Black as the ace of spades

The Commander used to always say that about “The Oldest House in Town”… dun dun dun… dun dun dun… Back in my childhood in the loverly but rugged northern outpost of Sault Ste. Siberia, we would frequently drive the waterfront and there was a certain period when we would pass what The Comm would always call the oldest house in town. It was an abandoned old Victorian place with a big turret and the exterior was black and there were lots of ancient trees and overgrown vegetation in the yard. Spooky? Yes. But we always *asked* to drive by the oldest house in town. The oldest house in town is gone now. Torn down sometime in the last 40 years or so. I sure don’t know when. (It isn’t really the oldest house in that town. There’s the Henry Schoolcraft house and the John Johnston house and I dunno what else.)

Black as the ace of spades. This morning, when I left for my 0-skunk-30 walk, it was as dark as it always is at this time of year but it was also WINDY and RAINY. As in I had an umbrella but I had to hold it down against the wind and by the time I got home, I felt almost as wet as when I had finished my shower earlier in the morning and definitely soggier with my wet socks et al. At three in the afternoon, I stood up and walked over to the windows. It was as dark as it is on a cloudy day at five in the afternoon, which is when I usually leave work and, at this time of year, when the sun sets. Ugly, ugly, ugly. For a minute or two, I was thinking those Mayans were right but I don’t believe in crap like that and then I spotted somebody outside the entrance smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone and I talked myself down off that ledge. After a dark, rainy, ugly trip home on the freeway, I walked over to the Plum Market to pick up a few things and just kind of feeeel the dark outdoors and wander around under the bright lights in the Plum trying not to bump into too many people with my mini-cart.

It is not black at Houghton Lake, as you can see. It seems that there is some ice on the lake. I do not think whatever ice is there is safe for snowmobilers or even ice fishers yet. Apparently whatever ice has formed on Houghton Lake has been blown over to the south shore of Long Point.

One Response to “Black as the ace of spades”

  1. UU Says:

    Hmmm…
    Actually, it blew onto the North shore of Long Point. The South shore is on the North Bay.
    Am I wrong?
    Good pic. This ice pushed up a bout 6 feet tall in a few hours. It then crumbled into a pile of rubble overnight.