Category: Michigan Stories

This week brought excellent news.  Daughter Number Four teaches music in a Detroit-area school.  At the end of the last school year, all teachers at her school had to pack up everything in their rooms for transport off site, so that work could be done on their school over the summer.  When school started again… Continue reading Good News and Sweetness

Our friend Pat describes early spring as silly season for squirrels.  They’re so intent on finding food to eat that they make poor decisions with respect to crossing roads in front of cars, leading to a sudden increase in squirrel corpses in the streets.  In my opinion, squirrels have a second silly season in the… Continue reading Silly Season

When Daughter Number Four was about five years old, she wrote a little think piece on whether or not horses can count.  She looked into the matter, consulting various sources she felt were in a position to know, as they had or had had, regular contact with horses.  At length, she decided to keep her… Continue reading Dogs Can Count

The Ann Arbor Observer was loaded with enticing activities this week.  The can’t-miss-it one for me was Rob Burg’s presentation on the history of logging in Michigan.  Years ago, having just read William Davenport Hulbert’s White Pine Days on the Tahquamenon, I did a deep dive into the subject myself.  This was during my time… Continue reading Pines, Cards, and Music

Among the Ann Arbor Observer listings for interesting things to do, last Saturday, was a historic presentation at Parker Mill County Park.  A tour of the grist mill at the park, not too long ago, was fascinating, and the weather last Saturday was Perfect Fall, so off I went to Parker Mill.      The Observer… Continue reading Mary Parker

The most interesting truck moved in fits and starts through the neighborhood yesterday.  It was an enormous Palfinger stake truck carrying a load of utility poles.  This looks a lot like a logging truck, only more so, with some of the new poles extending several feet beyond the length of the truck bed.  And did… Continue reading Steel Giant

Our neighbor Cory hailed me in the yard recently, and we met for a chat on our adjoining lawns.      “Public service announcement,” he said.  “New digging by the lilac bushes suggests groundhog or skunk activity between our back yards.”      I waited for the public-service portion of the program.  Cory, who recognizes cluelessness when… Continue reading Going About Our Lives

“What kind of bird do you think that is, sitting on the deck railing?” my friend Pat asked her husband this week.  She was in the kitchen looking out the window at the deck, which is one story above the back yard.  Len was in the dining room, looking out a window from which he… Continue reading Turkeys, Cable, and Happiness

There’s a hint of blue in the sky today.  Not much of a hint, but most welcome.  For a long time now, we’ve been dealing with the smoke of Canadian wildfires.  Our northern neighbor is battling fires that just won’t go out.  The smoke must be a breath-to-breath challenge near the fires, and it’s no… Continue reading Hint of Blue

It rained nearly five inches in Ypsilanti this Wednesday.  My friend Lee lives there and reports that there was three feet of water in the street in front of her house.  How did she know how deep the water was?  She and intrepid neighbors were out in it, making sure the drains were clear.      … Continue reading Bubbles of Happiness