Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Cha-cha-changes!
Cha-cha-changes!
Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Seeing can mean believing.
Seeing can mean believing.

snow

Tuesday Truths - December Edition

Hot takes for the best month… Just as Lake Superior is the superior Great Lake:

  • December is the best month, without question

  • Winter is the best season

  • If you’re a meat eater, ham is better than turkey

  • Cranberry is the superior berry (though, through some research I’ve learned it’s not an actual berry so I’m going with Blueberry or the similar ones as the superior)

  • Twinkly lights are better than overhead lights or lamps

  • New Years is the superior fourth quarter holiday but…

  • My birthday is superior to all other holidays

  • Snow is THE superior form of precipitation

  • Spruce trees are the sturdiest real trees you’ll get for decorating

  • Happy Holidays is a superior greeting and I’ll fight you on that

#MondayMotivation - Perfect, even when it's not

Things are perfect right now, even if they’re not. I have debts I wish I didn’t have, people are gone who I wish weren’t, and plenty of other stressors that matter only in a moment. I have great friends, a solid roof over my head, a cool city around me, a beautiful state out and beyond, and a job that will get better as I continue to acclimate.

I was driving along the coast (the Oregon Coast) on Sunday and I realized, this is a DREAM COME TRUE. I’ve wanted to live in Oregon since I first drove through in 2008. I remember one morning, on the 2008 road trip, waking up to the fresh smell of sea air and lush trees and thinking I want to be here someday. I applied for jobs in Oregon from that moment on, with nothing landing. Fast forward to 2024, and now I’m becoming a resident of the state and I live less than two hours from the splendor of the Pacific Ocean.

Things will work out, level off, and become kind of normal in the cycle. LIfe keeps moving, so it’s always perfect in that moment. I do believe that you can’t appreciate the good without a little perspective, not saying we all need tragedy or anything, but a little perspective goes a long way.

Driving through the snowy coastal range, having to take it slow and be patient (not my strong point), made getting to the coast even better. Despite the constant rain and snow, the experience reminded me of the times before. It felt fresh, smelled good, and sounded familiar.

Get through your shit however you do, but know there are good things out there for you. Trust the journey.

Come visit me in Oregon and I’ll take you to the coast and we’ll get a flight of ice cream from the Tillamook Creamery. Pairing the ice cream with the fresh sea air will solve everything.

Winter Solstice

I’ve been putting trees up with lights and decorations since I was a child. Growing up, my bedroom often had a second tree and decorations. I love(d) decorating for Christmas. I was never a religious person and I was raised in a “Catholic” home that never attended church or had me confirmed. Christmas, to me, was never about Jesus or religion. Christmas to me was always about the lights, the sparkle (shocking), and the gathering of friends and family. Holidays, Christmas or otherwise, were always about the food and fun.

I used to beg to drive around and look at the lights and dream of doing that to my own house someday. Fast forward to college and I started to buy trees on clearance after Christmas. Year after year, my roommates and I would add to our collection and create a forest of light in our apartments to celebrate winter. As the years went on, my roommates and I started decorating our porches and trees as we moved into places that supported that kind of decor. I love adding lights to the darkness and dreariness of the winter season.

Now, I’m a guy who believes in the changing of the season from autumn to winter as a transition for our mindset. I believe in putting up trees and lights and wreaths to welcome winter and to light the way from the shortest day of the year onward. I take a little from here, a little from there, and enjoy celebrating all people and their cultures/religions. The Solstice is about light for me and that just happens to manifest with mini twinkle lights and big colorful bulbs from November though January.

Whatever you celebrate this winter, may you find peace and joy and get to spend time with people you care about. Stay warm, or cool depending, and have a safe passage into 2024.

#WBW - The joy of snow

Look at the line where the snow is falling!!

Visiting Portland, OR in November 2021 was a whirly-swirly dream. NO, there wasn’t snow in Portland, but there was snow up towards Mt. Hood. I had met up with my dear friend on the first day of my adventure and they decided to go along on the second and third days with me and suggested Trillium Lake. I was driving up, up, up the mountain toward the lake and had to stop at the rest area where the snow started to take it all in. It was SNOWING the big magical flakes! From there up, it was MORE snow and beautiful foggy/snowy views of the trees. Eventually, we got to the lake. It was a mix of snow and clouds, so no view of Mt. Hood but who cares? The trees were heavy with wet snow, and it felt magical walking through the woods with my friend. We were in our own world of laughing, snapping photos, and being free.

The conclusions drawn from this adventure are that snow is magical and with the right person, life is whimsical. Find the friends, lovers, whomever who bring out the magic and whimsy in you.

Minnesota - One of My Happy Places

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I typically get to Minnesota every year at least once. You know those friends who become family? Well, I’m fortunate to have those in Duluth, MN. My best bud, who went on all of the road trips with me, has family and a cabin up there which allows for awesome escapes.

Enjoy a little recap of 2019 in Minnesota.

Early February

This trip required a flight into the tundra known as Minneapolis The flight was delayed and so was our arrival to the Land of 10,000 lakes. We rented a Chevy Silverado, because we needed 4-wheel drive anyway, and headed up to Duluth. We didn’t get in until late, didn’t get up to Duluth til very late, and probably had more of a nap than a sleep. After coffee and packing up, we headed up to McFarland. We always stop at the Gun Flint Tavern in Grand Marais, MN. If you don’t stop there, does a trip to the cabin even count? They have great brews on tap and excellent food and are busy all year, so plan ahead if you stop by. From the tavern, it’s a short walk to the municipal liquor store and co-op if you need supplies.

Once to the lake, winter trips to the cabin require snowshoeing across then up the hill to the cabin. This year was eventful, to say the least. To start, there was a lot of snow and it was very cold - all good things for going across a frozen lake in the winter. Apparently, though, there was some slush under the upper crust of snowy ice creating a slushy lake on top of the actual ice, which was very thick. My snowshoe went through the upper crust, into the slushy lake on a lake, and slipped off my boat and floated away. I was worried I was going through the actual ice and entering a true emergency situation, but when my knee slammed down on the ice, I knew figured I was pretty safe. I worked to get out of the situation, but it was not easy as I broke through in every direction. Eventually, with a little help from Kevin, I got to the surface and freed myself from my lonely snowshoe. The snow on top of the lake wasn’t too bad, so a pair of snowshoes was only an added convenience. Bitter cold, wet, and frustrated, I made my way to the forested lakeside and up to the cabin.

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A fire was built, frozen clothes stripped away, and dry clothes put on. Consumption of beer was immediate but warming of the cabin took what felt like centuries. Eventually dinner was had, more drinks were had, and laughter ensued about the incident earlier in the day. We made it before darkness, which was pretty early, and that’s all that mattered.

After a couple of days secluded from the world, we had to head back to reality. The trek back across the lake was only mildly annoying and there were no more issues. Back in Duluth, we had an evening to rest before driving back to Minneapolis to catch a plane. Of course we needed a good dinner and some beer, so we ran to Wisconsin to get the lowest legal beer prices around. It’s the little things - snow, seclusion, friends who became family, and low legal beer prices.

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Late August

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There is nothing quite like a whole week off the grid. My job became overly stressful and I was looking forward to five days without notifications, emails, or contact of any kind. Kevin and I decided we were going to drive up to Duluth, then the cabin, for this visit. We wanted to bring Chewy to the cabin to experience true freedom, so driving was the only way!

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It started off in a typical fashion of hanging out with the family and stocking up in Wisconsin with the lowest legal beer prices. We made our way up the North Shore with our usual stop in Grand Marais at the Gun Flint Tavern, Municipal Liquor, and grocery store. It was a sunny day with blue skies, mild temps, and plenty of fresh air. The road to the lake was dusty, as usual, and we had to stop at the usual overlook for a quick break. We arrived at the boat launch, unloaded the boat, loaded the boat with supplies, and began our journey across the lake. As we approached the dock at the cabin property, we noticed it looked a little funny. Upon closer inspection, it appears part of the dock was washed away making transferring supplies a little more difficult than usual. I misjudged the balance of the dock without decking and tipped the whole damn thing and landed in the water. Brisk is one word to describe the water when one is used to Texas temperatures.

We made a classic mistake by drinking too much beer the first night. It was a pretty quiet couple of days in the beginning as we nursed hangovers in our 30s and laid low for a while. I explored the woods around the cabin a little and eventually we made it over to the Border Route Trail to do some hiking. The weather was mostly good, cool, sunny. A major project we had to do while up was to reinstall the composting toilet and it was accomplished in a day. Nights were spent by the fire, making food and having beers while Chewy the dog begged/listened to the woods. At one point, we swear we heard a moose trudging through trees in the distance, but it can’t be confirmed with a visual.

Eventually, we had leave the cabin and all of the beauty of living off the grid. We packed out the trash and closed everything up and made our way across the lake. We spent one last evening in Duluth, with a little outing to Canal Park Brewing Company. It was a cool, windy evening on Lake Superior, but the beers and food were great. Since we drove this time, we could take it a little easier as we headed south so we made a stop for lunch at Bent Paddle Brewing Co in one of my favorite parts of Duluth. There was a pizza food truck and plenty of beers to choose from, so it was what some would call an extended lunch. We met a fun bartender, who actually lived in Michigan before, which just added to my instant love for the brewery and brewpub atmosphere. It’s always hard leaving Duluth for me because it’s somewhere I feel home and could see myself living out the rest of my life. It was Saturday afternoon and we made it back by Sunday morning which gave me a quick turnaround for work on Monday.

What a trip this was, living off the grid and reconnecting with Minnesota. So many great sunrises, sunsets, and moments in between. I look forward to 2020 visits to Minnesota, sprinkled between other adventures along the way.

#ForestFriday - Snowy & Cold

When you read this post, I’ll be on my way to a cabin off the grid… the one I wrote about on Wednesday. Anyway, I wanted to share some snowy forest photos from the past few times I visited in the winter so you have an idea of what it’s like where I’m at. The forecast is zero or below and lots of snow and clouds, so it’ll likely be less cherry than these, but it’ll be quiet and secluded as always. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

#MondayMotivation - This week, upcoming trips!

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I often use upcoming trips as motivation. I know I have touched on this before, made Monday Motivation posts about it before, and yet here I am again. Right now, we’re looking to camp at a local state park at the end of the week, if my family can get a reservation. Right now, Texas Parks and Wildlife is updating their reservation system with a new, much better system that allows for specific campsite reservations which will change my life for the better. So, since my uncle works near the park we want to visit this weekend, he’s going to stop in and try to reserve something in person. Here’s to hoping. Even if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to head there to hike anyway.

On February 7, I fly to Minneapolis and then drive to Duluth. My buddy and I are taking our annual trip to his family cabin near the Boundary Waters. (If you haven’t voiced your support for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and want to, please do so!) We will get up there on Thursday night, pack it up, and then head to the cabin Friday morning. We’ll stop at the wonderful Gun Flint Tavern in Grand Marais, hit up the IGA and local co-op if they’re open, then make our way up to the frozen lake. I can’t wait to be off the grid, away from it all. I can’t wait to snowshoe, to drink Leinenkugel's original, and to spend some time with the trees and snow. We will head back to civilization on Sunday afternoon, and back to Texas on Monday evening. It’s going to be a great little first quarter reset.

Work is fine, life is alright, hiking is great, but I’m always up for a reset. It’s never a bad thing to shut off the tech for a minute and get back to real life.

These events/ideas/plans are getting me through the next two weeks. Also, the song I’ve attached at the beginning is one of my favorite songs of all time by my favorite band of all time. When I was in Seward and it was rainy as ever, I’d listen to this song on my morning walks around the streets as I waited for everyone to wake up. Every morning can be a beautiful morning, remember that.

Been friends since 2003, so more like family now. Doesn’t hurt that he has access to the cabin, kidding!

Been friends since 2003, so more like family now. Doesn’t hurt that he has access to the cabin, kidding!

#ForestFriday - Wishing for snow!

Cooler weather has FINALLY arrived here in Texas and it has my brain thinking beyond fall and into winter. I also know, some places already have snow, and I’m jealous. Anyway, here are some photos from the forest in Northern Michigan around my grandparent’s house. Not quite the wild and free mountain forests, but the forests I grew up exploring! (November 2007)

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