Almost

Yesterday, both the Shepler's and Arnold Freight boats managed to make it across the Straits. It's a good thing too. Several Island businesses, including the Grand Hotel have opened, and until Friday there were only five teams of horses on the island. Not nearly enough to transport the volume of supplies, summer employees and guests that have been arriving each day. Hopefully, now the the freight boats are out, the passenger ferries are soon to follow. It's been a long winter - this is the latest in to the spring that we've gone without boats - at least in my time on the island...

Icy Straits

I just had to share these great pictures of the icy Straits. They were taken a few days ago by a crew from the US Coast Guard Air Station down in Traverse City.

Photos via

There's been a ton of freighter traffic in the Straits today. Since about 10:00 am we've heard pretty constant freighter horns. We tried to get a look at them here, but it's just too foggy.

As you can see, we're going be hearing them all morning... 

Feeling Springy

Normally, by mid-April, the ice is gone, the boats are running, and my husband has already started keeping a watchful eye on his morel mushroom patches - but not this year. Most of the paved roads are clear of snow, but grassy and wooded areas on Mackinac are still white, so it really wasn't feeling very much like spring to me. Until this week. On Wednesday I managed to get my first peek at open water; water I've not seen since before Christmas. Let me tell you, it was a wonderful site. It made me feel like spring might actually find us up here.

My daughter and I flew to the mainland for doctor's appointments on Thursday and despite the open water on the the other side of the island, we got a first hand look at just how much ice is left in the Straits.

Rumor has it that the U.S. Coast Guard is planning to begin breaking up the ice today... 

Mackinac Moment

It's been so warm lately that no one has ventured out onto the ice for the last week or so. The Sault Locks have opened, we've had freighter traffic passing by, and there are rumors that the Coast Guard will break up the remaining ice any day now. While we still have knee deep snow in many places, most streets are clear and it's finally starting to feel like spring...

Dragon Birthday

How does a Mama throw

a small dragon bash?

Does she work really hard,

and then fall down and crash?

She might set a nice table

with napkins a light,

and make yummy bread dragons

whose heads we can bite.

She may find a nice dragon

on the table to sit,

but don't touch her eggs,

or she'll throw quite a fit.

Her chef of a husband may

whip up a cake,

but the Dragon Fire Juice,

she surely can make.

She may sew up a shirt

emblazoned with fire,

and send treats to school,

her daughter's friends will admire.

When party time comes, Mama will gather her friends,

and they'll all stay up late tying up the loose ends.

After the fun is all finished, Mama'll tickle K's gizzard:

"Happy birthday. 

Happy birthday, little fire breathing lizard."

This post was inspired by some

of our favorite books.

And it's only a year late! My daughter turned seven last year. I searched and searched for the pictures, but thought I'd lost them. As I searched through old photos, looking for pictures of Sushi for my last post, I found them - yippee! 

The New Normal

We're all trying our best to get use to the "new normal" -  life without our dear sweet Sushi. Her little body just couldn't keep going any longer and, sadly, we lost her on Friday. When the vet started saying things like, "End stage organ failure," as hard as it was, we knew we had to say goodbye.

Needless to say, it's been hard on the kids; they've never known life without her. It's been easier for me. I remember the 18 pound (about 8 kg) cat she used to be before her thyroid stopped working correctly. I remember the sweet kitty we met at the shelter 13 years ago; so curious that she stuck out her paw to grab me as I walked past her cage. As soon as we let her out, she walked right over to get to know us better- dog and all.

She will be sorely missed....