First I have set your mind right, While snooping around in a Nordic style store, this kid says ” Gramma!” ran up and gave a great big hug, figuring the kid could call her gramma, so I could to without any insult intended.
” Gramma! how much for the Freia chocolate?” She smiled and spoke
” ohh why not everybody else calls me gramma with a big smile”
During that conversation, she made mention of steak and potatoes season which is always better than mac & cheese season. she was referring to her little store. Her way of describing the ups and down of running a business.
It’s known as the Loneliest place on the continent
Been out there many many times, back then you couldn’t just call to shore, you had to call the Coast Guard, they would relay the message to those waiting for word. there was no fancy GPS or high dollar radios.
It was August 26, 1835, that legendary navigator Captain Charles C. Stannard discovered the reef on which the lighthouse stands today. Imagine his shock to stumble upon an unknown pinnacle so far from shore in waters thought to be clear of all hazards.
As maritime activity increased, the potential danger of the reef grew; it was just south of the Sault-to-Duluth shipping lane. Mariners dubbed it “one of the most treacherous reefs in the entire Great Lakes.”
The old keepers told terrible tales of life on the Rock. Violent northwest storms sent 30-foot waves smashing into the tower and spray cascading over the lantern room 110 feet above the Lake, pounding the tower violently enough to knock cans off shelves and plates from tables. When keepers had to go out from the galley at the base of the tower during high winds, they tethered themselves with rope to be certain they would not be blown away.
One year there was so much ice on the Lake, keepers didn’t reach Stannard Rock until July.
Removing keepers in fall also often meant battling freezing gales. In 1913 the entire tower was encased in 12 feet of ice by a vicious north gagger. It took a 12-man rescue crew with axes and steam lines a week to free the keepers.” Cooking was simple with each man on his own, usually settling for whatever came out of a can. The men went for days without talking; there just wasn’t anything to say.
According to unverified legend, in the 1940s one Coastie was carried off the Rock in a straitjacket. A decade later another called on the radio to the Coast Guard station and threatened that if the boat didn’t come out and get him immediately, he “would start swimming.” Other men refused to return to the lighthouse after their leave, they would go AWOL (absent without leave) or accept a court martial. To deal with this morale problem, at one point the Coast Guard limited the assignment to a single season and allowed the men to select their next assignment.
On a clear day, the mountains on the Keweenaw Peninsula are visible to the west, as are the Huron Mountains to the southwest. Looking north, the shallows of the dreaded shoal sparkle as clear as a coral reef from the Caribbean Sea.
As to navigation, the great age of lighthouses is past. Today the towers remain mostly as monuments to a bygone maritime age. Whether their beams cut through the dark of night is no longer important to commercial and most recreational vessel navigation. GPS and radar now guide the mariner to a safe course.
The Charter Captains know full well of steak and potato season and mac & cheese season with the price of gas, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.
What is SISU?
Well it’s a Finnish word
SISU is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage.
It stands for the philosophy that what must be done will be done regardless of cost
I like her little store
