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Blog: Vanaprastha (Retired) Life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
By Pratyatosa Dasa (ACBSP), July 31, 2006
(Pratyatosa.com, )
I love vanaprastha life! Now that I’m old enough to get Social Security benefits, I can do whatever I want 24/7! Krsna’s mercy that I worked and paid income tax like a “normal” person for at least part of my life! Barring nuclear or civil war in the US, I’ll get a monthly check for the rest of the life of my current material body. For added insurance, I’m learning new things every day which could potentially help to provide an income in an emergency.
I’m not sure whether or not I’ll be able to afford to keep my car, but not having a car to maintain might actually give me even more “free” time, not less. A car is definitely more trouble than it’s worth in the wintertime up here in “snow country.” I have my legs, my bicycle, and there are taxis and a $1 bus service from Michigan Technological University (which is within walking distance) to Walmart, etc. I also have my snow shoes! ☺
The Bicycle Trail
Weather permitting, I walk at least 6 miles a day (to and from “Da Tech”), five or six days a week. Not only does this save on gasoline, but it allows me to easily get my rounds done and to stay in shape. The walk is very safe and pleasant. There’s a bicycle trail which goes by across the street from my cabin. (US-41 goes all the way from Copper Harbor, Michigan to Miami, Florida!) The trail also goes past the main campus of Michigan Tech, where I go to get on the Internet. (I don’t have Internet access at home.) The trail goes alongside Portage Canal, so it’s almost perfectly level. From the trail, people can be seen swimming, waterskiing, boating, fishing, and jet skiing. Portage Canal actually links up with the Atlantic Ocean via Portage Lake, Lake Superior (a.k.a Gitche Gumee, the world's largest fresh water lake; very sacred to native Americans), the Soo Locks, Lake Huron, Lake St. Claire, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Welland Canal (goes around Niagara Falls), Lake Ontario, and then the St. Lawrence River!
Most of the bike trail is paved, and much of it is covered by a beautiful, cool canopy of dense tree branches. Branching off from the trail are boardwalk “nature trails” through swamps and bogs which are teaming with life. I know what you’re thinking! Mosquitoes, right? Nope, we don’t have ’em. Well, that’s not quite true, but we have very few of them, thanks to the birds and the hundreds of thousands of bats that live in the hundreds of abandoned copper mines. After all, they don’t call this “Da Copper Country” for nothin’, ya know?
Fragrant Milk Weed Flowers
Along the main trail grow wild raspberries, thimble berries, and incredibly fragrant flowers. This particular species of wild flower is amazing. It is at least as intoxicatingly fragrant as honeysuckle or lilac, but instead of blooming for a few days, it blooms for more than a month! There is even a very impressive bald eagle’s nest alongside the trail! One time I saw a huge “baby” eagle perched on a branch next to the nest, exercising it’s massive set of newly grown wings!
One problem is that the Michigan Tech Library is 60 feet above the level of the bicycle trail. The last time I climbed up the steep path, I felt like I was getting a heart attack! Therefore, I try to get to Tech before 5 p.m. so that I can take the elevator.
When you take comfort, beauty, natural resources, freedom from polution, freedom from crime, and cost of living into account, this is the best place in the world to retire, and now that we have the Internet, it never gets lonely or boring. Krsna has been very kind to me. This is definitely much more than I deserve!
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