Just Another Day

It's got to be pretty awful for us to stay inside for recess. Mackinac Island kids come to school dressed to be outside in the weather. 

My students' favorite thing about winter recess? Playing on the snow hill of course; they love it!

Windy

Due to this weekend's high winds, open water is now only 150 feet or so from the tree-lined trail on the ice bridge. That means no more ice travel this season. I've actually not crossed at all this year. It's not that I'm opposed to crossing the ice; I just haven't needed to go. And given the inherent risk associated with going out on the ice, if I don't have a good reason to go, I don't.

No Complaints

I have a friend who lives in Texas and he was complaining the price of gas that had gone up to $3.05 a gallon. So, of course, I had to share this with him. This was from filling my snowmobile today, and I'm not complaining. I will happily pay $6.00 a gallon rather than walk to work when it's below zero.

Winter Takeout

No one at my house felt like cooking tonight, so we placed a takeout order at the Mustang. (One of the two restaurants open this winter.) The burgers were delicious and the dishes were a snp!

Busy

Today was a busy one at Doud's Market - Mackinac Island's grocery store. Three shoppers at once? (Four of you include me as I hadn't taken off my helmet yet.) Sometimes when I'm there at this time of year, I'm the only one shopping, but not today. 

Icy

We probably had 15 or so tourists on snowmobiles drive past the school this afternoon. (After having driven across the ice bridge.) Lots of them stopped to admire this gorgeous view. One of my students, who recently moved to Mackinac from Hawaii, asked how I could tell the people were tourists. I explained: a sure fire way to tell if someone is a tourist is to look to see if their coat or helmet match their snowmobile. If they match they're a tourist; if they're wearing Carhartt or things are mismatched they're probably a local. Oh, and if they're riding with kids, they're a local for sure!

Just Passing Through

Saturday afternoon the Coast Guard passed by the Island on their way through the Straits. Had I been thinking, I would have opened my Marine Traffic app which would have told me which vessel I was looking at. But, of course, I was too busy enjoying the view.

All Set

Some of Island guys spent today planting our used Christmas trees into the ice to mark the trail across the ice bridge. Lots of tourists assume a tree line means the trail is safe - it isn't. Any time anyone decides to cross the ice, they are risking their life. Many of us choose to take that risk, but if you are thinking about crossing the ice, never just assume it's safe. Ice conditions can change quickly.

Photo courtesy of Sam Barnwell

In an Emergency

People often ask me about medical care on Mackinac. We have a two-bed emergency room at the Medical Center which has staff on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Often it's all people need, but not always. (For example we had to deal with this, this, this,  this and this on the mainland.) Patients who need a higher level of care are regularly taken to the mainland on the ferry boat during the summer or on the airplane during the winter. Sometimes when a crisis happens, and an hour can mean the difference between life and death, patients are shipped to specialized care via an air ambulance service such as North Flight. When private services like that are unavailable (and it is life and death) the US Coast Guard will step in and airlift patients to care on the mainland. In January 2019 they brought the Katmai Bay to the Island when the weather made the helicopter impossible to use. 

A Coast Guard transfer is free, but the air ambulances are quite expensive. (And the Coast Guard will only come if all commercial options are unavailable.)  The husband of a friend of mine was flown to Petoskey by an air ambulance service after suffering a serious stroke. The bill? About $65,000; thankfully his health insurance covered 100% of the cost. Luckily, I have never needed one of these services and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I never will.

 

Beautiful

Mackinac is always beautiful, but in the winter, following a heavy snow, the Island is gorgeous. Even though the landscape lacks color, it's got to be one of the prettiest trips to the grocery store around.