Dwight Peck's personal website

Scenes from northern Wisconsin, summer 2015

More annual lakeside fun in the Northwoods


You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

Summer on the lake, and a birthday cruise

The Squirrel is stretched out in the sunny spot on the porch next door, which belongs to Harry and Lloyd, one of whom has wisely retreated to the shadows.

We've joined Kristin here in early-mid July 2015 and hastily got our little workstation set up, though these days of retirement there's no more work that needs doing, hallelujah.

Last year's PACE peace flag flies proudly no more; we're back to the huge hegemonic flag on the dock.

Gardens in front of Joellen's house

Kristin's cottage near the end of the point

It's a long and rambling cottage, begun in the '30s.

The sun porch; an add-on.

Brother George's house, and Joellen's down by the dock

A bracing outing on the hydrobike -- we're stopping off at the far side of the lake to see if Cousin Rob wants to join us, 25 July

Into the canal connecting to next lake -- impassable during many years of low lake levels, but last year canoes and kayaks could get through, and (perhaps) this year hydrobikes as well. We'll see.

The propellers are cocked up nearly to the surface, and they're still squooshing up muddy debris.

A beautiful pond halfway through the canal

Onward, to the bridge under Sylvan Shore Drive

-- Don't get lost.

Horrific gunk keeps fouling up the propellers.

Success, at the spillway issuing out onto the next lake over ['Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes /
He star'd at the Pacific']

Confidence rewarded: it turns out that it is possible to journey here by hydrobike.

The canal was built in the 1890s, at the height of the Northwoods strip-lumbering boom -- the idea was to be able to float logs over from the larger lake next door to the sawmill on our lake. But, as luck would have it, the larger lake turned out to be lower than ours, so that didn't work out so well. And thus the spillway dam here.

The dam's useful now, though, because the next lake, like many others, is infected by the invasive alien species Eurasian milfoil, and happily there's not much contaminating traffic through the canal these days.

The road over the canal

We're looking for turtles.

Voilà. A sunbathing turtle

Cousin Rob, clearing out the propeller

Elke's come out to meet us, and they're heading home.

And for us, views of an eagle at his customary lookout on the central island of Adjidaumo, on the way back northward up the lake


A mid-summer birthday

A totem pole for Joellen's birthday, 27 July

Almost ready

Joellen with the totem pole's creators

A fine totem pole, by Emily and Zoë

A decoy brunch birthday party (this isn't the real party, which must remain a surprise)

Opening the decoy birthday gifts

The real birthday party, with the decorations still in preparation on the Wilderness Queen on the Wisconsin River near Rhinelander

The crowd gathers as the preparations are still frantically in progress on the boat.

Everything's ready.

Joellen is welcomed to her birthday shindig by Kristin, Cousin Rob, and everybody else

All aboard

We begin with a cruise on the Wisconsin River

Cousin Rob with his camera and flag

The Wisconsin River

Drinks on the river as dinner is got ready

The captain, a US military vet who loves the river

But when's dinner?

Wisconsin wetlands (huge numbers of them have been identified by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association for future US designation for the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance)

So when's dinner?

Apparently, we're nearing a dam up ahead, our turnaround point. So, very likely . . .

"Dinner's Ready"!

An amazing dinner, actually

Emily and Zoë organizing the presentation of birthday gifts

Three generations

And with brother George

Back to the dock at nightfall


Feedback and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative, . All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 27 September 2015.


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