This is Radical Betty. We were at the moomincabin with The Commander. It was October 2006 and although The Comm had moved back to The Dillon House for the winter, she had not shut off the water for the year. This was the first year she was faced with doing that without my dad as he had died in March of that year.

She was very nervous about having to do it alone, even though I am gonna guess doing it with my dad was probably just as stressful. Heck, just getting the garbage up to the top of the road on garbage day always got my parents into an argument 🤣. Where were the Green Bags when we needed them? I mean nowadays I fill up a Green Bag and drop it off on the res. That would’ve been wonderful for my parents. Anyway. the GG was off on a California boondoggle with the UU so I scooted up to the yooperland to “help” The Commander shut off the water.

Radical Betty didn’t help (we didn’t expect her to) but somehow we managed to shut off the water successfully. I don’t think I was much help either since I am NOT mechanically inclined in that way.

The point is that it was a beautiful warm day and I got prepared food and a bottle of whine from Karl’s Cuisine, a loverly restaurant that has now closed forever to be replaced by a big hotel. Assuming that comes to pass… So here we are on the deck eating lunch. We had to sit on the steps because the fugly plastic deck furniture was already put away and there was NO WAY I was gonna get it back out again.

As we were eating, a birch tree next to the path down to the beach collapsed into itself. One of the weirdest noises I’ve ever heard and I wish I could’ve gotten a pic but it all happened too fast. On a dead calm day, I might add.

The cautionary tale? The weather on this day was beautiful. Warm and sunny. I went back to The Planet Ann Arbor the next day and the GG returned the day after that. A couple days later? The Comm and Radical Betty drove down to Petoskey, or tried to. At some point it started snowing and somewhere below the bridge, the snow was getting so deep on the road that The Comm implored RB to turn around and head back up to the yooperland. Which they did and all was well.

Beginning the year after that the GG became the master of the moomincabin universe, at least in terms of engineering stuff. We made sure The Comm was moved back and forth from the moomin to the Dillon House when she wanted to be and he has always dealt with the water and lucky-shucky and whatever. And still does.

Radical Betty died in 2009 and the Comm in 2012. Miss them so much.

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