10/22/22

Hello Blog Readers,

Shortly after my last post, a winter storm pushed into the area and it dumped an October record 18″ of snow in the interior of the Upper Peninsula! But here in Marquette along the shores of Lake Superior, we just got a dusting; maybe a few inches at most. It was still really pretty. That look of autumn meeting winter is a great one.

But as the storm pushed out, we almost immediately snapped back into fall. This weekend we’re enjoying what will likely end up being the nicest weekend of the fall season – temperatures are in the 60’s with clear blue skies, every tree here is absolutely bursting with color, leaves are covering everything on the ground, and everyone is out-and-about trying to enjoy every last ounce of fall before winter returns for the long haul.

So today, in that spirit, I decided to hike Mt. Marquette. It did not disappoint!

Believe-it-or-not, even though it’s literally my ‘backyard’ (to the extent you can have a backyard while living in an apartment…), today was my first time hiking Mt. Marquette. I mean, Mt. Marquette is like literally, literally the backdrop of where I live. I did not drive to get here today, I stepped out of my place and immediately started walking the trail. How I went so long without hiking this hike baffles me. Moving forward, when not buried in snow, climbing Mt. Marquette is probably now going to be an every weekend or every other weekend event. I blame my ‘frontyard’ view of Lake Superior for distracting me all of this time.

I think that Mt. Marquette is the biggest mountain in the vicinity of the town of Marquette? I’m not certain on its height, but the mountain is home to our local ski resort, and I definitely felt like I climbed higher today than the typical ‘mountain’ surrounding Marquette. Most of the hills in the area I can climb up in a matter of minutes, but according to my iPhone the trail today from my apartment at the base of the mountain to the top overlook was 3.4 miles round trip (or 1.7 miles one way), and when I got to the top the height felt comparable to summiting one of the smaller hills of the Yolla Bollys that I remember climbing back in California or the Blue Mountains that I would (dangerously) explore by myself as a kid back in La Grande, Oregon. That distance though – 3.4 miles – perfect trail run distance. This is my new local running haunt!

The trail starts in heavy woods that glow gold in the fall. There are squirrels, and leaves to crunch under your shoes. I think I heard a bear making ‘roar’ noises in the far away distance. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Eventually you reach a neighborhood that is a really, really nice neighborhood. I often joke with people who are visiting here that this place is just Red Bluff with water. Just your typical small town. But no. Neighborhoods like this remind me that there’s a lot more money per capita in this small town than in that small town back west.

Finally, you reach the final ascent and some of the most gorgeous fall-time views that you will ever see – with the fall leaves, the town below, the Huron Mountains, and the one-and-only Lake Superior all coming together to wow the senses.

So how am I doing otherwise? I’m oddly still pretty nostalgic for the North State of California and for many people back there. I wish people from back there would just say hi and check in on me every so often because I miss them…but either way I’m learning to channel the nostalgia in healthy ways that help me relive some of the past while showcasing the town I’m from to the people that I now work with. I just ordered a case of wine from New Clairvaux, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with some of our local priests and curia staff around the holidays and hearing their impressions (it is, after all, Catholic monk wine from across the country – they should find it interesting). Maybe at some point I order some olives, almonds, etc. to share.

And every day I just kind of reflect on life, the journey that led me here to the Upper Peninsula, and the amazing deacons, priests, principals, and co-workers that I now get to spend time with each and every day. We even just launched a new-and-improved version of our Diocese website! It looks so modern and awesome. And in the background, I’ve been moving-and-shaking, seeking grant funding and raising money to help ensure that our schools and churches are well-prepared for the economic squall that everyone seems to be predicting for 2023. In fact, our schools seem to continue to grow and flourish, and we might even be on the path to opening yet another high school in the vicinity in the not-so-far-away future (at least I’m praying that we get there). I think we’re pretty much ready for the coming storm, and I just wish I would have been permitted to do the sort of stuff I’m doing in this Diocese for my former Diocese. We may have even been able to save a school back in the North State. But it does no good at this point to question or ruminate on the reasons for the past. So instead, I’m still looking forward to the future…the snowy, snowy future and the quiet, kind of lonely-at-times apartment. 🙂

Cheers,

-Rob