NFL Regular Season is Over

Now that the Lions have lost yet again in Green Bay, we can put this season to rest. Better than last season? Perhaps. The home record was 5-3 and that was fun.

Although this is the first single-digit loss season in the Millen era, this season may be worse. If the Lions were in the middle of the pack and improving, I would say we have to look forward to next season. But that is not the case now.

This is a team that is on its way down, one which found the players at midseason holding a 6-2 record and reading THEIR OWN quotes about how they were headed to the playoffs and believing them. And they are headed there--as observers. They over-acheived the first half and played as we should have expected the remainder. I am not going to attack the players--they are what they are. Starters are weak, depth is shallow. They work hard, I'm told, but isn't that a given? They are outmanned at about every position.

Who put this team together? Matt Millen. Poor drafts. Three first picks are wash outs. Second and lower are not contributing. Unwilling to trade high picks for multiple lower picks--where will they get the players they need to fill all their holes? Frustrating to think this administration is so bull-headed to keep on doing the same things they have show are failing.

But we'll still order our tickets for next season.

Basketball Season Has Begun

Three games in five days.

Jim Bade, Ken Dupuis, Craig Morris, and I went to U of Detroit to see them play Butler last Thursday. Butler came in undefeated, including wins over U of M and Ohio State, and ranked in the mid-teens. Butler won a low scoring, defensive struggle 53-46. I was especially impressed by Butler's Matt Howard, a 6-7 freshmman from Connersville, who scored 20, some on twisting, acrobatic layups; he also had 12 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.

On Saturday, Kathy and I went to Oakland U to watch the Grizzlies play Southern Utah. It was Kathy's first visit to the O'Rena which is the reconstructed fieldhouse where Kathy graduated back in the day. She tried to call them the Pioneers, their original nickname! A seesaw battle most of the game, Southern Utah pulled ahead late to win by nine. Oakland's Matt Kangas shot 8 for 16 three-pointers and wound up with 27 points, and Geoff Payne from SUU scored 32. Very entertaining evening. Tee shirts thrown into the crowd by swimming and diving team, putt a golf ball the length of the court into a small opening for a semester's tuition, free pizzas, dance and cheer teams performing, shoot three-pointers for gift certificates. And a great place to watch basketball.

Then Monday up to Romeo High School to see the Bulldogs take on Dakota HS. (Strange to have boys basketball on other than Tuesday or Friday, the traditional days for as long as I can remember. But with girls now having their season in winter instead of fall, boys and girls will share those days.) Blake Cushingberry led Romeo to a 73-62 win with 36 points and 18 rebounds, his second consecutive 30-point game. Blake is the third Cushingberry brother we've seen play and he appears to be the best. A little taller and much stronger than his two brothers he can dominate physically as well as skillwise. Others on the team are very good players in their own right. And I suspect without Blake they would have a fine season. They are quick, run the floor well, and pass. By midseason, after they've played together for awhile, they will be very good. They will be fun to watch the rest of the season.

A Moral Victory

Though the Lions lost to the Cowboys with 18 seconds left on the clock, it was one of the most exciting games we have seen this year. Leading the whole game, they bungled a couple opportunities to "put the game away." In particular Dallas fumbled with less than two minutes left in the game, but a Lion player tried to pick the ball up instead of just falling on it--lack of attention to detail. At that time Dallas had no timeouts left and Detroit could have taken a knee and run out the clock. After seeing our tape of the game, I find the referees were biased in favor of the Cowboys (missed two interference calls on Dallas, a delay call when Marion Barber spiked ball after a play (they called one against Johnson later), and a couple face mask infractions. Considering all circumstances the Lions did well to stay ahead for so long.

Many Dallas fans at the game including a couple who bought our other two seats. Young couple from near Altoona, Pennsylvania came in for the weekend, stayed downtown Detroit. Very serious and intense Cowboys fans. He leaves for Iraq in April. Seemed like a very nice young couple. I am glad for his sake that the Cowboys won.

I see some significant improvement this season in the Lions. If only Millen can begin to pick better in the draft (only two of Detroit's four first and second round picks are contributing). Time will tell.

The Season is Over

For the Lions. (And earlier for Emerald Lake.)

To those players who said, when they were 6-2, they could not understand why fans did not believe in them: Do you now understand?

You can't help it. You do not have the talent or skills, no matter who coaches you up, to compete at the top level. You played well to get to 6-2, and you should be proud of that. And then what? The weaknesses we all saw during the first half of the season are still there. But now teams are exploiting those weaknesses--special teams, offensive line, defensive secondary. During the first eight games John Kitna was sacked, knocked down, hurried so much so that by now he must be shell-shocked, bruised, and injured to a point that if you did give him protection he could not perform at 100 percent.

Any real difference between this team and the others of the Millen era? Don't think so.

You have four games to prove me wrong.

They Did It Again

The top college football teams lost yesterday, Missouri to Oklahoma and West Virginia to Pittsburgh. A great college football season. Every week had playoff-type games that knocked teams out of contention. Especially the top-ranked teams. And now the cry for two-loss teams to advance to the BCS championship game.

Surprising no one is promoting ND since they beat UCLA and won their last two games!

Good Books

I just finished my third book by Homer Hickam, this one titled The Coalwood Way. It is a memoir of Homer's last years in high school in Coalwood, West Virginia. More interesting, in my view, is Rocket Boys which describes growing up in a mining town and some boys' amateur rocketry.

Why do his writings appeal to me? First, we are the same age, both graduated high school in 1960, then college. Second, we came from working class families, though Hickam's must have been a little better off since his father was a mine supervisor while mine was more a laborer. Third, we both have roots in coal mines. My grandfather on my mother's side worked the mines near Uniontown in southwestern Pennsylvania supplying coal and coke to the steel mills of Pittsburgh.

I have become attracted to Hickam's description of life in a coal town, thinking perhaps I too could have grown up in one had my folks not left. I wonder what it would have been like for me to grow up in a mining family. Since I have no direct knowledge of conditions of families and workers, I us Hickam's writings to fill me in on how it might have been, to have a vicarious experience through his writings.

Homer's father stayed in Coalwood to continue in mining. Then Homer left his coal town for college, the military, and an engineering career. My family was a generation earlier, moving to get work in automotive industry. My mother "got out" a generation earlier than did Homer's (as did all her siblings moving to Cleveland and Detroit).

I find Hickam's writings most interesting. I will have to watch the movie movie version of Rocket Boys called October Sky , and am looking forward to his next book.

The Season is Over

For Emerald Lake (and probably for the Lions as well).

We went up to the Lake Monday morning, stopping in Clare for lunch and to pick up two watches we left earlier for repairs. Brenda's was finished, but mine still showed the date display caught between two numerals, the problem that led me to have it repaired. "We'll fix that for you and you can pick it up Wednesday." He did and we did.

Kelvin had the dock raised and his boat that we all use was parked on its trailer in the carport, a great place for it during the winter. Forty degrees inside the house--got all three heating systems going in a hurry. Eventually raised temp to near 70 by time we went to bed. Split some wood, hauled it up from pole barn, cleaning and packing for trip home. Kathy read a novel cover to cover--we both read tucked beneath a couple handmade quilts.

The wind kicked up over night, gusts to 50 mph we heard. We had to clear a fallen tree from the drive so Kathy could go to town for her Tuesday hair appointment with Ellen. It made her late, but we come to find out ours was not unusual. Winterized the Ranger and lawn tractor.

The propane heater began to overheat--we saw some smoke rising from the unit. Some sensor, I suspect. In addition we heard some "explosions". So we shut it down and will have it serviced next spring. Only wood and electric heat left. Still windy and temps falling to 20 degrees. Kathy was on her second novel and I was well into mine. Slept with an extra blanket.

We had to let the fire go out and cool over night since it was to be cleaned for winter. When we go up the temperature in the house was 50, colder than when we arrived on our previous visit. Put on heat in dining area and bathroom and worked as fast as we could to complete our tasks. Drained water heater and water pump, packed food and supplies to take to Romeo, pumped RV antifreeze into water pipes, packed Expedition. We were able to leave by about 11 am. Picked up watch in Clare and got to Romeo and some warmth.

We agreed to close up for winter earlier next year.

Thanksgiving Week

Brenda is back in Nashville--she left Saturday evening. I enjoyed her visit.

Couple Lions games, couple days of shopping, she had lunch a couple days with friends, a couple crafts projects, and a couple card games we had not played in years. A couple tears when we dropped her off.

She was worried that some of her carry-on stuff would not be allowed--too many pieces--so we waited in a cell phone lot in case we had to return to lighten her load. We used the north cell phone lot not far from I-94 and her ok call came through within minutes of pulling in. There is a second cell phone lot on the south end of the airport to replace the cell waiting lane on a shoulder of the road leading into the McNamara Terminal from the south. We used the shoulder waiting area when we picked Brenda up and heard a report on TV of the new south cell lot. We will find the south cell lot next time.

Seems quiet here his morning. The good part is we will see her in Nashville for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Feast

Today we have our turkey and all the fixings. Because we are going to the annual Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day football game tomorrow, against the Packers, we have been having our big meal the day before. That way Kathy can enjoy the game and not be concerned about the bird burning or splashing grease around the oven.

Brenda arrived last Friday evening for a week visit. She went with us Sunday to the Lions-Giants game, one that disappointed us. The Lions did not show consistent play, too many dropped passes (unusual this season at home), and breakdowns on kick coverage (that is consistent over the course of the season). We had breakfast at Detroit Breakfast Grill (co-owned by Robert Porcher) on Woodward between the river and Grand Circus Park. Excellent food, service, and atmosphere. Dinner on the way home at Champs Sports Grill though our first choice was Joe's Crabshack which we found to be closed permanently.

Kathy and Brenda have done their share of shopping and crafting and left me here--not disappointing--to finish up leaf collection. Our two large maple trees in front dropped their leaves over the weekend, later than usual, and needed to be picked up before rain and snow predicted for today and tomorrow.

Gobble, gobble. Time to eat.

Tuesday on the Road

We went to Detroit Tuesday for a shopping trip. Our first stop was Ford Field to pick up some new Lions gear. While making our choices, Jason Hanson (who passed Eddie Murray in career scoring and take over the number ten spot) walked in with his wife and preschool-aged son. After a manager finished helping Jason, Kathy inquired of him whether it would be proper to approach Jason for an autograph. He said Jason is qujite approachable and is very accomodating to fans so Kathy asked him for his autograph. Luckily she had something in her purse for him to sign--our tickets from Sunday's game which she had with her because we would get two Buddy's pizzas later in the day since the Lions scored over 24 points. He signed them for us and exchanged small talk. We made our purchases then walked over to the Tigers Shop where we found little--no clearance items yet (unless you want a Monroe jersey) so we may make another trip later.

We also wanted to pick up tickets at the Gem Theatre just south of Ford Field for Escanaba in Love, the prequel to Escanaba in the Moonlight, but found out it is closing this weekend, about 6 weeks earlier than their scheduled run through December. And how about the DSO gospel concert. At that box office we were told it is canceled. Along with seeing the attendance at Meadowbrook Theatre last week, these cancellations seem to indicate the economy here is significantly impacting performing arts.

Over to Farmers Market for beef and to Wigley's Market for our corn beef and a ham for Pat who we were to see on our way home. Lunch was at Buddy's and if I had remembered the plan sooner we would have had our pizza at the original Buddy's restaurant on Conant and Six Mile Road.

We boxed up some leftovers and drove to Pat's house where Kathy helped make applesuace, I tried to find the problem with her furnace (I think it is a fan problem, but she was to have service today from a professional), went grocery shopping while Pat and Kathy cooked, and had Chinese carry out for dinner. We had a good visit with Pat and are glad to help in any way we can.

Cold, windy, rainy, and snowy weather can't slow us down.

Three Days of Culture and a Lions Win

Thursday night we saw Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, a superb production at Meadowbrook Theatre. Holmes, with his assistant Dr. Watson, finally vanquishes his nemesis Professor Moriarty. Typical Holmes logic and strategy leads to the final fight between Holmes and Moriarty above a great precipice. We are led to believe both are killed, but, alas, Holmes reveals himself in the last scene.

Jim and Sandy Bade organized another trip to Stratford, Ontario, this time to see the musical Oklahoma at the Festival Theatre Friday. We loved the show. Our seats were second row center so we could see all detail in costume, props, facial expression, etc. We were concerned at times that the dancers would fly off the stage into our laps! Before the show we took a tour of the warehouse for all the theatres in Stratford. 50,000 costumes, 10,000 pairs of shoes, thousands of props, shops for making and maintaining all this. Found it interesting that it takes about 7 support people working on a production for every actor in the production--costuming, wigs, set building, etc. We gained a new appreciation for the behind-the-scenes efforts. (Brenda, only a forty minute delay returning to US.)

Disney music was the theme for Saturday's Detroit Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert. All great music and we recognized that from the earlier movies, such as Snow White and Pinocchio, and some of the later that were made into stage musicals, such as Lion King, but were somewhat unfamiliar with the more current movies (Aladdin, The Hunchback, Hercules). We will try to check these out of the library and watch them this winter.

We stayed downtown overnight. In the morning we walked the International RiverWalk (map)from Rivard Park to Joe Louis Arena-- garden rest areas, a fountain, fishermen, joggers, Detroit Princess cruise boat, and a carousel closed for the season. Most impressive is an Underground Railroad commemorative near Hart Plaza that honors those who helped the "flight to freedom." Eventually the walk will go from JLA to east of Belle Isle. Cool temperatures and mostly cloudy sky invigorated us for a late breakfast and a walk to Ford Field. We made the transition from arts culture to sports culture.

Yep, the Lions are 6-2 after they thumped--I mean thumped--the Denver Broncos. It was such a one-sided game that fans left the stadium as if the Lions were getting thumped! The running game was effective early which opened passing lanes later. And although Kitna was not particularly effective from a completion percentage standpoint, he did execute a two-play 95-yard touchdown drive with two long completions. A few Bronco fans were around us, but they did not make much noise after halftime. Heading to the playoffs? Who knows. Their record at this point points in that direction, but they still have half a season. Green Bay twice, Minnesota, and New York Giants will be good tests.

Fall Trip to Evart

We left for the lake Sunday morning hoping to get there before the Lions football game but stopped for lunch so we listened to the first half on the radio. Sounded like they were playing well enough. The house was 55 degrees (45 outside) but we fiddled with the rotary antenna until we had decent reception to see the Lions second half. They seemed to play quite well (I napped through most of it after I started the propane heater and emptied the car.) Kathy was happy with the result.

We went a day earlier than our plans. Karen, one of Kathy's friends from her childhood days, died of cancer and visitation was Sunday evening with funeral Monday. Losing someone you grow up with feels different from others--not better or worse, just different. A different flood of memories cascades through and recalls different emotions. A different sadness, different coping.

The weather was fabulous. Sunny and cool--perhaps my favorite time of the year. We cleared the roof and courtyard of leaves, cut down and up a half dozen dead birch trees,and pruned plants for their overwintering.

We had visits from Lee, Angie and the kids, and Carrie and the kids. Kids seem to love to run around the inside and play with the old toys. All are doing well. Angie is pregnant and due in April! Exciting! And Logan and Kamber, and Carter and Carlee are all in school. How time flies.

Then home to see all the munchkins in their Halloween garb.

It doesn't have to be pretty...

as long as you win. Sunday the Lions beat Tampa Bay with a combination of opportunistic scoring, a pass rush that hurried Jeff Garcia into some bad throws (although he did complete 18 in a row), and Kevin Jones running better than he has in a long while supplemented by a fabulous wide receiver reverse for Calvin Johnson who cut inside the contain, stiff armed the fill, and powered past the last defender for the decisive touchdown. Interestingly the time of possession favored Tampa Bay 36 minutes to 24 minutes--not the recipe you want to live by--but so did turnovers (2-0).

Four and two? Who'da thunk it?

Hey y'all.

A busy fun week with Brenda in Nashville working hard together completing many projects and tasks, and playing hard.

• Shopping for furniture for her hobby room and then assembling it.


• Shopping for a sofa but having to settle for love seats because getting sofas up the stairs might be impossible, then finding some love seats are also too big in one dimension. Taking the love seat to the garage for pickup by Salvation Army.


• Fixing a plumbing problem that just happened--a fill valve would not close.


• Being around for some workers to repair nail pops and drywall cracks.


• Geocaching and grabbing a few, and also finding a homeless man in a woods we were bushwhacking and decided to not return that way.


• Cutting back plants for them to overwinter.


• Making drapes and hanging hardware.


• Hanging a fabulous wall sculpture.


• Dining out.


• Watching football and baseball, and being glad the Lions had their bye week.

And missing the tornado producing storms on our drive home. They were to our west on a north-south line stretching from Alabama to Michigan, but the whole trip we managed to stay east of them and got home hours before the tornadoes were spawned in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan.

Closer to the World Series

I am enjoying the MLB playoffs. Though the Tigers did not make it this year, I have some teams that are interesting to me.

Cleveland--because some of my aunts and uncles moved there from PA and the Indians and Browns (the ones who moved to Baltimore) were talked about so much. Grady Sizemore, their centerfielder, reminds me very much of the Tigers' Curtis Granderson. The can both run, hit, hit with power, catch and throw. Not many better all around ballplayers in the game.

Colorado--Clint Hurdle, the manager, is a shirttail relative to Kathy. We followed his ten year career with Kansas City who made him their first pick in the 1975 amateur draft. Kathy has a Clint Hurdle pin with his picture and signature--priceless.

Boston--another American League team that I have followed over the years and rooted for if they were not playing the Tigers.

Am I hoping for a C-C series? Si, si.

I made a mistake

A common phrase used by people who do bad things, endanger other people, or perform criminal acts. Vick, Spears, Rose. Dog fighting, child endangerment, betting on your own baseball team. And it bugs me.

In my humble opinion a mistake is forgetting to carry the 1 when adding or borrow when subtracting, or using "your" instead of "you're" or "her and me" instead of "she and I". It is not the same as doing wrong deeds.

Conscious decisions can be wrong, but they cannot be mistakes.

Music from Alfred Hitchcock

Interesting presentation by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Saturday. Included with the music from four of his films was footage from the films themselves shown on a screen over the orchestra. It was, for me, difficult to observe the orchestra with the film showing on the screen, competing interests (perhaps more evidence of ADD). The music was terrific, the films wonderful. We are motivated to hope to see the films -- only North by Northwest has been seen recently.

Saturday also was our first event without Vern. We picked Pat up at her house and drove her to DSO. Dinner was at Paradise Cafe at Orchestra Hall. She seemed to handle it well, perhaps better than we did--lots of emotions.

A find start to our cultural season which will be different without Vern.

Then there are the Lions...

Da Lions

played one of the most unusual and exciting games we have ever seen.

Scoring 34 points in a game is a feat for the Lions--scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter, WOW. (A new NFL record for points in a fourth quarter.)

We were worried about the outcome through three and a half quarters. The Lions played a good first quarter, then nothing for the next two. Both teams made crucial errors--blocked field goals, interceptions, fumbles, penalties. After three quarters the Lions established that they could not establish the run and went to the air for a couple scores. With about eight minutes left they had a long scoring drive which included (surprise) several well-blocked runs and finally a touchdown run by Kevin Jones. The Bears were not done. Down ten under two minutes, the Bears scored a touchdown. (The Bears had kicked a field goal with fourth and goal from the two, but accepted a Lion penalty for having a player line up over the center giving them fourth and goal from the one.) The onside kick was returned for a touchdown and that did it.

We sat amongst many Bears fans, most of whom were decent fans--passionate, vocal, jumping up and sitting down while we were sitting down and jumping up. But I tire of some visiting fans, those who are confrontational and threatening, who wave fingers at us, who turn around and tell us we're gonna get our a__es beat, who shake their favorite player's jersey at us after a score. Just go to the game, cheer for your team, stand up and applaud, yell and even scream, whistle, boo an official's call, and even chant "Let's go Bears." Any more than that is unacceptable.

As we walked around the stadium before the game, we came upon the wife and daughter of the late Charlie Ane, center for the '57 Lions, the last championship that was honored at halftime. I told them how much I enjoyed Charlie's play and that championship season. There were not many of us in the crowd who remember that team. It was the third championship for the Lions in the 50s. And we thought it would always be that way, that they would be in the hunt for the title. We're still waiting.

Next week is off to Washington to take on the Redskins and try for their first win there. (Not first win since such-and-such a year, just first win.)

Goooo Lions!

Stratford on Saturday

We saw an excellant performance of An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde's skewering of genteel Londoners. Great acting, great seats, great company, great weather, great food.

We left with Jim and Sandy early Saturday morning, picked up Bill and Dorothy in Marine City, and crossed the Blue Water Bridge after a short delay. We arrived to bright sun and cool temperatures in the 60s and strolled some of the downtown Stratford, Ontario streets before our lunch at Bentley's Restaurant in the heart of Stratford. Their gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches are not to be missed. Off to the Festival Theatre (there are four theatres in Stratford) to walk their gardens before the performance. We found a beautiful fall-blooming crocus that we intend to put in some of the flower beds next season.

On our return to US customs and immigration, after a much longer wait, the officer took our passports, asked about our travel, and then wanted to talk to Sandy. He is a former student of hers who spoke fondly of the books they read and the trips they took, especially to Meadow Brook Theatre to see A Christmas Carol. Such a small world.

Ten days in the northwest

After the Lions' victory over the Vikings we spent the night near the airport, rose at 3 am, shuttled to the airport at 4:30, and boarded our flight on Frontier Airlines to Denver. Changed planes for Seattle where Amy and Garrett picked us up.

The days were busy. We walked Spencer to school in the morning and home in the afternoon with Garrett accompanying us on his tricycle--up hill both ways!. Some days we stopped for morning coffee and a muffin or cinnamon roll on the way back. After school we all went to Spencer's soccer matches and Tae-kwon-do classes, then geared down with baths and showers, video games, and reading children's books together.

We took Garrett to Pacific Science Center in Seattle to see their dinosaur exhibit and an IMAX 3D about dinosaurs where Garrett sat with his feet straight out, munching his popcorn and sipping his drink, watching the tail of a dinosaur tail appear to swipe near our noses. Another day Garrett took us to Snoqualmie for a train ride and four train-related activities hosted by volunteers for the Northwest Railway Museum.

Our hike to Snoqualmie Falls was exciting--trees two hundred years old lying beside our trail, views of the valley through breaks in the trees, several varieties of slugs and beetles, benches to sit on and have our snack and hydration break with a view of the falls, and a return trip culminating in a challenging (for me) four hundred foot climb from the rail-trail up to their neighborhood playground.

We did find time to follow the Tigers' attempt to recover from their post-All Star game slide, Michigan's defeat of Penn State, MSU can of whoop-a__ they opened on ND, and the Lion debacle in the City of Brotherly Love (none shown for the Lions)

Landscape changes will be noticed--moved some things, trimmed others, and set many new plants (Kathy, mainly). Spencer and Garrett both love to play outdoors so we took them to parks and their backyard to swing and climb structures.

Learned about how to use a computer to help manage geogaching waypoint and cache information, and then used the info to grab a few caches (missed a few, too). And used a Skyscout to locate given stars and constellations, and, conversely, to identify them.

When we were ready to return, it was clear and sunny at the Reagan house but Amy returned from an errand to tell us she heard of flight delays out of Seatac airport. We checked and our flight was moved to an hour later. As we drove we could see the fog over Seattle that caused it. Mostly we had seen clouds in the mountains and clear below, but this was reversed. We did not mind because our layover in Denver was originally over three hours. (We purposely did that to accomodate everyone's schedule.) Smooth sailing home--not much traffic from Metro Airport to Romeo at 2:30 in the morning.

Great trip, had a ball. It's always good to be home.

How 'Bout Dem Lionz

It's been a long time since Lions were 2-0. Lions game against the Vikings at Ford Field Sunday was fun. It's been a long time since we've had a full house all the way to the finish. The game was not the prettiest (5 turnovers by each team) but it was fun.

Oh, My!!

To quote Keith Jackson about UM's slaughter of ND at The Big House.

Quick trip

Took quick two-day trip to Emerald Lake. Had some stuff to take up that has been sitting around Romeo for a while--mainly dishes from Aunt Ruth and an old (and I mean old--we had it in Oak Park in the kids' nursery!) white cabinet and hutch. (We got an even older, but much nicer, cabinet and hutch from Aunt Ruth so something had to go.)

Stopped on the way up Thursday in Clare for jewelry repairs and our first visit to Jay's, a large outdoor store similar to Gander Mountain (I like Jay's much better). We each finished the novels we were reading.

On Friday Kathy cut the grass and then got her hair cut. We stopped in Frankenmuth on the way home for chicken dinner and a short walk--had a birthday coupon for a free dinner. Weather has turned cooler so we did not walk very long.

What a day!

Almost too much excitement for my medicaid birthday.

Brenda called to wish me a happy birthday! That was special.

James called to wish me a happy birthday! That was special.

Kathy decorated a clipboard for me with pictures of me and Spencer and Garrett. That was special. She covered the oldest clipboard of mine she could find with paper, matted the pictures and mounted them on the board, and decorated with miniature tools and tool stickers. It now hangs on the pegboard in the workshop.

Kathy and I transplanted some day lilies. I'm not too old to help around the yard yet.

We then went to Tiger ballgame with Bill and Patti, had dinner at Tiger Club, saw Tigers win on two home runs and a fine pitching performance by Justin Verlander. Great tickets arranged by Brenda.

One great day. Thank you.

9/11

Two days in US history will "live in infamy." This is one. Always remember.

A trip to camp

Earlier this year Leo and Marci asked us if we would be interested in the 2007 Mackinac Bridge since this year is the 50th anniversary of its completion. It's something we've wanted to do for a long time so we said, "Yes."

Leo and Marci picked us up at 7 am Sunday morning. We were on our way to their cabin near Posen. Had breakfast in Hillman where we were served by the daughter of a relative of theirs. Their cabin used to be much more primative but Leo's dad renovated it into a two story, three bedroom (plus a bunk room), two bath house. It's used during the summer and especially during fall hunting seasons. We relaxed outside on the porch swing, chatted and drank some cool beverages. We drove to Presque Isle where we had a fine dinner overlooking Presque Isle marina, walked through some woods from the marina to Presque Isle light, the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes at 100 feet. Retruned to the cabin through Alpena and went to bed early because we were to rise at 4 am Monday for the bridge walk.

On Monday, we walked the bridge. It took us a while to get out of Mackinaw City after the bridge walk due to traffic congestion--seemed a little disorganized for such a big event. Stopped for lunch in Cheboygen, then Marci's sister, Rita, and her husband, Merle had everyone over to their house for dessert. In the evening, just before dusk, we arrived at Marci's brother's camp. They had numerous bear sightings and thought we would want to see one. It was nearly dark when we saw a moderate sized black bear enter camp. After a few mnutes it left, but we had our exciting sighting.

Tuesday we drove home taking first US 23 along Lake Huron through many small towns. Lakeside houses ranged from small to large, new to old, and interspersed with resorts and rental cabins. Some beachfront property, especially with the rentals. What I find most striking is the apparently good economic status of the region. Downtowns are well maintained with few vacancies. Economic health is also reflected in houses in this northeast quadrant of the lower peninsula which seem to be well cared for. They are in great shape, good repair, in contrast to those in the small towns around Emerald Lake and in the UP. Stopped at a couple interesting stores having unique furniture and accessories. Kathy fell in love with a corner stand so we bought it and rearranged the gear so we could cart it home. Dinner at Whitey's in Davison and then home.

Thanks to Leo and Marci for a great time.

We walked the Mackinaw Bridge

Above the Straits of Mackinac, St. Ignace to Mackinaw City, from the UP to the Mitten, Lake Huron on our left, Lake Michigan on our right. We were not alone. Leo and Marci, and her sister, Rita, and her husband, Merle, walked with us along with 57000 of our closest bridge-walking friends and 50 swimmers who swam the straits. We completed our walk in an hour and a half.

Our day began at 4 am when Leo awakened us outside blaring the car horn and yelling, "Let's go, people!" Packed the car and drove to pick up Rita and Merle a half hour away. Driving US-23, we watched the sun rise over Lake Huron and arrived in Mackinaw City about 6:30 am. Merle navigated us to convenient parking from where we walked a short distance to get in line for a bus to take us across the bridge to the St. Ignace starting point. Long lines of walkers moved slowly but steadily and we finally boarded our school bus. Traffic congestion attributed to an increased number of walkers kept us at a crawl and it took longer than veteran walkers remembered to cross to St. Ignace.

Looking out school bus windows we were impressed first by runners who began around 7 am and had gathered for pictures on our side after finishing their run, and then by the leading walkers who were already nearing the finish line as our bus began its ascent of the bridge (about 8 am). Then two five-mile lanes filled from one end to the other with walkers.

We were on the bridge in St. Ignace at 9 o'clock. I tried to establish a pace comfortable for me. It was slower than that of Kathy and the others but I was determined not to "go out too fast" and I didn't! Impressive views impossible when crossing by car. The sky overhead was clear, the sun warming us so we tied our windbreakers around our waists, a slight breeze keeping us comfortable.


Panoramic views: St. Ignace over my left shoulder, Mackinac Island and ferries shuttling passengers and raising rooster tails, Mackinaw City ahead, a freighter approaching the straits from our right, and the shores of the UP over my right shoulder. As I glanced over my right shoulder, I saw no signs of the still burning forest fire I first noticed returning from Canada on August 3. Support towers 360 feet (a football field) above us held observers stationed atop. The freighter sounded its horn approaching the bridge, passed under, then sounded again and turned north toward the Soo Locks and Lake Superior. Looking through the grate that forms the middle two lanes we could see the lower superstructure and the green water below.


After reaching the middle of the bridge the trek was all downhill so I increased my pace and could comfortably keep up with Kathy and the others. To our right was Fort Michimilimac and to our left the last group of swimmers made its way to the Mackinaw City beach.

Walkers of all shapes, sizes, and ages. There were families, groups of young people, young couples and older ones, babies and infants pushed in strollers, some people in wheel chairs, adult children helping their parents, and some people by themselves seemingly out for a good walk.



At the finish line I felt relief, satisfaction, pride. We had accomplished something we had intended to do for a long time. We got our certificates and then--now get this--walked around Mackinaw City shopping for T-shirts.

One great day!

Reagans at Emerald Lake

What an exciting week.

Picked up Brenda from Grand Rapids airport last Wednesday. On our way to Emerald Lake with her we visited Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in GR. Great display. Many important historical events in his partial term that I had forgotten--fall of Saigon, WIN for Whip Inflation Now, and the SS Mayaguez capture. In addition to the museum his burial spot is outside the museum as is a garden dedicated to Betty Ford.

James, Amy, Spencer and Garrett arrive in the middle of the night after driving out of a severe thunderstorm in northern Indiana. Unbeknownst to us the pump was not working to bring water into the house until they arrived, but the following morning Kelvin fixed the problem, a broken pressure switch.

Off to the circus in Evart. Cotton candy, elephants, jugglers, trapeze, trained dogs and horses, etc. The sounds and smells are distinctive. And as soon as it ended, workers were tearing down the bleachers and tent for their trip to the next stop.

Angie hosted a cookout and bonfire for the family--three generations laughing, telling stories, playing on Kamber's wood play structure, eating, laughing, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

Geocached around Evart, Reed City, and Big Rapids. Found some and had a couple stumpers. Still cannot find the multicache in Hemlock Park!

When the rainy weather sent us indoors, we tried bowling one day. Spencer and Garrett gave us a run for our money. Did not know alleys now have bumpers along the lanes to keep kids' balls (and mine, too) out of the gutters. I should get out more often.

Ranger rides took us out over our property and Kelvin's. We saw turkeys and deer, picked apples and berries. And rode through the woods.

The highlight for the boys might have been the fire station tour that Shane gave them. Sitting inside a fire truck and climbing up the outside, putting on the fire suit, and dragging a hose put smiles on two boys' faces.

The week at Emerald Lake put big smiles on our faces too.

The Lions win one that does not count

Shane and Justin came down from Evart to go with us at Ford Field for the Detroit Lions exhibition game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Since both had to be at work early Friday morning, we left with about ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, just after Cinci intercepted a deflected pass and returned it for a touchdown--seemed like the Lions were doomed. Didn't even listen to it on the radio on our ride back to Romeo. But we found out when we turned on the news at home that they had come back in the final minutes, dodged a bullet when the Bengel placekicker missed a short field goal that would have won the game.

The Lions starters started slow. Not unusual. They've had slow starts, both game-wise and season-wise, since the Millen-ium began. And the inability of the defense to quickly get the ball back in the hands of the offense is a concern again this season. There were a couple bright spots. Tatum Bell at running back with speed and cutting ability will probably keep Kevin Jones on the bench when Jones returns from injury. First round 2007 draft pick Calvin Johnson could be a good piece to make the offense consistent and dangerous--clean, crisp routes, good hands, and can jump! J.T. O'Sullivan was a surprise at quarterback, playing after starter Jon Kitna was taken out. He showed a quick release, accurate passes, and looked off defenders. Down side is he's 28 and has been with Saints, Packers, Vikings, and Panthers his five years in the league. Could be a sleeper. Let's hope regular season is not.

At this point, after a meaningless win, it looks as though the Lions will have to run up lotsa points to win.

Klotz Lake Fishing Camp

is north of Lake Superior on the northernmost east-west highway in Ontario. (Copy these coordinates and plug them into Google maps satellite or hybrid view to see the lake: n 49.79833333 w 085.8737333.)

Ken Dupuis, Jim Bade, and I drove two days there (only one day to drive home). The first day we took I-75 over the 50-year-old Mackinac Bridge to Sault Saint Marie where we crossed into Canada at the International Bridge. We continued to Wawa, Ontario where we spent the night in a chalet (a few stars below a resort!). Beautiful scenery, especially along the east end of Lake Superior--the lake, numerous bays, hills carved by glaciers.

The second day we went to White River, turned north through Hornepayne--the last gas station until Klotz Lake is in Hornepayne. Then west onHighway 11 about 55 miles to the camp--cabins on one side of the highway and the lake on the other.

Unpacked, loaded gear into the boat, and on the lake to fish. The lake is L-shaped, about five miles long parallel to highway 11 and two miles long on its east end perpendicular to the highway. Small islands jut above the eastern surface and a river requiring a couple portages connects it to Flint Lake to the north.

Our cabin had shower and bathroom (some cabins did not), two bedrooms, living/dining room, and kitchen. Not as rustic as I anticipated. Former Romeo JHS teacher and coach Hank Dupuis and his 12-year-old son, Nick, were in our cabin along with Al Curtis (retired colleague at SHS) and his brother Paul.

My main catches were walleyes about 16" and great northern pike between 20" and 25". Ken Dupuis and Jim Bade were my usual fishing partners, experienced fishermen who coached me to catch fish. (I am pretty good at fishing but not so hot catching!) Hank took me in his boat a couple times with Nick and gave me many fishing pointers.

We had a fish fry with our first day's catch, but after that we had non-fish meals. We wanted to take fish home; in addition Ken and Al did our shopping at Sam's Club and bought so much food for the week we were concerned it would be wasted.

A second cabin housed another group, from Almont mainly. Roger lost his motor in 15 feet of water. Scott and Hope dove to find it but the bottom was too silty to see well so a diver was hired and he located it the next day within ten minutes. We played some cards -- Texas Hold 'Em (no money) and Euchre. As everyone packed fishing gear the last night they showed me lures they brought and explaind what the different shape, color, and size were designed to catch.

Weather got very hot during afternoons but cooled off at night. On the last day I was hoping to catch a couple more walleye and have Al coach me through filleting them with his electric fillet knife, but the wind was so strong it blew us away from the good fishing holes. Not good fishing.

Our nature sitings included eagles and their nest, foxes and bears, but no moose. Returning down I-75 in the UP we saw smoke from a forest fire that at times drifted across the road.

A fun trip--fine fishing with good friends.

Mom's car

can now be parked in the garage.

After some reflection 1

Last week we lost a dear friend.

Julius was my mother's second husband (they married shortly after my dad died when James was three months old). But more than that, and more important than that, Julius was James' and Brenda's grandpa, Grandpa Popp.

After some reflection 2

Last week we lost a dear friend.

Vern helped us open our eyes, our ears, and our minds.

• The Fisher and Masonic Temple, Meadowbrook and Purple Rose, Bonstelle and Hillberry, and community theatres.
• World-renowned DSO, street musicians, and Michelle singing the National Anthem.
• Coach Insignia, Agave, and Joey's Meatcutter restaurants.
• History and reminiscences of Detroit, and future renovations.
• Clam chowder, chocolate mousse, and popcorn.
• Eastern market, Greenfield Village, and CityFest.
• Callahan Hall, the O'rena, and Matthai gym.
• Ford Field, Comerica Park, and Tiger Stadium.
• COTS, Humane Society, and panhandlers.
• Bamboo, hostas, and tomatoes.

So many fun memories.

Daylilies

are in their peak blooming period. And Kathy has hers healthy and showy.

Some daylilies from Marietta can be seen in the back near the top of the gully. Some from Brian can be seen along the sides of the gully that has been cleaned of weeds, planted, and mulched. and another on the right on the top tier.

Especially beautiful is the spider type near the center at about 4 o'clock. On this tier beside the garage are Marietta's.

The two tiers continue their curve behind the garage where Patti's daylilies bloom on the ground level and Amy's on the first level. (The cream can covers the well head and came from Ed.)

Fabulous colors, shapes, and sizes.

Here are some individuals that I like best.

Kids

We attended two events recently that, unknown to us at the time, were designed with kids in mind.

On Tuesday we entered the Fisher Theatre to see High School Musical and were greeted with pre-teen to early-teen kids and their parents filling the lobbies. Disney first made the movie and then the television series of the same name and it attracted a large following but I had no idea the following would be so young. The production was excellent. The story is about a jock and a geek (I do not particularly like this word and seldom use it since it has negative connotation associated with it, but it will have to do in this case) falling in love and eventually gain the support of their "groups" so they can participate in the high school musical and become romantically closer. (Some aspects of West Side Story--love story, Jets and Sharks--but without violence.) Many high school stereotypes--coach, drama teacher, jocks, drama queen, and intellectuals or geeks. Good story and good message to to kids about fitting into different groups, having different interests, and being tolerant of differences. And these kids in the audience seemed to get it as evidenced by their enthusiastic applause and cheers. I was impressed with how well the kids behaved--shows good parental guidance.

Last night we went to the Palace to see the Detroit Shock play Phoenix Mercury. We had vouchers for free tickets that we got at Detroit CityFest on Friday, and decided to upgrade at the box office to get seats closer to the court. As we walked in the main entrance a sign welcomed one and all to Kids Day! The kids were enthusiastic (read loud), especially during the timeout giveaways as they tried for free pizza and shirts. The Shock won handily after a slow first half, helped by scoring a league record 40 points in the third period. Fun time!

(I have had looping in my brain a fun song about kids from Bye, Bye Birdie that seems timeless.)

I hardly recognize the place

With painting all done, we installed the pegboard and assembled the workbench and three rolling cabinets for the workshop.

Then three tall cabinets in the garage area finished the Gladiator work. Now to organize and fill up the those storage pieces!!!

Getting closer.

A trip to the lake

The last five days at Emerald Lake were terrific. Working, fishing, shopping, visiting, and relaxing. Great weather.


On the way up Thursday we stopped at Birch Run and bought a few things we needed, but we could not find the right size sandals for Kathy. We had late lunch at Bennigan's in Midland and more shopping. Trip took longer than usual with all the stops.


Worked on old lawn tractor for part of Friday. On last trip we noticed an intermittent starting problem and it was getting more frequent. We thought it was pto switch so we stopped on our way up at John Deere dealer north of Almont and bought one . Put in the new one but it would not start; put old one back in and still would not start. Put in new one again thinking perhaps I messed up connections, but still no good. Must be something more complicated than swapping out switches.

Should we take the 20-year-old tractor to a dealer and get it fixed? It will still be old and perhaps just as unreliable. We decided we don't want to spent the first day of each visit to the lake working on tractor. Let's just go to Big Rapids to a JD dealer and get a new one. Found one we liked, made a deal, they took old tractor as trade-in along with snow thrower, set delivery for Saturday--all is right with the world.


Dinner after JD purchase at Ruby Tuesday, then on to Menard's and Lowe's (interestingly they sit adjacent to each other and across the road from adjacent Meijer and Walmart stores). Found collapsible saw horses, pegboard hooks, and storage shelf unit for Romeo, and potential paint color for EL.


Saturday morning Kathy went to town to get her hair done by Ellen. A call from JD dealer moved up delivery to mid-morning. We hoped the old tractor would start (it did for Kathy last night after I put the old pto switch back in). Driver missed the driveway on his first pass but then found it coming back south--I heard his truck and trailer rattle up the drive. He offloaded the new one, started the old one and loaded it along with the snow thrower onto the trailer. We then chatted a bit -- an essential part of small town commerce.

When Kathy got home with a fantastic do she told me the Expedition was misfiring. Lee had just walked over with Carlee and Addison so he and I took a look and decided it would be ok to drive it back to Romeo with the misfire, but should not otherwise be driven unless an emergency.

Later Saturday Lee and I went fishing. Carlee began with us but soon wanted to go up to the house and play. Carrie and Addison were there with Kathy. Not many fish caught--couple big enough for Lee to take home later that night. One that I caught seemed to be smaller than the bait I was using.

Sunday we worked on property. Kathy used new lawn tractor and cut grass. Trimmed near road and also got rid of some old dead fallen trees. Later we cleared the area going down to the lake.

Left early Monday morning to be sure we had time in case something happened to Expedition besides the miss. It ran rough but at higher rpms it ran smoother than at lower rpms and up grades. We would not have liked to have driven the same distance home in hills or mountains.

Found out Tuesday the miss was caused by a bad coil and also that the muffler was leaking.

An interesting and eventful trip!!!

The Garage

1. The new drywall is up, taped, and compound applied -- all in just over a year!!!2. The workshop side needs pegboard on the left wall but that will be after we paint.

3. The back wall was never finished so that was finally done. You can see it beyond the stuff piled in the center of the garage floor. New cabinets are still in boxes.

4. We are hoping to prime the walls in the next couple days. Then paint after that.
I'm glad I did my first drywall job on the garage. Not many people will see my mistakes. I learned much, made many mistakes, and finally finished it.

Hats Off

Last weekend Kathy co-captained a team that participated in the Relay for Life Troy event.

She spent the entire 24 hours at the event, walking many hours to ensure someone from team was on the track at all times -- a feat not many of us could have accomplished, especially me. The walk was interrupted about an hour and a half by a thunder and lightening storm; teams took shelter in the Troy Community Center adjacent to the site and returned to rain-soaked tents and soggy grass. And they persevered

In addition Kathy devoted hours planning and organizing her team, attending orientation and update meetings, and preparing for the event. Especially impressive was their team sign that held pictures of loved ones affected by cancer, both survivors and not.

Her team raised nearly $5000 for the American Cancer Society. And the 33 teams combined for over $160 000.


Kathy and her team have my admiration and respect.

An Empty Nest Again

Mother raccoon and her tribe have finally left. They lived in our fireplace chimney for about six weeks. We first noticed them because of the little ones' "barking" that must have been shortly after birth. Leo volunteered to help us get rid of them, but with the babies it was more difficult. We did not want to do anything to endanger them.

Kathy kept climbing up on the roof at night when mother goes out to feed and with flashlight in hand peered down the flue to see how the little ones were doing. "They're still there and growing." She would also check by rattling the fireplace screen and would get a noisy response and that also clued us they were still around.

Yesterday Kathy rattled the screen again to get their response and there was none. Up on the roof to check. This time no baby raccoons.

Kathy capped the fireplace flue and cleaned up the mess in the fireplace that fell through the damper.

Now for the state bird of Michigan. A couple robins are trying to build nests on beams extending over the outside decks. But we keep knocking down the nesting material because we do not want to deal with any more little ones.

De ja vu

Another double loss to Cleveland teams by Tigers and Pistons--they also did this previously, last weekend.

First the Tigers go down to the Indians. Four losses in a row to the Tribe in seven days. Tiger injuries are mounting and so are critical losses. We now see how important few injuries was to the Tiger team of 2006 compared to the number of injuries this year: starting pitching (3 at one time or other), relief pitching (3), left side of infield (2). On a positive note they are still second place in the division and Magglio is having a great season.

Then the Pistons drop critical game five at home to go down three games to two to the Cavaliers. Quite a show by LaBron James. Are we seeing the officiating begin shade their calls in his favor? If he did not have a technical foul from earlier in the game, would he have been given a technical late in the game for bumping a Piston after a foul call? When a player bumps him slightly on a drive, why is that a foul when it isn't for other players? The inconsistency in calls makes one wonder. (Of course, Pistons winning makes the inconsistencies moot.)

Emerald Lake

still has the same number of fish it did last week. Kelvin took me out for a half day of fishing, and showed me new techniques and lures. I learned a lot but caught little. If we learn so much by our failures, why am I not a great fisherman by now? But I had a great time nonetheless.


We spent five days visiting, fixing, reading, cleaning.


Saw Addison--Lee and Carrie's new baby girl. She is really cute, slept the whole time we visited (she's only a few weeks old), and has just about the puffiest cheeks ever.


Kathy worked inside while I got equipment going after it sat all winter. Everything started surprisingly easy. One battery needed charging but it is nearly 10 years old. Lee fixed a tire (thanks Lee) so Kathy could mow--Lee had mowed once earlier (thanks Lee).


As we cleared some brush near the entrance to the drive, we came across a woodcock, probably disturbed her nest. We found out later they are not usually seen because of their coloring so we feel fortunate.

We are looking forward to our next trip.

Finally

the Pistons got rid of the pesky Bulls. Have to hand it to the Bulls. They won two more games than I thought after game three. They shot well in those two games but in game six they seemed to come back down to earth. Kudos to their team, Scott Skiles, and their management. They will have to be reckoned with over the next few years.

Why do Chicago fans permit Detroit teams and fans to get under their skins, to become so irritated that they chant obscenities and insults? And why couldn't you stay in the arena and give your team a hand for a terrific season and playoff. Arrogant and spoiled, perhaps.

And Rasheed, sometimes you just have to suck it up, recognize that some calls are going to go the other way and will even out over time, and quit putting pressure on your team to make up for the points you give away.

My sense is the winner of Cavs/Nets series will not fair as well as Chicago did. Both teams are slower, worse long-range shooters, and worse defenders. Pistons in five.

Weathering the storms

Quite a storm last night. Winds blew rain and hail horizontal--warnings of 70 mph winds were on target. I left a couple door walls open and the winds blew in so strong that rain sprayed onto the top of the kitchen counter getting salt and pepper shakers sitting there wet up to their tops. Leaves are stuck to the door wall windows up to the top and on the siding. Only one large branch came down. Now for a little cleanup.

The Chicago Bulls stormed into the Palace making it interesting against the Pistons by winning two straight after the Pistons won the first three. I was wrong about the Pistons sweeping if they won the third game--so much for my picks.

Pistons did something similar to this last year against Cleveland Cavaliers--got off to great start and then had to struggle to win the series. That seemed to take something out of them and they lost to Miami in the conference championship--perhaps they were just not as good as Miami last year.

We shall see what happens Thursday as they return to Chicago for game six.

On the other hand the Red Wings blasted the Ducks 5-0 Tuesday in a surprising offensive show. They now have home ice back in their favor.

And the Tigers showed they can play with anyone as they beat up on the Boston Red Sox Tuesday. After giving up a first inning run, Justin Verlander shut the Sox down until the eighth inning while Ordonez supplied all the runs they would need with a 3-run homer in the third. Still atop the Central Division.

Joey visited

for a couple days. We went to dinner both evenings, once for Mexican at Peppers, the other at a new Irish Tavern in Romeo that replaced the old Fifth Corner (Ida retired and the kids would not take over the business).

Saturday Joey and I walked part of the new Orchard Trail, a paved trail along an abandoned railroad bed. We walked from 32 Mile Road to 30 Mile Road and back. Found one cache along the stretch. Great day, sunny and cool with a stiff north wind.

Joey is visiting Paula's parents in Redford. He visited with Julius, Sylvia, and Abby for about four hours Friday on his way out to see us. Today he returned to Redford, will help Toivo (Paula's dad) find a car to buy, then will fly back to on Tuesday. A busy week for him.

It was good to have him here. Got some new insights into our childhood, the influence of our parents on us, some of my cousins, and my grandparents.

We hope to visit him on our next venture to the Pacific northwest.

Pistons versus Bulls

has been an interesting series, just as I blogged earlier that it would be. The interesting part, however, is how easily the Pistons have beaten the Bulls in their first two games at the Palace.

Detroit has had slow starts in first quarters, even first halves, during the regular season. But in this Bulls series they have gotten off to early double-digit leads and have increased the margin from there.

Pistons' guard play is overwhelming the guards of Chicago. In the first game the Pistons offense went to Chauncey Billups early and forced Ben Gordon to play defense, something he did not have to do too much against Miami, resulting in early Gordon fouls. In game two Richard Hamilton joined the scoring and put pressure on Kirk Hinrich. In addition the Pistons have had superior play at the other three positions.

And during the weeklong layoff after the Miami sweep by the Bulls and Orlando sweep by the Pistons, Chicago sports talk shows had been looking ahead to the Bulls in the conference finals.

We will see how the Bulls respond at the United Center on Thursday. If Detroit wins Thursday, I doubt that Chicago will win the fourth game.

A break from drywalling

Fishing day was fun. Monday morning Ken picked me up, then went to Don's house and rode with him to his cottage on Lake Louise where we met Henry. Off to breakfast first--bad luck, I guess, to fish on an empty stomach, not sure, I am new to this.

Had a little luck, caught a few--sunfish, crappie, bluegill. Others caught a few bass but nothing else. Sunny all day but windy at times. Got a little sunburn on my face.

On way home in the afternoon we stopped for ice cream cones at locally famous Cook's Farm Dairy.

Now to learn how to fish...

Who's Dumb Enough To Pay For That?

Me, I suppose. I bought a portable XM radio this week via Amazon.com, activated a subscription and am now listening to Sly Stone on Channel 6, commercial-free music of the 1960s. I love the categories and variety of choices available, much of it commercial free.

I said the same thing when cable television first became available. Who's gonna pay for TV when they can see TV for free? Being commercial free was its main attraction, but that lasted only so long. Needless to say they have the business model close to correct--cable channels are different from over-the-air channels. Eventually we subscribed to cable TV (Brenda was recovering from one of her surgeries here and she needed it to pass the day) and have had it since. Not that there is a whole lot to watch, but it does have sports that interest us, especially our local pro teams.

It took me longer to get cable television than XM radio. Perhaps XM being included in our new car had something to do with it. I really enjoyed having XM on my solo drive to Nashville. Decades music, comedy (why do comedians have to use profanity when it does nothing for their story?), jazz and bluegrass, soul, and some talk radio.

Now my next question. Who would ever rent movies?

Pistons vs Bulls

• Pistons swept Orlando and Bulls swept Miami.
• Bulls won season series from Pistons 3-1.
• Pistons had Ben Wallace, Bulls now have him.
• Pistons are veterans of playoffs (one championship, two finals, several conference finals).
• Bulls are young and energetic.
• Pistons have Flip Saunders who played at U Minnesota.
• Bulls have Scott Skiles who played at Michigan State U.
• Pistons coach is reputed to be best coach of offenses in league.
• Bulls coach has molded a team with good young players.
• Pistons like the half-court game, run their offense.
• Bulls like to run.

Should be a fun series. Go Pistons.

The Crabtrees

invited some friends to celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary with them over dinner at the Bavarian Inn restaurant Frankenmuth, Michigan. Chicken and ribs--the ribs a first for us--family style with good stories and good-natured kidding. Marietta's maid of honor Rae Ann and her husband Foster were there also.

After dinner a stop at their bakery for a few goodies. Then on to Birch Run outlet mall to pick up some items, notably four pairs of Bounce tennis shoes for Kathy, a style she has not been able to find for many years.

Ein guter Tag wurde von allen gehabt.

Fascinating Exhibit

at the Detroit Science Center called Our Body: The Universe Within.

Yesterday we went to the exhibit with Leo and Marci who is a nurse and found it especially interesting. This has been in the plans for some time and finally our schedules meshed.

The exhibit displays specimens of the human body usually seen only by doctors and scientists showing us bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, etc. Some displays are whole body, some are parts. One whole-body display showed all the muscles, another all the bones, another nerves. Some case displays showed organ comparisons like cancerous lung and healthy one, enlarged stomach and ulcerated one.

The exhibit was so stimulating, had so much visual information, that at the end of the two-hour tour I felt mentally and physically exhausted. I could take only so much.

The body is remarkably complex. There are so many things in so many places that can go wrong that it is a wonder it does so well for so long.

After the body exhibit we "played" with exhibits in the science area--generating electricity, lifting half-ton weight, testing dexterity, and so on.

On our way home we had lunch at Detroit's Breakfast House and Grill on Merchant's Row, one of Robert Porcher and associates' several restaurants. Stuffed French toast, chicken and waffles, meat-lovers frittata, and seafood omelet. Delicious.

Great trip.

Into the Woods

is a musical presented at Bonstelle Theatre, the undergraduate performance venue for Wayne State University students.

The first act of Into the Woods reviews the major events and happy endings of several fairy tales including Jack and his beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, all living in the same kingdom. Then the second act follows up on the happy endings and shows us what might have happened if time were to progress past the happy endings and the giant's wife, angry over the loss of her husband, had confronted the people of the kingdom.

I am always impressed with the level of the students' performances. Singing, dancing, acting, speaking all indicate successful days in their future days in professional theater.

Can't We Blame Someone?

Those same talking heads who posed speculative questions about the three Duke University lacrosse players are now posing questions about how the shootings at Virginia Tech were handled .

As with every serious incident, whether criminal or not, whether someone is killed or personal files are compromised, events and actions surrounding the incident will be investigated and corrections to the process will be implemented. Let's wait for their report.

Dinner with the Waltons

The Waltons live in Huntington Woods just north and west of Rackham Golf Course, a few miles from our first house in Oak Park. Bobbi and Denny invited ten of us join them for a reunion of sorts on Sunday.

Bobbi prepared a sumptuous meal. Beef tenderloin, two different salads, twice-baked potatoes, rolls, and green bean casserole. Both red and white wine and a couple sparkling drinks. Coffee and tea accompanied her grandmother's carrot cake for dessert.

Most of us are retired, most are getting social security, all grandparents. Six of us were confirmed into Truth Lutheran Church together back in the day where I grew up in Detroit.

Randy, Doyle, Ken and I (who were at the dinner) along with Ken Jones, Dan, and Jerry were best of friends through our teen years and even kept in close touch through college. Then, as the song goes, "those wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine." I have been fortunate to reconnect with them after a period of time, once at another reunion at Bev's and at a couple funerals.

Then a heated game of Pictionary--how do you draw a picture of ugly? Lots of laughs, poor drawings, and random guesses.

A wonderful time yesterday with a summer get together at Doyle's and Pat's is in the works.

Color the Imus Issue Green

The Imus issue is not black, white, brown, or pink. The color I see in the proceedings is green.

Imus said those things because past history made it clear that such talk got good enough ratings to attract sponsors.

Sharpton and Jackson got into it because it adds to their attraction with groups willing to contribute to their causes and pay their speakers' fees.

Program sponsors abandoned the program because they did not want much of the fallout from the events to hit them; although those types of rants are common on his show, the sponsors continued their support as long as they felt their sponsorship contributed to their bottom lines.

CBS and MSNBC dropped them for similar reasons--sponsorships seemed to be failing.

Cable news shows continued their coverages because viewership would probably be up and their sponsors would be happy (as soon as they see viewership dropping they will drop the subject).

The only group seemingly not in it for the green is the Rutgers University women's basketball team. They accepted an apology and are moving on from there. (Some cynics might argue that even there the publicity will likely help Rutgers U attract better recruits and more paying fans to their basketball games, and so it is still green. I do not see that as their motivation--they seem to be innocent bystanders hit by shrapnel.)

Our free enterprise system exemplified.

MeadowBrook Theatre

presented Macbeth last night. I don't recall having seen a Shakespeare tragedy before, and I will have to think hard about seeing one again. The set was terrific and the acting superb, distinguishing features of MBT. But it took an enormous effort on my part trying to understand the dialogue. By the end I was tired and understood only about 10% of the dialogue. It's good for me this is his shortest tragedy.

When reading Shakespeare, I don't get as tired (granted, I don't read much by the Bard). But when reading I look at the notes, check word definitions, and re-read sections for better understanding.

I should have at least read a synopsis before hand. Lesson learned.

The next MBT show is a musical tribute to the Andrews Sisters who gave us their famous rendition of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy during WWII (Bette Middler had a fine rendition herself). Now that's my kind of music; I love the music of that era though I have little recollection of WWII itself.

Lookout Mountain

provides a spectacular view of Chattanooga.

On our drive with Brenda to Chattanooga this morning, the three of us had brilliant sunny skies and cold temperatures. The closer we got, the more interesting the terrain--bigger hills, even some mountains, Tennessee River. Interestingly I-24 dipped into Georgia for a short stretch just before reaching Chattanooga.

And the city is very interesting. Unfortunately we visited on the Saturday before Easter Sunday when many other families decided they would join us. That meant long lines for the aquarium, very few tickets for the IMAX version of Happy Feet. Can't imagine what it must be like in the summer!

We had lunch at a highly recommended rib joint and were not disappointed. Later we took a driving tour of the city and Lookout Mountain.

On our return to Nashville we got off the interstate and took some of the old highway between Nashville and Chattanooga, along the Tennessee River and then into farming country.

A fun day trip. And a return visit is in store.

The Highest Waterfall East of the Rockies

is in the largest state park in Tennessee, Fall Creek Falls State Park. So we went there this morning.

Driving east and then south the hills began to roll more and more. The roads entering the park had us switchback up one side and then down the other side of a very good-sized hill.

We parked and dressed for the hike to the falls--it was in the low 40s so some outerwear was important. We found the trail to the falls behind the visitor center. First took a side trail to the cascades below the falls.

Then the trail to the falls took us on a swinging bridge over the entrance to the cascades, up one and down a hill, across the two streams that feed the falls.

Around the far side for a spectacular view from an overlook.

There seemed to be more people at the overlook than we saw on the trail, looking not nearly as tired from their walk. We watched some of them as they left the overlook walk down a path different from the one we just took. They were returning to their cars parked in a lot not 100 steps from the overlook! But we had the experience of hiking the trail to the overlook. And the hike back to the car.

The return trip to Hermitage that afternoon took us out of the park on the same scenic road that we took in. But instead of taking the interstate we got on US 70, the old road from Nashville to Knoxville. Off the interstate we saw a few farms, mostly livestock. A few small towns and of course a reservoir or two.

Great drive, great walk, great scenery, great day.

Geocached

today and found two more by the Percy Priest Lake Dam. Great day with temps in high 40s to mid-50s, sunny, but at times a stiff breeze. Still one cache we cannot locate. Spent the better part of an hour searching. Understand it went missing just before our last search in December and had been replaced, but again no luck. Maybe next time.

Kathy with cache at Percy Priest Lake Dam

Seemed strange to us to hear Nashville weathercasters warning listeners that we are in for about four days "like the dead of winter". But when compared to their averages for January, our next few days will be much like them--lows near 30, highs near 50. Sunday night is to be near mid-20s. Checked Romeo and they are about 15 degrees colder and snow showers--Tigers game cancelled due to cold. I now realize why many people move to Tennessee.

A Woman Gets Out of Her Red Convertible

and she has the top down. Parked beside us at a strip mall near Nashville. Beautiful day, sunny, warm, just what one wants for a convertible. She walked past the back of her car, turned with the key fob poised in her hand, pointed it at the car and pressed the lock button--I heard the door locks click. That taken care of, she walked off to the store.

I hope that's not how our federal government approaches national security.

Basketball Offense Has Changed Dramatically

Player and ball movement has given way to dribbling and banging. Ohio State men's basketball team is a prime example. Give the ball to a quick penetrating guard, step back out of his way, let the post player pop out or slash across the lane. If you cannot get the ball to the big man, penetrate and either bang into a defender (hoping to draw a foul as you shoot) or kick the ball to a wing for a three-point jumper. The other three players beside the guard and post just make themselves available for a pass and shoot if open or pass out to the top of the key to begin again. If that does not work, start over with another guard.

Coaches believe this offense produces wins rather than the talent-offense interaction, and they adopt it for college and high school. (Tommy Amaker lost his job at UM because he could not recruit the talent required for this offence and did not recognize he lacked the talent necessary to run such an offense and did not install another offence more suited to his players.) With talent it will work. Of course, with enough talent any offense will work; and if you have enough talent to win, design any offense and you will be copied and called an offensive genius.

Another factor in accepting the new offense is the way the game is officiated. Offensive players who cause contact are rewarded by foul calls against the defensive player. As such, it is more important to dribble-drive to penetrate and make contact than to pass and move. In my humble estimation only about 10% of charging fouls are actually called--a great reward to the dribbler-driver who initiates contact. Much the same can be said for post players and their moves to bump a defender off their defensive position to gain advantage either in position or to clear out to attempt a shot. Not many great passing big men any more, are there?

And that's the way it is.

One of these days I may embrace it.

State Class A and Class B Semifinals

were held at the Breslin Center on MSU campus in E Lansing on Friday.

A former student of mine had an extra tickets for the four games, called me earlier in the week and offered them to me, and I went. Second year going with Bill and his son Matt and a few of Bill's friends from his church connections.

We had breakfast at a family restaurant at 17 Mile and Mound, just down the road from Bill's house, then packed six of us into his van for the ride to the Breslin (last year I drove). Lots of high school sports talk so I catch up on Utica Schools sports gossip, especially Stevenson High School.

Four very good games, two each in Class A and Class B. Most impressive was Saginaw High School with its great team speed and outside shooting.

Also Class A Warren De LaSalle, from Macomb County, gave Redford HS all it could handle in the other semifinal game. Up by five at the half, they finally succumbed to the game-long full court pressure losing by 6. Manny Harris of Redford was announced as Mr. Basketball earlier in the week but De LaSalle kept him in check most of the game holding him to about 15 points, nearly half his season average and well below his previous game's 42 points.

In Class B we saw Detroit Country Day win over previously undefeated Stevensville-Lakehore. DCD has Joe Dumar's son, Jordan, a 6-5 215 sophomore coming off the bench. I'll keep an eye on him over the next couple years.

I see many friends there who are also hs bball fans--some former and current coaches, some retired teachers, and some people who worked on education projects with me.

Many consider this day better than the day of finals since we see two Class A games and two Class B games, usually eight of the top teams in the state and some of the best players. I also enjoy the day of finals and recall fondly taking James and Todd to Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor several times for them.

A fun day if you are like me and really enjoy high school basketball. I look forward to next year.

A Great High School Basketball Game

between our local Romeo High School Bulldogs and the Pontiac Northern Huskies Wednesday night. The best high school games I have seen in a very long time though we lost by a point in overtime.

Romeo jumped out to a seven point lead after the first quarter but Pontiac Northern cut into the lead in small chunks until the third quarter when PN jumped to a five point lead I attribute mainly to the PN press against a team having little game experience against their quickness. But to the amazement of most fans, the Bulldogs catch them. Seesaw through the fourth quarter and we are tied at the end of regulation. In overtime the teams play very close until eventually PN makes a two-pointer to take a one-point lead with 11.9 seconds on the clock. A Romeo timeout produces a play that gets a running one-hander from about 8 feet--too high off the backboard it bounces off the front of the rim and the Dawgs lose by one point.

A 22-1 season earns this team a spot in RHS record book with the most wins by a boys basketball team.

More impressive is the way the players conducted themselves all season, a team humble in victory and gracious in defeat (at a time when players, coaches, and fans that want to not just win games but to humiliate opponents).

This team returns their most versatile and talented player Blake Cushingberry next season and a group of juniors who got prime time playing time throughout the season.

We will follow them again next year.

GO DAWGS!