Being Led

The current owner (Marilyn) came up today and we spent a few hours together walking the property and talking. Before we walked the property, she fired up the sauna stove. By the time we came back about 30 minutes later, it was 110 degrees and the water was steaming!! Saweeeeeeeeeeeet!

Marilyn shared with me her history of the cottage (she's had it for 14 years)...including the east part of the loft which she had built about 10 years ago. Since the east part of the loft is taller than the west part of the loft and contained the bedroom, it was named "The Tower of Love"! :)

I learned that the totem pole was a summer project in 2001. Many of Marilyn's nephews and summer visitors worked on it all summer long. As it laid horizontally between saw horses people would carve and paint it. The main beam is from a barn and it is set 3' in the ground with cement. She pointed to each totem icon and described significance and who did it.  The three red-dressed Kokopellis are from a “Red Dress Race” that they did three years in a row up here over 4th of July….fun stuff!! She still does the race, but now down state.

She explained each totem except the Phoenix...so I asked her about it. Perplexed, she asked, "What phoenix?" I pointed and said, "This one?" She furrowed her eyebrows together and said, "I don't recall anyone doing that one!" We both looked at each other and realized how truly mysteriously sublime. When I explained to her the significance of the phoenix as my primary totem, we both looked each other in quiet amazement. And then we both smiled. It seemed so obvious! I told her I found it interesting that only 3 of the four sides of the totem were carved/painted...it's like they left room for me to carve/paint my totem animals as a contribution to the totem. Cool stuff…

She shared so many stories with me in the few hours we had together: Her one brother built the sauna, harvesting white cedar from the U.P. Another brother welded the stove with a door from another stove with “Apostle Isle” on it. I didn’t even notice until she pointed it out! She said she’s always wanted to kayak there. When my firiend Mickey piped up that I’m a “big time kayaker”, Marilyn's eyes lit up! I told her if she’s up for it, we can plan a kayaking trip. It was cool! Like catching up with an old friend or family!

Back in the day, Marilyn said there were SO many beavers they had to fend them off from chewing down all the trees in the area. She pointed out the remains of the beaver lodge. She said they may still be around. I’ll keep an eye out for them. She said there are lots of coyotes, as well as she’s seen bobcat, lots of turtles come out of the lake and lay their eggs on one part of my property! She said that her nephews are convinced there is a UFO landing pad on one of the ridges because they always saw lights bouncing up and down the hills at night. She said that part of the ridge is good mountain biking, so it was probably someone riding at night, lol!

Later, as we all sat around the campfire ring talking, Marilyn leaned forward and said how thankful she is that I am buying "The Camp" instead of a hunter or someone who won't appreciate the place. I nodded and told her equally, I'm glad that she is the one selling the place, someone who has shared part of her soul with the land instead of just taking from it. I assured her I will continue to maintain the spirit of this place. We both settled back in our thoughts as our eyes wandered across the lake. Like the merging of the past and the future, we found ourselves in the present...

I extended an invitation to Marilyn that whenever she's in the area, she is more than welcome to visit or use the cottage if I’m out of town. I told her "mi casa es su casa", because my casa used to be HER casa, LOL!

I learned that all of my neighbors (with the exception of one) who are deep in the woods are off the grid. The original owner and developer had a vision for such a community of "off-gridders". Little did I know!! Truly I was led here....

As I write and reflect on it all, I’m overwhelmed with joy and filled with such peace. I can hardly wait to move in officially!