Eighty-three degrees. We are not yet halfway through April, and the temperature this afternoon is eighty-three degrees. Dave Rexroth, chief meteorologist for Channel 7 Action News, says we may get snow next week, but today we have eighty-three degrees. The weather is prompting odd behaviors. This morning, for instance, I saw a man putting… Continue reading Eighty-Three Degrees
Category: Michigan Stories
Buds and Allelujas
Lawn extensions around town remain strewn with branches brought down by this winter’s destructive combination of ice, snow, and wind. The branches come from all kinds of trees, including ornamentals. Weeks ago, Anne handed me some downed pieces of her juneberry and, after some time in a vase of water, they bloomed. It was a… Continue reading Buds and Allelujas
Whatever the Problem
The piles of broken branches at the curb in front of people’s houses aren’t getting any smaller. In fact, in many cases, they’re growing. Recent high winds that brought branches already weakened by March’s ice storms and heavy snow the rest of the way down. I’ve been hauling white pine and maple out to our… Continue reading Whatever the Problem
A Warm Place
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
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