I have in previous posts likened our family timeline to a groove, cruising along smoothly within comfortable boundaries, confident as to where we were headed. I've also noted certain occasions when the groove has altered. Not so drastically as to jump the track, but enough to accommodate new experiences. 1987 was one of those times.
The year began innocently enough. It was a fairly quiet winter. No extraordinary weather or family incidents. Just the usual. There was the typical post-holiday emphasis on fitness, with some high-tech equipment.
Some experimentation with behavior-management innovations.
Adoption of the winter wardrobe.
There was also a little team muckling.
And work on language skills.
On the creative side, there was mechanical engineering (left-brained).
And what appears to be a fantasy sleepover (right-brained).
Then there was this incident of exploratory interior design (hare-brained), which no doubt occurred during a period of DLS (dad-level-supervision).
And as would be expected of well-bred offspring, the winter months were marked by (largely) commendable sibling camaraderie.
April brought a little more excitement. We took an atypical early daytrip to Ipperwash Beach to check out the cottage. We had heard there had been some changes.
A little background. Through the mid-80s the Lake Huron water level was pretty high. You can see from this pic from '84 that the water's edge was only about 10 to 12 feet from the snow fence.
And in this pic from '85 you can see that it wasn't that far past the snow fence to the cottage. Maybe 40 feet and about 8 feet of elevation. Way too close for comfort if the lake rose any more or serious storms came along.
To address this concern, in the fall of '86 cottagers along this strip of Ipperwash Beach decided to build seawalls. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
But as fate would have it, or maybe out of sheer meanness, by the spring of '87 the lake levels had gone down. Way down. So far down that the seawalls were probably not needed. Oh well.
When we arrived at the cottage for our visit, this is what we found. We were stunned.
Nancy's parents and the neighbors to the east had built seawalls out of large concrete blocks and vertical poured concrete. The family to the west had built a different style of barrier out of poured concrete set at a 45 degree angle. Clever.
Here are a few more shots of the new look. In this next one you can see the steps that were built into the slanted barrier.
And here's a close up of the large block/poured wall construction. Note how high Avon Rae cottage is above the beach compared to the shots from the previous years. In the coming years the shoreline and beach would change on a regular basis. But never again so dramatic as from '86 to '87.
After overcoming our shock, we had fun that day exploring the new and very wide beach.
Note the sand and snow mound about 50 feet offshore in the first two pics. This is a typical spring phenomenon due to constant winds and a shallow lake bottom, but it always looks weird to me. As the winter ice breaks up, it rolls over on itself toward shore, pushing sand ahead of it and creating the mound. It's typically gone by early-May.
Before we headed back to the Pointes we treated ourselves to lunch on the old wooden picnic table at the rear of the cottage. This old soldier was a salvage, having washed up on the beach in pieces several years earlier. Nancy's father Rae cobbled it back to life and put it in service.
The table long ago moved on to another post. Either that or it gave all to a beach fire. Can't remember which. But I remember it fondly.
Recovered from our international travel, we jumped into May. We started with a trip to the Detroit Zoo. From the pics I found it looks like I took Ted and Christine while Nancy and Cathy partied elsewhere. As you can tell from these first two pics, the kids were pretty excited.
But after visiting some old friends,
They got into the swing of things.
The chauffeur service helped with the attitude. As did snack time.
We stopped by to see many other friends during the day, too numerous to mention. Except for these interesting creatures that are family favorites. They always seem happy and ready to party. Despite the fact that their knees are on backwards.
Our next adventure was a trip to Linwood to visit my parents. There was the usual reacquaintance with old friends.
And then there was this.
Ted was in his Little League period. So we went with the flow. Here we are squeezed into the crowded Little League stadium (Nancy and Cathy in red). Not exactly box seats.
And a shot of Ted in his station in right field, ready for action.
Actually, it looks like he's tucking in his shirt. It's important to look good when in uniform.
Ted's Little League years were important to him and in the end to his parents. When he was little, Ted liked to win. In everything. Occasionally, he liked to win a little too much. There are stories.
When Ted started Little League, his teams were very successful. If I'm remembering correctly, his team won a championship or two. But in his last year of eligibility, his team wasn't so good. In fact, I think they lost most of their games. By then he was 12, and had matured. He seemed to enjoy his roles (outfield and a little pitching) despite the team's record. The winning thing had become less important.
Back from Linwood, we had a week or two to recharge before heading up to Avon Rae for the holiday. In those days Rae and Marge moved into the cottage for the summer on Memorial Day weekend. It was an opportunity for us to help with opening chores (the cottage having been closed up for the winter) and to get a first taste of summer. A few pics.
By 1987 Ted and Christine were old cottage hands. Christine was almost always first into the lake. She never seem to mind the cold water. Even in chilly May.
Impressively, she has maintained her disrespect for cold water. There are still days at Wiser Times when Christine will go swimming when the rest of us won't even kayak.
Ted, fresh from his Little League season, liked to work on his swing wherever he could. He was a fierce whiffle baller.
Cathy, now navigating the beach on her own, was just developing her sand-castle skills.
It takes a while to figure out just the right sand-to-water ratio for this ancient artform.
Fortunately, there were usually experienced collaborators around to offer advice.
The weekend turned out to be very enjoyable and whetted our appetite for summer even more.
This brings us to the end of May and of this post. While our groove had begun to widen during the spring of 1987 with a couple of new experiences, the pace would quicken over the summer months. And that's where we'll resume next time.
Grosse Pointe Charles
