Church of Staves, Door County, Post #7

Though it was only completed in 1995, the Stavkirke or Church of Staves on Washington Island looks like it has been here for centuries.  

According to Wikipeida, “A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse (stav in modern Norwegian).”

There is a strong Viking influence in many of the architectural features.

The church is beautiful and spiritual in its own way, but the prayer path leading to it was delightfully inspirational.  

Believe it or not, I missed a few of the plaques, so I had to borrow this last one from my friend’s collection. That’s kind of how I’ll feel in just another three months. 

For more information, click on these links:

https://washingtonisland.com/stavkirke/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/washington-island-stave-church

https://www.doorcounty.com/business-directory/stavkirke/

Too Many Pictures? Or not nearly enough? Door County, Post #6

     I can’t put my head around the idea of sharing any of my trips in a single blog post, with a handful of pictures and stories. Am I an oddball for finding wonder in each stop on a new road, for wanting to capture the simplest thing – a church, a rock or a broken branch? Or, for some crazy reason, am I just full of child-like fascination? I apologize if I bore you. But if you aren’t able to go on adventures or if you are wondering where you can find a new adventure – well, that’s what I’m here for.

Anyway, on my post last Friday, I told you about our ferry ride to Washington Island. I wish I could tell you how many blog posts it’s going to take me to show you everything I want to. I mean, I took nearly 800 pictures during that two-day vacation in early October. Half of them must have been on Washington Island.

Ok, but this is clearly not getting them posted.

First stop, was the Art and Nature Museum, which was closed for the season. But the great thing is that there is always art in nature.

Next was Jacobsen Museum, which was also closed, except that half the exhibits were outdoors, so readily viewed.

 

Here’s one of the reasons I get along so well with my friend who joined me on this trip.

Note the sawhorse in front of the door of this little cabin on the Jacobsen Museum grounds.

My friend was like, “no, that has to go.” So we set the sawhorse aside just long enough to get a more genuine picture of the cabin, and then, yes, put it right back.

Unto Boyer’s Bluff.

Oh, what a view if it hadn’t been so cloudy.

Schoolhouse Beach.

I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a schoolhouse, but this was the location of the first log school house on the Island in 1850.

And it was only 11:00 in the morning. So much more to see that day.  

For more information: 

Art and Nature Center - https://wianc.org/our-history

Jacobsen Museum - https://washingtonisland.com/the-jacobsen-museum-full-of-surprises/

Schoolhouse Beach - https://washingtonisland.com/school-house-beach/

More on the Beach - https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/wisconsin/beach-unlike-any-other-wi/

Worry, Worry, Worry

     

      Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34, New International Version)

I’ve been writing about faith all year, and even though that word is not in today’s Bible verses, it’s still all about faith.

I’ve had a lot on my plate the last few months. My retirement is on my calendar, and I worry that this is not the best time for that.

Food prices have been going up, and they are forecasting that gas will hit five dollars a gallon this summer. The stock market has been unstable. I’ll be living on my investments; what if I lose too much money to be able to pay the bills?

What is going on overseas? Is Russia going to invade Ukraine? And will that give China the inspiration to invade Taiwan? And how much will it take for North Korea to bomb whoever they feel like? We like to believe that we are insulated over here in the US and that no one will invade our borders. Weren’t we all thinking that in December of 1941?

Of course, with the internet and all our new technology, there are other ways to bring down a country besides using guns and bombs.

Don’t even get me started on global warming. How much longer can Mother Earth survive the many onslaughts that our modern life has burdened her with?

And is COVID-19 ever going to go away? Are our hospitals ever going to return to workable patient loads? Are enough people going to go into the medical field to make up for all those who have aged out or burned out? Which is me, and then how do I deal with the guilt of stranding my coworkers?

The only way I can get any sleep at night and get out of bed each morning is my faith that God is bigger than all of this and more.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27, New International Version)

Ferry Ride, Door County, Post #5

Tuesday of our short trip to Door County, my friend and I were up early and heading to the Washington Island Ferry. On the way, we had to stop for pictures of one of the most photographed roads in the state, perhaps the nation.

Which may have been part of why we missed the 8 am ferry, arriving just in time to watch it sail away. No worry, we were first in line for the 9 am.

The temperature was 63 degrees when we left the mainland, but with thick cloud cover and a stiff breeze on Lake Michigan, it felt much colder. But not so cold that I didn’t ride on the upper deck the whole way to the island.

So I could take way too many pictures.

After five hours of exploring Washington Island, we caught the 3:00 ferry back to the mainland. 

We didn’t want to chance missing the last ferry at 4.

It wasn’t quite as dreary on the return trip. I had to force myself to not take pictures of the same sites I had captured on the way over. 

Next time, you get to see all the places we visited on that short day on the island. 

Take the ferry yourself - https://wisferry.com/

Or just drive the curvy road - https://www.doorcounty.com/newsletter/october-2017/why-door-countys-curvy-road-curves/ 

Walking Where Eagles Fly, Door County, Post #4

Sounds like a rather dramatic title for today’s post, don’t ya think?

The first day that my friend and I spent exploring Door County back in October, the weather was cloudy and damp. It didn’t stop us from climbing Eagle Tower and Canopy Walk in Peninsula State Park.

The original tower was built on this site in 1914. It was taken down and rebuilt in 1932. That tower was closed in May 2015 due to structural issues and removed in September 2016.

The current tower just opened in May of last year. It offers full accessibility to the observation deck via the 850-foot ramp.

When we first visited the tower Monday mid-afternoon, we climbed the 95 stairs to the top and took the ramp back down.

When Wednesday, our last day in Door County, dawned with the sun finally breaking through the clouds, we naturally had to go back and climb to the top again

Didn’t see any eagles soaring either time, but that’s okay. 

All you get is me doing my best to fly with my feet firmly planted. 

 

For more information, click on any of these links: 

Eagle Tower is finally back - https://doorcountypulse.com/finally-eagle-tower-is-back/

The Tower and the Friends of Peninsula Park - https://peninsulafriends.org/eagle-tower/

Tower History - https://peninsulafriends.org/eagle-tower-history/