The other Wednesday (Aug. 11) the heavens opened, the winds raged and the rain poured. By Thursday morning area residents woke to the rumble of generators and the roar of chainsaws as their neighbors powered up their homes and started the long process of clearing trees and debris from their homes, cars, property and roads.
Needless to say, it was a mess around these parts.
I took time early Thursday morning to drive area back roads from Goodrich to Oxford, through Orion and into Independence townships. And, I felt lots of empathy for folks. On June 29, a hundred year old maple snapped in half and with the help from 70 mile per hour winds “kilt” my very own home — causing me to have no power for four days. It sucked.
It’s been “one of those” summers we’ve had our share of harsh storms, hot, humid temperatures and tons of lightning. Some local families have lost their homes. Prolonged power outages have caused some local businesses to pitch unrefrigerated foods.
What have we done wrong to deserve such calamity? I don’t know, but maybe we should start being nicer to each other.
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Hopefully by the time this column comes off the presses Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera will have popped the 500th home run of his career. I think chasing that milestone has become a big distraction. Hey, get this. While looking up how to spell Miggy’s name, I found out Miguel Cabrera isn’t his real name. Did you know his real name is José Miguel Cabrera Torres? Who woulda’ thunk it?
Speaking of Miggy, I was just commenting this weekend whilst watching the Tigers on television, that I wished they would show what his batting average was by month. Currently, his average is like .251 — but early in the season he was batting in the .100s. So, I checked it out.
In April he was batting .140.
In May, .204.
In June, .329.
In July, .280.
So, far in August he is batting, .257 — and I blame his August numbers on all the hype. But, that’s just me and I ain’t no Sparky Anderson.
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Speaking of baseball, back in July I opined, “Life is like baseball. You’re the batter and life is the pitcher. As long as you keep swinging, you’re bound to get a hit sooner or later. You can’t hit a homerun every time, but you can keep it in play. Curveballs, spitballs, sliders and sinkers; brush-backs and chin music — Life ain’t fair and will throw things at you you’re not expectin’.”
Mary S., of Independence Township wrote to me, “love your baseball analogy. I’m going to pass that on to my grandkids. Rules to live by. Very Good!”
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Also, from “ye ol’ mailbox” I received the following:
Don, I find myself responding to one of your columns for the second time in a month. That would suggest:
a) I have far too much free time!
b) I have stumbled upon my intellectual doppelgänger as we seem to appreciate the same aspects of societal evolution and opine near genius observations!
In any case, I completely agree with you concerning the glaring need for the official adoption of CDT (Critical Dad Theory). All of the precepts are absolutely needed. We need to return to the ideals of being able to agree to disagree and to learn how to be a non-jerk for example.
But, the most important attribute is that CDT is not defined by any reference to race, creed or religion. It therefore relies on the one ingredient that should be shared by all of humanity, i.e.; Common Sense and a celebration of all that makes us the same vs. all that divides us! More important yet is the final caveat … if all else fails, Mom is in charge anyway and will make it all better.
Well done! — Steve S.
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Thanks for reading and supporting community journalism, folks. I believe our communities are better communities because we have local newspapers. I hope everybody is faring better today than just after last week’s storm. Send your comments and thoughts to DontRushDon@gmail.com.

  don rush, don’t rush me