And the Ice is Here!

We are officially ice-bound:  Arnold Transit suspended service TODAY, due to ice in the harbor in St. Ignace.

In the eleven years we've lived on Mackinac, this is the earliest ending of ferry service - should be a good winter!

We will be dependent on the planes now for mail, freight/groceries and for moving people on and off Island, unless an ice bridge forms - seems likely given the frigid temps we've had lately.

There is a long tradition of delivery via ice to Mackinac, here's an excerpt from Godey's Lady's Magazine, circa 1863:

                                                                                                                            Mackinac, Mich.

Dear Sir: Would you like to know the mode of conveyance by which the Lady’s Book reaches these almost Arctic Regions? It is by dog-teams. From Saginaw to this place, a distance of over two hundred miles, our mail matter, in the winter season, is brought to us on men’s backs and dog-teams. We have a weekly mail; and each weekly party consists of two man and three dogs with a long traine de glisse, to which the latter are harnessed. This traine is generally made of an oak board two or three-eighths of an inch thick, about a foot wide, and eight or ten feet long, with the forward part nicely turned up. On this are strapped mail-bags, and the provisions for the men and dogs. This would sound strange to those who live in well-improved parts of the country. Yesterday the thermometer ranged between four and twenty degrees below zero; and this morning it stood twenty-four degrees below. The ice in these straits, and Lake Huron in this vicinity, is from eighteen to twenty-eight inches thick; no sign of an early opening of navigation. I hear that your subscribers at this place are much pleased with the Lady’s book.

And thus, the ladies of the Island were able to keep current on the latest fashions!

Icing Early

Ice is always a topic of Island conversation this time of year - "will there be an ice bridge?" or "how much longer will there be boats (ferries)?"

Well the answer to that last question is, probably not much longer! The ice is making quite early this year, as can be seen by the path left by the the freighters making their way through the Straits.

The ferry is wearing it's own coating of ice:

And also leaving a trail, as it slowly makes it's trip to the Island.

The heavy steel hull can still break through the several inch thick sheets of ice so far, making a a rough, crunching sound, but that probably won't be the case for too much longer.

The rocks on the breakwall carry their own ice coating:

And the harbor is starting to fill too:

How many more days???? Better make one more trip and stock up on necessities - Spring is a long ways away!

Ice - January 2012 Bead Journal Project

Some of you may be wondering "what IS she thinking, starting yet another project when she can't manage to finish 2011?" - well, it's true, I am still working on 2011 and for for me, that's the key: I AM still working on it and I will finish!

I've decided to go in a very different direction with my 2012 Bead Journal Project: I will be creating a series of personal runes. My format is going to be much smaller this year, using beach stones as a base.

I've collected stones from the beach here on Mackinac and each will be adorned with an actual object or representation that has personal significance to me. I plan to create a beaded bag to hold my runes at the end. I hope to also write an interpretation for each rune and create an accompanying hand bound book, but I bead better than I write, so that may not end up happening!

I started with a piece of lake glass, collected at British Landing here on the Island and created a beaded bezel using peyote stitch. I attached this to the stone using freeform netting, which allowed peeks of the underlying stone to be visible.

 

I chose to represent ice for many reasons, some personal and some universal.

 Living on a small island in northern Michigan, the formation of ice transforms life for all of us living here,primarily by preventing the ferry from running to the mainland. If weather prevents the planes from flying, we are completely cut off, completely self reliant. Some years, there is another transformation - if the lake freezes over completely, an "ice bridge" forms and we are no longer an island; we have the ability to come and go at will, without being held to the schedule of ferry or plane.

Thus far this year, there is no ice at all. If the weather continues as it has, we may have ferries running all winter, which has only happened once before.

Ice in the form of snow transforms the landscape and ice can do this in more powerful ways - I live in a area of the world formed by the power of ice in the form of glaciers.

Ice is cold and hard - great when it's in your glass cooling your beverage, not so great when you've just tumbled down upon it's slippery surface.

So here's the first for 2012, I'm looking forward to creating eleven more!

More Ice Bridge 2011

It's like a highway out there, people and freight speeding in both directions.

A pressure crack has formed, but a little plywood takes care of that little problem.

You can't beat the scenery, I-75 sure doesn't look like this:

Road work is currently underway (this is Michigan after all). Here's some Christmas trees being hauled out to mark a second trail.

Spudding a hole to hold the tree, as cold as it's been, it won't take long to freeze in place.


High winds last week did cause some shifting of the ice and there is open water on the east side of the Island, but the bridge has firmed up again - for the moment - it can change quickly and we always ask around for the most recent conditions before considering a crossing.

Ice Bridge 2011

Last Boat: January 19th

First Ice Crossing: January 23rd

First Trees Placed to Mark the Trail: January 24th

THE ICE BRIDGE IS OPEN!!!

So what's an ice bridge?

This is - the Straits of Mackinac, frozen between Mackinac Island and St. Ignace, approximately a four mile trip. For Islander's it means freedom to come and go to the mainland at will, without worrying about ferry or plane schedules.

Christmas trees are cleverly repurposed to mark the trail:

It can seem like a highway out there sometimes, with all the comings and goings...and even billboards!

Here's another use for the ice: a landing strip, note the skis on the front!

So, why does the ice bridge go to St. Ignace and not Mackinac City?

Freighter traffic. This 1000 footer is making way slowly through heavy ice, with the Coast Guard ice cutter moving in advance. If you happen to be out on the ice when one goes through, it's an unsettling feeling - literally, you can both feel and hear the ice moving.

The ice came in fast and early this year, how long it will last is unknown. But we'll enjoy it while it's here, our temporary bridge, created by nature and thus subject to nature's whims.