News From Down The Lane

I took a walk down the lane this afternoon, all the way past the road to the boat landing, and out to the County Highway, then back again.  Lord, it's still cold here in the northernmost part of Wisconsin.  The temperatures are below zero and the harsh winds today gave birth to wind chills near thirty below zero.  I walked fast, my face covered so the cold air couldn't harm my nose and lungs.

There is more snow here than any winter in the twenty years we've owned this place.  There is so much snow that we don't know what to do with it.  The piles around the perimeter of our drive now reach above six feet.  The snow along the lane became so deep that the town plow couldn't move it.  The boys at the town garage started up the road grader and ran it up and down the lane to push the snow farther off the shoulder.  The lane is passable but drifts over each time the wind picks up.

We had to shovel our way DOWN to the back stoop and back door to get into the cabin when we arrived Thursday afternoon.  The piles of snow on either side of the back stoop now tower above my head.



I bundled up and shuffled down the lane in my heaviest Sorels. Thank you Canada for Sorel boots.  There weren't many neighbors outdoors.  It's too cold for the older gents, and that's pretty much what's left in the neighborhood.  I did run into Kurt, dashing out of his truck and into the woods with a backpack full of camera gear.  His book of wildlife photographs is selling pretty well and now can be ordered from Amazon.  I bought a copy from him at an art fair in town last summer, and must say the photography is remarkable.  Kurt's also the publisher of the local newspaper, and every Thursday we get so see a few of his photos in the paper.  He didn't want to stop and chat.  There are some albino deer in the state forest that he's trying to shoot, and he didn't want to miss them.

There is some good news, despite the forecast of subzero weather for another week.  The propane shortage seems to be easing up a bit.  We were worried that we wouldn't be able to get enough to make it through winter, but we will.  Our thousand gallon tank is down to two hundred gallons, and another two hundred gallons will be delivered next week.  That should hold us until the end of April.

The scarcity and very high price of propane has been a big problem this winter.  This is not a wealthy area.  Most people here live hand-to-mouth.  Quadrupling of propane prices was a disaster for them.  I noticed that about half of the ten cords of split wood in our woodshed is gone.  We didn't burn that much wood this winter.  People have been taking wood, mostly because they can't afford propane and need wood to heat their homes.  If someone truly needed it, well, I'm glad to give it to them.  They'll show up in June or July with a pickup truck load of wood and replenish what they took.  People here are like that, mostly.

This weekend is Klondike Days, and boy, is it fun.  It's the annual gathering of the backwoods people who still practice the skills necessary to live off the land.  Many of them will camp out for the weekend in big teepees with wood stoves and piles of furs to sleep in.  They will be wearing clothes they've made of skins and furs.  There will be axe throwing contests, dog pulls, sleigh rides, cooking, skinning, and all kinds of other demonstrations.  Last year I bought a big, warm fox fur hat, and Mrs Haz did likewise.  Both were made by a trapper who brought his goods to Klondike Days.

There will be demonstrations of how the Jesuit explorers mapped out the upper midwest, how skins were traded, and how wool blankets were made.  The long gun guys will have shooting contests, the blacksmiths will have knife throwing contests.  And it will conclude with a huge Indian pow-wow.  It'll be cold out, but this will be worth spending a day outside.  If nothing else, I'll be struck with wonder at how the early settlers managed to live and thrive in this climate.  I think that's the intent.

I love the winter here, I truly do.  But with a few more aches in the knees each year I wonder how long I'll remain in love with it.  Mrs. Haz said a few days ago that maybe in May we should saddle up and motorcycle down to Florida to have a look around.  That's a good idea, and we'll hit the highway this Spring.