Transcription
Irene:
Up in “God’s Country” – Sunday, 5-16-1976.
Dear Family,-
Oh, the joy – the annual thrill – of arriving up here after the many months away, down in the city. Up here you get away from the city – get close to Mother Nature – start living again in the environment that has been a part of your life since childhood. My first arrival up here in April was for only four days, when I had to make that 1100-mile trip to attend Ab Walters funeral in Johnstown. My two family letters about Ab kept me from writing a special F.L. about my short four days up here. I’ll skip that now, as my second arrival was just as “rejuvenating” as the first:
The Wilsons spend the winter in Florida and return to Hessel near the end of April in time to have their motel open on May 1st. The long drive up from Florida was too much for Mr. Wilson, for their first night here he had an attack which they feared was a heart attack, and he was rushed by ambulance to the Petoskey hospital. Mrs. Wilson wrote me that until they knew more about her husband’s condition, she could not say when the motel would be open, so that I should plan on staying in Cedarville upon my return. So I decided I could get along for two weeks in Cedarville without my electric typewriter and all the other things I bring up each year, feeling sure I could move into my Room 8 upon returning from our Family Business Meeting in Akron on May 30th. Then two days before I was to leave for Cedarville I received a long distance call from Mrs. Wilson to tell me that “Cec” had not had a heart attack, he was home and up and about and had my Room 8 waiting for me, but that later on he was going back to the Petoskey hospital to have his gallstones removed. So on the day before I was to leave I spent most of the day getting the station wagon loaded up (packed almost to the ceiling), ready for an early start the next morning, Friday, the day I had to miss meeting the Duke and Dutchess [sic] of Bedford on their visit to Stan Hywet. I hope all went well. I hope all went well.
You know how, as we are approaching Mackinw [sic] City, I get my grandchildren on the alert to be the first xxx to see the towers of the Mighty Mac bridge. It is always a welcoming sight to me, so I was watching for the towers to first appear in the far distance, but because it was hazy I had to drive several miles closer before I saw just the top of one tower. As I approached the long ramp leading up to the bridge, the whole bridge was lost in fog. Then as I got onto the bridge, the first tower started to appear through the fog, and as I passed under this first tower, the fog was suddenly gone and there was a clear view to the second tower, to St Ignace, to Mackinac Island, Round Island and Bois Blanc. And the big thrill was, that big white islands of “snow” were sitting on the lake, with Mackinac Island, Round Island and Bois Blanc looming up behind them. The big banks of fog on the lake were far enough away so that they were solid white masses, looking just like snow-covered islands without any trees showing. The water and sky were blue and the sun was shining on the white islands, making them fairly glisten. It was like a mirage – a miracle. I’ve crossed the Mighty Mac close to a hundred times and I hope that I’ll make it for another hundred, but I doubt if ever again I’ll see another beautiful mirage such as this one.
Packing up always takes more time than unpacking. Whereas I had spent most of Thursday getting ready to leave Akron, I managed to get the Station Wagon unloaded and get fully moved into Room 8 in about three hours Saturday morning. Under my big “drawing” table and under the bed are stored the things that will be moved over to Cedar Lodge when we take off the shutters and open up for Anne & family. The Sally Anne was supposed to be revarnished [sic] and in the water upon my return, but as yet they haven’t even brought it down from its warehouse storage. The water is high again, but is not supposed to get quite as high as last year. There is much more to tell - more in my next.
Yours for our UP NORTH,
WillardTranscriber
Cindi RokeLanguage
English