T-minus one week, but who’s counting?

Airline tickets, check. Notes on research, check. Questions for contractors, researchers and archeology team, check. Now just to pack, make sure the house is good to go as our summer heat begins the relentless climb and leave no loose ends at work.

I’m getting excited to land in the Keweenaw! Beyond the occasional day trip in recent years, it’s been 20-ish years since I’ve lived in Hancock. To come back with new eyes and to make the historical visible is such an honor. This project and the possibility of leaving a lasting mark in the park still gives me goosebumps.

As a child, I remember my grandparents loading all of us kids in the back seat of the car and doing a day trip from Aura to Copper Harbor. We would choose various stops along the way and while most of the mine ruins were boarded up and abandoned, we would hear stories from my grandparents of their purpose. We would stop along the shore and visit beaches new to us. We often spent some time at Ft. Wilkins State Park, were treated to ice cream or a picnic lakeside, and returned home in the summer dusk as a pile of sleeping kids in the back seat.

At the time I had no idea how the love of small adventure had passed down to me from my grandparents. I didn’t know how the stories and local travel would instill in me a love of history. Nor did I know that their Finnish socialist roots would ignite in me a desire to work in community and culture. The stories they told of their immigrant upbringing remind me of all American’s shared roots and the personal struggle that we all share: to want a better life for our families. My ancestors came from Finland, France (through Canada), Ireland and Germany. The Lake Superior Copper Mines of the Keweenaw beckoned to so many immigrants from places around the globe. None found an easy life, but eventually, all found a home and connection to the land.

I really can’t wait to touch down in the UP! The Lake is calling me home.