Tag Archives: michigan

Jun16

make fudge, not war.

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through the generations, murdick’s fudge on mackinac island

has been recognized as an iconic michigan favorite.

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with 17 fudge shops on the celebrated historical mackinac island of michigan,

all offering free samples,

there is an ongoing rivalry between 6 rival companies,

each claiming to be the best.

my suggestion is to try them all to make it a fair contest

and decide for yourself.

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Mackinac Island fudge1

mackinac island fudge festival | august 21-23, 2015
while fudge was not invented on mackinac island, mackinac island’s fudge has become the most popular fudge in america. this festival celebrates the creamy goodness with events such as Dining Under the Influence of Fudge, Fudge on the Rocks, Michigan Craft Brew Beer Tastings, Great Turtle Slow Ride and the coveted “Daddy, I Want the Golden Ticket” vacation giveaway.

happy national fudge day – june 16

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save the earth. it’s the only planet with chocolate. ~author unknown

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MACKINAC ISLAND

Covering 3.8 square miles, Mackinac Island is located in Lake Huron at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsula. It is only accessible by ferry or plane. • The island was home to Native American settlements before European exploration began in the 1600s.

It also was a key site for the Great Lakes Fur Trade and was home to Fort Mackinac, built by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the scene of two battles during the War of 1812. In the late 19th century, the island became a popular tourist destination and summer colony, and that popularity gets stronger by the summer.

The entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Battle sites, historic buildings, the fort, and dozens of additional diversions, including Original Murdick’s Fudge, entertain visitors.

Because automobiles were banned from the village in 1898, and from the park in 1901, on-island transit is by foot, horse, carriage and bicycle.

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image credits: mackinacisland.com, originalmurdicksfudge.com, michigan.com

May1

blow trumpet, for the world is white with may. – alfred, lord tennyson

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 may in michigan

Apr27

‘our pleasures were simple – they included survival.’ – dwight d. eisenhower

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LUCE COUNTY, MI — Two sisters who were missing for nearly two weeks in a remote area of the Upper Peninsula survived on Girl Scout Cookies and cheese puffs.

Lee Wright, 56, and Leslie Roy, 52, were weak but otherwise seemed to be in good condition when a state police helicopter rescued them Friday from a two-track road in northern Luce County, where their Ford Explorer became stuck in deep snow on April 11. The women stayed with the vehicle, which had died earlier this week.

The out-of-state residents relied on eight boxes of Girl Scout Cookies and cheese puffs for food, as well as snow for water.

“It is unbelievably remarkable,” said Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Jeff Marker, who was one of four rescuers aboard the helicopter. “They had multiple layers of clothes on and they were rationing their food.”

Marker said the helicopter had been searching in the area for about two and a half hours when a sergeant spotted a glimmer in the woods about 2:20 p.m. Friday. That glimmer turned out to be the SUV’s windshield.

“We circled and we could see the vehicle, and then they came out of their vehicle waving their arms,” Marker said.

Wright, from Oklahoma, and Roy, from Nebraska, were traveling in the Upper Peninsula and had visited family in Ishpeming. They were last seen by relatives April 10. The sisters had planned to stay at a Mackinaw City hotel the following day but never arrived.
Their SUV got stuck in snow along Crisp Point Road, about three miles west of Crisp Point Lighthouse on Lake Superior. The road, just wide enough for one vehicle, was impassable, Marker said. Trees line the road.

The women said they tried to call 911 several times but didn’t have cell phone service.
Friday’s rescue came after the second day of searching by helicopter, Marker said. One of the women earlier had sent a Facebook message to a relative inquiring about Tahquamenon Falls, so police homed in on the area.

“Basically there was some mention on a possibility of one of the things they wanted to visit was the Tahquamenon Falls,” Marker said.

Once they landed the helicopter on a beach, police hiked for about 25 minutes to reach Wright and Roy in the woods.

“When we pulled up, they grabbed their purses and Lee Wright clutched onto her Bible and both women were very happy,” Marker said. “It was hugs all around.”

After expressing their relief, the women mentioned that a bear had visited their vehicle two nights in a row.

“They knew it wasn’t rescuers coming for them because rescuers would have flashlights,” Marker said the women told police.

Police called for backup assistance so the women wouldn’t have to hike out the woods. Prior to help arriving, a Grand Rapids family driving four wheelers gave them a ride to the helicopter.

The sisters reunited with family at Luce County Airport and were transported to Helen Newberry Joy Hospital in Newberry for precautionary medical evaluations and treatment.
“The family’s very relieved,” Marker said.

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story and photo credits: Angie Jackson and John Tunison – MLive

Jan27

happy 178th birthday to my state of michigan

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and thanks for being in a the shape of a mitten

so i can always show where i’m from

or where i’m going

or where i got lost

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and thanks for both peninsulas

i love both of you

and thanks for being surrounded by the 5 great lakes so i never go thirsty

and for being so close to canada so i can travel internationally

great-lakes

i know you’ve had some rough years

but you look pretty good for your age

at least to me.

Jul14

a child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer. ~author unknown

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how many minnows are in there?

what’s that thing?

is that place far away?

how many different colors are in there?

where did the sun go?

why is that bigger than my head?

who’s turn is it?

—

sittin’ on a dock on a bay…..

address:

on glen lake up north in michigan

Jun28

naked? with gravy? with ketchup?

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the more time i spend in the “always interesting” world of online dating, the more i’m amazed by the many options and specialized sites that appear. npr recently featured the latest in michigan dating sites: yooper. singles.com.

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for those of you not familiar with the state of michigan, it’s made up of two peninsulas. the lower peninsula, and the more remote and rustic, upper peninsula. the upper peninsula (u.p.), is where the ‘yoopers’ live. originally settled by the native americans, and later the cornish and finns who came to work in the mining and logging industry, they have their own dialect, and have tried off and on to become their own state. much to their dismay, they are still a part of our state as of this posting.

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one of the food mainstays for these hardy working people were pocket sandwiches/pies known as pasties. filled with root veggies, and with or without meat or fish, a pasty is considered an art form in the u.p., with recipes passed on through generations.

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and just like people from every culture all over the world, yoopers are on the universal quest for love. thus, their site was born, and just like every other dating site, it has its own slant, target demographic, and set of parameters. to register you’re required to answer a series of questions only a yooper would love:

a) how do you prefer your pasty served?

naked, with ketchup, with gravy

b) favorite color?

carharrt tan, real tree camo, duct tape grey

c) interests?

wearing plaid, bear wrestling, outdoor snow activities, chopping wood, home brewing

d) favorite great lake?

and then there’s the pitch:

At Yooper Singles we will match you with a quality Yooper.  Each of our members is looking for a long lasting connection, that’s deeper than Lake Superior.  Every year, dozens of  single Yoopers seek love in the vast forests of the Upper Peninsula and along the beaches of the Great Lakes.  Yooper Steez pioneered the dating industry in the Upper Peninsula by launching Yooper Singles and within days, YS has served as many as eighteen Yoopers, across all fifteen Upper Peninsula counties. We continue to redefine the way single Yoopers meet, flirt, date and share pasties, proving time and again that you can make love happen in the Upper Peninsula and that lasting relationships are possible. Our members aren’t only serious about finding flannel, saunas, and pasties, they also seek love. Yooper Singles puts you in control of your love life; meeting that special Yooper and forming a lasting relationship, where you can live happily ever after … in a log cabin. Whether you’re interested in Lumberjack Dating, Fisherman Dating, Finnish Dating, Native American Dating, or just finding someone to share your venison with, we can help you find the date or relationship that fits you best. Search free through all of our online personals. Literally, dozens of single Yoopers in your area have posted their dating profiles on Yooper Singles.  Young and old alike, bearded and not, from everywhere around the world, there is a Yooper waiting for you. Find your Yooper today!

and the reviews:

I have finally found my lifetime sauna partner — Toivo

Thanks, for helping me find my lumberjack— Jane

love, eh?

maybe i’ve been looking on the wrong peninsula?

i do really love the great lakes and pasties and accents.

still not sure about the bear wrestling though.

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Right now, I’m as single as a slice of American cheese.
Nick Cannon

credits: npr/stateside, yooper.singles.com, michigan pasties

Apr26

Small business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the patient and the persistent. It’s for the overcomer. – Unknown

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Washtenaw Dairy has been many things to many people in the community, and a home away from home for the neighborhood for almost 80 years.  what began as a dairy, has continued on as a family-friendly gathering spot for locals and visitors from all over, with ice cream and home made donuts and coffee and smiling faces, always happy to welcome in anyone who stops by.

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when they proposed raising the price of a cup of coffee by 10 cents, topping out at over a dollar,

to at least break even, some of the morning regulars were upset,

so they decided to keep selling it at the old price,

and see it as a service to their loyal community. 

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with the second generation of owners, one in their 60s, and his partner in his 80s, their quote sums up their approach “We won’t put on airs, we’re pretty much just workers,.” The workday starts early to make sure everything gets done. The first employees get to the store at two in the morning, the managers follow at four, and doors open at 5 a.m. “every day but Christmas.”

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While ice cream is a big part of the business, the store also sells 150 dozen donuts a day.

“we don’t even know how to turn on a computer, we missed the whole tech thing and for us it’s really hard to get into.” despite the owner’s lack of technical know-how, they’ve been a major presence in the community for a long time. they donate ice cream or money to several hundred causes a year ranging from a the zen buddhist temple to the local high school hockey team. “we support the community, because the community supports us. that’s why it’s worked all these years. it adds up on your bottom line, but these same people come down with their families and buy ice cream. they’ve come for years and supported us.”

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The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance.

Remember, the greatest failure is to not try.

Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.

– Debbie Fields

 

 

 

Apr6

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~ Author Unknown



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middle daughter h, brought grandbabies j and b to ann arbor to visit me (peaches), for the day.

and what an adventure it turned out to be. 

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we began the day with a bit of chocolate for breakfast at our favorite local bakery.Image

 

we stopped by for a book reading and a bit of play at our favorite book shop.

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after a pizza and pop lunch we strolled right onto the edge of our town’s annual hashbash,

where we met a blue and purple dog and lots of friendly hippies of all ages.

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and chased giant magic bubbles all over the diag.

and we saw a drone overhead and it looked like a scary flying spider.

and two of us ran into each other.

and one of us threw up after all the junk food and excitement.

and we went to the park and got wet and sandy.

and then some of us were really, really tired.

but not peaches.

and we were all still smiling.

it was a day.

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My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty.

She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the hell she is. ~ Ellen DeGeneres



 

 

 

Mar30

carpe twittum – (‘seize the tweet’)

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    in what must be one of the most unusual jobs ever, michigan monsignor daniel gallagher, translates pope francis’ spanish tweets into latin, for the more than 230,000 people who follow his twitter feed in that classic language. he is the only american among seven specialists in ‘the office of latin letters at the vatican secretary of state.’ 

gallagher attended the university of michigan, (my alma mater, where we did not cross paths), and studied the sciences, graduating with a microbiology degree. while here, he also took a few latin classes and considered going into medicine, but after graduation, he went in another direction completely and entered the seminary. this led him to rome, (‘all roads lead to rome?’), where he went to study latin and eventually began working in the vatican offices translating latin documents into english.

with the recent onset of the papal step into social media, his new job was created, and it’s clear he loves it. he averages about 4 papal tweets/translations a week and says, ‘it’s a language that transcends cultures and nations, and so many people, especially young people, still crave latin, because it is so much fun. the popularity of the pope’s latin twitter account shows that latin is far from dead.’ (now, how many people can say that?)

gallagher says the learning curve is quite long, with no turnover, and therefore expects it to be a lifelong thing, though he serves at the will of the pope. pope francis stops by his office and invites him to mass occasionally, and he finds him to be quite humble and pleasant.

the pope now has almost 12 million twitter followers.

his latin twitter handle is: @Pontifex_In

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all of this has me wondering. i wonder if his mother is disappointed that he didn’t become a doctor? i wonder if he has any connections, and can help our UM wolverines pull off a big win in march madness? i wonder how he sees latin as ‘fun’?’ why are a quarter of a million people choosing to read twitter in latin?’ as a former childhood catholic, am i going to be hit by lightning for wondering these things? just some of the deep questions i now have. and if i spoke latin, could i tweet him to ask for answers?.

Quidquid latine dictum, altum videtur.
Translation: “Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.”
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credits: detroitfreepress.com, npr.org,
latin quote credit: Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs Routledge. p. 965. ISBN 0415096243.
 title/faux latin translation credit: me

Mar5

as i look forward to the return of the other three seasons and many more wonders

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 on the autumn beach on the shores of lake michigan,

with babies j and b

as the sleeping bear dunes take in the view with us

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” Walt Streightiff