Ah, it’s good to be back. You probably didn’t notice, and I am sure cared less where I was. Yes, the rumors were true: I your hero, your loyal, local scribe took a vacation. It was the first time since 2006 I have taken time off for things other than funerals, floods and flu.
Who woulda? thunk there was another ‘F? word associated with and to do whilst taking time off from community newspapering. Today’s magic word, kids, is FUN.
The lads (Shamus and Sean) and I spent seven wonderful days in Christmas, Michigan. Zip Code, 49862. It’s right up there on Lake Superior, just west of Munising. You know you’re in Christmas when you see the scary 60-foot tall cut out of Santa. We stayed at a cottage on Lake Superior owned by Clarkston residents Stacy Meagher and her husband, Jim.
It was a pretty sweet setup, after we hiked, or kayaked, or swam, or played in tucked away waterfalls, we were able to fire up the wood stove, rock sauna thingy and sweat out the grit and DEET accumulated from the day.
Oh, by the way . . . while you guys down here in Trolland were flooded out with a million inches of rain, we had p-e-r-fect weather in the Superior State. It was around 80 every day of the week, sunny with a few clouds. The dreaded U.P. black fly invasion had just started, so they were not out when we were. (Yep, I’m rubbing it in a little. If it makes you feel any better, there were a gagillion skeeters, however.)
I still rose from bed at 5 every morning, but it was nice to relax with cups of coffee (chocolate raspberry from Goodrich’s A Bean To Go), walk down to the lake or watch the national morning news shows — which leads me to a couple of thoughts.
Morning news shows are not really news shows, are they?
After watching the ‘I is what I is? sob story that am Paula Dean (hey, if she can use poor verbal skills on national TV, I can use poor writing skills in local newspapers) I was embarrassed by the NBC show and how they made themselves part of the ‘conversation? on racism in America. No wonder nothing ever gets done nationally — feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, educating the wee ones, watching bureaucrats rape the nation and finding work for the jobless — we’re too busy engrossing ourselves into celebrity foibles.
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We also watched the Weather Channel to see what was what weatherwise, before heading out to the great out-of-doors. Holy Fry Me An Egg On The Sidewalk, Batman! It sure is hot out west. I know it’s a ‘dry? heat, but 114 degrees is oppressive whether or not it is dry or wet.
I know man-made climate change is being blamed for the extreme weather, however, we did watch a program on the Weather Channel that talked about the earth’s weakening magnetic fields and increased solar flares. While walking in the woods in the Hiawatha National Forest I had time to mull over what I had watched. Seems like we’re in some sort of 10,000 year cycle of shifting poles and our protective magnetic field isn’t doing the job it normally does in reflecting solar flare things. I think, while man has added to climate change, maybe more blame can be assigned to this cycle.
I want more science on this and I want less blame on man . . . of course the electromagnetic storm is harder to tax than man made things.
Does that make me cynical or skeptical?
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While driving the highways, biways, back roads and two tracks of the U.P., I was amazed at the amount of homes and businesses that have been abandoned and just left to rot. Why is that? Does anybody know?
Email your comments, questions, suggestions or concerns to Don@ShermanPublications.org.