This week’s post isn’t about Michigan. It’s about Michiganders traveling. To a warm spot. In winter. My husband and Daughter Number 1 and I met up with Daughter Number 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where D#3 lives. The next morning, the four of us were packing the car before leaving for South Carolina, where D#3… Continue reading A Warm Place
Author: Nancy J. Moncrieff
Dogs, Robots, and Forcing Blooms
Our local Humane Society can always use donations of towels and other flat linens. So, when I find abandoned towels out in the wilds—which happens more often than you might think—I wash them and drop them off at our truly stellar organization. Not only is the Humane Society of Huron Valley a no-kill shelter, it… Continue reading Dogs, Robots, and Forcing Blooms
All Over Town
We had an ice storm in February and ice after that and ice after that. The ice broke branches all over town. What dealt the biggest blow, however, wasn’t all that ice. It was last week’s snowstorm. Flakes started falling early Friday afternoon, a few at first, then thick and fast. Wind howled and… Continue reading All Over Town
Bat Mitzvah
Last Saturday morning, I attended the bat mitzah, the coming-of-age ceremony, of a friend from French class. Daryl, the friend, is eighty-eight years old. Her friend Ellen, also a grandmother, had her bat mitzvah at the Shabbat service, too. Shortly after the service began—in Hebrew—I was pleased to hear familiar words. Baruch atah… Continue reading Bat Mitzvah
Ice Storm
Ice
Winter
Geese, an Eagle, and a Great Library
While walking the dog on Monday morning, I traced a persistent honking sound to a lone Canada goose. Which was standing on the pitched roof of a two-story house. This is strange enough that I stopped a bit to look. As I watched, a second goose joined the first one, stretched out its long neck,… Continue reading Geese, an Eagle, and a Great Library
Spicing Up February
Last Friday, as Sue and I were out walking along the river with her dog Vesta, five student-types walked toward us. They were distinctly underdressed for the weather—temperature in the low teens with a fifteen-mile-an-hour wind. They were wearing shorts and shirts, although carrying warmer clothing. They walked through the snow, right down next to… Continue reading Spicing Up February
Snow Play
Last week’s perfect packing snow provided raw material for many neighbors’ creativity, which I’m still discovering as the dog and I take our morning walks. Today, for instance, revealed a snow bear in someone’s front yard. Blimpy Burgers used to be adorned with snow bears during the winter; they were smallish and charming, like… Continue reading Snow Play
Snow Joy
And the children of the land rejoiced. We have several inches of snow on the ground. Yesterday was a snow day with no school. Furthermore, the white stuff is packing snow. Out walking with the dog this morning, I saw a snow snail in all its glory. About waist-high, it was detailed, with antennae, long… Continue reading Snow Joy
Umbrellas and Shreds
Daniel Pinkwater, forty-some years ago, wrote a children’s book called, Roger’s Umbrella. It’s about a little boy whose mother makes him carry an umbrella to school. When Roger objects that that umbrella gives him trouble, his mother tells him that umbrellas are all alike and you just have to know how to talk to them. … Continue reading Umbrellas and Shreds