered "safe." While accidents do happen, they don't happen very frequently. That said, we do have close calls every now and again because horses are creatures of habit. They can get spooked and will try to run away if something scares them; something as innocuous as a bale of hay near the side of the road can terrify a horse.

That innocent little hay bale just sat there after falling off a dray. I watched multiple teams of horses get upset: ears back, trying to move off to the side, slowing down - very clearly not wanting to get anywhere near that spooky, out-of-place item. (If you've lived on the island for a while you learn to recognize the sound of an agitated team.) To their credit, each driver maintained control over their teams and there were no accidents due to that hay.

Within 15 minutes the hay was collected and all the horses (and their drivers) were happy again.

And So it Begins...

Today was the first day of school on Mackinac for the 2025-2026 school year. Today, behind that window, my class of nine 5th and 6th graders got to work. (I don't have signed permission slips letting me share their pictures yet, but in a few days I'll be able to share photos.) Let me tell you, they are off to a great start!

Special Delivery

My husband brought me flowers - an entire cartload of flowers!

There's a house on the corner of Market Street that is being renovated, so I asked if they had plan for the plants currently growing in the yard. The owner told me they were changing the landscaping and I should help myself to whatever I wanted- whoop whoop! Yesterday, after my voice lesson, I stopped by and started digging. (Yes, I rode through downtown with a shovel in my bike basket!) My darling husband met me with his cart and then hauled everything up the hill and back up to the house. 

Besties

Not much beats spending the weekend with 30+ year friends.

I can't begin to imagine my life without these amazing women! Having a friend with a backyard pool is just icing on the cake. One guess which one is the girl (A.K.A. me) with blonde hair, freckles, and a family history of skin cancer.

Fun Times

I'm so glad mt front yard looks like this tonight. If you are passing a house on Mackinac Island and you see that many bikes in a yard, you know something fun is happening inside.

My kids and a bunch of friends are all gathered around my dining room table playing Dungeons and Dragons tonight; and it makes me really happy.

Are they loud? Yes. Do they make a mess? Sure, but I don't care; not in the slightest. They are socializing, in person, and only using technology to project a map and look up information about monsters, cantrips, and race abilities. (Yeah, don't ask, I'm not sure either.) 

I love that twice a week, my dining room is the place to be for fun.

Watching

Sometimes I catch myself watching tourists. It's not in a creepy stalker way, I promise; it's more of a trying-to-see-things-through-their-eyes kind of watching. I try to catch their sense of wonder and excitement as they get their first glimpse of the Island. I don't want Mackinac to ever seem mundane to me. I know I'm incredibly lucky to get to live here.

Last week I ended up taking a slow boat, sorry, "Classic Ferry" to the Island after dropping my daughter back at work after her doctor's appointment. As I was lamenting the extra 15 minutes the ride was going to take, I caught this couple coming over to the Island for the first time. They were so excited when the ferry got close enough for them to see Grand Hotel, and just adorable taking selfies with the Island in the background.

Did you know it's cheaper to come to the Island via Arnold Line's Classic Ferry? Those tickets are only $23.00, compared to $36.00 for the faster ferry. Plus, since the Classic ferry only departs from St, Ignace, you get to drive across the Mackinac Bridge. For people traveling with a big group, saving $13.00 on each adult ticket will really add up! That cheaper price is only in effect when the faster ferries are running.

Dang

Mackinac Island got just a little bit of rain today. OK, more than just a little bit - we got about two inches (about 5 cm) of rain in just under an hour. There was so much water so quickly the sanitary sewer was overwhelmed. You are looking at a manhole cover; a 90 pound (about 40 kg) manhole cover being pushed up by the water. Normally, that manhole cover is flush with the level of the street. Dang, that's a lot of water!

Good Morning

I love walking to school in the wee hours of the morning. No one else is out and about and it's just me and my thoughts. There's just something about being up before the sun; something special about seeing it rise while virtually everyone else is still asleep. It is the perfect way to start the day.