I had forgotten to tell you all about the delightful, amazing WINERIES up here on the Mission Peninsula in Traverse City!   Our fav is Brys Estate Winery (did I tell you about that?) they are the ones who grow all (or 90%) of their grapes right here on the peninsula.  They are the authentic choice of the locals, and now....the nationals.  I will tell you why, but it is a secret.  Charles Shaw of Trader Joe's fame, and a Chicago visitor to the area, is VERY interested in Brys Winery producing a new swish high-end wine for a new direction of his winery activities.   We delighted in a tour of the winery and a sampling of their wines....exquisite.  So, my blog has not ended! 

I had lunch at the very amazing Cafe Muse in Royal Oak (I highly recommend!) with friends from South High today, where I worked for 25 years until I retired in June of this year.  Half of my teacher friends had followed our lighthouse blog, which was delightful to hear.  The other half had not....but all were were curious....thinking we were CRAZY to do this, but then in the next breath asked us how and why did we get into this?  I told them that in March of this year (it is now December) we answered a classified ad in our local paper (The Grosse Pointe News) advertising "Lighthouse Keepers Wanted".  Funny thing was....I don't subscribe to the paper, and picked it up at Rite Aid on impulse.  At home I just turned to that section (I never read the classifieds) and it was like a tractor beam to my brain.  Hmmmmm....what could possibly be more intriguing than that (I thought).  So, I kept waking Jack up in the night....elbowing him saying, "I think we could DO this!".....then the next night...."Why not??? We could do this!"    I clipped the ad and taped it to the refrigerator where it would stare at us every time we opened it, which is often,fortunately.   Still working at the time...it became one of the several factors to force my hand into the decision of retirement.  BUT...I must say, you don't have to be retired to be a Lighthouse Keeper.  Absolutely not.  Some do it for a weekend...others for a week, a couple from Texas do it for the entire month of August (I don't blame them -- I'd want to "exit stage right" from Texas in August too.)   The rest is history....Jack agreed it would be an adventure, we applied using the surprisingly lengthy online application, acquired our three letters of recommendation, wrote a "why I want to be a Lighthouse Keeper" letter from each of us, supplied confidential info for voluntary police checks...and waited for the "tap" to serve.  It came about four months later in a phone call from Sonja, the Lighthouse Manager via a telephone interview.  On a speaker phone we answered her questions enthusiastically....and were IN.  We selected what available dates remained (December) and booked into 2013.   What I did not know is the elite group we had agreed to join....a group of plucky, fun people with a sense of adventure and spirit.   We are still deliberating on WHEN our next weeks will be.....I may do a stint with a crazy (but dependable) girlfriend during the busy time (June/July) and reserve the quieter time (Dec/Jan) to do it again with Jack.  That's more his speed!  Any takers out there for the summer?  Let me know!

Here is roadside view as readied ourselves to say goodbye to our Lighthouse adventure this morning.  The Lighthouse Manager Sonja and her husband Brett stopped by to say goodbye to us before we left for home today.  Brett really does look like my brother, and I told him so.  In addition to caring lovingly for the logistics and political advocacy of the lighthouse, they also run Harbor View Lavender Farm on Old Mission Peninsula and brought us bath salts and soaps...along with delicious cookies.  I don't know how those two do everything they do....and raise a beautiful family on top of it all.  We have met so many wonderful, hard-working people who call Old Mission Peninsula their home.  From retirees who love the isolation and beauty of peninsula life, to the winery owners who are struggling to grow the best grapes possible on the very desirable 45th Parallel for national markets, to the farmers who work two extra jobs just to keep their little piece of heaven and a maple syrup stand out front..to the wanderers who look for meaning from a crazy, busy life in the complete quiet of the shores, the winery tourists, the hiker, dog-walkers and the lighthouse junkies who show us their checklists of most of the 129 Michigan lighthouses they've visited & photographed.  They've all whispered in our ears and we've listened and become better people for it.  The highlight of our parting today was getting our official national U.S.L.H.S. golden pins for 2012 and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Peninsula Township Council.  The United States Lighthouse Service pins are minted yearly and given to lighthouse keepers who serve with efficiency (whew!).  What an honor,truly;-)  It was like a little unexpected graduation ceremony as were were packing up and doing double-checks of things we were likely to leave behind.  A nice surprise.  I hope the timers go on as scheduled tonight without my eager face looking out the windows....and Jack hopes he remembered to close the hatch of the lens room.  This week, a couple from Jacksonville, Florida arrive to take over our duties until the end of the month.  We left them cheat sheets about the mice and cash register.  For now, our blog may morph into "Lighthouse Keepers Keep Busy Until They Go Back There Again!"  

Great coincidences have abounded on this 10-day adventure.  We have found that about half of the people who venture up to the lighthouse,  come in to take the tour and walk up to the lens room. The other half just stop in to talk or look around the first floor, which is free.  It is so true what has been said about talking long enough to a stranger -- you eventually find out you have shared ties.  If not, their interesting information is added to our list of neat places to visit or things to do.  We have had avid lighthouse fans with great stories of visiting Michigan lighthouses (there are 129 in all) at Whitefish Point in the UP, or Big Sable Point in Ludington, Point Betsie in Benzie County or Forty Mile Point in Rogers City.  There are real lighthouse junkies out there folks.  It's a vacation lifestyle;-)  A world we never really knew about, until you start talking to the people who walk through our lighthouse museum door.  Another visitor called his 50-something retired teacher mom who has been a lighthouse keeper in five lighthouses, to talk with us about how she found the various historical societies who run the places.  For us, this might just be a one-time thing...we don't know.  You really have to carve out the TIME from your regular life to be able to DO this kind of thing.  But if you can it's pretty glorious.  In retrospect, we both feel now this has been the best 10 days we've spent in years.  To be alone together or even with this chance to be alone with yourself, it is a rare opportunity of quiet and recharging from the overload of today's technology-filled life.  Sounds stupid, I know but it's true. We looked out into the fog today and were surprised at how many people wander the rock piled (cairn) strewn shoreline...but this place, for this area is one of the special spots....the Land's End."  A great place to start a new beginning.  While here I finished up all of our Christmas Cards, writing a little note to our family and friends about where we were.  One card arrived to a friend's house 200+ miles away, who immediately phoned her cousin (coincidentally, a long-lost family friend of ours) but who happened to live just four miles from the lighthouse.  He jumped in the car and rushed over to surprise us.  What a rare treat. We enjoyed a wonderful evening and agreed it bordered on magical.  My cousin called from Billings,Montana -- fascinated with the idea of being here today.  Okay, so enough with this sensitive, mushy stuff......it's at an end now and tomorrow we return down the crazy freeway to city life and the realities of ringing phones, rushed schedules and serious responsibilities.  I would urge any of you out there to consider doing this, if you can eak out the time...which as we all know is precious.  Take care everyone, and thanks for journeying with us!  We'll post again if we expand this to freighter-watching on Lake St. Clair!

December 14, 2012

Happy Birthday Jack!  Had a total of 10 visitors today, but we are told that is par for the course on Fridays in December.  You should have seen us....sitting, ready....all the lights on, videos going, walks swept, costumes on with nuthin' going on!  Jack finally had to go up stairs two flights to turn OFF the VCR that has a looping video with background music that sounds like the alma mater from Animal House.  Although that's one of our favorite movies, the music is too much after 200 times, even for music lovin' Jack!  We were about to SWITCH the video to something more 'hoppin...but that might not be historically, hysterically significant so we restrained ourselves.  But we had an influx of interesting visitors once the sun went down and the lights lit up (yea timers) a fellow and his folks from Alaska, people from Illinois, and others from down State.  Sonja, the Lighthouse Manager, and her husband brought over delicious Welsh cookies from their daughter's school world holiday presentation as a birthday treat for Jack -- delicious!  We could not ask to be surrounded by nicer people up here.  A watercolorists dream-muted sunset today.....a Godly wish for a more peaceful day tomorrow throughout our United States after such a terrible day in CT...even here at the lighthouse we feel the sorrow and hug our families close.

Snow is melting a bit with rain and fog expected later this weekend...it will be interesting to see what brave souls venture out here for a look.  This is a photographers mecca and hikers too, in any type of weather, so we are laying bets on the amount of visitors we will have for the day.  Gives us something to do!  We'll bet on anything to pass the time!  (Do I sound like Charly R?)  Got all our Christmas cards done yesterday and sent them with one of the township guys who was heading towards town...saved us a trip;-)  They put away the picnic tables so the landscape is a clear view of the stony approach to the bay.  Water level is way down....everyone comments on it.  A lighthouse keeper two years ago (we have to keep a daily log, so its interesting reading to flip back the pages to read past entries) said the water was up to the beach.  Now it's about 1/4 mile to the water from the beach.  We walked out there, picking our way through the piles of stones all the way to the point then found an easier path back into the woods.  One lighthouse keeper said this is his 5th lighthouse he's worked in....interesting.  This can become a working vacation lifestyle if you are fit and available.  Absolute quiet, except the icy lapping sounds of the water on the rocks.  I think we saw bear tracks yesterday.  Possible? 

Locals had been telling us about an eagle's nest near the lighthouse and after driving around, getting lost,we finally spotted pretty close to where we began our search close to the main road...the bathtub sized nest swayed on a tall beech tree limb about 60 feet from the ground...magnificent.  We are starting to feel like locals a tiny bit, and Jack is warming to the idea of returning here next year..even though he swore he would not do this again -- too much work and stress, he said.  But now, after a week, we are hitting our equilibrium and feeling a bit more confident.  The township people are glad we are here, and it's nice to feel appreciated for the work we HOPE we are doing right.  Caring for an historic site is daunting.  We will hate to leave this idyllic spot but alas, we must return to our real lives soon.  The lighthouse is swept, polished, dusted...windows cleaned for the tours tomorrow.  We slipped out after our chores this afternoon to see Brys Estate Winery, the only winery on the peninsula (45th parallel) that grows its own grapes nearly completely.  We were the only ones there so Jack had the luxury of time to ask the poor guy behind the counter about 184 questions, which were ALL patiently answered.  Jack has decided he may go into the wine drinking business after making our careful purchases.  This will part of  our secret stash at home!

Inside tours are closed today but we still had work to do....cleaned, checked the six timers for the holiday lights to synchronize on/off on time, caught another mouse, didn't scream, answered calls from a recent radio promo about "how to be a lighthouse keeper", made a big pot of chicken soup and took a hike through the woods/beach trails.  Surprising amount of foot traffic prints in the snow.  License plates in the visitor's lot were from Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio...lots of hikers & photographers.  I found a red ribbon to dress up the front door.  County guys said they'll be coming by to put away the picnic tables we'd decorated for the lighthouse festival...I put the decorations around the grounds to recycle the beauty. 

Sure Michigan! A Lighthouse Keeper's Journal

Sure Michigan! A Lighthouse Keeper's Journal

We set the timers on five different devices, whew!  A Sure Michigan, true holiday scene....Merry Christmas to you ALL from the keepers!

Santa & Christmas Carole greeted record crowds at the annual Lighthouse Holiday Festival...kids came out BELIEVING after 20 questions from Santa.. and this Lighthouse Santa was wonderful under pressure...especially after the hot chocolate sunami hit the keeper's kitchen (a little cooking disaster Santa was asked to do by the manager as Christmas Carole was ringing up sales/admissions in the giftshop) just 10 minutes before Santa had to "suit up!"  No prob as our last "kids" of the night were Laurie & Karol (really old kids) who saved the day!  Then Jane & Tom joined us for our decompression period.  I was up until midnight balancing the giftshop books, but everything balanced.  Whew!  This is NOT easy work, but so far, we haven't been fired!!  Slept like logs, but were up the next day early to open up again for some brave hikers in the snow storms.  

First set of stairs to the top, we have to sweep, polish & clean plus make sure everything is operational..video displays, artifacts and ladybug/mouse removals!  There are books in the giftshop about adorable mice who live in lighthouses and I can tell you it's TRUE...they live here with us in little keeper costumes.  The ladybugs are already in costume and we can't believe they are STILL flying around inside here.  The sounds here are wonderfully spooky....

The top hatch has to be opened and hooked for the day.  Room for three people only and the view is spectacular of the bay....at night with the snow and wind blowing it is thrilling....took these shots last night as day turned into night...

Everything lit up on time and the lighthouse is aglow..here we are cozy and warm, buttoned down for the night, snowed in and keeping history safe for another days tour tomorrow...flags are pulled in, gates are closed, salt is ready for the walks and our boots are by the door.  Will I ever really have TIME to do our Christmas Cards?  I think NOT!

December 7th
42 degrees at dawn and overcast and the isolated lighthouse is cozy, warm and welcoming. Several interesting visitors today, lots of conversation, some tours and purchases.  All went well...we haven't been fired yet, which is good!  Everything is decorated for the holidays and lots of activities will take place tomorrow with horse-drawn carriage rides and library-sponsored activites...we will run the gift shop and tours.  Fun! They have a quilt barn trail here in the Old Mission Peninsula which we want to explore on our day off.  This lighthouse is located on the 45th parallel of latitude half way between the equator and the north pole.  So Jack/Santa will fit right in tomorrow...if the borrowed suit fits!  The lighthouse keepers log is fascinating...one fellow last year said this is his 5th lighthouse experience in Michigan.  This is quite an eclectic group of energetic, interesting folks..we are honored to be a part of them.  The bathroom fan sounds like a crazed Canada Goose, but that's part of the fun of these adorable, comfortable quarters.  Absolute quiet here...serene.  But still visitors venture up on hikes to chat...wonderful locals and visitors...good, long conversations.  Glad to be here!  More action tomorrow with the lighthouse holiday festivities. 
Hope you are all well....more later! -- Tudi

Sure Michigan! : A Novice Lighthouse Keeper's Journal

Two days to go until we leave for an adventure that has been five months in the planning: to be Volunteer Lighthouse Keepers at a Michigan Historical site in Northern Michigan.  We are sure our friends are sick of hearing about this, and we wondered ourselves if it was ever really going to happen, but after overcoming serious obstacles, we are actually going!  (I said this much better earlier today, but accidentally deleted the whole post...so here goes...)  We'll try to do brief daily posts from the Old Mission Point lighthouse, where we will be staying in the 1870s keepers quarters (fun!)...the historical commission will keep us plenty busy, the views will be spectacular, and we have no idea what to expect...that's the exciting part;-)  So, stay tuned, we'll have fun using this as our site!  Away we go!