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

winter

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 - This one time in the UP

The year was 2015 and I was just laid off for the first time in my life. We left Texas and drove to Michigan and Minnesota to see family and friends. Here are some photos from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that I loved - specifically Tahquamenon Falls. Cheers and have a good rest of the week.

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.

#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!

#WayBackWednesday - Christmas of 2017

Last year we made the trek to Michigan to spend Christmas with my family. This year, we’ll be heading up to Alaska to see my other half’s family. Next year, I swear I’m staying in Texas. Here’s a look back at a few highlights from that trip last year. Whatever you celebrate, or don’t, I hope you have a great couple of weeks ahead.

I didn’t get to stop and see everyone on this trip, but I did get to see a lot of people. So thankful to have the problem of too many people and not enough time.

And, of course, the family time was nice. It was the last Christmas with our grandfather, so I guess it was meant to be that I finally got up there for a holiday. The kids were fun and everyone was happy to see us out-of-towners.

I’ll miss everyone this year, but we’ll get to see more family so it’ll be alright! Happy Holidays!

#WayBackWednesday - My first time in Alaska

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Three years ago, for Thanksgiving, I went to Alaska to celebrate turkey day with my other half’s family. I was recently laid off from my job, had no prospects, and thought it was a good time to make a trip. I had never been that far from “home” and I was completely excited. I had no expectations for the trip - but was hoping for snow. We arrived to a cold, wintry scene in Anchorage and it only got prettier each day.

As we prepare to head back up there in December, I’m hopeful for more snowy adventures. Enjoy some photos form my first time in Alaska.

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