Strawberry Fields Forever!

  Summer vacation!  Tomorrow is the first full day.  This past year, I have had two of my guys still learning at home. With M. in public school, I'm excited to have a little more of his time now that break is here!  It's a bittersweet summer.  Next September I will be sending B. off to public High School.  I'm going to miss B., so I want to make sure that we make the best of the summer!  (despite all of our crazy schedules)
  Today was a family outing that marks the beginning of summer.  Strawberry picking!!!  I love seeing how different activities have turned into tradition.  The kids expect to kick off the summer this way.  It wouldn't seem right if we didn't do it.  Our first year, M. hated strawberries.  However, he had only tasted the ones in the grocery store, that had been picked green and left to ripen on a shelf.  Sitting in a field full of berries, ripened by the sun was a whole new thing! Sweet, juicy, and he couldn't stop eating them!!  It was warm today, but not too hot, blue skies and a breeze.We spent the afternoon picking way too many strawberries!  The first season we went picking, we had so much fun, (and the weather was similar to today's), that we just kept picking!  (I don't know what I was thinking!)  When we finally had them weighed, I just about choked when he told me my bill came to $75.00 worth of those ripe, red berries!!  It seemed like a good idea at the time!  We are experienced pickers now, and are far more self controlled.  We leave the strawberry fields with red stained lips, fingers, bottoms and knees.  A perfect afternoon made better only by a trip to the local dairy freeze for some soft serve.

The fist step in a successful berry picking trip, is testing the product to ensure it meets standards.

Poor attempt at self portrait, esp. when I'm not looking at the camera! 
But I thought the reflection in the glasses was cool!

Looking for good ones.

Our job is to fill the box!

Dear Santa, please bring me a REAL camera for Christmas!!

B. lost in the fields.  I had to keep them from whipping the rotten ones at each other!

It's exciting when you find the perfect, plump, red berry!

Our reward!

  Later I will scour the Internet for strawberry recipes.  Breakfast on our first camping trip of the season is already planned.  Pancakes with homemade strawberry syrup!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  (By the end of the week the kids are begging for scrambled eggs!)  Welcome summer!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

  May 20th...
    I've had 3 birthday surprises today and it's not even my birthday yet!!  I'm like a kid!  It's my birthday week.  I don't care that I'm getting older.  I like who I am much more than who I was.  So, let me tell you about the surprises I got today...
  It's always fun to get a surprise in the mail.  I came home from running errands to find that the mailman had dropped off a brown box on the front doorstep.  My mom always sends my gift along with E's at the same time.  Our birthdays are within days of each other.  Inside were 2 gift bags.  Mine was obviously the more "girly" of the two.  Now, really, do you think I can wait over a week to open it?!  Heck no!!  Inside were two books on canning.  These are good things as I've been wanting to learn!  I was a typical suburban kid, raised far from a farm and the canning rituals that went along with it.
  After opening my gift, I left to pick up M. from school.  On the ride home, he announced that he had to give me my birthday gift early for fear the dog might chew it!  Really?!  What on earth could he have gotten me?  Pig ear?  Rawhide?  I'm not Shania Twain, but I think I'm kinda cute!  But, whatever, I get to open another present early!!  When we got home, he pulled a paper bag from his backpack.  Now I'm wondering, when did they start selling rawhide at the school store?  Out of the bag I pulled a carved wooden coyote, decoratively painted in bright colors!  (no coyote comments please!)   Apparently the Mexican artist who creates these wonderful pieces came into his Spanish class today.  Very cool stuff!  M. said he thought it looked "artsy fartsy" enough that I would like it.  (I really don't think the dog would have chewed it, I think he just wanted to give it to me.)
  Later in the evening I got a call from my friend Lena.  She and her husband Mike had just seen a great play at the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea.  Mark and I were to have joined them but due to budget constraints, had to bow out.  Lena raved about the play, and insisted she take me for my birthday!  Am I lucky to have such good friends, or what???

...Fast forward, Birthday!!!!
   I really did have a great day!  I awoke and went about my usual routine.  After checking emails, I hopped over to fb.  Your birthday really is the most fun day on face book, am I right?  Fun to read through all the well wishes from family and friends.  E. stumbled downstairs and into the office.  I was showered with kisses and lilacs picked fresh from the garden!  (They sit right beside me on my desk in my favorite coffee mug.)  He then headed off to the kitchen to make me breakfast.  B. gave me the gift of a clean room.  (Trust me, this is a treasured gift!)  The boys share a room, and nobody knows how to de-clutter like B.!!
  After breakfast I slipped out of the house for a pedicure.  Really no better way to start any day than to sit in the massage chair and have a stranger rub your feet!  Then headed off to lunch with Lena.  Great, leisurely meal at the Common Grill.  Two glasses of cabernet later, we headed off to The Purple Rose theater to see "Some Couples May".  Great show!!  It would be really nice to do that once a month.  Perfect girls day out.
  When I got home, Mark had a card with a lotto ticket in it.  Apparently, he and E. had watched  a program on lotto winners, and since it was my Birthday, I was sure to win!!  (I think I'm supposed to sleep with it under my pillow!)  Along with a copy of Michigan Blue, with a campfire on the cover.  Does he know me or what!?  Later that evening, my guys took me out to dinner.  To spend the evening uninterrupted, just us, was gift enough. 
My point with this post?  Nothing but to express my thanks and gratitude for family and friends that love me!  I am very fortunate.  Do I have issues with the passing of time?  Nah!  I'm pretty happy with who I've become and the life I have.  Thanks everyone!!  Happy Birthday to me!!

P.S.  I didn't win lotto!!

Hometown History

  I came across a "challenge" while blog hopping.  You never know what you'll encounter while blog hopping.  The challange was to write a history of your hometown.  Well now, that presents a problem for me.  The town I was born in, I only lived in until I was 10.  Not enough time to develop those "homey" feelings.  We then spent a brief time in New York, and then off to Michigan.  I only spent enough time in that particular suburban town we landed in, to finish highschool and meet my husband.  At that point, I moved to his hometown.  A setting far more urban than I would have preferred.  So, I've never felt at home here.
  If you've ever checked into my blog, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this!  The place where I truly feel at home is the place where our family goes to come together.  To get away from the chaos of day to day life in the city.  The pictures are all throughout this blog.  I'll claim Bearinger Township as my hometown.
  Bearinger Township sits at the tip of Michigans lower penninsula.  It's approxomately 1/2 way between Rogers City and Cheboygan.  The eastern border of the town touches the western shores of Lake Huron, while the west side of the township enjoys sunsets on Black Lake.  Bearinger (as of the 2,000 census) has a whopping 329 residents!  We don't have our own schools, I don't think there is a store within the township limits.  Is there a gas station?  Thinking...No!  Really, the only thing we have are woods, and water!  (And a few homes, cottages and an array of hunting cabins!)  It's history revolves around logging.  And later tourism.  Not the kind of tourism that has you buying fudge, and t-shirts that say "Grandma went to Bearinger and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"!  No, the kind of tourists that Bearinger attracts wear Stormy Kromers!  (google it!!)  They boat, sail, salmon fish, hunt, snowmobile, quad ride, hike, swim, canoe and have long conversations 'round campfires.

   The township of Bearinger is located in Presque Isle County.  The county seat is Rogers City.  Now

Rogers City, there's a story!  Founded by the illegitimate son of a King in Germany, by the name of Albert Molitor.  Molitor hooked up with William E. Rogers.  (see the connection?  Rogers...) Anyway, the two worked for the dept. of Lake Survey, and stumbled upon a sizeable stand of virgin timber in 1869.  The pair headed north to exploit their findings!  And so the birth of Rogers City.  Rogers spent only one winter before he said nuts to this!  He headed back east, where winters were more civilized.  Yet the town bears his name.  And there's more!  Money, greed, murder, politics, manipulation!  It certainly didn't start out as a sleepy little town.                                                                                       But, enough about Rogers City.  This is about Bearinger.

  Perhaps the best way to tell you about my town, is to show you my town...

Harbor of refuge run by the state of Michigan.

A wintery view of the harbor!

Quad/snowmobile trails criss cross the county.

Beach roses!  My favorite time of the year!!

A bouquet my boys picked to dress up the picnic table.

Out in the woods of Bearinger township.  B. with the blind he built himself!

Headed to the beach!

A Good Man!

  Ladies, let me tell you, I am truly blessed!  And I tend to take it for granted.  I have a good man.  Some women may find someone like Mark too abrasive.  He can be, hmmm...loud.  Sometimes to the point of causing embarrassment!  Like the time we attended my cousins wedding in a very reserved Catholic church.  Mark felt the need to give a hearty, booming (and very deep) "AMEN" each time the priest finished a prayer.  This, causing the brides side of the church to turn in unison in search of the rabble rouser from the grooms side.      He's a big guy, and is known for his lack of neck.  It matches his voice and the size of his personality.  He's the guy who will create a scene at Wall Mart to embarrass his kids.  He shows no hesitation at using his voice to call for a family member in frozen foods while he is in the auto parts department!  While appearing horrified in the store, the kids chuckle at his behavior once removed from the scene of the outburst.
  Touchy, feeley and emotional are not his style.  It doesn't mean he doesn't care.  He's not one to send flowers, but he will call me a couple of times a day just to see how it's going or to tell me he loves me.  Other men look forward to a week away at deer camp with their buddies, my husband takes his wife and kids because he likes having us around!  And I am happy to go.  He doesn't plan romantic, candlelit dinners, but he will spend a day walking through an art fair with me just because he knows it makes me happy!
  When he does get emotional, pay attention!  Because it's few and far between, and usually very poignant.  We had just such an evening up at camp.  A snort or two of Brandy, and dad was sharing all kinds of insights by the fire!  The kids know their dad loves them, he tells them all the time.  But usually they spend their time with him goofing around.  It was by the fire on our last night that I sat back and watched as Mark had total control of his audience.  He shared with them how proud he was of their accomplishments, how they had passed him in ability on differing accounts.  Of how much he loved each of them and why.  Then he told my sons how special I am.  How he couldn't imagine living out our future without me.  How lucky they all are to have me as mom.

  No mothers day gift, jewelry or flowers could have meant more to me than that evening by the fire.  We've been married twenty one years and I love him more each year!

Strange Things You Find in the Woods!

When we are Up North, we love to wander through the woods.  I am always fascinated by what I find!  Coming home from dinner one night, (if you haven't tried the "Potato Burger" at the Bluffs on Black Lake, you are missing out!) we decided to wander down a 2 track.  This at the prompting of our eldest son who has just gotten his drivers permit and will look for any excuse to spend some extra time behind the wheel.  A couple of miles off the main road was where we spotted this red caboose!!  Complete with tracks to rest upon!  Someone seems to be using it as a hunting cabin.  BRILLIANT!  But just how did they get it there???

Mark and I took a quad ride on one of the warmer mornings we had.  We will frequently pull off, park and explore some trail that leads to a hunting cabin or food plot.  I love coming across an abandoned cabin and concocting a story based on what I find when I peek through the windows.  However, the following structure stumped me!  I can't imagine what it was used for.  It's not a buck pole.  And it wasn't in a location that appeared to make it useful for anything other than an interesting photo.

This sits amongst some other appliances not far off a main paved road.  It appears that this section of woods is where people get rid of their old appliances when they don't have the motivation to drive them five miles to the dump.  I find it amusing that their kitchen renovation covered several decades!

Here is the updated oven/cook stove.  Nothing but large appliances, and one coffee cup still sitting on top!  (Okay, it was on it's side, and I sat it upright, but it was still on top of the stove!)  Why the mug?

The tub sits alone, deeper into the woods, on the side of an old logging trail.  It really must have taken some effort to get it out there.  It's in a pretty spot.  I always wanted an old tub on legs.  I think it would be kinda fun to take a bath there!  Wonder if the loggers did...

Wings!

Let me share with you a north woods delicacy.  Forget the Easter ham, forget the cheesy taters, give me deep fried chicken wings cooked outside with some hot sauce and three cheese ranch and some good company around the campfire.  Ohhh the smell! 

The smell of wings in the deep fryer fills the air!

It really is an event, as it is a process that takes time and is best shared.  While the oil heats and you begin the first batch of potatoes, it's a good time for conversation!  All while you anticipate the feast to come.  

I don't need a fancy buffet.  This will suit me just fine.



Finger lickin' good!

The neighbors dog, Vlado, used to pick the bones out of the campfire.  I learned not to worry that he would choke after the third bach of wings!


This is how we do it...



Ya have to find a good box to shake it up with the season salt!

A fine "Up North" tradition started many years ago with good friends.  THIS is gourmet!  By the way, keep your fingers away from the kid's mouths, you might lose one!!

Small Town

  I was born in Massachusetts, in a small town.  My parents grew up there and were high school sweethearts.  When I was 10, we moved away.  My dad's job transferred him first to N.Y. and then to Michigan.  I finished out high school in a very transient community.  Everyone was from somewhere else.  I yearned for a sense of belonging.  I longed for a sense of pride in where I was from, because I never felt I was from anywhere.  I liked to hear my dads stories of growing up in a big family in a small town.  They knew everyone! 
  About a year ago, I got a message in my facebook inbox.  I had recently posted on the fan page of the same small town my parents grew up in.  The message was from a childhood friend that, if I were to hazard a guess, I haven't seen in perhaps 35 years.  Our parents had been close friends and their families knew each other.  And then, (it gets better!) he sent photos!!    What a gift he gave with those photos.  A link to childhood.

  Funny, we live in an urban community.  But it's where my husband grew up.  However,  we still long for a small town.  I guess that's why we bought property where we did, far away from the city. (Hoping one day to call it home!) Maybe it's the mindset I long for.  Or the slow pace.  The sense of community.  Maybe I romanticize it too much.  That small town my parents grew up in isn't small anymore.   I guess no matter where you live, it's the relationships you build that make it home.   I have good friends that make my big town feel a little cozier.