Catching Up! 2/22/19

Hi Friends!

It’s been a little over a year since I retired Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog.  I can’t tell you how many times a day, over that year, you’ve all crossed my mind.  Many of you followed me over to Facebook, so I feel like we’ve all pretty much stayed connected through social media.  This summer, while we were on Mackinac for three months, I wrote for the Mackinac Island News and Views Facebook Page, and that gave me a chance to continue talking about the island we all love – without all the deadlines I was always imposing on myself with the blog.  It worked for me in a large way, and I hope those of you who followed along were pleased with that format.  But.  For a few of you, we’ve lost touch, and I thought today was a good day to try and catch up with everyone.

So here goes.

We had a pretty chilly winter last year (which suited me just fine).  Ted and I continued to volunteer – Ted, working two days a week at the Visitor’s Center at Fort Matanzas, and me, working two days a week in Same Day Surgery.

Our granddaughter Jordan graduated from high school and started college at the University of Alabama.  Grandson Matthew got his driver’s license.  I can’t believe he will be off and gone himself in a couple of years.  That happened way too fast.  Ted surprised me with a week in the mountains in June for my birthday, and oh my gosh it was nice.  He booked a cabin right next to a flowing stream, and Jason, Jen and Alex joined us for a few days.  By the time we got home it was almost time to pack up and head to Mackinac.  We once again visited with Ted’s newly found family in Michigan for a few days and so enjoyed strengthening those bonds before we traveled on to Mackinac.  Our son Blake, who lives in Turkey, visited us for ten days right after we arrived on the island, and throughout the summer we had visitors from near and far, including three of my girl cousins from south Georgia!  We spent Thanksgiving with Jason, Jen and Alex at Palmetto Bluff SC, and they joined Julie, Matt, Jordan and Matthew here at the house with us for Christmas.  We had a very quiet New Year’s Eve.

I guess the big news (in my mind anyway) for the summer was my health.  I developed a cough in June, and by the time we left for the island it had been going on for a month and was driving me nuts.  It was  almost constant.  I couldn’t talk without coughing, and once I started coughing I’d start sneezing (which seemed to last for 15 minutes at a time), and my eyes would water until I looked like I’d been crying over a really sad movie.  By the beginning of September I was fed up, and on the advice of a Mackinac friend I took myself down the hill to the Mackinac Island Medical Center.  Just to rule out pneumonia, they took a chest x-ray and sent me back to the condo on antibiotics and a short dose of steroids.  You can imagine my shock when I got a call two days later from the med center that the x-ray had shown a nodule in my left lung, and several cloudy areas in both lungs. They wanted me in St. Ignace THAT AFTERNOON for a CT scan.

The next four weeks are a blur.  After the scan was inconclusive, I was referred to Petoskey to a pulmonologist, who ultimately scheduled me for a needle biopsy of the lung nodule.  The day I had the biopsy I will admit to riding the ferry back to Mackinac with Ted, believing I had lung cancer.

Almost a week later, I met with my pulmonologist for my biopsy results.  He opened the door, and the first words out of his mouth were, “You don’t have cancer.”  Tears of joy came then.

Long story short.  I’ve been diagnosed with histoplasmosis, which usually occurs when you live somewhere with lots of birds.  They don’t think it’s active – they don’t even think my cough (which has gotten so much better) is even related to the histo.  I had a follow-up CT scan last month that showed basically the same thing as the first one.  My primary doctor here in Florida wasn’t comfortable with what he was seeing though (his exact words were, “you just have a lot of weird stuff in your lungs”), so he referred me to a pulmonologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.  After meeting with her, and after she reviewed all my scans and the pathologist report, she has said, “Go live your life.  We’ll scan you again before you leave for Mackinac.  As long as there’s no change, you’re good to go.”  She did request further blood tests (all of which are negative for anything) and asked that I have the hospital in Petoskey send the slides of my biopsy to Mayo for their pathologist to review.  I took care of that last week.

After ruling out cancer, all the doctors I’ve seen think the cough, sneezing and runny eyes are due to something in the environment I’m inhaling.  Since the allergy season in Florida never really ends, I see a lot of Zyrtec in my future.  And that’s ok.

I’m feeling great, and my cough is almost non-existent. I’m out with Bodie walking everyday and have even started to do a little biking again.  Life is good, and I know that the many prayers that were lifted up for me this summer were answered by a very gracious and loving God.  Thank you to all of you who lifted those prayers.

Now for fun stuff!  Ted and I leave March 26 to travel to the Holy Land with a group of friends from Little Stone Church.  This trip has been almost a year in the planning, and we are so excited!  Our goal is to NOT have checked baggage for this trip and we’ve ordered new luggage that incorporates packing cubes.  I know you’re all laughing out loud – at least those of you who’ve seen on the old blog posts everything I pack up for a Mackinac trip.  But we are determined not to have to worry about lost luggage!

At the end of the trip, Ted will fly home with most of the group, while another small group goes on an extended tour.  I’m doing something entirely different.  The day Ted leaves for home I will fly from Tel Aviv to Istanbul and then on to Ankara – to visit Blake for a few days.  Then I will fly back into Tel Aviv, meet up with the second Little Stone Church group, and fly home with them.  Am I nervous?  You bet your life I am.  But I’m also so excited I can hardly sleep at night!

Even with all that going on, I’m still thinking ahead to being back on Mackinac for three months again this summer.  If all goes as planned, we’ll be there again the middle of July through the middle of October.  I’ve been asked to write for “News and Views” again, and I’m so looking forward to that!

So.  That’s what been happening with the Horton clan over the last year and what’s coming up in the months ahead.  I’d love to hear what’s been happening in your lives, so please feel free to comment!

Sending love and hugs to all of you.  I miss y’all.

Brenda (Bree)

 

It’s Time 1/7/18

When we arrived home from Mackinac Island this October I decided to take a break from writing until the first of the year. I confess to having an ulterior motive.

For at least two years now, I’ve been thinking the lifespan of Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog has really more than run its course.  When I began the blog in 2009 it was just at the beginning of the social media era.  Bree’s Blog was one of only a very few places on the web where folks could go for information about Mackinac, and I slid myself right into that special little niche – reserved for the dear folks who believe Mackinac Island is magical and the most beautiful place on earth.  The blog blossomed, and at its peak nearly 2,000 readers a day stopped by to see what was happening with the Hortons and their pooches on the island.

You followed us home to our precious lake house in Georgia for winters and packed up with us for the move back to the island for the season.  You gave us support and love through so many hard times – selling the condo on the island and our home in Georgia, moving into a rental while we built a new home in Florida, my hysterectomy, Bear’s knee surgery and two years later his death, hurricanes – the list goes on.  But for every hard time, there were hundreds of good times – endless summer days exploring the island, listening to the trees sing their song in the up north woods, riding hundreds of ferries back and forth across the Straits, horse and buggy adventures, nights at the Pink Pony, the discovery of Ted’s birth mother’s family . . . the list again goes on and on.  Even when we weren’t on Mackinac you traveled with us – a trip to Colorado to a ski resort, a trip to Alaska, a trip to Key West, a trip to an amazing little island in Canada, and numerous trips to Flagler Beach as we built our home.

The decision to post the “Throw Back Thursday” posts has given me so much joy – looking back at those first few years and remembering things I haven’t thought about since they happened.  But they also gave me the strength to say . . . .

It’s time.

I’ve told almost a thousand stories about Mackinac Island, and there are many other excellent blogs being written about the island.  All you have to do is Google “Mackinac” and hundreds of resources appear.  Through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and all those other media channels out there that I don’t even know the names of, Mackinac is now an open book.

This past summer on Mackinac was a little bit of a wake-up call for Ted and I.  We seemed to spend a lot of time recovering from spills – and we blamed most of them on Bodie.  But, being totally honest about it – and although Bodie did play his part – a lot of those falls and spills were because our reaction times have gotten slower, our ability to heal quickly has slowed down.  Since returning home we’ve begun to think about the time we would no longer be able to return to Mackinac on an extended time line.  We’ve begun quietly searching for other places where my need for cooler summers would be closer than 1300 miles away.

Until that time comes, and we pray we’ve still got years ahead of us before we have to get serious about it, I selfishly want to enjoy every minute on Mackinac without those self-imposed blog deadlines.  I just want to go and enjoy every second of its beauty and peace and magic.

So, it’s time.

What’s next?  The ending of Bree’s Blog certainly doesn’t mean I won’t be taking photos and posting to Facebook – about Mackinac, and about anything else either serious, mundane or silly that happens in our lives.  So, if you haven’t already, please follow me on Facebook.  Just search for “Brenda Horton” and you’ll find me.

And – there is certainly a possibility I will one day (maybe soon, maybe later) find my way back to blogging about something completely different.  But, that’s just a thought now – not a decision.  I do know writing is in my blood, and if I do go in another direction, I will let you know by posting the info here on this blog – so please don’t “unfollow” me here.  I’ll also let you know on Facebook.

Bree’s Blog will live on forever on the web.  I hope in the years to come newcomers who are just discovering Mackinac will click a key and discover a little blog about the Hortons spending part of their time on magical Mackinac. And I pray they know each and every word and each and every photograph is filled with love and thankfulness and the awe of the discovery of my heart’s home.

I can’t even begin to thank you all for the happiness writing this blog and sharing Mackinac with all of you has brought me.  It’s hard to believe I’ve been writing about the island for almost as long as I’ve been retired.  I began it on a whim, and that whim has buoyed me up over all these years and brought the most amazing people into our lives.  As half-year residents of Mackinac, we were given a behind the scenes glimpse over the years to what makes Mackinac tick, and I tried my best to share it all with you – so you could love it as much as I do.

Thank you to everyone to provided photographs over the winters when we weren’t on the island.  Your generosity and willingness to share your talents kept Bree’s Blog up and running over the cold season.  Thank you to readers, friends, and business owners who allowed me access to stories that wouldn’t otherwise have been told.  Your love of Mackinac makes my heart smile.

And a very special thank you to my dear friend Jill.  Without you there wouldn’t have been a Bree’s Blog.  Thank you for all the insider information over the years, the story ideas, and the thousands of photographs.  Thank you for being my sidekick, my always-willing-to-get-up-early partner in crime, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, my “no-you-can’t-write-that” editor.  But most of all – thank you for being my forever friend.  You are beautiful and amazing, and I love you to the moon and back.  Ok – make that to the sun and back.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written and rewritten this post.  If I’d let myself I would have turned into a blubbering baby and sobbed my way through it.  But I want you all to know I don’t have one regret about the years spent here with all of you.  You all became friends – many of you close friends – and I love you all immensely.  You let me into your homes and lives by reading this blog, and that is the greatest gift writing this blog has given me.

So, for now, it’s time.

 

 

God bless.

Merry Christmas! 12/21/17

Just wanted to stop the hustle and bustle a moment to say  . . . . .

                       MERRY  CHRISTMAS  FROM  THE  HORTON   CLAN!

GOD BLESS and MUCH LOVE TO ALL!

Ted, Brenda, Maddie and Bodie

P.S.  See you back here the first week of 2018!

 

 

What’s Happening on Mackinac? Snow! 12/14/17

I’ve been having a blast this week looking at all the winter photos folks are sharing from Mackinac Island.  So – instead of Throw Back Thursday – I wanted to share some of those photos with you tonight!

If these don’t put you into the Christmas spirit, well – I just don’t know what will!

A dray and a taxi do business as usual – even in a snowstorm. (Photo: Tom Chambers)

Snow from a porch in the interior of the island. (Photo: Pam Day)

Busy Original Murdick’s Fudge elves make a run for the ferry with a cart filled with Christmas fudge orders. (Photo: Rose Witt)

The Grandview Condos (where we’ve stayed the last two summers) all dressed up for Christmas! (Photo: Pam Day)

Early morning on Cadotte Avenue. (Photo: Jason St. Onge)

Round Island Lighthouse, surrounded by snow and ice. (Photo: Grand Hotel)

A taxi swings by the Christmas tree which stands in the middle of Main Street. (Photo: Orietta Barquero)

 

A snow-covered Grand Hotel. (Photo: Grand Hotel)

One more shot from the island’s interior. (Photo: Annie Lockwood)

Main Street during a blizzard yesterday. Temp was one degree. (Photo: Tom Chambers)

I confess.  I want to be there. 

But – the last two weeks we’ve had some pretty darn chilly days here in Beverly Beach, and I’ve gotten more in the Christmas spirit because of it.  Haven’t gotten out my snow pants yet, but I have put on a vest AND a jacket to walk Bodie the last few days!

Hope you have your shopping done!  I finished mine yesterday! 

God bless.

Fling Back Friday – “Lighting the Way to Winter 12/8/17

Personal Note – Part 2 of yesterday’s post from October of 2011.

Lighting the Way to Winter – First Published 10/14/11

October’s poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter.  Nova Bair

If you liked yesterday’s fall color pics, today’s should make you just as happy!  I’m finishing up with the photos I took on the last official sunny day of our Indian summer on Mackinac Island – and a couple of that weather change I talked about yesterday.

I love the quote I found for today . . . . flaming torches lighting the way to winter.  I’ve seen that for the past few days here on Mackinac.  The leaves have been so bright, as the sun filtered through, I’ve had to shade my eyes just to look at them.  With the coming of the rain, wind, and colder temps over the next few days, I know we’ll lose those torches.  But for a few more days . . . they burn on.

Again, we don’t have to venture too far from home to find color now. This tree is right next door and is always beautiful in the fall.

Maddie in the leaves

Still at Surrey Hill – this is the old blacksmith shop that has not been in operation since before we bought our condo.

Looking through the horse corral rails.

The road leading to the back side of the Carriage Museum.

Kinda camouflaged, isn’t she!

There’s really nothing I can say about these next few photos. They’re all taken next door on the Carriage Museum property, and with every different angle, I found more beauty through my lens.

“Man, it feels good to scratch an itch!”

My beautiful boy.

As I was about to leave the house Wednesday afternoon (the day the weather changed), Ted called from outside that there were horses in the backyard. He’s been trying to get me to use up all the horse treats we brought with us from Georgia, so they wouldn’t be sitting on the shelf all winter. I threw a handful in my pants pockets and went outside.  The dray was picking up all the items left in the condo two doors down that the new owner didn’t want.  I think the driver was happy to see a bike go on board.

The horses got their treats . . . . .

. . . and then, trying to avoid rolling over our boardwalk, the driver took the dray too close to a tree and got stuck. All it took was someone climbing a ladder with a board, shoving the board under the branch causing the problem, and heaving it up out of the way.  Out drove the dray.

Coming home late Wednesday afternoon as the weather changed, I paused just past the Grand stables and looked back. The fog was coming in fast, and I could barely make out anything down the hill beyond the bikers walking up . . .

. . . and as I walked my bike up the next-to-last hill from home, I could just make out the outline of our condos through the opening in the trees.

Personal Note:  In 2011 I added a “Mystery Spot” game to the blog.  I’d publish a pic of something most folks who were familiar with Mackinac Island recognize, and the first person who emailed me the location of the pic would get a “prize” mailed to them.  I decided to leave this one in today just so you could see how it worked.  The answer is also included.

THE MYSTERY SPOT

This will be the last Mystery Spot of the season, and I’ve made it a really, really easy one.  If you have visited Mackinac Island, you have seen this object because it is right out there in the open!

The object of the Mystery Spot  is to be the first to identify where the object is located. When you think you have the answer, email me at brendasumnerhorton@hotmail.com. I’ll check my email several times a day, and as soon as we have a winner, I’ll post the winner’s name at the top of this blog so you can stop guessing, AND I’ll post the full photo of the mystery spot at the bottom of the blog with the answer. Is there a prize for the winner – yes there is; but the prize is secret, and the only ones who will know what it is are the winners. To be fair, I’m asking residents of Mackinac Island to please NOT guess. This is just for readers who don’t live here . . . but would like to! And the Mystery Spot is . .

Where is it?

 

MYSTERY SPOT ANSWER

The antique buggy sits on the porch of “The Lenox” building on Market Street. The Lenox is home for many of the Carriage Tour workers and also houses a few of the City of Mackinac offices on the ground floor.  Personal Note:  The “prize” was usually a bar of Lilac soap!

Throw Back Thursday – “How Beautifully Leaves Grow Old” 12/7/17

Personal Post:  Part I of a 2-part post from 2011.  I was counting down the days until our return to Georgia and trying to chronicle the beauty of Mackinac in the fall. 

Header Photo:  Thank you to Jocelyn Kazenko for the beautiful Christmas season header shot.  Photo taken the evening of Dec. 4.  It was the calm before the storm, as today the U.P. is being hit with snow storms and high winds!

How Beautifully Leaves Grow Old – Originally Published 10/13/2011

“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burroughs

Oh geez.  I’m down to counting DAYS now.  19 to go before we’re out of here.  Where did the summer go?  It seems like three minutes ago we were right in the middle of watching the horses come off the ferry and walk up the hill to the big barns.  Now the horses are almost all gone back to Pickford in the U.P., where they will kick up their heels and enjoy a much needed rest.

I’ve asked Ted to get my suitcases out of the attic and put them on the beds upstairs.  I’m going to try and get organized (don’t you dare laugh).  All my days are filling up, and before I can say “fudge”, the 30th will be here, and Ted will be standing in the street next to the taxi yelling, “No, we can’t stay another week!”

Many of our friends have already gone south – or east or west – for the winter (don’t know any who go further north, which would be Canada).  Each day brings partings on the ferry docks and promises to stay in touch by email, or Facebook, or Skype or cellphone, which certainly makes the “partings” a little easier. 

The next three weeks’ calendar is already almost full – lunches and breakfasts with friends still here, meetings with a couple of blog fans, and three days next week I’m volunteering at Shepler’s in Mac City for the Winsome Women conference. What a great group of ladies – almost a thousand each day will be catching the ferry to and from the Island.  I think they have me greeting cars at the entrance gate and showing them where to park.  I have to remember not to talk too long to the women in each car!

But – that’s all about what’s happening in the next 19 days.  For the last three days, I’ve been out on the island with the camera – and that’s what I want to share with you today and tomorrow.  Oh my goodness, I could stay out there from sunrise to sunset – it’s that gorgeous.

Arrowhead Stables, as we were riding our bikes home from church Sunday. It was Little Stone Church’s last service of the season, and Vince and Molly (our pastor and his wife) left the island on Tuesday for their winter home in Florida.

We stopped to talk with Barb, a Village neighbor, who was walking Topaz (their family pony) down the hill.  Topaz was scheduled to leave the island for the winter the next morning.

Maybe the last mowing of the season. Our weather is supposed to be changing drastically by Friday, but these last two weeks could not have been more beautiful.

Trees in front of Barn View – where many of the Carriage Tour employees reside.

Two of our neighbors, walking their bikes home on the road that runs in front of our condo.

Chief Duck’s little poodle, Star – dancing in the leaves for a treat I was holding right over her head.

Still beautiful weather on Tuesday morning, so we sat outside for coffee. The tree just outside out bay window is changing into its fall dress – one “sleeve” at a time.

We went on a long walk Tuesday afternoon. We really don’t have to go much further now than our own front yard to find color – it’s everywhere around us.

Bright red tree over what used to be the goat petting shed at Carriage Museum.

Maddie – straining against her halter.  When you say “walk in the woods”, she is ready!

“Why can’t I go in this tree trunk!?”

“I knew I’d find it! Fox poop – yeah!”

View from in front of the Captain’s Quarters at Fort Mackinac.

I think I’ll stop right there for now, but I’ll have even more to share on Friday.  As I sit and type this, it’s Wednesday afternoon, and I’ve just returned from town.  I left in a 3/4 length sleeve cotton shirt thrown over a short-sleeve t-shirt and some khaki pants.  Half-way down the hill, the wind changed direction, and cold air hit me like an iceberg.  The fog rolled in over the harbor and flew up each street – replacing warm, bright sunshine with cool, wet air – and the fog horns have been blowing ever since.  I had to stop and buy a sweater in town to wear back up the hill.  And THAT’s how fall arrives on Mackinac Island!  LOVE IT!

Thanks to Sue Randall for stopping by to see me Monday at the Stuart House.  I didn’t know it at the time, but that was my last day working there for this year, as they decided today to close the museum for the season.

Sue and her husband were at the Grand for a few days for a Christian Marriage Retreat.

Personal Note:  Come on back tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 8) for Part 2!

Throw Back Thursday – “All Better” 11/30/17

Personal Note:  This post from 2011 made me laugh.  Of course anytime Bear wrote a blog I always laughed.  Bear published this one the day after Maddie had somehow hurt her back – and he’d had about enough of us pampering her.

ALL BETTER – First Published August 5, 2011

Hi.  Bear here.

Mom wanted me to write ’cause she’s exhausted from having to babysit Maddie all day yesterday and today.

I really felt sorry for my little sister – at first.  Yesterday she was pitiful.  When she’d walk around – which wasn’t much – she’d have her skinny little tail tucked all the way up under her belly (she does that when she doesn’t feel good).  The way I really knew she was hurting though was because I didn’t hear her bark one single time all day.  Dogs would walk by the condo, children would walk by the condo, people would ride bikes by, pulling those cart thingys – any one of those is usually guaranteed to get a good barking fit out of Maddie.  Yesterday – nothing.

Mom and Dad trudged up and down the stairs all day, carrying Maddie.  They’d put her down in the grass, she’d do her business, then she’d sit down and look at the door.  They’d pick her up and climb the steps with her again.  She’d curl up on towels that Mom kept warming for her in the clothes dryer.  They even brought her food dish over to her bed, so she wouldn’t have to walk to our dinner spot.

This morning when we all woke up, Maddie was still acting weird.  Dad put her on the floor (out of their bed, where I don’t get to sleep), and she just sat there, looking up at Dad with those sad little eyes.  Then dad walked out of the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maddie’s tail wagging.  Huh?  Dad came back in and picked her up, and we all went outside.  I watched real close.  When Mom and Dad weren’t looking, Maddie was walking around just fine, sniffing out stuff in the grass.  Then as soon as they’d turn around, she’d sit right back down again and look pitiful.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, when I got on Mom’s computer today, I read the seven gazillion messages from readers saying how much you hoped Maddie was feeling better, and “poor little Maddie” this and “sweet little Maddie” that.  That’s just a little . . . bit . . . too . . . much . . . attention . . . being . . . shifted . . . away . . . from . . . . . . . . . . . . . ME.

So, I just want to tell everyone that Maddie is feeling a lot better.  After Dad had carried her up and down the stairs a hundred times today, he caught her running down those same steps when she thought he wasn’t looking.  BUSTED!

Seriously, Mom said to let everyone know that Maddie is feeling a lot better, and Mom wants to thank everyone for all the good thoughts and prayers.  They worked!

However . . . .

I’ve had a BAD day and could really use some TLC.  I’d appreciate dog bones, lots of hugs, a “pass” on going to the groomer’s next week, and I’d also like to be able to eat my dinner in the den by the couch.  I think that will do it.  Wait . . . . maybe ya’ll could drop me some cards in the mail – preferably with coupons for Beggin’ Strips.  Whew!  I’m feelin’ better already.

 

Move Back Monday – “24 Hours” 11/20/17

Header Photograph:  Robert McGreevy, 2014

Personal Note:  I’ve been writing Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog for over eight years now, and I’d guess 98% of the posts I’ve shared have been happy tales of life on Mackinac.  But this is not one of them. 

Reading back over the posts about our 4-day trip to the island during Winter Festival of 2010, I was filled once again with memories of all the wonderful adventures we shared, the delight at the snow-covered island, the joy of being with island friends (and sharing all that with my wonderful Georgia friend Dawn).  What happened on our last night on Mackinac was a tragedy that took two beautiful women from their families and friends.  I only knew them 24 hours, but their happiness and spirit for life is still remembered all these years later.

24 Hours – First Published February, 2010

Tonight I have a story to tell – and tragically, it is one without a happy ending.  I debated whether the story should be told, then decided to write it as a tribute to these two women, whom I only knew for 24 hours.  In just that short amount of time, they touched my heart.  I met them, shared smiles with them, talked with them, teased them, outbid one of them for a rug at a silent auction, said goodbye to them at the school on Sunday afternoon.  Three hours later they were gone.

In the third post I wrote about our trip to Winter Festival, there is a photograph near the bottom of Don Schwarck and me standing outside his home on the island.  Dawn and I had started walking back to town from Turtle Park, and when we passed Don’s home, he had seen us and invited us in to meet his wife and sister-in-law.  As you know, Don and Ted worked together this past summer at the State Park Visitor’s Center.  With other park employees, Ted and I had been to dinner at Don’s last summer, and Don had come to our condo for dinner a few weeks later – bringing fresh veggies from his garden.  A retired high school teacher and coach, Don and Ted had bonded instantly and become good friends.  But I had never met his wife, Karen, who owned her own travel agency and was away for days at a time.  When Karen got a few days back home, she cherished her time on the island – a place she had always wanted to live – a dream they had realized several years ago.

Meeting Karen and her sister, Edye, was like meeting two bubbles of light.  Their smiles were almost identical – genuine, and contagious.  They were happy women, and it showed.  We were invited to stay for a glass of wine, but Dawn and I were tired and ready to get back down the hill – to pull off snowboots and heavy coats.  So we only stayed a few moments, but we talked about seeing them at the school the next day, and then we left.

On Sunday, Karen and Edye arrived at the school a little after we did, ate breakfast, and spent some time checking out the silent auction items.  Edye and Mike (Forrester) instantly got into a bidding war for a 20-person hayride this coming summer, although at the time they had no idea who they were bidding against.  I was bidding against Edye for a rag rug made from sheets – and again didn’t know I was bidding against her (only assigned numbers were used in the bidding – not names).  We spent several hours at the school – playing games, voting on photographs for the 2012 Mackinac Island calendar, chatting with people we hadn’t seen the day before.  Every 30 minutes or so we would run into Karen or Edye – be warmed by their smiles, chat a moment, and move on.  The final event of the day was the announcement of the silent auction winners – Edye had outbid Mike for the hayride, I had outbid her on the rug.  But she was still smiling as she picked up and paid for at least 7-8 other items on which she had been the highest bidder.  She was beaming as she walked by our table and spotted the rug sitting next to my purse.  “Oh, so YOU were #61!” she said.  She and Mike teased each other about her winning the hayride.  I cornered Karen and asked if their snowmobile could carry three people.  I wondered if she would consider driving Dawn and me up to Ft. Holmes later that afternoon.  She grinned and said, “We’ve never tried it with three, but I’ll talk to Don about it.  If he says ok, I’ll come get you.  We can’t go to Ft. Holmes though – that’s off limits for snowmobiles.”  Then we talked about getting together this summer for dinner.  When we were leaving, we all said our goodbyes.  As Dawn and I left the school walking up to the condo, Karen and Edye were riding away on the snowmobile.

Jill and Mike met us at our condo, and we went in for a few minutes so I could leave the rug I bought.  We headed downtown, spent some time out on the marina docks taking photos, then went back to our rooms to rest.  It was late when we left for dinner at the Village Inn, and we didn’t return to our rooms until almost 10:30.  Mike was still standing in the door of our room chatting about our trip home the next day when Marge (our innkeeper) came up the stairs and said Don had just called.  He was wondering if we had seen Karen and Edye.  They had left the house around 4:00 p.m., after dropping off their prizes from the auction, and said they were going for a ride.  When they didn’t return in a couple of hours, he just figured they had met up with us downtown, maybe saw us in a restaurant, and we were all dining together.  He said Karen wouldn’t normally do that without checking in, but that is what he told himself.  Don had already called the police, and when Marge relayed the message that we had not seen them since they left the school, he became deeply concerned.  I called Don, and he told me the police were checking around the island at different homes where Superbowl parties had been held, to see if possibly they had dropped by any of those.  If they were not located at any of the parties, they planned to start an organized search.

No more than 15 minutes later, the roar of snowmobiles filled the quiet air outside The Cottage Inn.  Island residents came from every direction, converging on the Community Hall, which is also the fire station. We stood at our window and watched, as 10 minutes later those same snowmobiles left on the first search of the night – riding out into the cold darkness on a mission to find two missing women.  We found out later they searched every trail on the island, as well as the bluffs and perimeter of the island by the water.  They found nothing and returned to the fire station. 

When we heard and saw them returning, Jill and I walked down to the corner across the street from the station, hoping for some kind of word on the search.  Dennis Bradley, the island fire chief arrived and motioned Jill and I to come in.  He knew we knew the family and asked several questions.  I left my cell phone number with them and asked to be called if we could help in any way.  Then Jill and I walked back to the hotel.  Ten minutes later my cellphone rang.  The island doctor thought it would be good for someone to be with Don, and asked if I’d go.  A police car picked Jill and I up a few minutes later, took us up to the house, and dropped us off.

Don was very worried.  He wanted so badly to be out looking himself, but the police had asked him to stay there by the phone.  Both women had left their cellphones at the house, but had gone out in full winter gear – it helped to know they were dressed for the cold.  By then it was midnight, and for the next 3 1/2 hours we paced the floor, talked a little, worried a lot, and prayed for a good outcome.  It was not to be.

At 3:30 a.m. we saw the lights of the police car pull up in front of the house.  Dr. Karen, two policemen, and Father Ray got out.  We all instantly knew.

In that 3 1/2 hours, some 45 island residents had come together and searched the entire island.  They had gone out first one person per snowmobile and covered every trail, the bluffs, and the lake shore.  The second search was by two people on each snowmobile – one to drive, one to shine spotlights down off the trails.  Around 2:30 a.m., Dennis called to tell usthe Coast Guard had been notified and would be joining the search within an hour.  Don was certain they would have never gone anywhere near the water, but when the coast guard called 30 minutes later, it was to ask what colors they were wearing so they could put the appropriate filters on their search lights.  They planned to use the filtered light to search the island by air.

Karen and Edye were found before the Coast Guard arrived.  On the third search of the night, the islanders went out on foot.  It was 2 degrees by then, and they planned to walk every inch of the island.  In a spot on the West Bluff they had passed several times already on their snowmobiles, on foot they located an almost hidden place in the fence that was broken – the exact width of a snowmobile.  Putting it together later, they concluded that Karen and Edye had ridden down the West Bluff toward the Grand Hotel.  Upon reaching the Grand’s driveway and seeing that the snow had melted there, they had attempted to turn around.  What happened in that next moment is only speculation, but something went horribly wrong.  The snowmobile went through the fence backward and down the steep ledge.  They were gone instantly.

The priest, Jill and I stayed with Don until 7 a.m.  He had begun the process of calling family.  Each woman had two sons, their mother and father are still alive, they had a brother.  I called Liz (our friend who teaches on the island).  She and her family live just down from Don.  She came immediately and has been there ever since.  We flew off the island three hours later.

Mackinac Island is a beautiful paradise, but occasionally its terrain can be unforgiving.  The longer we live there, the more examples we see of the dangers – from bikes to horses to snowmobiles.  Does it make us love it less – no.  But  it does make our respect for the island grow and gives us an awareness of our surroundings and a vigilance to be careful. 

But occasionally there is a freakish accident, and that is what this was.  Karen was a careful driver, they were not out speeding or trying to be daredevils.  They simply went on a snowmobile ride and did not come back.  We certainly cannot fathom a reason for that.  It happened, and we are left to ask “why”.

When I talked to a couple of island residents today, they both said Don was doing as well as could be expected.  The island has responded as they always do – with helping hands, with love, with food.  Again, it is the people who make this island so precious.

I don’t think Don would mind me sharing that after he had been told, he said to Dr. Karen, “She loved this island so much.  She dreamed of living here, and it was here she was her happiest.”  And Dr. Karen responded, “Wasn’t she blessed that she had that – and aren’t you blessed to know that she lived her dream.”

24 hours – such a short period of time to know someone.  But I will never forget their smiles and their joy of life.  Heaven has to be an even happier place tonight.

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Personal Note:  My blogging program alerts me when someone has made a comment to a post, no matter how much time has passed since the post was published.  Below is a comment I received earlier this year (2017).  It touched my heart.  Thank you, Caleb.

Brenda,
Thank you for writing this post. Edye was, and will always be, my grandma. I was 9 years old when the accident happened, one week and 7 years ago now, and although reading this opened old wounds, it was a wonderful reminder of just how wonderful they were. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of them, and I’d like to thank you for the feeling of being right with them one more time.  Caleb.

Slip Back Sunday – “Winter Festival 2010 – the Final Day” 11/19/17

Personal Note:  Sunday was our last day on the island for Winter Festival, and we were scheduled to fly home on Monday.  We had already had more fun and seen more snow than I could have ever imagined.  The fairytale world of Mackinac in the winter lived up to all my expectations!

First Published February, 2010

Where Saturday’s activities were all held outside at Turtle Park, the majority of Sunday’s activities were inside at the school.  Here is our group’s day in pictures and captions:  

This is actually a photo from Saturday – or Friday (I can’t remember). Nikki, who lives on the island year-round, and I say hello at the Mustang.

Getting ready to go out Sunday morning – hand warmers and toasty toes!

Walking up Cadotte Avenue to the school, we passed the very lonely looking Gatehouse Restaurant. So strange to see it like this. In a few months, the tables will be out on the patio, the flowers will be blooming, and there will be happy people everywhere.

Dawn – posing on a snowmobile, under a “No Snowmobile” sign.

Barb, who is the school’s office manager, Dawn and I. We had just noticed that Barb’s cup matched her sweater.

Smi and I – Smi and his wife are our neighbors in the “village”.

As soon as we walked into the gym, 2 -3 tables full of home-baked goodies were sitting there tempting us to start munching. Whenever one little space was cleared, another baked good was brought straight from the kitchen. The island ladies must have been baking all night!

Sign-up tables on the left. Then table after table around the room filled with silent auction goodies – the majority homemade. I bid on several items, but it was the rag rug made from sheets that I really wanted – and it was the only one I was high bidder on. Ok – I admit it. I entered my last bid 2 seconds before the buzzer rang ending the auction, then defended that bid sheet like an all-star hockey goalie.

Dawn and I playing bingo.

Voting on 2012 Mackinac Island Recreation Department Calendar photographs. How to choose only 12!

Talk about Mackinac Island celebrities! Beside me is Jeannette Doud, who writes the Mackinac Island column in The Town Crier. Next to her is Margaret, who has been the Mayor of the island for the past 37 years.

One of several pairs of homemade mittens I bid on at the silent auction. They were all made from donated wool sweaters and the left hand mitten did not match the right hand mitten.  So cute!  I was not the high bidder on any of them. Darn!

After we left the school, we walked up Cadotte to our condo. Looking back over my shoulder, we could see the ice in the Straits.

Going through the snow fence to our condo back door.

Standing on the street in front of the condo. That’s the Carriage Museum in the background.  Everything looks so different covered in snow!

The empty horse corral below our condo.

Starting back to town – down Turkey Hill, next to the Jewel Golf Course.

Where Turkey Hill Road blends into Fort Street, we met a couple attempting to get up the hill on cross country skies. They finally stopped, took them off, and walked up the hill until they hit snow again.

Mike – pretending that he is about to “take the plunge” into the icy water.

On our way to The Village Inn for dinner Sunday evening, we passed Cindy’s Livery Stables – locked, quiet, and dark for the winter.

On the other hand, the Village Inn was ablaze with lights.  You can see in one corner  of the restaurant the cross country skis available for rental.

Mike took this photo at the Village Inn Sunday night. I promise we did not plan our color scheme for the evening – it just worked out that way. The lady on my right is Mary, who with husband Ron, owns the Village Inn.

Thank goodness the supply closet was right next to our room. We had to “borrow” the vacuum cleaner Monday morning so Dawn could suck all the air out of the bag where she packed some bulky items.  Those vacuum bags are amazing!

My blogging corner in our room at The Cottage Inn.

Personal Note:  This should have been the last entry on our Winter Festival trip.  We were set to get a good night’s sleep and fly off the island to St. Ignace early Monday morning.  We still made that flight, but the tragic events that began shortly after the above pic of me in my pajamas was snapped will forever be linked in all of our minds to our trip north that winter.  Because Mackinac in the winter is more beautiful than you can imagine, it is easy to forget that there is another side to all that beauty.  We were all impacted by that other side throughout our last night on the island.  Tomorrow – that story. 

Sling Back Saturday – “Special Place, Special People” 11/18/17

Personal Note: Our third day on the island for Winter Festival, 2010, was a Saturday, and it was filled with everything we could have hoped for – fun, adventure, laughter and tons of community spirit.  We had a blast!

Hal Borland, a former writer for The New York Times, once said, “To know – after absence – the familiar street and road and village and house is to know again the satisfaction of home.”  My readers are well aware that I have two homes – one at the lake, with ties to my southern roots, my family, my friends, and 61 years of history.  Then there is my heart’s home – this island.

Returning here on Thursday afternoon once again filled the space in my heart reserved only for this village and these people.  Winter Festival is basically a community celebration.  In a place cut off from the mainland during the winter – unless you fly in and out – this small community of residents pauses for a weekend and celebrates what makes them special – their children, their bond with each other, their home on this island.

This afternoon when we arrived at Turtle Park, I felt as if I was being welcomed home by family.  So many people who I had last seen at the end of October called out a “welcome back!”  They asked “Where’s Ted?”  They hugged me.  They chatted.  They made me feel that making the effort to travel to Michigan from Georgia for a four day visit was very special to them.  I wanted to tell them all that there was no effort involved – I had simply come to my heart’s home.

We have once again been outside all day.  It was two degrees when we awoke this morning, but luckily the winds have been calm.  We put on layer after layer (at last count we three girls had managed to pull on and zip up seven layers above our waists and three below).  We wore snow boots, wool socks, toe warmers stuck to the bottom of our socks, and hand warmers inside our gloves.  We were warm, but we also looked like inflated robots.  If we had tipped over, there is no way we could have ever gotten up without help.

Here’s our day in photographs – with captions.

Ice in the marina has broken into large pieces.

We left The Cottage Inn around noon. I kept hoping for a snowmobile ride, but Jill insisted we walk. I’m so glad we did.

At the foot of Fort Hill, Jill was already snapping photos. I think, between the two of us, we took more than 400 pictures today.

The trees are beautiful, standing against the white snow.

Dawn – trying to hide behind a tree. In seven layers of clothes!? I don’t think so!

A fork in the road – but they both end at Turtle Park.

Pointing out the path Ted and I take through the woods to our condo.

Marge and Rich (and Joe Cocker) caught up with us toward the end of our hike. They were going to the Winter Festival also.

The Winter Festival was in full swing when we arrived.

One of the many activities was sledding – a favorite with the kids.

There was also snow golf . . . .

Human sled dog races – where the “sled dog” was blindfolded and had to mush around a marked route to shouted instructions from the person (or persons) on the sled . . .

Face painting for the children . . .

Broom hockey – a children’s match and an “over the hill” match . . .

And then there’s Bowling with a Frozen Chicken, the only game in which I participated. You are given a frozen solid, hard as a rock chicken, wrapped in cellophane. You have to hurl it toward the bowling pins at least a thousand feet away. I did not win or place. In fact, I never touched even one of those darn pins. By the way, the prize for the winner of that game was the frozen chicken.

The totem pole at Turtle Park is crowned by – what else – a turtle!

Me with Penny – one of Andrew and Nicole’s sweet dogs.

Mike, who has been filming all weekend, talking with Karen from The St. Ignace News.

Jack, with his wife Terrie, own the Cannonball Restaurant at British Landing. They were grilling hotdogs and brats for the crowd.

Chloe gets in a little sledding, making it all the way down the hill without a crash.

The crowd seemed to continue growing throughout the afternoon, tapering off around 3:30 p.m.

Dawn and I watched some of the games from the bleachers, which were facing the sun. A beautiful day!

An island friend’s little girl – Madison.

Cute Miss Madison again.

We took a break from the festival, and walked over to Trillium Heights, a subdivision behind the Village.

We went by and visited for a moment with Don and his wife Karen. Don and Ted work together at the Visitor’s Center on the island during the summer.

Jill went back to the Festival, while Dawn and I started back downtown.

When Jill started back to town, she walked by the Fort Cemetary. Always a quiet, peaceful setting, today it was a study in beautiful tranquility.

White birch trees, white snow.

Dawn and I walked to town down Cadotte Avenue, past our condo. I will probably return tomorrow and go inside.

The last “to do” item on our agenda today was to find a patch of perfect snow and make a snow Angel.  Dawn did it first . . .

. . . and then it was my turn. So funny! Getting ourselves up out of that snow was a sight to behold!

We were very happy to see The Cottage Inn late this afternoon. We had been gone from noon until almost 6 p.m.

Jill, bless her heart, ran to the Mustang and picked up a “pizza to go” for supper, then left to help Leanne with some details for  the second day of the Winter Festival.  Dawn and I ate pizza, watched a movie (while I should have been blogging), and now, once again, everyone is sleeping as I finish writing.

It has been another wonderful day on the island – we could not have asked for better weather.  We have been plenty cold, but the winds have been calm, and the days have been so beautiful.  Tomorrow we have more Winter Festival activities.  There is a brunch planned at the school with pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, biscuits & gravy, cinnamon rolls & fresh fruit. Oh, yum!  Dawn and I are helping run a silent auction table, and there will be bake sales, a cookie contest, turtle races, and the selection of photographs for the 2010 “Seasons of Mackinac” calendar.  The Superbowl is tomorrow night, with parties planned at both the Mustang and Patrick Sinclair’s Irish Pub.  A very busy day!

God bless.

Please come back tomorrow for the final day of Winter Festival, 2010.