Antoinette Marie Barone

Does art imitate life or life imitate art?  I think it goes both ways.  Perhaps it is like the Before and After clue in the long-running game show Wheel of Fortune.*    If a television show can be considered art, a few examples from some episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond" show similarities between art and life.  This television show aired from 1996 to 2005.  It focused on the dynamics of an extended family in close proximity to each other during the peak child rearing years of many baby boomers.  The protagonist, Ray Barone was played by Ray Romano, a man with whom I share the same date of birth, and with whom my twin brother shares the same date of marriage.  Since the show is about baby boomers it is instructive to note that 1957 was the peak birth year for baby boomers.  If Ray is the main character, his mother, Marie plays a great supporting role.  The show would not have some of its melodrama if not for the guise of Marie.  The  show was successful because it embodied some characteristics of most all families.  In this way, it imitates life, and because the show has already played, and life goes on, life imitates art.  Let me provide three recent examples.

Last week we began watching part of "Making a Murderer," but desirous of lighter fare on Wednesday we turned to watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" on DVD.  We have watched a few episodes over the past few nights and a few similarities are just uncanny.  The first episode we watched they talked about Marie Barone doing crossword puzzles. perhaps being stereotypical of who does crossword puzzles.  It just so happened that my wife was tackling a very large crossword puzzle which appeared in the paper that day of about 1500 clues, and was working on it while we watched the rerun.  I of course had to laugh at the symmetry between Antoinette Marie and Marie Barone.  Given that the show began airing over twenty years ago, we have aged and may are now probably closer in age to Frank and Marie, than to Raymond and Deborah.

The next night there was a similar coincidence.  In that episode Frank was at the kitchen table ripping out coupons, and Marie, while cooking, commented on the annoyance of the constant "riiip,  riiiip, riiiiippp"  sounds being made from ripping apart page after page of what Marie said were useless coupons.  Well, life again imitated art, because at the same time my wife was ripping pages out of a magazine.  Never in my life did I think I would find her imitate Frank Barone.  It was rather uncanny to see this coincidence two days in a row. I knew my wife likely cooked, organized (maybe better), and cleaned as well as Marie, and in those ways is much more like Marie than Deborah.  I never thought I would see her be like Frank, but that Thursday evening there she was.  I, of course, had to laugh. Her timing could not have been better, as Frank ripped, she ripped.   Does that mean we have become like Marie and Frank and not Ray and Deborah?

A later episode we watched was about Ray getting the Sportswriter of the Year award and then a promotion at work.  Deborah calls Ray an eternal pessimist and challenges him to recognize that good things can occur without something bad following.  Ray does not think that can be the case.  He goes to tell his parents about his promotion, to which Marie says, it is not polite to brag.  As he is leaving it begins to rain.  Ray says he will look at the positive aspects of the rain and tells Frank and Marie, as he sees the downpour, "oh, the rain will be good for the garden."  When he arrives home, Deborah tells him his boss called and with his new position, as head of sports features, the paper wants him to cover the Iditarod Dog Sled race in Alaska.  Going to the cold of Alaska to cover a dog sled race in February would not be pleasant.  Ray views it as a bad occurrence.  This bad occurrence actually makes him happy since it validated his opinion that with good comes bad.  My wife says I have a pessimistic attitude similar to that of  Ray Barone.  For example, just this past week, I have pointed that the continued forecast is for rain or thunderstorms on 12 of the next 14 days, according to the weather.com web site. I checked a second weather site and it had the same prediction.  Twelve of fourteen days, and that is the same this week as last week. And, if it is not the rain, I point out how daylight is getting shorter and shorter and compare our daylight hours to a comparable day in the spring.  (For those who care, and I am sure my wife is in this group, our daylight hours for August 28 at Madison, WI are 13 hours, 21 Minutes.  That is equal to the daylight hours experienced on April 15 of this year.)

After all of the rain Dane County has received in the past ten days to two weeks (last week Monday night Middleton received over 11" in ten hours, what was termed in the local paper a 1,000 year storm event) and with many isthmus streets in Madison closed due to flooding, do we really need more rain?  I was hoping to go camping, but the weather forecast is much the same in northern Wisconsin.  Rain followed us on our last two camping trips when there was only a 10% chance, can you imagine camping when the chance is 40%, 60% or even more?

While the weather will keep us home, those coming rainy nights may well be taken up watching DVD's of "Everybody Loves Raymond."  I have to think that my wife imitating one of Ray's parents on one occasion would be a coincidence, but is imitating one of the parents on two occasions, one day after the other, a coincidence?  As for me, I don't think I will ever get beyond being compared to Raymond.

*Did you catch that the title of this post borrows from Wheel of Fortune's "Before and After"? 

In an Instant

 We are all familiar with how one single event can quickly alter a life.  I would suspect most of us have some experience with how one's life can be changed in an instant.  I was reminded of this by the comments made last Sunday by a Captain with the Winnebago County sheriff's department regarding a boating collision the prior day that took the lives of two young women on Lake Winnebago.  She noted that on a nice summer evening lives were changed in an instant.  The lives of the family and friends of those two young women were altered due to the collision of those two boats.  Even the driver and passenger in the other boat will have their lives altered by the experience.

What was likely a fun time being enjoyed by the four members of the one boat, and two in the other, at 8:38 pm turned in an instant to one of horror.  Collisions are like that.  One second everything looks great, and the next it could be total disaster.  Today, it seems that a form of the word collide is being used in-lieu of accident.  The news articles I read never used the term accident, but reported that two boats collided (or a form of the word).  I suppose collide is a more descriptive term for what occurred.  The first definition of accident at Merriam Webster is: an unforeseen or unplanned event.  This certainly would fit that definition.  What is rather significant is that such life altering unexpected events that are, to put it bluntly, bad, occur more often than those that are good.  I can list a number of bad events that have likely altered my life but few good events that occurred in an instant to affect my life.

Life changing events usually seem to occur by injury or accident. Diving certainly seems to produce its share of dramatic in-an-instant events.  In college I saw first hand the results of diving injuries, and again several years ago with a man who is now the spouse of my niece suffered a serious diving injury. Suicides are another time when lives are changed in an instant.  Once it affects your family you find out other families who have been affected, an unknown legion grouped together by a tragic, often unexplained event.

The first major event to likely change my life was one of which I was not aware as I was less than two years old at the time.  In early August 1959 I had a brother, aged four at the time who was killed when struck by a car. He was the fifth of ten children, and I the sixth of the ten.  Besides the effects on my parents and older siblings, I think there was also an effect on family dynamics.  I, with my twin brother, were born in 1957, the next oldest sibling was born over five years earlier.  When young we were almost like two families, the older boys, yes the four oldest of the now nine were all boys, and us five younger siblings.  As we aged, the brother born in 1952 would become the bridge and do more with the younger siblings.  I often wondered what the family dynamic would have been if our brother Leo had lived.  Two of the children in the family were not even yet born at the time of his death.  While there have been other in-an-instant events in the interim, the most recent was in February with the untimely and unexpected death of our oldest brother.

Unexpected good events seem to occur less often,   As I write, I think it is really hard to come up with an event from which a positive outcome arose that turned in an instant.  Births of our sons was expected, perhaps both being healthy was great, but would that not be the norm of expectation?  While the receipt of a phone number in March 1989 for the woman who would become my wife was not expected, my life did not turn in an instant with that phone number.  It is not like I called her when I got home to set up the blind date.  I had to be hounded by the person who gave me the number to call her, not to mention a not to successful attempt to do some background investigative work on this woman.  Getting a job offer is not unexpected, unless you had not applied for the job.  Being baptized occurred in an instant, but it was a choice made by parents.  The positive life changing in-an-instant events are likely less realized, and I think many positive outcomes take some work on our part, hence they are not usually in an instant.  Working for a positive outcome makes it even more rewarding. Perhaps we simply need to be more aware of the positive aspects of our lives that occur in more simple almost everyday events.

We all know from some personal experience a negative occurrence that in some unknown way altered our lives.  I am sure my life would be different if my brother Leo was still alive.  The lives of the family and friends of the two sisters killed in the boating accident will now be different.   An event like that on Lake Winnebago brings a reminder of the often times intractability of life. Being aware and appreciating what we have and the more common events in life such as, but not limited to, time with family and/or friends, a hike in a woods, watching a sunrise or sunset, giving an unexpected gift, and yes, smelling the roses, can enrich and fulfill our life everyday.  

Not Niagara

When camping last week my spouse and I took part of a day to look at some waterfalls in Marinette County that we had not before visited.  Marinette County bills itself as the waterfall capital of Wisconsin; a total of twelve waterfalls are contained within its borders.  The title of this blog may, by some, be interpreted as negative to the falls in Marinette County, but that is far from the situation.  I view these falls, and their respective setting, in a positive manner.  While Niagara Falls is massive in its width, and amount of water that flows over the rock (as four of the five Great Lakes feed over Niagara Falls) it has some massive development, particularly on the Canadian side that is associated with the falls. Last week I wrote a post about how my wife and I are rainmakers, that is, rain seems to pop up where we camp.  In that post, I said I would follow up with a post on why we camp.  This is that post.  It will begin with our visit to some waterfalls last week, and then identify other reasons why we camp, even when we have to put up with rain.

Smalley Falls

Local natural attractions, such as waterfalls play a role in why we camp.  Long ago I realized that to get the better camping experience you had to travel at least three hours distant (meaning north).  Travelling and additional hour or more gets us to areas that contain waterfalls.  Not that we seek out places with waterfalls, but a good outdoor experience and waterfalls often seem to go hand-in-hand.

Part of Dave's Falls

The waterfalls we saw this past week were not the highest, widest, or most rural that we have visited.  We  visited three waterfalls, all within an easy drive of Highway 141.  Smalley, and Long Slide falls are relatively close to each other, only one-half mile by stream, although longer by car, and both are on the North Branch of the Pemebonwon River.  Dave's Falls is about a 20 miles south and is on the Pike River.  All are served by the Marinette County Park system.  Rural, with some wilderness, would describe their setting.  While Dave's Falls has some playground equipment and a picnic area, they are of sufficient distance, both geographically and topographically, from the falls so as not hinder the viewing experience.  Unlike Niagara Falls, these falls were not overcrowded with people.  When we were at Smalley Falls, one group was just leaving as we arrived, and no others arrived during our short visit. Long Slide falls is taller than Smalley, but not necessarily more impressive.  My wife's favorite was Dave's Falls and not even the two main falls, but the downstream part that drops through a narrow gorge.  Dave's Falls is named for a man who died in the 1800's freeing  trapped logs from the falls.  Logs would be floated downstream to sawmills, and men would be placed at critical points where the mass of logs could be trapped to keep the logs moving.  Waterfalls are an obvious place of constriction.

Waterfalls provide the interaction between geology and water, two strong forces that have shaped the world in which we live.  Geologists Robert Dott, Jr. and John Attig (2004, Roadside Geology of Wisconsin) note that these falls are located in exposure of metamorphosed volcanic and associated sedimentary rocks.  The rock formations, they go on, were steeply sheered and tilted by the Niagara fault zone.  Niagara Falls has dolomite, like the Niagara formation that runs through Door County along the east side of Wisconsin--all being part of Niagara escarpment in rock type.   While these falls have volcanic rock, the formations apparently were created by the same fault from which Niagara Falls was created.  I doubt that we would take a vacation trip to visit these smaller Wisconsin falls, and other, small falls if we were not camping in the area.  There are some falls, in the past, which we attempted to visit, but could not find.  

Long Slide Falls

Creation, the good earth freely given by God for us to wisely care and enjoy is the overarching reason for camping.  There are experiences, beyond waterfalls, that guide us to camping.  First, imagine yourself sitting by the shore of a relatively small lake just as the sun rises above the trees on the opposite shore.  The sun, even though not very high in the sky, casts a dappled shade given the trees sitting around you, and this provides an  interplay of experience as the sun moves and a gentle breeze blows among the trees.  There is something soothing about the quiet of an early morning experience of sitting and reading by the shore of a small lake as the rising sun warms you from the early morning cold experienced in the shade.   

Sun Rise over Laura Lake burning off the mist of fog

If the quiet is broken it may be by the loons who provide a distraction as we read and drink our morning tea.  When we first began our camping trip last week the first day or two my wife became concerned that she had not seen the baby loons that we had seen the prior week. The young loons did show up later in the trip.  We think they are now at the size where they are learning some skills on their own.  As I went to the lake shore of our campsite last week Thursday morning (the morning we departed) I could see a loon perhaps 15' to 20' from shore.  I called for my wife to come down, but the loon began making its way further from shore.  Unfortunately, I did not have the camera with me.  She claims the loon departed because of my loud voice, but I suspect if I had walked up to get her they still would have carried on that course and been farther from the shore than when I first saw them.  She still blames my mouth. The prior day a man was out fishing and the loons actually swam very close to him.  I wonder if they were looking for some released fish.  

Loon in the early morning mist on Laura Lake

Loons are not the only wildlife we see.  We did hear the bull frog, but it was not near as annoying as it was a year ago, when I wrote about here in July of 2017.  We saw an eagle, although not as prevalent as viewed in past years.  This year for the first time, I saw a large turtle, and some ducks.  We have seen deer, but not too often as I think the area is sufficiently rural that they have many places to hide.  Of course, there is always some unwanted wildlife, like mosquitoes, but fortunately, they were barely noticed; not near as bad as last year. 

Loons during day

Colors are also present, yet there are times, particularly when deep in a woods that the expressed colors are shades of green and brown.  But, yet every now and then on a hike deep in those woods something may pop out to greet you.  It may be a wildflower existing where not expected as it seeks the few sun rays to pop through a dense canopy created by the tall trees which spire ever upward.  It may be an orange-colored mushroom growing on an old almost decayed log barely visible below the carpet of a soft green moss. The blue of the lake water provides a strong contrast to the  green evergreen trees lining much of the shore.

Moon set over Gordon Lake

Prior to the envelope of dark is the sunset which can enliven the mind with colors almost as varied as that in a rainbow.  The colors are produced as the sun takes its dip below a horizon lined with evergreen trees.  Add to this that the sunset is reflected in the lake which sits in front of the far shore.  The sun concludes its time in this part of the world for the day.    

Laura Lake from our Campsite

When clear, the stars pop-out at night  to give a remarkable view, and an ability to view stars not easily viewed in an urban area with all of the light pollution.  I recall camping trips on clear nights with a full moon reflecting on the lake.  This produced an soft almost blue toned light that made it seem as if red sunset of dusk had never arrived.  It was almost the type of light that one sees when the indirect light of the full moon is blazed across a fresh fallen snow that brightens the dark cold winter nights.

Campfire

When night arrives, it is the time for sleep, but if time permits, there will be a campfire.  It seems that fire pits are all the rage today.  Apartment projects and hotels have fire pits fed by natural gas so that no real log is burned.  These faux campfires, cannot replace the real experience of being enveloped by the early arrival of the darkness in a deep woods where the campfire provides light, and often times, desired heat. A true wood fire allows the flames to dance over and among the logs creating hot embers which themselves flame at irregular intervals.  

Small fish and its shadow in Laura Lake

As the day ends, the cool, or even cold night takes over, and that early morning cold just after sunrise draws you to the warm, albeit, dappled sun to be found at the lake shore.  On the shore, one can peer into the clear water.  Small fish, and the detritus of plants and trees which fell into the lake are clearly visible. It is a lake which does not have to be "mowed" (weeds cut), with no development of buildings or roads along a shoreline to take away and distract the images and memories being created.  These places are hard to find, but when found become treasured.  And because they become treasured they become more and more used and viewed. they become part of a paradox:  that which we like so much is often affected by over use.  Think Niagara Falls.

Sunset over Gordon Lake

Even though we bring rain, camping allows us to have experiences and find places we likely would  otherwise never searched out.  We have been on fire lanes or "roads" with the former Chrysler minivan that we had not a right to travel with that type of vehicle.  Knowing how to drive in snow I think helps in driving in deep mud, you don't stop. One has to weigh the long drives, rain and cold to the benefits.  There is a certain solitude, and quiet (hopefully), and relaxation that a trip to the north woods can bring.  It brings experience and memories.  Your body, and mind can decompress in a place that is not Niagara.  

Fall comes early to the Northwoods

Author photos, July or August 2018

Rainmaker

As I look back, I think it should have been an omen for our camping trips.  I refer to our first major family camping trip in July 1999.  It was a five day trip to Pattison State Park, which is south of Superior, WI, and contains Big Manitou Falls, and Little Manitou Falls.  The former mentioned water fall is the tallest in the state of Wisconsin, at 165 feet.  By comparison, the falls at Niagara are only 2' higher, but of course are more massive and have one pretty distinct fall.  In Rainmaker, I do not mean a person who brings in a great deal of business for their firm.  I mean bringing real rain.

Photo of July 1999 photo at Big Manitou Falls.
Mist produced a rainbow

I recall our arrival date at Pattison State Park on that Sunday.  Prior to our way to Superior we were in LaCrosse to have our teeth cleaned, and Saturday night was spent in Hammond, WI with my wife's sister.  From there we made our way on Sunday to Pattison State Park.  Back in those days, of 55 mph speed limits it was about a 6 hour direct trip.  It was late July and we arrived to a sunny, rather warm day for not only for this area of the state, but even down state.  Be as it may, the persons in the camp site we had reserved were still present upon our early afternoon arrival; check out time is 3 pm.  Being warm we decided to visit the falls, and spend the time at the beach along the lake, created by the dam of the river which feeds Big Manitou Falls.  Little Manitou falls is upstream of that dam.

Photo of  July 1999 photo at Big Manitou Falls

As their departure hour approached at 3 pm, we went to the Campsite, and sure enough they were just departing.  We set up camp, and realized that we needed to go to town for some ice for the cooler.  On our way back from Superior with a new load of ice, we noticed some dark storm clouds just to our west.  Well, we got back to camp, and the thunderstorm and rain simply opened from the dark clouds which had moved in over Pattison State Park.  It poured cats and dogs, and possibly even bears, not to mention raccoons.  After the main storm passed, we got out of the tent and water had ponded above my ankles in the campsite and around the tent.  We made our way through water at least that deep to the restroom-shower building and then back for the night.  After you have rain, the water on the leaves then drips off, usually over the course of possibly several hours.  The drip...drip...drip......drip, can be rather annoying.  When we awoke the next morning the bright blue sky with low humidity was in contrast to the dark sky and clouds of just twelve hours earlier.  then again we heard a strong rumble--we knew it was not a storm, and quickly understood it be Big Manitou Falls.  It was an awesome sight, the power of water flowing over the Keweenaw basalt layer  was remarkable.  As a geological aside, basalt is a much stronger rock than limestone or dolomite, so the erosion of the basalt layer would be less than the dolomite at Niagara.  We then decided to make our way to Amnicon Falls State Park (same geological makeup as Big Manitou), east of Superior, but it took much longer than anticipated due to washed out roads.  Superior, and area, had received 6" of rain in three hours (7 pm to 10 pm).  To put that in perspective a full day 24 hour one hundred year storm event for Dane County, WI will produce 6" of rain.  As noted that is over 24 hours, not three.  The Mayor of Superior was recalled due to lack of inaction from the massive storm.  We have been to Pattison State Park a few times, most recently last year, and we have not seen again the falls as massive as they were that beautiful morning following the horrendous thunderstorm that would flood our campsite just over twelve hours earlier.  We were part of the lucky ones, others literally had their tents blown down.

Part of Big Manitou Falls, photo of  July1999 photo

During dry years, when Fitchburg had water regulations for lawns and gardens in place, I would simply tell the public works director that Fitchburg could pay me to go camping because whenever we went camping it would rain.  I thought Andrew brought the rain, but the last two camp trips proved that scenario wrong.  On July 29 my wife and I made a three day camping trip to Laura Lake near Armstrong Creek, WI.  Having checked the weather the morning of our departure, there was a 20% chance of rain Sunday afternoon and 10% for the remainder of our trip.  Sure enough just after dinner Sunday we had rain, not hard, but a thunderstorm was moving through and even though the rain was intermittent the thunder and lightening were enough to keep us cooped up in the screen tent, with homemade rainfly. So, I think at the time, this should be the last of the rain.  I suspect that thought jinked us.  On Monday, after a late dinner following our whitewater rafting trip, we got a real downpour from yet another thunderstorm.  It really poured, not near as much or as long as at Pattison, but still a significant rainfall event.  Again, lightening and thunder kept us at bay for the rest of the night even though the rain had pretty much stopped after about one hour.  Does, the rain follow us?  I have to think so.

Part of Amnicon Falls, photo of July 1999 photo

We again went camping again this past Monday to Thursday at Laura Lake (same place and had the same site), and had a beautiful partly cloudy day on Monday.  The forecast was mainly cloudy and cool Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday would be warmer and partly cloudy, with little chance of rain.  The forecast up to Wednesday night proved accurate.  Wednesday night, we had just gotten to bed after listening to a generator from a site three down from us which ran from before 8 pm to 9:20 pm.  I guess it was about 10:00 pm, and hearing the rain, I am hoping it was just a little sprinkle, but then I heard thunder. We had not put on the home-made rainfly since the chance of rain was so slim.  I made three trips out of the sleeping tent to the screen tent at varied times to make sure gear was in decent shape as wind and rain picked up.  It would make for a wet pack up on the morning.  One benefit, the wind was so strong during and just after the rain, we really did not have the drip...drip.....drip we normally experience all night long, and as happened twice on our previous camping trip.  The wind was so strong, my wife thought a tree was going to fall on our new vehicle.

Part of Big Manitou Falls, July 2017

If you are counting, we have camped, essentially for six days (arrive early afternoon on Sunday or Monday and depart about 9 am on Wednesday or Thursday in the past two weeks.  Of those six days, we had rain on three of those days, or 50% of our camping days.  That is not a very good track record. It appears that even if the rain chance is only 10%, the rain will find us.  I wonder if it thinks my wife's red hair is a fire that needs to be doused?  In June we had a small local camping trip planned only a few miles from our house, and we delayed that trip one day due to a heavy thunderstorm that went through the area.  A few inches of rain fell in that storm event.

Make shift rainfly for our Screen Tent
(we stake out the side and back flaps)
July 2018 photo

I suppose this brings to mind some questions.  First, why do we continue to camp, particularly with a tent?  And, if it gets dry next summer am I willing to go camping to bring some much needed rain to an area?  For an answer to the first, you will have to wait for the next post, and for the answer to the second, it depends where, and show me the money.  After all, the two of us are the rainmakers.

Explain it to the Kids

The title of this blog post comes from part of sentence my wife said to me last week.  As to everything there is a back story.  As the meteorological summer (June, July, and August) is in its last month, we had planned a camping trip to the National Forest Campground, Laura Lake, about five or so miles northwest of Armstrong Creek, WI.  We have camped at Laura Lake for many years, and it is the favorite of the campgrounds that we have used.  That is why we keep going back.  This year, it was a short three night stay, most of our stays have been five to seven days.  

Awaiting our rafting adventure

We always enjoy spending time at the beach on nearby Gordon Lake.  On both lakes we watch loons, and for many years would see an eagle to two.  This year I had the idea of doing something different.  I suggested we do a whitewater rafting trip on the Menominee River.  The trip I had selected involves a class IV rapids.  There are six classes of rapids and the route, apparently, is classified based on the highest level rapid encountered, in this case class IV.  My wife is rather diligent and did her research on class IV rapids.  Her research basically narrowed down to my being nuts for even suggesting such a an idea. "Do you know what a class IV rapids involves? " she questioned, and went on to say that neither of us have any skill in doing such a rapid.  I guess my tubing down the Crystal River as a teenager did not count.  She then noted what would happen if one of us fell out of the raft, would we be seriously injured?  That is when she pulled out her trump card, and said something to the effect of: "If anything happens to me you are going to have to explain this to the kids."  Wow!  I took that as a "probably not" on her desire to do the trip.  Two things surprised me.  First, she did not even suggest that I was possibly too accident prone for such a trip. Second, I wondered if this is the type A personality I married, a woman who jumped out of air planes and scuba dived?  Probably knowing what was in my head she had noted we are in our 60's.  She often comments on what she calls my ability to find an accident where none existed.  She knows my history back to childhood.  Back to whitewater rafting.  The American Whitewater organization, on its web site describes a class IV rapid this way:

Class IV: Advanced

List of Class IV Rated Rapids

Intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling in turbulent water. Depending on the character of the river, it may feature large, unavoidable waves and holes or constricted passages demanding fast maneuvers under pressure. A fast, reliable eddy turn may be needed to initiate maneuvers, scout rapids, or rest. Rapids may require “must” moves above dangerous hazards. Scouting may be necessary the first time down. Risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult. Group assistance for rescue is often essential but requires practiced skills. A strong eskimo roll is highly recommended. Rapids that are at the lower or upper end of this difficulty range are designated “Class IV-” or “Class IV+” respectively.

No flip flops, proper water footwear or tennis shoes

When I noted that the outfitter web site says: "This trip is appropriate for all skill levels, so bring the whole family."  She quickly rejoined something to the effect that they expect people to use their heads.  We both had limited experience years ago with some whitewater on the Ontonogan River with my brother Joe and his family.  I recall Joe going down Burned Dam falls, now also known as Meximine Falls, on the river a few times in his soft-sided blow up kayak.  My thinking was that the Menominee River course contained only one class IV rapid, known as Piers Gorge, it was not as bad as if there were several.  If it had, say, five in a row, I may have re-thought my  capability.  Plus, I pointed out, there will be a trained guide in the raft. What I thought, but verbalized only after the trip, was that hey, Andrew several years ago fell down 18 Foot Falls in a Marinette County Park, and he survived.  (Yes, when we saw that occur we both wondered whether he would pop his head up, and after many seconds, that seemed like many minutes, he came up, much to our relief.)  This fall drops only 10 feet (by Michigan waterfall standards). 

Our raft disembarking from the shore
Guide is at front standing and giving instructions

So, it was last week Friday or Saturday that I booked the trip during a phone call to the outfitter after asking a few basic questions.  They indicated that they would send over the waiver forms by email to be completed.  Now, I have to say (although of course I did not tell my wife this), I began wondering what I got us into when I read the following line in the waiver form:  "1. The risk of injury from the activities involved in this program is significant, including the potential for permanent paralysis and death."  I had already paid the not inconsequential fee and I knew no refund was possible.  If it was once, it was a dozen times, my wife commented this past weekend and Monday on the 52 degree water temperature, the cubic feet per second (a budding hydro-geologist) the water was running as of Sunday morning, and other aspects of our upcoming adventure, such as did you know you can die doing this? Did I tell you she told me that one could die doing this?  As I write this, my wife tells me a man died in 2012 when he fell out of his raft going through Piers Gorge and got stuck in the rocks.  Yes, it can be dangerous.  Lucky for me she found this out after the raft trip.

This raft is not our raft, but was in our group of five rafts
It will give you an idea of going through Piers Gorge

When we take a road trip we have kept the tradition my parents had us do and say a few prayers, followed by "St. Christopher protect us."  As we left our campground this past Monday for the 50 minute ride to the outfitter, I am sure the prayer had more meaning in our minds than a simple road trip.  We arrived at the outfitter, and when I saw others awaiting the rafting adventure, any trepidation I had went away.  I thought, although I may be older, none of the others looked extraordinarily fit or more adventurous than I.  As we waited, I ended up talking to another man, who mentioned that his kids and wife were concerned about doing the trip, and I noted it sounded a great deal like my wife.  I then commented the absurdity of waiving negligence, which was on the waiver form.   I noted I was not an attorney but knew enough that this would probably not hold up. He agreed with my comment and it turns out he and his wife are lawyers in Illinois.  I was about to tell my wife our conversation, when she said, "don't worry, I heard you and so did everybody else."  Oh, insurance companies.

Different raft in our group on July 30

After probably about an hour of floating and having rules, safety, paddling instructions, and rescue procedures explained we were coming to our first major test.  A few things I took as crucial:  first, the best way to get through a rapid is to do it fast, and to do it fast all paddlers need to act as a team, both sides of the raft doing the same stroke at the same time, unless one side is given, by the guide, a different direction, such as "left all back"  (where the left side of the raft  back paddles, while the other side continues forward.  Second, was the need to act as a team if a rescue is necessary; everyone in the raft may need to rescue someone who fell in.  Although it was in calm water at about 3 or 4 mph, he demonstrated a rescue to us.  Third was if you fall in keep hold of your paddle and point nose and toes to the sky and go feet first as you head downstream.  As we moved along he explained that we would first come to a boulder field, then Piers Gorge, and that would be followed by a class III rapid.  While I began on the left side of the boat, the guide asked for a strong paddler on the left to switch with someone on the right.  No one seemed to want to move, so I switched with my wife (not that she was the weakest paddler).  What we both experienced was that the paddlers behind us, even though both said they have whitewater rafted before, did not keep with the timing set by the front paddlers.  

Different raft in our July 30 group of five
Imagine doing it backwards

The boulder field was negotiated, and then as we approached Piers Gorge we paddled to the side to let out our less than aged 12 passenger and to beach the extra raft we were towing.  As we approached Piers Gorge another raft, about 100 yards or more ahead of us, quickly went out of view.  First, it is was there and then it was not.  We listened to the roar of the water, possibly pumped by rain the prior day, and prepared for our descent into the wild water that makes up Piers Gorge.  The raft successfully navigated the gorge, albeit through large waves from which we could not see or discern what was really going on. The raft made it through with all persons in tact. 

Monday Sunrise over Laura Lake
Author photo

We then pulled to the side, disembarked and made our way a short distance up the bluffs and back to the area just before Piers Gorge.  We would load in the boat we had towed, so the father who stayed with his child could get a ride and the mother now stay with the child.  The problem is when the guide said to load up, no one was wanting to get in first, so my wife says get in, and I promptly got in which was the front left seat, my wife on the right side.  As we approached the gorge, the guide had my wife and I switch sides as we once again headed once again into the raging waters of the gorge.  The guide, appropriately, but reminding me of a financial adviser (past results are not a guarantee of future returns), said, that just because we made it the first time is not a guarantee we will all make it through the second.  So, with my spouse and I in front we entered the gorge, rocks and water causing waves water parks at Wisconsin Dells could only dream about.  As we enter the swell of water the raft turned around, so we were going down backward.  Yes, backward. There was so much water in my face, I have to say I did not know this was happening.  Listening to our guide we followed our instructions, and promptly turned the boat back into position.  

Monday Morning moon set over Gordon Lake
Author photo

So, yes we had survived the famed Piers Gorge, not once but twice, but the class III rapids approached. What I quickly noticed, with de-laminating 12 year old glasses two prescriptions old ( I was not going to wear my new pair), was that the waves at the rapids were actually going up stream.  The waves were heading toward us. Rocks and water can do funny things.  The guide explained the need to keep paddling since the raft can easily stop, but if it stops the people keep going.  We knew what he meant.  Were some in the raft thinking this was going to be easy?  I don't know, but it provided the most horrifying experience of the trip.  We literally hit a wall of water at the front of the boat, that means me and my wife.  It was probably less time than it seemed, but I am inside this massive wave, and my first thought is to look over to see if my wife is there. But, being in this large mass of water, I cannot see anything but the tannin colored water of the Menominee River.  The next thing is I feel is her literally land in my lap.   The wave, even though she had her feet properly locked in position including using the one foothold each front person gets, and the other locked under the side of seat lifted and swept her  a few feet on to my lap.  I guess she wanted a break from paddling. While it was likely short in time, all I could think about is if she got swept outside the raft I would never hear the end of it, hence my quick reaction to look for her. I mean, I would have to explain it to the kids.   Luckily (or by the grace of God) for her, me, and the group, she was swept up and over on to my lap.  I wonder if the she had been on my side of the raft and I on hers, would I have been swept over to her and by chance knocked her out of the raft and into the water?  

View of Laura Lake from our campsite
Author photo

We survived in one piece.  My spouse would say in response to when Andrew asked how it was that it was wet, wild and intense at some points.  When we got back to the outfitter, the photos of us going through Piers Gorge were quite phenomenal.  However, at $50 they were too pricey so they live in my memory.  During times of high water flow, at about 5,000 cfs, this is a class V rapid.  Summer water flow is normally about 1,000 cfs, but this year, due to more consistent rains, the water on Monday was running at 1,600 cfs.  There was much less paddling than I anticipated, which given some in the raft, was probably a good thing.  Yet, when you had to paddle, you had to paddle.  When going through the gorge and the class III rapids, sometimes you paddle and hit nothing but air, given the position of the raft compared to the water.  Our first time through the gorge most, if not all of the craft, was airborne.  What also occurred, to me is that my wife termed our retirement as an adventure, and so it is now time to be adventurous, and I viewed the raft experience as one adventure.  I realize that for many the experience would be old hat or not sufficient, but for a couple of retired persons it was a good experience, a good adventure.  Talking with someone who lives in Armstrong Creek, I noted that we did white water rafting and went through Piers Gorge.  He sounded surprised and said, "You went through Piers Gorge on a boat??"  I even think my wife would not be against doing once more.  When I suggested that I should try it in a kayak, she quickly shook her head side-to-side.  She would not want to explain that to the kids.

Source:  Whitewater photos from Wildman Adventure Website (notice the word Proof).