It's official

September 29, 2007 (5:48am)

42º F, Cloudy and gray, SE Wind, 6 mph.

Good morning,

So .... It’s official - I have become a Yooper yesterday. At least that is what my driver’s license and voter registration say. We got the paperwork on Thursday and yesterday after filling them out and gathering the necessary supporting documents - I did the deed. Don’t feel much different, just a few less bucks in the pocketbook. I should get the new driver’s license in the mail in a couple of weeks and the voter ID in three weeks or so.

Not sure of the time frame of government activities here. The State is scheduled to shut down on Monday morning, thanx to the legislature not agreeing on a budget for the year yet. Monday is the first of the new year. The Secretary of State’s office is one of the first on the list to close, so no driver’s licenses, car registrations, &c. will be completed. Also it appears that the only State Police on duty will be Sargent and above in rank, which is about 40 folks for the whole state. Should be an interesting time. Too bad the folks in the capitol can’t get along and have to act as 4 year-olds like the national legislature.

On the way back from Iron River and becoming a Yooper, I stopped at the Department of Natural Resources to pick up hunting licenses. I can take two bucks this season (one license for each and I can take one with bow if I wish). I also picked up a small game license while I was at it. All three licences cost less than one deer license in Wisconsin and the season is 16 days long, rather than 10 days in Wisconsin. Time will tell if I succeed or not, but will have fun anyway. Will have to get my bang-sticks sighted in too one of these days. Have to set up some kind of shooting range and back stop here too - first.

We got another letter from Dan yesterday. He is being moved to a Federal Prison somewhere. He didn’t know, but was writing from Kenosha, where he will stop for a bit before moving on to his final destination. The letter was very upbeat and a change from those for several weeks. Told me not to write, but he did include his address on the envelop, so will send a picture postcard anyway. If he gets it, he gets it.

Yesterday morning I was working on this machine when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. The wild turkeys were about 3' outside of the window and eating their way around the yard. They went around the main house and said “Hi!” to Margriet as she hung out the laundry. Apparently they have gotten used to us and are not spooked by us that much anymore. The youngsters are really getting big and the males are starting to grow beards. A couple had beards of 3-4" in length. Soon to be fair game during the hunting season.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris the Yooper <><