 |  |
| |||
      | |||||
At 6 a.m. the temperature started rising above 32°, and shot right up to 38° now (at 11:00). We’re in a warm bubble for the coming days, and that will hopefully dry up some roads, and clean up some driveways and parking lots. It feels balmy, but we always know that in a few weeks we’re likely to get either single-digit temperatures, or a blizzard, as payback.
I went down to Glen Haven and took these shots at the Cannery.
After once again denuding my holly bushes, now the deer are digging deep, looking for acorns.
Today was the first day of sunshine since, uh, last year. It is just beautiful outside. I drove down to check the progress of the ice on Big Glen, and it’s coming along at a pretty normal clip. As you can see in these photos there is some pretty ice around the Narrows, and lots of blue/green open water. In the southwest corner it’s building up as always, and was sparkling in the sun.
It will be a good afternoon for a little cross country skiing. And then some Michigan basketball Sunday afternoon.
Greetings, Coffee Lover!
After all the travel, food, gifts, cards, and football (and hockey!) of the Holidays, a week like this seems so quiet. And here in the Northwoods, that quiet is actually rather blissful. The snow lightly falls, the waves of Lake Michigan crash onto icy shores, and the wind whistles through the pines. Once I’ve enjoyed those treats, I cozy up by the roaring fire in the woodstove and sip some coffee—and debate if I should read a book or search for one more football game on the big screen TV.
Yes, it is winter in Glen Arbor, and one needs to either embrace it, or head to Florida. Not like that’s much of a bargain this week. You snowbirds may be in more need of hot coffee than we are! Just like last year, we’re having a very normal winter, with cold temperatures, lots of snow, and great skiing conditions. Granted, a few of us would like a glimmer of sunshine, but I do recall back in the early 1990s that we had thirty days with no sun—which we survived.
One great way for you to while away the winter is to ponder the day that Big Glen Lake will completely freeze over. I will check each morning, and when my secret spotters and I can verify that the lake is frozen solid, we’ll find out who picked that date first, or is the closest to that date. Your prize for this contest? How about a $25 online gift certificate to coffeeguys.com? Yup, I knew you’d like that. Good Luck!
Looking around for a special we see that Steve still has the fixings for more of our Coffee Trail Mix. It’s like your classic gorp, with the addition of some espresso beans. Order three or more pounds of coffee online, add an 8 ounce bag of Coffee Trail Mix to your order, and then use the coupon code trailmix and you’ll get the mix for free!
Thousands of you read this newsletter, and hundreds of you tell me about it (thanks). The format has remained the same since we started it, and I’m wondering if you would like to see any changes. There is an online survey that you can fill out, and to make it work we need lots of responses. To further tempt you, there is a prize! If you take the survey and provide your contact information, we will randomly select a winner for 10% off your online purchases for the rest of the year. Feeling enticed? Please take the survey.
We look forward to seeing some of you over the coming weekends, and apparently lots of you over President’s Weekend (we hear that reservations are UP!).
The wind is blowing, the lake is frozen, and on the far end are a couple of fishing shanties. Ahh, winter!
I took my camera into the cafe when refilling my JoeMo, and snapped these photos of a few customers. BTW, we like to start them young! (Actually, the kids are drinking either hot chocolate or steamers).
A steady stream of cars have been arriving in Glen Arbor since Saturday, and today the cafe is really hopping with vacationers searching for snow, or just getting in a peaceful break from the downstate bustle. We had a nice dusting of snow yesterday, and that’s what the forecast holds into the New Year. It’s plenty cold out, and The Homestead and Crystal Mountain are making lots of snow; and there is enough snow in the woods for cross country skiing.
This morning my yard had a number of tracks, mostly deer going for the holly bushes, but there was a single line of tracks that came from behind my house, walked on the snowy deck, and into the yard when it appeared to go for the mice or voles under the snow. Based on the size and gait I’m thinking it was a bobcat, and I’m surprised because I’ve never seen any around the house, and didn’t know that they’d walk on the deck. But, if it wants to go after the rodents (including the deer!) I’m all for it.
Yesterday’s gentle snow really spruced things up! It is sunny today and town just glistens. Lots of folks are in Glen Arbor this morning, either up for the holiday, or just in for a shopping visit. The phones are quieter today as the shipping season winds down, and everyone focuses on family and travel. We’re traveling all about as well, and wish you all a safe, relaxing, and happy holiday weekend!
The Weather Service has been warning us for a few days that we’re going to have a blizzard beginning tonight. Starting at 10 p.m. they advise us to batten down the hatches for 12″ of snow, high winds, low wind chills, and then a lake effect snow kicker into Thursday morning. Usually we shrug it off as hysteria, but they were quite accurate last March, so we’re a bit more wary. Just in case, I’m going to clear the existing snow off my driveway tonight (I had thought I’d wait until there was more to handle). When I look at the national radar, I just don’t see the storm that was being predicted last night. Still, cold air over Lake Michigan usually makes snow. This is great news for both the skiing and snowmobiling industries, and probably why we call Michigan the Winter Water Wonderland.
I received a bunch of emails about my Holiday SpongeBob inflatable. Well, I started to watch him with my nephews many years ago (oh, and Blue’s Clues, with the cool original guy!), and he always makes my nephews and me laugh. Several years ago when the inflatable craze began, I found two SpongeBobs at Meijer, and so brought one to the office and sent the other to the boys. It’s been a tradition ever since for me to string some colored lights over my desk, and to inflate SB in the corner. He just cracks me up!
