Firewood and Fear

On Thursday I offered to take Klaus and Daniel up to Mackinac Island, but Daniel suggested that he and his father had spent rather too much time in a car.  We Americans think nothing of driving several hours for just a weekend, or even an overnight visit.  The Swiss are not so car-crazed.  Instead, we started the day at a newly-opened bakery in Rogers City.  There we bought bread, as well as coffee and pastries for a light breakfast.  We also stopped at the Gauthier and Spaulding fish store to purchase whitefish for dinner.  The lady behind the counter was grumpy, but the fish, as always, is fresh-off-the-boat.

After that we returned home and Daniel and Klaus offered to help with splitting firewood.  Now, please understand that it's not my habit to make guests work for their supper... or at least not work too hard.  But neither will I turn down an offer of wood-splitting labor!  We spent about two hours at the woodpile, Klaus working with the axe, and Daniel and me feeding wood through the electric splitter.  The result was nearly a cord of wood split and stacked.

Passing wood from father to son, as we get ready to
split more chunked logs into splits which will fit my stove.

Klaus give another log what-for, and his pile of split
wood grows rapidly.

Daniel splits a piece of poplar using my favorite toy.

In two hours we filled half the stack on the left, and
the entire stack behind Klaus and Daniel.

Klaus said his boyhood home was heated with wood, and the wood-fired cookstove not only produced meals but also heated water for washing.  That explains his proficiency with an axe.  That skill was on display Thursday.  In fact, Daniel and I had trouble keeping up with him!  However, Klaus was happy to quit after a couple hours.  It seems the axe utilizes muscles not normally needed when hiking in the mountains of Switzerland, which is Klaus' favorite recreation.

After cleaning up from our lumberjack labors, we headed off to New Lighthouse Park.  While I do not like heights, I said I would climb the tower.  Klaus likes heights as much as I do, and he agreed to make the climb, too.  Daniel seemed blissfully unconcerned about this challenge.  So we set off on our upward journey.

The tower of the New Light, ready for us.

The see-through stairway, with Klaus looking
a bit unhappy.

Salt in the wound.

The tower top is accessed via a circular staircase of 130 metal stairs.  The stairs are an open grid, affording one a delightful (or terrifying) view up — and especially down — the tower.  There is a handrail in case one needs support along the way, or simply wishes to stand a moment and wonder why one ever agreed to this foolhardy venture.  And a helpful, if somewhat mocking, sign announces that one is halfway to the greater terrors at the top.

Looking down the peninsula toward Presque Isle Harbor.

Daniel, unconcerned, checks out what is happening below.

My Swiss friends smile for the camera.

The view from the catwalk — which is about 4 feet wide, with a flimsy-looking railing — is really spectacular and well worth taming one's fear of heights.  On a clear day you can see Duck Islands, which sit at the entrance to Georgian Bay in Canada.  But this past Thursday was partly cloudy, and there was a haze in the eastern distance which we were later told was smoke from a wildfire on the Canadian shore.  I edged carefully around the entire circle.  Klaus gamely smiled for the camera.  Then we fled south.

Klaus celebrates in the New Light Gift Shop!

Klaus looked much happier with his feet on solid ground again as he posed with the "I Survived The Climb" T-shirt.  The New Light is as tall as a 10-story building.  Compared with many other Michigan lighthouses, the New Presque Isle Lighthouse is in very good shape.  Still, a recent report from the U.S. Coast Guard listed out a number of repair and maintenance issues which, if done today, would cost over $500,000.  Keeping up a lighthouse is no small task.

Daniel was scheduled to leave from Lansing today, Saturday, on his return to Switzerland.  Klaus will spend about a week in Williamston visiting high school chums, and then take off for other parts of the U.S.  It was sad seeing them leave yesterday morning.  But Klaus was insistent that I visit him soon.  And so I shall. •••