The weather has been really shitty. We had visibility no greater than 1/2 mile all day yesterday. The dust was really bad. It wasn't like before when it rolled in all at once, and it certainly wasn't as thick(you could see the ground at least). It did last too long though. I hate the way the dust feels in your teeth. Some people wear dustmasks all day. They don't help much because it is so fine. We had to delay alot of flights.
I have been working with a few very interesting fellows recently. Since I deal with the flights up to the point they go "wheels up", I do alot of planning but also as it gets closer to the flight time I end up doing alot of passenger and load managing. Yesterday we had almost five hundred people that needed to get on this helicopter or that one. It is up to me to manifest them, get them to the right bird at the right time safely, and make the handoff to the flight engineers. I also coordinate between the requesting liason and the forklift guys to move cargo. All of this takes place within the sixty minutes before flight. This means that I am constantly going up and down the flight line with my clipboard in hand, running under rotorblades, yelling at retarted POGs to get off the tarmack. Working outside is great now but come July I will be hurting. The requesting liasons or LNOs are really all cool guys. I will go into more detail when I get a few more minutes.
Lots of love and lots of dust
-Bert
63 Years of Memories....
63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.
There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.
Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!
How do you thank a place for memories?
1 comment:
Lots of dust and only one laundromat! Oh, my! :)
So it must be really windy there. Are there any turbines - other than the wrap around the head kind?
Do the helicopters have to be retrofitted to withstand the sand?
Oh, Grandma A should be going home on Wednesday! Hurray for her! She's such a trooper and has a great attitude.
We got 8" or so of new snow today and the Luce Line is noisy with 'bilers tonight.
Well, take care and know we're thinking of you. You, too, Rachel! Call me whenever!
Hugs and love,
Mom
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