Hey, Eviee, thanks for this! My affiliations are more in Wisconsin (Minocqua area) but of course I love the UP. The Yoopers are priceless-- The Second Week of Deer Camp is my all-time favorite but Rusty Chevrolet is high up on my hit parade.
I loved reading this! I’m a troll, but oh, how I love da Yoop, yah. If I had the big bucks, I would purchase a retirement home up there. I know it’s a hard life in the winter, but there’s just something magical about the place. I have it easy downstate here in Grand Rapids, but the rugged challenge is so appealing to me. Thank you for this super cool memoir!
I didn’t appreciate it as much as I probably should have. I’ve lived in Dallas for ten years now and I just miss seeing stars in the sky and trees and Lake Superior 🥹
I would have felt the same way you did as a kid - let me outta here, I want to see things in the world. But now, as a septuagenarian, having indeed seen lots of the world, the peace and quiet of those stars and trees sounds like a dream.
See, this is why we get along! We were neighbors. It was cross-country skiing that got me out of Wisconsin. I've done the American Birkebeiner 23 times! Actually, I was keen to raise my kids here because, as you said, this climate teaches you how to survive anywhere in the world. This article needs to be broken up into about 10, 3-page short stories with details!
I just wrote everything that came to mind today. Re-read it once before posting. Not my norm or my best work. But I needed to break myself out of the box today. This algorithm is wearing on me. My creative juices just haven’t been flowing lately. This was a good start.
I’ll take your advice and break it up into more individual stories. That’s a great idea! Thanks 😁🫶🏼
I lived for a year in the Upper Peninsula. My Dad helped build KI Sawyer Airbase. Dad was born in Rock, Michigan, on M35. He rests in peace there too. His family moved to Chicago for work in the depression. Dad never liked the city but he met a girl and they had 7 children.
Well, it was the longest year of my life. Country living was just not my thing. The good thing was I got straight A’s in second grade…never repeated that excellence 😂.
And I did love going to the swimming hole and loved going to the high achool to watch basketball games in the winter. I have loved basketball ever since.
But boy was I glad when my grandparents brought me back to Chicago the next summer. I remember looking out the car window and marveling at…people!
My Dad worked at KISawyer when I was a kid until Clinton closed the base - then he was relocated to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin! I used to love going to the air shows every summer!
And there was always a big one in northern Wisconsin. Dad was a WW II Air Force veteran. He loved planes. He never had to go overseas but really loved flying those planes. And maybe he influenced my son (born 7 years after Dad passed) who ended up going to Lewis University where he earned a degree in Aviation Management and learned how to fly. They had their own airport on campus and once Will saw that, he was sure that is where he was going.
Well, my darling, we have another connection. My BFF married a Yooper and stayed there until she was gone. My favorite niece lives not far from where you grew up. Until I moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I spent several weeks in August in Big Bay, escaping during those few years of Arizona summers. With the exception of Marquette, the UP is currently populated pretty much by MAGA supporters. I wanted so desperately to be able to climb high into the trees to remove that “Let’s Go Brandon” sign on County Road 550. I grew up downstate, in the city, then the suburbs. I never went to the camp, except for brief moments. Because after many years of camping all over the state, I came to understand that my idea of “roughing it” is “not getting room service for breakfast”. Glad you (and I) are staying warm.
Yeah, I thought many times about climbing that tree or cutting it down, but like everyone else who didn't succumb to the urge, knew it would just validate the hatred that the person who hung it feels.
It's about 60/40 MAGA, which is embarrassing, but 40% is close enough to half that we still have hope.
As horrible as the snow sounded, a half a year of not doing much would really work in favor of my TBR. The only issue would be working… perhaps Michigan is giving this PNW girl retirement vibes.
I’m at a point where I question what a perfect summer is. It’s like eighty degrees for the next couple weeks and I feel like the sun was exchanged for the devils butthole. But I believe in Michigan.
Hey, Eviee, thanks for this! My affiliations are more in Wisconsin (Minocqua area) but of course I love the UP. The Yoopers are priceless-- The Second Week of Deer Camp is my all-time favorite but Rusty Chevrolet is high up on my hit parade.
Haha! Yes! Da Tirty Point Buck is another classic!
Alien talk. Give your human her mind back, Ms Rothschild.
LOL!
I loved reading this! I’m a troll, but oh, how I love da Yoop, yah. If I had the big bucks, I would purchase a retirement home up there. I know it’s a hard life in the winter, but there’s just something magical about the place. I have it easy downstate here in Grand Rapids, but the rugged challenge is so appealing to me. Thank you for this super cool memoir!
I didn’t appreciate it as much as I probably should have. I’ve lived in Dallas for ten years now and I just miss seeing stars in the sky and trees and Lake Superior 🥹
I would have felt the same way you did as a kid - let me outta here, I want to see things in the world. But now, as a septuagenarian, having indeed seen lots of the world, the peace and quiet of those stars and trees sounds like a dream.
Same Pamela. I miss the peacefulness and the absolute beauty of the U.P.
See, this is why we get along! We were neighbors. It was cross-country skiing that got me out of Wisconsin. I've done the American Birkebeiner 23 times! Actually, I was keen to raise my kids here because, as you said, this climate teaches you how to survive anywhere in the world. This article needs to be broken up into about 10, 3-page short stories with details!
I've been in the snowbank a few times too!
I just wrote everything that came to mind today. Re-read it once before posting. Not my norm or my best work. But I needed to break myself out of the box today. This algorithm is wearing on me. My creative juices just haven’t been flowing lately. This was a good start.
I’ll take your advice and break it up into more individual stories. That’s a great idea! Thanks 😁🫶🏼
I loved it! I meant I wanted more!
It’s great seeing your roots where you come from.
I lived for a year in the Upper Peninsula. My Dad helped build KI Sawyer Airbase. Dad was born in Rock, Michigan, on M35. He rests in peace there too. His family moved to Chicago for work in the depression. Dad never liked the city but he met a girl and they had 7 children.
Well, it was the longest year of my life. Country living was just not my thing. The good thing was I got straight A’s in second grade…never repeated that excellence 😂.
And I did love going to the swimming hole and loved going to the high achool to watch basketball games in the winter. I have loved basketball ever since.
But boy was I glad when my grandparents brought me back to Chicago the next summer. I remember looking out the car window and marveling at…people!
Been in Chicago ever since.
My Dad worked at KISawyer when I was a kid until Clinton closed the base - then he was relocated to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin! I used to love going to the air shows every summer!
And there was always a big one in northern Wisconsin. Dad was a WW II Air Force veteran. He loved planes. He never had to go overseas but really loved flying those planes. And maybe he influenced my son (born 7 years after Dad passed) who ended up going to Lewis University where he earned a degree in Aviation Management and learned how to fly. They had their own airport on campus and once Will saw that, he was sure that is where he was going.
Love it! Same sort of "take a concrete pill, and harden up!" childhood I had... only thout the snow... until I lived in Winnipeg MBA forc6 years... 💚
Thanks for reading! 😁🫶🏼
Troll here, (Ann Arbor and Atlanta, Mi). Partner is a Yooper, hard as hardtack. No better character in this world to have in the foxhole.
I enjoy your writing. I don’t think I’ve ever known a U.P. native, so I specifically appreciated that perspective!
Very cool! Thanks for being here Earl 👍
Well, my darling, we have another connection. My BFF married a Yooper and stayed there until she was gone. My favorite niece lives not far from where you grew up. Until I moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I spent several weeks in August in Big Bay, escaping during those few years of Arizona summers. With the exception of Marquette, the UP is currently populated pretty much by MAGA supporters. I wanted so desperately to be able to climb high into the trees to remove that “Let’s Go Brandon” sign on County Road 550. I grew up downstate, in the city, then the suburbs. I never went to the camp, except for brief moments. Because after many years of camping all over the state, I came to understand that my idea of “roughing it” is “not getting room service for breakfast”. Glad you (and I) are staying warm.
Yeah, I thought many times about climbing that tree or cutting it down, but like everyone else who didn't succumb to the urge, knew it would just validate the hatred that the person who hung it feels.
It's about 60/40 MAGA, which is embarrassing, but 40% is close enough to half that we still have hope.
I 💙 da Yoo-Pee!!!
😁🫶🏼
Bravo ! Bravo !! From one Yooper to another !!!
😁🫶🏼
As horrible as the snow sounded, a half a year of not doing much would really work in favor of my TBR. The only issue would be working… perhaps Michigan is giving this PNW girl retirement vibes.
Summers there are perfect!
I’m at a point where I question what a perfect summer is. It’s like eighty degrees for the next couple weeks and I feel like the sun was exchanged for the devils butthole. But I believe in Michigan.
Nice. Very nice.