• Sunday-What'sUP January 23 - 09:00 pm

A week ago last Friday the Pasty Cam had a lively discussion about ice skating and memories of growing up in the U.P. Patti Vickers follows with this week's Shoebox Memory, a few scenes from her youth, with which all of us in the north can identify. I remember the 60's well - only I couldn't even stand on skates, and our tractor was a Minneapolis Moline. For an enjoyable Sunday morning tour of the U.P. - then and now - see Patti's online album.

Do you have some childhood memories tucked away in an old shoebox somewhere? Scanners are quite inexpensive these days, the Guest Gallery is free, and you are welcome to use it.

By the way, we wrapped up 2004 Wallpaper of the Week, with Donn de Yampert's ducks having the last word. Also we've added a new feature for 2005: Widescreen format. If you have one of the new 1280 x 800 resolution laptops, you'll find a window full of background beauty from David Antikainen and Greta Jones for the first 2 WOW's of the new year. Hmmm... which day should we choose for last week's WOW?

Good Morning Am I the First? Why am I up so early?

Because you wanted to see the nice white blanket of snow. Hi all. about a foot of new stuff on top of about 6 inches. ** grumble, gripe, snowblower, mutter, cuss ** But it is real pretty ain't it?

Good morning fellow yoopers, yooper wannabes and trolls! Very chilly here this morning, with my thermometer registering 20 below, with a very clear bright sunrise. Are you ready for some football?

January 12 was pretty impressive. This person has an abundance of talent and I would like to nominate it for the WOW award. I saved it to my desk top to enjoy everyday. All of the photos are great.

Good morning from cold (-3°) Mishawaka IN. Great pictures this morning. The two little girls remind me of my sisters and me going out to our grandpas. He lived on the St. Joseph river and during the winter my family would go out to his house to ice skate. I'm like you Charlie, I could hardly stand up but my Dad and one of my sisters would hold my hands and pull me around. I also loved watching my cousin and his friends play hockey. Those were great times.

The yooper scooper in the first photo is just like the one my dad made in the 1930s..he used an old tin cola sign for the bottom...really worked well

Great picture of the two girls on skates. Reminds me of the days my cousin Lorrie & I used
to skate at area ice rinks when we were that age.
Those were some great memories. Now we gone our
separate ways. All good things must come to an end.

We have pictures of me skating on a baseball field filled with water/ice (all in black and white, of course). And we have some of precious little Jen (34 now)in her snow suits. Mine, Ashland, Wisc.; Jen, Dowagiac. Our UP pics are of Taquamenon falls and of Gitchee Gumee in the summer.

Fifteen below this morning, but clear and very still. The stars shown through all that lovely moonlight. The deer emptied all my birdfeeders again last night They must have rubber necks to reach that high.

Good Morning! This site is addictive but a good addiction! Loveeee all the pictures. Cold here in N/C Texas at 22 degrees but the sun is shining so I'm hopeful for the 50s today. Yes, I'm readyyyyyyy for some football! Have my chicken wings ready to cook...all's a go Houston! Enjoy your day!

Minus 18 F. here this AM. About 15 inches of snow total.
Took a stroll around my swamp at dusk after cutting
firewood. Sunset looked like a glowing forge thru the
trees of the river bottom. Crossed the creek on the ice
with a stick tapping all the way. Had to be careful of a
spring and YUP the stick went thru so I made a hasty
detour. This winter has been a really nice one.

Good Morning for Aurora, Colorado, where the sun is always shining! This photo reminds me of when we were kids and would skate at the rink next to the Houghton School close to Dodge Street. The Young family kids (Tim, Bob, Jim) took care of the rink and the shack and we would get to skate every day and night. We even got to go to Marquette for the Community Schools games. My sister and I were speed skaters. We won because no one else participated! Back then, sisters Betsy and Sandy from Hancock were the top figure skaters of our age group. Wonder where they are today?

Two feet of snow out here (between Providence and Boston). Both RI and MA have declared emergencies and everyone is suspose to stay put. Being from Calumet I remember this sort of thing but still don't like it. Oh well, I can stay home and watch the Pats play football much like the Packers and Lions are doing.

oh, the days of old.i can remember the snow coming down so hard after i would shovel once, not more than a few hours later there i would be doing the same thing over agian and to tell you i miss it ......but,then agian i dont. so hang on fellow yoopers,spring will come . hopefully soon!

Check the pompoms on her skates. Cute.

anybody have polar bear dive pictures?

Good morning temp in the mid fourties, and quite a bit of fog. Think I'd rather have the snow. Good day for football.

Wonderin, Z-Man has some wonderful pics of the Polar Dive, on 'What's up', today.

https://www.pasty.com/pcam/Z-man

Lucky us...we received a foot of snow yesterday. My husband and I had to shovel a couple times to keep the drive open, but it was fun. Today we have a brilliant blue sky and the sun is out. I drove by Lake St Clair and saw that it seemed to be frozen across to Canada. Also saw a flock of swans in the the few little open parts. It was almost, but not quite, as good as you have it in the UP, but I'm lovin' it.

...as one of the little girls in the picture, I can say those were sure good times. My dad and grandpa used to take great care that the 'pond ice' was as smooth as they could make it....you never knew when an impromptu hockey game would break out! You can see Dad (read, "Human Zamboni) working the ice behind us. I'm sure he was getting a lot of assistance from Little Bro'. Have a great night, everyone! It's 19 degrees here in Nashville, and except for the snow, it feels like home!

Nice pictures, we just got back from Indiana and the roads where not to bad, ran into a snow squall around Florence where the road was completely covered for about a three mile stretch. Came back to Holt(Lansing Area) to 12 inches of snow. I have such a great neighbor, put his snow blower to use and cleared my drive way for me prior to our return. My drive way will hold six cars so shoveling can be a chore, I’m thankful for not needing to shovel tonight.

I suppose if the ice had broken, and we fell into the pond below...then we would have been the original polar bears.

(P.S. Thanks for my pom-poms, mom. I loved 'em.)

Patti / Sue -

Many fond memories of the pond during the "hard sledding" (summer) months as well. I will never forget Grandpa Dick, coming down the hill to feed the fish, while I was there with my fishing line and bobber motionless. All of a sudden the pond would be alive with thrashing trout eating the pellets he threw out to them.