First look with Kathleen Dixon.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

A Wisconsin Commercial Ports Association annual meeting was held here Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, with representatives of many of Wisconsin's ports, governmental agencies and professionals who design and build port structures, including dredging.

The conference ended at noon, Friday, and when I went to the Island Ferry Office I learned that my anticipated book shipment of three pallets had arrived late the previous afternoon.   Our crew had put the books in the steel storage building.   Because one pallet held just four cartons, I placed those boxes on my truck.  On the way home I decided to stop first at Kathleen Dixon's IslandTime bookshop, next to Red Cup Coffee and the Post Office.

There, in front of her store, we opened up one of the boxes.  This was the first time either of us had a chance to see the finished product.  I had expectations and knew what it should look like.  Kathleen had   taken a number of advance orders from customers, but she hadn't seen any of the material, other than my description of its contents.   She hailed Cooper Henkel, who was sitting nearby on the Red Cup porch, to take several photos.

Small book shops are important for the sale of books of regional interest, I've found, and although I've developed a website that will now permit direct sales by credit card, many local readers and island visitors enjoy browsing and picking up books with a local flavor where they can thumb the cover and scan pages.  Right now, for a few days at least, Kathleen's shop will be the only store handling the book.  When I have more time, in the coming week, this book will become be available at other outlets, including mainland book shops.

Next Saturday, September 21, I'll have a signing party at the Ferry Terminal lobby, from 2:30 to 5:00 pm.

I should mention that Kathleen is a valuable member of the Island Literary Festival Committee.   She has been a participant with the Key West Literary Festival for many years, and she knows how such an event can be successfully run.  Her knowledge of writers - local, statewide and national - is tremendous.  Naturally, I'm pleased that she mentions my name to her customers.  Many people I've met aboard the Karfi this past summer received book information from Kathleen, along with her recommendation.

So, after several hours Friday spent fulfilling my own backlogged list of customer orders, I have, more or less, two pallets of about 1400 books remaining to be sold.  I expect this to be a long-term process, over several years, maybe.  But we're off to a great start, and I'm looking forward to receiving reader book orders and comments.

  -  Dick Purinton         [For book and order information go to:    www.RichardPurinton.com]  

CROP CIRCLE CONFESSIONS

Crop circle, Hackpen Hill, Wiltshire County.  (MJ Purinton photo)

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

The title of this blog, I admit, resembles tabloid journalism.  Confession #1.

We took a trip to England that included, among many other extremely interesting and varied sights, the stones carefully moved and placed by ancient people in the landscape, most notably Stonehenge, but also Avebury and Kennet-Longbarrow.  These people were magnificent stone stackers, something we marveled at when we saw them in person, and have often thought back on since.

Stone stacking on local beaches was a topic, on a much more modest scale, that I recently wrote about here in a somewhat derogatory, chastising tone.  Confession #2.

Mary Jo and I signed up in January for a tour expressly for the purpose of seeing and experiencing crop circles.  When I boarded the plane to England, I believed I would have an open and objective mind toward the circles and their purpose.   I returned uncertain as to who or what created the many intricate, fantastic designs in the croplands of Wiltshire County, but I was also changed by the experience.  I concluded, after being in and around perhaps a dozen crop circles, several of freshly laid overnight in the wheat fields, that there is more to the story than a "couple of guys late at night on skis with a GPS."

I was one of seven (the others were women!) led by Barbara Lamb of California, who has been visiting crop circles in England for 23 years.  She leads groups, mostly Americans, to see these phenomena.  With internet and smart phone connections, photos of both older and recent crop circles are uploaded and posted on sites where anyone can view them.  Often, they will be further analyzed and geometrically diagrammed.   (Go to cropcircleconnector.com to see the many, varied patterns that appear in the fields of barley, wheat, and occasionally, other crops.)  By checking in every so often, we were kept current and the site also helped us to locate older crop circles.   By recent, I mean "last night's production," crop circles only hours old.  Nearly all of them were within a 20-mile radius of where we stayed, our B & B at Court Hill Farm, a very pleasant stay with the owners and their dogs in Potterne, near the larger town of Devizes.

It is possible for men with skill and practice, having first a great basic geometric design, to create such patterns in a night's work?  A few men have proven this to be true.   But the ongoing reality of crop circles popping up over an approximately 25-year period of time (that is about the length of time of the currently recorded phenomena), sometimes two circles in the same night miles apart, in complex patterns of laid wheat or other grains, in the dark... well, it gives me pause at least.  And given man's tendency to tire of their successes over time, even when such efforts are well-publicized, leads me to agree with others that there could be more heavenly energies behind the creation of many of the crop circles.

Exactly who or what those origins might be, I am at a loss to say.  As a traditional Christian believer, if our creator could bring signs and miracles to people throughout history, if then why not now?  If we as believing humans can marvel at the similarity of the Virgin Mary in a piece of burned toast, then why not crop circles?  In fact, in precision, execution and geometrical cleverness, there is no comparison between burned toast and crop circles.

What, then, are crop circle designs telling us?  There again, I confess to having no clue other than there seems to be energy within those patterns deemed "genuine" (not made by the obvious clumsy feet of man) and the energy within them can be felt even by a rather dull point of earthly contact such as me!

For those who know of dowsing rods, there is a definite reaction for dowsers within vs. without a fresh and "genuine" crop circle.  Rather a dramatic difference, in fact, as the hand-held dowsing sticks open wide upon entering the circle and close up when exiting.  I must add that, in crop circles quite definitely man-made (i.e., highly imperfect) the rods do nothing, and even in the center of such crop circles where energy seems to concentrate, the rods are unmoving.

I fell asleep several times while laying down upon freshly-patterned wheat crop.  It was a pleasing, satisfying experience that could maybe partly be attributed to jet lag.  Others who entered the circles celebrated the energy in other ways more personal to them.  I respected and admired those who seemed to be more receptive to the energies than myself, but I was also contented with the beauty of the rolling landscape, the smells of earth and damp wheat, the sounds of the wind in the crop, and occasionally harvesters working in adjacent fields.  The hours spent in crop circles were most satisfying, peaceful and renewing in a way I can relate to the most meaningful minutes I've spent in church.  That would be confession #3!

I acknowledge other interpretations that have been made, some that seem too far away from our workaday world for me to grasp, especially hard to accept when concentrating on that paycheck or concerned if our government is making the right decision on this or that.   (And in this same Salisbury Plain, by the way, the British army regularly conducts exercises with tanks and weaponry.  We saw three Sikorsky helicopters fly over the nearby hillside late one afternoon.  At several locations along the road to Stonehenge there were "Caution, tank crossing" signs.)

My appreciation for each of the people I was with grew during the week as we gained trust and support for one another.  I had the opportunity to "navigate" several days, seated to the left hand of our driver, Barbara, as we rode in our rental van over hill and dale, through deeply rutted sod lanes and on narrow asphalt roads.

Mary Jo took advantage of an opportunity one day to fly over crop circles, something several pilots specialize in during the summers as a means of earning additional income.  These pilots track where the circles are, and were (the ghosts, or remains of old circles, often appear through new crops).  For uneasy passengers the pilots completely put them quickly in their trust, enabling them to bank low over crop formations and other local landmarks such as the hillside horses scribed into the white chalk.  The flight was a highlight for Mary Jo and others in our group.  I remained on the ground during this time, happily reading and cheering the planes onward, beyond the nearby hills.

My occasional role as front seat navigator in the rental van - perhaps earned when helping change a flat one afternoon - also prepared me for our second week in England when we rented a car for four days.   Those experiences - which were wonderful - lacked the inter-connectedness of our first week.  We had decided back in January:  while we're there, why not see more?  And so, we did.

Next: Crop Circles - a few theories explored.

 - Dick Purinton

BACK AGAIN

Sunrise over Detroit Harbor following night of heavy rain.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

No excuses for no blogs.  Just been away awhile.

Lots of activities to wrap up our Washington Island summer after our two-week trip to England (which I may report on in an upcoming blog).  There was the Death's Door BBQ, several days of very heavy rain (several reports of 7 inches falling one day), the Labor Day holiday weekend, and for me, days working on the Karfi and driving the Cherry Train.  With temperatures in the lower 50s Labor Day Monday morning, it feels good to catch up on a backlog of items at home.

An important milestone was reached in the progress of my book, Thordarson and Rock Island.  I'm now expecting a delivery date of Friday, September 13.

Two days before boarding a plane to begin our trip to England, I passed the last of the edits to Amy Jorgenson.   Amy then made final changes and sent the files to Worzalla, the printer in Stevens Point.

We had been through many edits in the previous four months, with the help of five volunteer readers.  By the time I boarded the plane Sunday, August 4, I held that any remaining mistakes would have to be overlooked by myself and readers.  Then, from England  I continued to email both Amy and the printer, and the 4-color cover was approved.  However, final text and photo page approval awaited when I came home.   Those I elected to thumb through, more for formality and as a requirement by the printer  in order to keep the project moving, knowing that any changes at that point would only cost more and add to the delay in printing.

So, September 13 is now the date I'm counting on to receive my books, and with some confidence this is a done deal, I'm happily taking orders now on my new website:       www.RichardPurinton.com        You may wish to visit that site if for no other reason than to read more about the process of finishing and publishing this book.    

With editing finally in the past, sales and promotion have taken priority.

First time event:  Washington Island Literary Festival October 5 & 6

As it happens, my new book and a new Island event will coincide.  The Washington Island Literary Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 5 & 6.  This event will center at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center on Washington Island, with additional activities at the Historic Island Dairy Saturday evening, and a trip to the Thordarson Boat House on Rock Island Sunday morning, weather permitting.

An Island Literary Festival was the idea of Helene Meyer's, honoring her late husband, Gene Meyer.  Helene enlisted the help of Betsy Wallman, who in turn named a committee of six other persons. I believe that our first meeting was in mid-July.  Tremendous progress was made since then in planning the program and obtaining presenters, given the comparatively late start date.

This Literary Festival emphasizes Wisconsin writers and their literature, and it's designed to give readers - the audience - the opportunity to meet and hear a range of authors with strong Wisconsin roots, and who may also write about Wisconsin.   Below is a poster developed by committee member Mari Anderson for this occasion.  I'm proud to be among those writers asked to be a presenter.  Timing of the publication of my new book is such that I anticipate receiving it in the next two weeks, in time for an event in the Thordarson Boat House Sunday morning, October 6th.  There, in the great hall of the structure most often associated with Thordarson and Rock Island, I'll read and talk about Thordarson.

The Washington Island Literary Festival Registration is being taken now, and you can sign up via the Trueblood Performing Arts Center website.  Cost is $75 per person.  You'll meet writers who include well-known former Wisconsin Public Radio host Jean Feraca, who is also an author.  Jean will also chair a panel discussion.  Listeners of WPR's Chapter-a-day will also recognize the voice of Norman Gilliland who will speak Sunday afternoon.  Norman will have a new novel out this October.  Former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Bruce Dethlefsen will read Saturday evening after dinner,  and he'll also lead an open-mic, joined by other poets - including Ralph Murre and Sharon Auberle of Baileys Harbor who recently co-published a new book of poetry.  Ralph and Sharon will also read in the Thordarson Boat House Sunday morning.

Besides admission to the presentations by writers, your registration will include dinner at the Island Dairy Saturday evening, early morning coffee and pastry, break refreshments, and the Sunday morning ferry ride to Rock Island State Park aboard the Karfi.  For anyone who enjoys literature, especially authors and books with a Wisconsin flavor, you will want to send in your registration soon.  (The registration fee jumps to $90 after 9/15/13.)

This blog doesn't begin to catch up on old news, but it's a start.  I hope to see many of you at the Island Literary Festival.  It should be a fun and rewarding experience.

-   Dick Purinton

EARLY DETROIT HARBOR PASSENGER VESSEL SERVICE

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

A light rain is falling, and there is a temporary lull in tourism this afternoon, a good time to consider a new blog.  I've had some of these images on my computer screen for months, waiting for that opportunity to string them together with observations.

What got me started on this was the topic of dredging and dock work, and how one thing builds on another over the years and decades.  The present island ferry dock was formerly the property of Ole Christianson who had a boatyard and marine railway there.  If you're interested in more details on that yard, a letter from Ole to Thordarson is included in the about-to-be-published Thordarson and Rock Island.  Thordarson, it turns out, was interested enough in Ole's boatyard to exchange letters with him and get a price.  Ole, it is assumed, was what we call today a "motivated seller" because when Thordarson didn't bite, William Jepson who operated the ferries from the shipyard location at the far end of the harbor did.  Jepson moved his ferry landing and began to make dock improvements.  (This move would also have entailed the improvement of a road for motorized vehicles to and from the Lobdell Point area.  John W. Cornell recalled walking to work along a footpath when he first expanded his dock, where the current Island Outpost dock is now situated.)

North Shore moored inside the slip.
Barrels are lined up along the Standard Oil
dock to the north.  Chambers house is
in background (right).

In the first photo I think we can safely say the North Shore is backing from the location that is also the current ferry landing, backing "into the channel" so-to-speak.  Since the exact year isn't known, there might not yet have been a dredged channel, only a naturally deep waterway. (It was first dredged in 1937.)  Jepson wasn't the only operator to carry autos.  But he appears to be the first to do so, and the first to operate a regularly scheduled service using two ferries, the Welcome and the North Shore, built expressly for passenger and auto service from the Island to the Door Peninsula.

Earlier passenger service?

Eric Bonow provided the 1909 timetable below that outlines early passenger service options to upper Green Bay ports, including Detroit Harbor.   The larger Bon Ami or Sailor Boy made the main run between Sturgeon Bay and Marinette-Menominee, and then north to Escanaba.  A smaller vessel, Thistle, was used to call on smaller harbors along the Door Peninsula.  If someone from Washington Island wished to go to Escanaba, for instance, they could board the Thistle from Gislason's dock (near present day Shipyard Marina), and then transfer near the harbor's entrance to the northbound Bon Ami, which then continued on its way to Escanaba.  When southbound, the Bon Ami or Sailor Boy would stop in Washington Harbor, but apparently only when there was demand.

The fact that trains could be met at Sturgeon Bay or Marinette/Menominee (also at Escanaba, although it is not stated on the Time Card) made it a convenient means of scheduling travel.   It was with such possibilities that C. H. Thordarson often arrived in Escanaba, Michigan, from Chicago by train in later years.  A smaller boat trip completed his last leg to his Rock Island estate.

 Although it is hard to read the fine print, Eric highlighted the Thistle's name in yellow.  Passengers who wished to disembark in Detroit Harbor would also transfer from the larger Hart Line boat to the smaller Thistle near the harbor's entrance.  Then Thistle and her crew were optimized with an offer of "cheap excursion rates outside of Detroit Harbor every pleasant afternoon" to help fill time before she began her run south.

A promotion ran in the Time Card:  if passengers continued to Escanaba, they would arrive in the evening, "Giving all our passengers a chance to approach the city by night and view the immense ore docks lighted by electricity, which is a beautiful sight."

Other early Detroit Harbor vessel activity

Another Eric, Eric Greenfeldt, sent me a volume of great information in the form of early newspaper article reprints.  These clippings tell of the very first beginnings of  ferry transportation on Washington Island.  Here is a sampling:

The Door County News (DCN) of 22 May 1919 reported Capt. Carl Hanson of Washington Island, owner and master of the gasoline freighter Marion, stated his intention to make twice daily round trips from Detroit Harbor to Garret Bay (west of Gills Rock).

In the next few weeks, Hanson apparently sold (or leased) the Marion to William Jepson.  The June 26, 1919 issue reported the first trip carrying an automobile, the ferry Marion under Jepson's authority.  Success of the undertaking, it was noted, depended upon the "patronage of the public." But a "large increase in the number of autos during the past and first of the present season" was optimistically noted.  Also described was "a dock being built at Gills Rock for the ferry to discharge the autos conveniently and expeditiously, and the work will be completed by the end of the week."

Highways and automobiles led to a decline, then the end, of around-the-bay services such as the Hart Line offered.

The Marion's schedule and rates as advertised in the July 10 DCN:  Trips were twice daily.  Round trip rates were $5.00 for small cars, $7.00 for touring cars.  Passengers were 75 cents each, one way.  An accompanying column noted that "The line promises to become a popular mode of travel when brought to the attention of the outside world."

[We're still working on that...]

Competition was in the wings.  The following account appeared in the April 21, 1920 issue of the DCN:

Pete Anderson, the Mail Carrier, Will Carry Cars Across the Door In His New Boat

Washington Island is to have a ferry service again during the coming summer for the accommodation of the inhabitants of that part of the county as well as the tourists trade.

Pete Anderson, the hustling mail carrier, is the man behind the proposition and he will combine it with his regular business of handling Uncle Sam's mail and carrying passenger s back and forth.

During the past winter Pete purchased the big gasoline yacht Navarre which formerly belonged to Judge Turner, now deceased, and during the past couple of weeks, he with Thos. Johnson and George Jorgenson have been busily engaged at Two Rivers in converting the craft into a business boat.   She was thoroughly overhauled below the waterline and is now as good as new.

On Monday, Mr. Anderson, accompanied by Messr. Johnson and Jorgenson, arrived in the city with the boat on their way to Washington Island, stopping only long enough at the yards of the Fuller Goodman company on the west side to take on a load of material with which to finish the craft.  It is the intention to put in exceptionally heavy beams and decks for carrying automobiles.  The upperworks and decks will be put in at Detroit Harbor during the ensuing month, it being the intention to have her ready for commission along about the first of June.  The Navarre is 56 feet long and 15 feet wide and will be capable of carrying three cars handily.  She is an exceptionably fine boat.  The owners will also have accommodations for passengers as well.

Mr. Anderson has not as yet figured out just what schedule he will run on , but this will be announced at a later date.

There are a large number of autos owned on the Island, which together with those of people who wish to visit the place should provide a good business for the ferry.  
(Note:  In this early newspaper article the word "autos" appears with an "e," similar to "potatoes," a new word then for editors and readers alike.)

Well, enough for one rainy day.

Eric Greenfeldt sent me quite a few column inches reporting discussions leading to that first official auto being carried by Jepson on the ferry Marion in 1919.  When it rains again, and tourism doesn't require my services, we'll continue with this subject.

-  Dick Purinton

NEW WEBSITE - NEW BOOK IN WORKS!

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Over the past number of years while working on projects, each with its own immediacy, I've sat on an idea for a book on Rock Island and its one-time owner C. H. Thordarson.

I had many materials on Thordarson and a notion of how best to use them, but I didn't have sufficient time or confidence to give it the concentration and the push needed to finish such a project.  That changed when I decided to step back from daily duties at the Ferry Line January 1st, and since then I've been concentrating on this history, now titled Thordarson and Rock Island.   Of course, I'm still actively working for the Ferry Line, and the warmer weather and tourism of summer mean I have added responsibilities of operating the Karfi a few days each week in Jackson Harbor and driving tours on the Cherry Train.  But I'm far enough along with the book that those days come as welcomed breaks, allowing me to step back from what becomes obsessiveness to finish what I've started.

Book will be soft cover and will include
over 100 historic images, maps and illustrations.

The time involved to complete this book became far greater than I dreamed.  First, it took me time just to get going, to convince myself I was on the right track, and to make sense of the whole.  New questions cropped up that needed answers, and they were often left hanging (some will never be answered).  As early as March, the endless but essential task of editing began.  I've been fortunate to have the help of a number of friends with a qualifying background (they like to read!), eager to offer comment on what started out as very rough copy.  Through their collective comments the manuscript has become much smoother and easier to read, I believe, vastly improved from both accuracy and grammatical standpoints.  However, that editing is still going on today, with two, final "readers" lending their sharp eyes and minds to necessary corrections.

Although publication was already set back several times, the project is now much closer to print-ready.  But I've said all of this before...and then reset my own deadline.  But deadlines are the only way to bring reality to such a lengthy and multi-headed project, and I need to give several weeks' lead time to the printer.   At the same time, I want a product that won't cause me to cringe later due to egotistical blunders and grammatical errors.

In addition to volunteer readers, Amy Jorgenson is doing my digital page graphics for a printer-ready file.  I coordinate my ideas and edits with Amy.  With so many steps involved, I'm not planning on a sequel.   I hope this one will be a book readers will find informative, enjoyable and error-free.

A sample page:

Added to my research and the writing portion of this book project is the fact that early on I decided the surest way to get this to print would be to self-publish.   While I've done this sort of thing before, this time the steps were multiplied and they were larger steps that ended up stretching my time and my resources.   Along with the decision to be my own publisher, I also take on responsibility for marketing the finished product.  In this, I've been fortunate to have many local readers and the bookshops to sell books to motivated readers, but for this topic on Thordarson I wanted greater reach.

To this end, I wanted my own website to promote book information, sales and marketing, and so I asked Courtney Cauldwell, an Island resident, to help me set this up.

Yesterday, Friday, this website was officially opened at:
   
                     www.RichardPurinton.com

I would encourage you to look at my new website.  Sales of two previous books are also offered, but please note that until later in August the Rock Island book will not be available.  At a future date, advance orders will be taken.  But not yet, please!   I'd like to assure everyone that a product is in hand before commitment is made to an order.

In the middle of the final editing and publishing process is a trip Mary Jo and I have planned to visit England, to view crop circles among other things.  This trip was decided on a winter's whim back in January when the snow was flying and I still had great optimism this book would have been to the printer and back again by now, with a pallet of boxes awaiting orders in my basement.  But not so, as it turned out.   The time to see crop circles is when grain fields are mature, in late July and early August in Wiltshire County.  Nearby are the Standing Stones and many other ancient stone circles, mounds and monuments of earlier civilization.

We're committed to this trip, just as I am committed to finishing this book!

 -  Dick Purinton

STONES - NATURAL BEAUTY IS NOT ENOUGH?

School House Beach stones.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Stones can be beautiful with colorful, interesting shapes.  They are useful in construction, to fill holes, create concrete in crushed form, to build masonry walls.  Certain types of stones are considered the ultimate in created beauty, such as when crafted into stone sculpture or stone countertops.

Stones can also be a great impediment, to farming and laying underground cables, a danger to ships when unseen just beneath the ocean's surface, or anytime they appear in their natural state and we find it least convenient - such as in a hole we're digging for a fencepost.

At various times we've all skipped, tossed and collected stones.  However, more recently, the repositioning and stacking of stones as a guidepost or a means of personal expression has become for many a common practice.  For some, this practice has nearly become an obsession.

Where is this piece leading? Why is he bothering to tell us things we already know or don't really care to hear?  It seems intuitive that stones - as common as air or water - aren't usually considered a precious resource unless they are first mined, or specially cut or sculpted, or placed within a wall or floor where they are critical to the structure.

At School House Beach on Washington Island, residents often are asked to defend local policy to visitors, "why the smooth beach stones found there shouldn't be taken."  The apparent and rapid disappearance in the last several decades of School House Beach stones is attributed to visitors taking them home, but a good number may lie at the harbor's bottom, having been skipped in fun by both Islanders and visiting guests.   There is no way these stones can be readily replaced, these wave-polished stones that took centuries for nature to refine, and so we now admonish anyone who takes one for a souvenir.

Another and similar trend, I think, is the movement or our general population to build small piles of stones into cairns.  This has been encouraged through photographs of stacked stones that impart a Zen-like benefit to the builder and viewer that supposedly makes this practice OK on public properties.

The Art & Nature Center of Washington Island currently features a display of stacked stones that are actually ceramic pieces cleverly and skillfully made to resemble School House Beach stones.  The artist includes a disclaimer that he did not take stones from the beach, and that the birch branches framing his piece were taken from a construction site where they were going to be disposed of anyway.   That's commendable and appreciated.  But does his sculpture encourage the building of more stone piles along School House Beach, where already on any given summer day stone stacks exist near the blankets of idle-handed beach-goers?

The Peninsula Pulse recently ran a piece about an art project of Kate Borcherding who stacked stones along Door Bluff on the Peninsula as part of her Memories Diaries Art Project, funded by Kickstarter.  (June 28th-July 5th issue.) The stones she chose were of various shapes and sizes and were stacked and then photographed:  art installation, it was termed.   The impression given to the reader by that article might be that anyone can try their hand to imitate or improve upon such art, and that since it is art, the end product is of a worthy realm, like a Zen object, and therefore we should be encouraged to practice more of the same.

On Rock Island recently, the Friends of Rock Island (quite unwittingly, I'm sure) at the Rock Island State Park Picnic celebrating the Fourth of July sponsored a stone cairn building contest.  I'm not certain of their judging guidelines, whether the goal was to reward the tallest, most massive, or the most unique stack of stones, but the encouragement to take what the glaciers dispersed and reorganize it into our own desired likeness seems wrong, even though any single stone stack seems harmless and temporary. They may seem to many like sand castles which a builder would not displace materials from their "natural setting."  

I read an editorial several years ago that ran in a Green Bay paper where the writer was greatly disappointed when he visited several national parks in the west.  No matter where he hiked, or how remote the location, he observed stacks of stones left behind by clever stone-stacking artists who were probably hikers, like himself.  He wanted to see nature as it was and should be,  knowing that he would encounter trails with footprints here and there left by previous hikers, which for practical reasons can't be undone but will be washed away by nature.  These footprints also come with the presence of man, he believed, but they were less intentional than piled stones. The ever-present rock stacks, he believed, defaced the landscape as would painting your name on a large boulder or carving your initials in a tree or a wooden handrail.

For writing this I may be considered just "an old grouchy bastard" who can't seem to join in the fun or appreciate the benefits of creative release that stone stacks may give its builders.  But, I thought I'd at least like to try getting my point across.

How original are we?  How artistic?  Do we improve upon nature when we stack stones, or do our products become a collective nuisance, such as when stacks of stones proliferate as sometimes is the case at School House Beach?   Better to build than to take them away, some may say, and I tend to agree with that.

In the act of walking down the beach toward the water, each of us is helping push the naturally piled stones further toward the water's edge, one step at a time.  Maybe the pastime of stacking them will bring some of the stones back up the beach line where their march toward the water can start over once again.  But I think there is nothing as enjoyable as seeing that beach, and others like it, after winter's snows have left it in a near-pristine condition, or after a big northerly gale when the forces of nature (and not man's pseudo-artistic hands) have repositioned them flat.

The lake and the lake shore below the high water mark are public property.   There are no laws against stacking stones.  Should we then go along with it, and improve construction methods through the use crowbars and levers, tackling the really big stones, all the more to impress our audience of fellow travelers?

Will an endpoint in stone stacking be reached?  Or will a time come when stacking stones is passe' and no longer a unique form of expression, only a way to pass time?  Will this human pastime ever be seen as a blight, rather than the form of artful construction some now consider it to be?

-  Dick Purinton

ACROSS THE LAKE and OVER THE TOP

Worker on Badger fantail assists 
truck's driver by manipulating
rear unit with remote to 
guide turbine tower section.

Manitowoc to Ludington, Boyne City, Petosky and  home...

This past weekend, Island dentist Tom Wilson and I took what is becoming our annual weekend jaunt to Michigan.  We decided rather than touring the Upper Peninsula, this might be a good time to ride the mighty SS Badger across the lake.

Having written about the Badger in this blog column earlier this spring, and knowing her days could be numbered regarding its coal-fired steam engine propulsion, this would be one of those "do it now before it's too late" experiences.

We were not disappointed, in part because of the company we met along the way, and also the treatment while on board that allowed us to see normally off-limits areas of the vessel, courtesy of Captain Jeffery Curtis.

A new direction to engineer the Badger's management of coal ash by-product while underway came as a complete surprise to me when I asked Captain Curtis about the Badger's future.

With its current two-year EPA permit to continue operations using traditional coal-fired boilers, the practice of sluicing coal ash by-product overboard as the ship is underway must be remedied.  Dumping anything "foreign" into lake waters goes against most parameters (although major cities are exempted from dumping millions of gallons of sewage annually).  Ash dumping has been a major contention of Badger detractors, even though the coal ash analysis results have proven them to be largely inert and quite harmless to the environment.  Nevertheless, ship management practices, in order to continue operations into the future, will require a new and different solution acceptable to EPA discharge mandates within that 2-year time frame.  Like others, I had assumed the Badger's new direction might be toward the use of natural gas, rather than coal.  Natural gas, I had believed, would allow the continued use the existing steam plant machinery with small modifications.

Mixed traffic on the Badger's main vehicle deck ranged
from Harley Davidsons to 100-ft.+ tractor trailer unite.

This revelation came, however, when we were told by the Badger's captain that onboard containment of the coal ash was the route currently being explored.  This would mean storage of perhaps several tons of ash from a day's running time, until the vessel moored in the evening and the ash could be off-loaded to waiting trucks or tankers.  The ashes are hot when discharged from the fire box and need to be cooled, stored, and then removed by pumps or an enclosed conveyor from the ship.

We began to see the sense in doing it this way because a minimum of re-engineering would need to be done to the power plant itself.  Coast Guard approvals for such a solution are another matter, but those approvals might more easily be obtained than pursuit of new and more flammable natural gas fuel.  Natural gas has great benefits as a clean and relatively cheap fuel, but regulatory approval still seems a distance in the future.  (See attached footnote regarding natural gas future aboard U. S. domestic shipping.)

Away we go

We were excited to board the Badger, along with Ed Graf of Washington Island whom we coincidentally met in the ticket office lobby after we drove up to the Manitowoc queue.   Besides autos and motorcycles, tower sections for wind turbines that were mounted on long, extended semi trailers waited to be backed on.   These units had an extra set of independently operated steering axles to support and guide the over-sized turbine loads.

Capt. Jeffery Curtis and Ed Graf,
 with Tom Wilson, in engine room.

Of course, that is the beauty of using the Badger service as a short-cut across the lake.  Those turbine tower pieces were manufactured just a few blocks up the street, at the old Mirro Aluminum plant, and they're so big they are nearly impossible to maneuver through or around Chicago.  The Badger, however, loads them effortlessly.  We read where approximately 300 towers are being shipped to a lower Michigan wind farm via the Badger.  It makes a great deal of sense to keep such a ship operating when there is such a variety of vehicles and customer demand for midwest cross-lake shipping.  Loading those trucks took a few extra minutes, but when unloading at Ludington, drivers pulled their rigs off the vessel with ease along with other traffic.

Our ferry trip went smoothly and quickly, and half-way across, rain clouds were replaced by sunshine.   We then drove north to Boyne City to my youngest son Thor's home where we spent two evenings.  Saturday morning we attended the Bay Harbor auto and boat show.  I'm not an expert in such events, but the cars and boats displayed were magnificent, high-end examples of manufacturing and restoration.

Thor inspects Morgan trunk detail at Bay Harbor auto show.

One main reason for attending, other than the anticipated pleasure it would bring to our eyes, was the trunk Thor built through the Van Dam Woodcraft boat shop, then fitted into the rear lid by an area custom auto shop.  After Thor finished the woodworking part of this trunk, Louis Vuitton fabric was added for contrast.  We didn't stay long enough to observe the awarding of prizes, but it appeared the judges were going to have a difficult time choosing a top model when each and every entry was so beautifully maintained, restored and polished to the extreme.

Slot in center of trunk has red LED connected to brakes.

That was the essence of our weekend getaway.  Our return took us over the Mackinac bridge into the U. P.   Despite the sometimes gloomy weather pattern that had hung like a blanket at times over upper Lake Michigan, we're now energized for what the rest of our summer may bring.

Notes on Natural Gas as a commercial vessel fuel:

Almost every maritime magazine today has an article or a news item related to impending vessel conversions to natural gas as a propulsion fuel.

For years, as we understand it, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) carriers have used the boil-off natural gas from their storage tanks to help fuel their engines as they cross the oceans.  European vessels seem to be somewhat ahead of U. S. domestic vessels in the application of natural gas as ship fuel, but one definite advantage that may help U. S. shippers over time is the increasing supply and distribution of relatively cheap, clean natural gas that is now coming on line.

The Pacific Maritime magazine recently ran a column by Louis Lemos ( June 2013):  Using LNG as Fuel.  Lemos wrote about both the positives and the limitations of LNG.  Lemos, now retired, has extensive credentials, including the British Merchant Navy and the U. S. Merchant Marine as a Chief Engineer, U. S. Navy certified Ship Superintendent, and as a Commissioned Inspector of Boilers and Pressure Vessels.

The tanks that hold the liquid gas, Lemos states, must be heavily insulated to maintain a constant temperature of minus 165 Celsius.  This is to "not only preserve the ultra-low temperature of the LNG tanks, but also to protect the ship structures from the effects of cryogenic temperatures of the LNG."  He then estimates that required ship storage space for such tanks could be as much as 250 percent greater than that required for tanks of corresponding diesel fuel capacity.

Such shipboard tanks are designed and regulated as pressure vessels, with construction rules similar to those of steam boilers and compressed air storage tanks.   Codes are being rewritten today to address such storage and safe shipboard practice by Class Societies, quasi-government bodies that help administer and regulate vessel standards, with guidelines often based on international agreements.  The Class Societies have been expending time and resources for research and technical solutions, and for cost effective methods to improve the safety and efficiency of LNG-powered main propulsion machinery, according to Lemos.

This article contains much more information on LNG applications aboard vessels, and it shows that the possibilities are within reach, but that we're not yet there.  The lack of a ready LNG solution today, along with perhaps staggering refit costs, may have convinced the Badger's management to look to a more expeditious and realistic solution.  -  Dick Purinton

ICELANDIC CONNECTIONS

Archivist Janet Berggren (L) and volunteer Kirby Foss (R) assisted
Jonas Thor and his wife, Anna, at the Island Archives.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Jonas and Anna Thor of Reykjavik, Iceland, recently visited Washington Island for one week as our guests.  The Thors have traveled here before. Jonas led three tours of Icelanders as they traced the route of Icelandic immigration in the midwest.   On those tours, Hannes Andersen was their step-on Island guide, imparting local knowledge of settlement here.  Hannes himself had visited Iceland several times, and he maintained contact with cousins there.

I began email correspondence with Jonas Thor in the late spring of 2012, when he planned another tour of Washington Island (although that tour didn't materialize).  At one point in our exchanges, I referred to letters in Mary Jo’s possession that had been mailed to her great-grandfather, Arni Gudmundsen, between the years 1880 and 1930.   Jonas offered to translate them.  This “exchange” of old letters for translation is ongoing, and we both realized there could be more such letters on Washington Island, in attics or trunks, that would describe in fair detail the life and times of those who lived then in Iceland, as the family members corresponded  back-and-forth with one another over the years.

Icelandic immigration is a topic of longstanding interest of Jonas Thor’s.   He taught for ten years at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, wrote several books about Icelanders as they settled across North America, and more recently, through his historian's background he helps set up tours, both for tourists in Iceland, and for Icelanders who visit North America or Europe.

The tour company with which he is associated is Icelandic Farm Holidays, a cooperative of rural farm owners who provide lodging and meals for their guests.  These farms - like our B & Bs - are found at various locations rimming the coastline of Iceland.  There, tourism has been on the rise, with many visitors from European nations, but also from Japan and China.  Tours for Icelanders who travel abroad are with historical connections in mind, but they may also be simply traveler holidays.

Thor is eager to learn more about Washington Island’s Icelandic settlers:  family names; family stories; the location of individual family home sites; and even the whereabouts of individual Icelandic settler burial plots.  These sorts of things, he says, are of great interest to Icelanders, knowing where family members dispersed to and their history upon arrival in the new continent.  From our talks, it appears 

that Jonas already knows more than many of us do about our Island's early history.

Arni Gudmundsen (immigrated from
Iceland in 1873), wife Haldora,
 daughters Gudney Anna, Johanna Andrea,
Margaret Sigridur (mother of
Arni Richter.) Year unknown. 

It comes as no surprise, then, that in addition to speaking on this same topic at the Archives program Sunday afternoon, June 9th, Thor also spent a great deal of time at the Island Archives.  For a start, Archivist Janet Berggren provided Thor with an Index of Washington Island Icelandic immigrant family names. 

The Washington Island Archives intends to assist him in his research by encouraging Islanders to bring in Icelandic settler family photos, and letters sent to them by Icelandic relatives that need to be translated.  Because this topic is a big one, Thor has narrowed his interest for correspondence and photos to ones that date roughly 1870 - 1914, an era when over 16,000 Icelanders (equivalent to about 20% of the population) left Iceland for North America.  

Archives staff will scan old letters and family photos (with the owner retaining the originals), and then forward them by email to Jonas Thor.  In this way, both Icelandic files and the Island Archives will have copies. 

If this process can be streamlined and continued, Jonas Thor’s dream may be realized:  to eventually organize such available information on a website, so that interested people everywhere can benefit from those connections.

(Note:   I have a number of booklets that describe the various tour offerings of the Icelandic Farm Holidays company.  Ask me for one when you see me, if you’d like a copy. Otherwise, on the web go to:   www.farmholidays.is  )

-  Dick Purinton

NATURE'S WAYS

Muskrat heading home from grocery store.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

With water levels up a bit, wildlife seem to have responded in a positive manner.   Bass have made nests in the warm shallows, and from the Bayou pier we can see half a dozen or more fish of size guarding eggs among the fanned, white stones.  On one of my trips to watch what was going on there, I found a muskrat on the pier munching green grass shoots.  Finally, it left the pier for home with grass bunched in its mouth.  We're not certain how many of these muskrats there are, but with high water they've got more territory to build homes, find food and raise young.

Aidan and Magnus have been with us on several occasions, too, watching for turtles and birds. Canada geese, despite the nearly continual presence of aggressive mute swans, have successfully raised young in the area marsh grasses.  We counted 20 goslings in a flotilla this morning, accompanied and guarded by their parents.

One sight that's fascinating, but still a bit hard to watch, is the hunting and eating of snakes by the great blue heron.  Last week Mary Jo observed a heron as it caught, then managed to down a large, fat water snake.  Part of the process in subduing the snake enough to get its head down its gullet first requires gumming it near the head repeatedly, then dropping it back into the water momentarily to get a new grip with its long beak.  Eventually, head-first, the snake disappears down the bird's esophagus as the heron tilts its head backward.  To aid in swallowing, it may take a sip of water, much as we would after eating a dry cracker.

Well, this noon we watched that process once more with a slightly smaller snake as the heron's lunch.  It was close enough for me to capture with a small telephoto, including the bulge in its neck as the still writhing snake went down the chute.  Some powerful stomach acids must then do the rest of the work, we assume.  Not more than a minute after eating one two-footer, the heron slowly walked forward and caught another snake, this one a bit smaller, and if we missed any technique the first time around, it was on display even more plainly with the second snake.

For one who doesn't much care for snakes, or at least so many in an area where we often go wading - even though they are harmless - this heron and its brethren are seen by my wife as heroes in keeping a balance, maybe even tipping it toward the heron a bit.  I can't say I enjoy those brown water snakes, either.  On the pier at Rock Island last week, four or five good-sized snakes were wrapped together on the top of the pier, mating or enjoying the warm concrete...or whatever it is snakes do in community.

Here, then, are some of the great blue heron photos taken today.   -  Dick Purinton

IN THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY

View from the ranks as Legion Color Guard led procession to
the Island Cemetery Monday morning. 

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Visitors and residents of Washington Island enjoyed a near-perfect Memorial Day Weekend, with fine weather Friday through Monday.  Nearly any outdoor activity could be enjoyed, except for swimming or laying on the beach, since just one month ago the ice was leaving our harbors and the lake water is too cold for swimming.

The traditional Memorial Day Program with ceremonies at the cemetery and School House Beach afterward, sponsored by the local Gislason-Richter American Legion Post 402, was held at Bethel Evangelical Free Church.  Student Americanism Essays were read, selected war poems were recited by men of the Post, and the community turnout and support was again gratifying.

Approach to Rock Island, Saturday, May 25.

With the holiday over, we returned immediately to cooler, wetter weather Tuesday morning.  This year, with the addition of the small passenger ferry Karfi to the Ferry Line Fleet, I am under instruction with Jeff Cornell, who practically trained as a toddler under his Grampa Jim Cornell years ago.  Although a small vessel, rather straightforward in many ways, nevertheless there are characteristics and idiosyncrasies in this ferry not found on the larger vessels in Detroit Harbor.

This change of scenery is a welcomed one for me, and propitious, too, as I am just completing a book under the title, Thordarson and Rock Island.  This is a coincidental convergence of my earlier goal of completing this local history book, with the recent and unplanned acquisition of the Karfi by the Ferry Line company.  I am now  allowed the pleasure of working a few days each week on the Rock Island run.

After reading intently and organizing letter and document materials that were Thordarson's, with a steady, concentrated writing effort since January 1st, it is now a pleasure to set course for the Thordarson's stone edifice, the Rock Island State Park Boathouse.  It is Thordarson's best known structure and a most convenient point on which to steer when departing Jackson Harbor.

Jeff is particular as to how his operation should be managed, following years of safe and reliable transportation. I'm slowly gaining the needed skills.  If Jeff is to get his day off each week, my improved abilities will give him that opportunity.

There are two contrasting photos shown here of the Karfi's recent operations.  One was taken Saturday on the noon trip to Rock Island.  The other was yesterday morning when we had cool temperatures and a light rain.   I'm amazed, given that weather, that we had any passengers for a day of hiking and exploring on Rock Island.  It shows the possibilities when sunnier, warmer days arrive.

-  Dick Purinton   (Note:  Thordarson and Rock Island is a reasonable 4-6 weeks away from printing.  Estimated pages:  435; 100+ images with maps; paperback.   Price:  $27 + tax + S + H)

DOWN-ON-THE-FARM FRESH

Chef Zander approves his "love toast."  (Evy photo)

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Its hard to beat food that's fresh, from the backyard.

The Beneda boys are enjoying fresh eggs.  Atlas whipped up a 5-egg omlet for lunch, and a few days ago, Zander, 5, made French toast with eggs from his chicken, Icey.  He calls it "love toast" because it was made exclusively from eggs Icey laid.   A photo with a selection of eggs recently gathered are shown below, and Icey laid the light cream eggs.  Two fell out of Zander's hands onto the cement walk, but the numbers are evidence there is good egg production these days.

While we wrapped up supper at the Benedas, Atlas got on his bike and rode around the yard picking asparagus in his favorite spots.  Before we were ready to head out the door for home, he had washed the ten or so asparagus stalks, cut them into small chunks, and sauteed them on the stove.  We tried a few pieces and they were delicious.

Atlas, age 10,  prepared a spring delicacy.

Foraging about in the yard, as far as Main Road at times, is the flock of chickens that produced the eggs shown in the photo below.  Several were tiny chicks last spring, in 2012.  Added recently, after a natural attrition of several of the original hens, were larger hens courtesy of Don Johnson's boys.  There were more hens than they could manage, so two were added to the Beneda's coop.

The personality differences between hens is remarkable. New chickens deserve new names, and based on their apparent characteristics (I think) they were given names of family great-grandmothers.  Frieda is the golden hen, very sociable...knows all the hymns, according to Evy.  Nellie is a bit reclusive, stays inside by herself much of the time and takes extended smoke breaks, much as did Chad's grandmother.

The only one who seems able to pick up any hen at will, without a fuss from them, is Zander.

All this free-range and farm-fresh business made us feel guilty in bringing a box of sugared donut holes for desert.      -  Dick Purinton

Eggs  from several days laying.  Icey's eggs, Zander's
favorite, are in dish at top, left.

ANOTHER ROCK ISLAND BOAT PHOTO!

What is this vessel at the boathouse dock?

Rock Island, Wisconsin -

 Photos of at least half a dozen different vessels of substantial length shown at the Rock Island dock are archived in the Thordarson collection.

Here is another head-scratcher, as it doesn't look at all familiar as a Washington Island vessel.

In early April we asked friend Eric Bonow, once again, to give us his opinion.  From the James L. Oberstar, while crossing Lake Erie, he sent this information:

     "Well, that's not too hard a mystery.  That looks like the Marold II, originally Alexander Winton's yacht LaBelle.  He was a Cleveland industrialist, early in the auto and engine business.  The yacht was sold and eventually converted to a freighter in 1925.  It was owned by the Hill family from Fish Creek and elsewhere, including Washington Island, and ended her days when they were salvaging gasoline off a tanker grounded across the lake near Beaver Island.  That explosion in 1937 finished her off.  I've included the data sheet from the archival collection at Bowling Green, which has a picture of it as a freighter, but not in the original configuration.

     "The internet has slowed to a crawl here, but I hope to find an appropriate picture to include. --- It is now "later" and while the internet is somewhat faster I was unable to find a picture of the LaBelle as the LaBelle.  However, if you discount the cabin in the photos, the hull us very much like many of the early, large steam (and in this case gasoline / diesel) yachts.  Long, low, skinny, with masts and a central stack.

     "There were quite a few of these yachts put to use.  The Thistle of the Hart Line was one, and another was the Winyah that ran the north shore of Lake Superior to drop off supplies at commercial fishing camps and bring the fish to Duluth for shipment to market.  that boat had been Andrew Carnagie's yacht."

Thanks to one of our readers, here is a link to the Marold disaster that you may find interesting:

http://www3.gendisasters.com/michigan/15425/beaver-island-mi-mail-boat-marold-ii-explodes-jan-1937

-  Dick Purinton

DREDGING DANCE WORKED!

Long underwear and patience were the order of the day 
back in early March when Mike Kahr's barge returned to Detroit Harbor to 
dredge near the island docks.   Hoyt Purinton will be in short sleeves, and smiling, 
when he sees the Roen Company construction barge
enter port later this summer.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

There was never a certainty, but quiet optimism prevailed until the moment when the Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Finance Committee approved a measure yesterday in the state's budget bill for $5.2 million to dredge the Detroit Harbor channel.  This is believed to be the most difficult hurdle to funding the channel dredging project.

Rep. Garey Bies said, “This is great news for the residents of Washington Island.   I’m thankful to the members of the committee who listened to my concerns and prioritized funding for the project."

Bies also commented on the potential economic loss should the channel impede regular ferry transit:

"While the safety of the residents of the Island is the biggest concern, I was also worried about the significant economic impact a loss of ferry access would mean to the Island and our district as a whole. Year-round access generates more than $16 million in annual economic activity through the transportation of passengers, vehicles and cargo." 

This is about the best news we've had in this corner of Lake Michigan since an effort was begun in August of 2007 to gain the attention of government officials. At that time, beginning with an historic, in-person visit by then sitting Senator Russel Feingold, the project was posed but water levels weren't as extreme as they soon became during late 2012.   Several meetings attended by local, state and federal officials brought sympathy for our situation, and behind-the-scenes conversations took place, but the effort didn't seem to be of a serious nature until work with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Harbor Assistance Program (HAP) began in 2011.

Last June, as you may recall, Washington Island's 2012 HAP grant was turned down, and for several good reasons.  Efforts were made to provide better engineering data, and this was augmented by a Wisconsin HAP grant for approximately $150,000 late in 2012.  Bottom core samples, exacting yardage fignure - in short, a project ready for bids, resulted from that grant, and it culminated in three contractor bids for the actual project last month.  While no official selection has been made, the Roen Salvage Company of Sturgeon Bay was low bidder and is expected to be awarded the contract once the HAP funds are officially secured.   The $5.2 million figure represented the combined total of the Roen bid, plus engineering fees, plus contingency, plus anticipated island road repair costs from heavy truck traffic.

The Joint Finance Committee's vote (12 to 4) won't be the final hurdle.   Action is still needed in the State Senate and Assembly, with the governor's signature after that.    The earliest possible formal, final approval would take place in late June as the state's two-year budget is approved.

The significance of this recent action, put forward by our State Senator Frank Lasee and his staff members, and Garey Bies and his staff on behalf of Washington Island, is that the money is marked for Detroit Harbor.   Other ports will have a chance to apply for other available money in the HAP grant pool, but Washington Island's project has been underscored as being essential and not to be upstaged by other needed commercial port work.

Thanks through email, phone call or letter is due Senator Lasee, Rep. Bies for their legislative work, and to members of the Town of Washington Board who stuck with the HAP program application process through a second round.   
Contact information for Rep. Garey Bies:  
         Toll free phone:   888482-0001     or email:       Rep.Bies@legis.state.wi.us
                     P.O. Box 8952    Madison, Wisconsin   53718-8952
State Senator Frank Lasee's contact information:  
         Phone:   608-266-3512                       email:      Sen.Lasee@legis.wisconsin.gov        
                       State Capitol Rm. 3165, P.O. Box 7882, Madison, Wisconsin  53708

Town Chairman Joel Gunnlaugsson took
the call with the good news from Rep. Garey Bies at the Northport
pier late Tuesday afternoon.

Other good news coupled with this extraordinary legislative action for Washington Island is that Lake Michigan's level continues to rise slightly each week.   In yesterday's brisk, southerly breeze, water levels were at their highest since sometime in early August of 2012.

-   Dick Purinton