"I'm Not Going to Worry About it"

I’ve been up in St. Ignace (North side of the Mackinac Bridge, in Michigan) visiting. 

When I’m with my mom time gets whacky and my writing gets neglected.  If you can imagine stepping into a time machine, being transported to a small tourist-town with a huge, freshwater lake only a block away.  No street lights, no Walmart, no Rite Aid and a mother as enthusiastic about getting outside to explore as I am.

The amount of daylight dictates our day. With slow-cooking food in the crockpot, Clyde’s Drive-In or Bentley’s Restaurant to choose from, for dinner, we’re free for the day.

St. Ignace Already Getting Started on Halloween

If you were raised in this small, northern town you would likely feel the draw from Lake Huron.  It’s like a strong, magnet pulling relentlessly as soon as the bridge is spotted.  Crossing over, Mackinac Island is on the right, St. Helena left, both sitting smartly on their own huge lake.

Many variations of blue toss around in the waves this time of year.  It transforms the lake and cyncs with the autumn leaves on the land-lover trees this time of year.  Cedars and pines with their steadfast greens intensify the reds, oranges and yellows of fall.

Two ships sought safe-harbor in Lake Huron while I was visiting.  I’m pretty sure they weren’t fishing or cruising with tourists.  They looked like working ships to me.

Please believe me when I tell you the water in Lake Huron has been warmer than the air.  Especially when the Westery winds are blowing.

I thought this was great!  A female West Wind
(Not exactly what the Greeks had in mind)

There isn’t any fear of rubbing elbows with fellow snorkelers in October, though.  When I say I’m snorkeling I usually get the answer, “Are you crazy?  In that water?”  I don’t understand the reaction.  How could it not be fun? No allergens whipping in your nose, no people, pure meditation and surprise finds.  I admit the wetsuit does protect my body from the cold water.  But if my face and feet can stand the cold, it’s good.

I had all of Moran Bay, on Lake Huron, to myself.  Mom would do her thing on the shore and I’d snorkle and scour the lake for treasures uncovered by turbulence.  The October winds have been pushing through and I each day I'd notice the changes in the bottom of the lake.

My coolest find was an old greenish-blue bottle.  I’ve never seen one like it and I’ve been finding, cleaning, handling old bottles since I was a snot-nose kid.  

I found a long-handled spoon.  Only the handle was sticking out between two rocks, it came out like a spoon from a bowl of icecream.  I have found horseshoes before, but this time I found a small one and I was happy.  

I also found a very old ring.  My guess is it’s been bouncing among the stones for years.  I found chain-links, too.  I need more strength and air to tackle them, though.  They’ll have to wait until next year.  

I decided to make my own, underwater, red-brick road. I kept seeing yellow, red and orange bricks in the bay, so I decided to make something out of them.  When I’d see one I’d put it closer and closer to where I was building my road to get it the next time I was in the water.

If you look closely in the Youtube clip of The Wizard of Oz, you'll see the red brick road follows along the yellow one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THbY7EL8k5w

I know how hard the current under water pushes things around.  So, many of the bricks I deliberately secured with old, rusty spikes I came across.  Flat shale pieces are another perfect support to hold the bricks in place. (I’ll see in the spring if there’s anything left of my road).

I worked on eliminating rust from my 2007 vehicle, while visiting my mom.  It’s been a project of mine since August and when you can’t take the doors off to work on them, it’s difficult.  It’s also difficult when the sun is shining and it’s better to procrastinate than to miss beautiful autumn days.

One day, when I was going to Hope (A non-profit resale shop) to get a couple of warm shirts, I saw a fireman emptying a fire hydrant.  The gush of water looked strong and was spilling into the road.  So I drove into it, did a u-turn, drove into it again, and backed into it too to finish off my free carwash.  I rolled down my window, as I got out of the water flow, and yelled, “Thanks for the carwash!!!”  The guy at the hydrant said, “No problem!” and we both laughed.

I thought, “Man, I saved six dollars on a carwash.”  I then stopped to check my tires for air.   I didn’t read the very obvious sign by the “Pay for Air” machine and started (as I thought) to fill them with air.  They started looking like they were kinda flattening rather than filling.  So, after $3 of air I went into the station and asked the guy behind the counter, “Do I need to push the lever on the air-thing or does it just fill the tires?”

He replied smugly, “You have to push the lever.”

I couldn’t believe it!   It took another $3 to fill them back up!  So the $6 I saved on a free carwash was wasted on air.  Some things just aren’t right.  Not reading the obvious idiot-sign wasn’t right.  The sign didn’t just explain what to do, it had a picture, also.  

I did find a warm shirt at Hope.  And I found a cool shirt that has a logo on it, “St. Ignace Yacht Club”, above an anchor.  There is no yacht club in St. Ignace, so it was a good find.  The older Tupperware containers were a nice find, too.  I wanted something to put my small fossils in.   

The best fossil I got from my cousin, Jim.  When I visited his wife Hilda and him, he gave it to me.  It's priceless to me.   It's a prehistoric shark's tooth. Very sweet!

My mom’s birthday is today.  She is 89 years present.  She’s lost many friends, two children, and a husband to death.  She tries to take each day as it is.  Might as well.  It doesn’t help to fight an invisible foe ready to strike when least expected. 

Home Depot installed her washer incorrectly and didn’t level her new refrigerator, (so the door slammed when it shut).  She made the phone calls, waited for the repair people to arrive and would like to have strangled them when they said, “These things happen”.  But, we laughed and put it behind us when we finally got outside to play.

When she miscalculated a turn, to join me down by the lake, to park her car, she ended up tearing off some of her back panel of her car.  She said, “I’m not going to worry about it.  It looks bad but I don’t care.”  She made an appointment to get it repaired and let it go.

Happy Birthday, Mom.  I hope you either had a carrot cake, oatmeal cake or pinapple-upside down cake.  I hope you found a good movie to watch while it rained today.  I wish many more healthy and independent days for you.  You are a strong woman and I love you.

Didn’t I mention a good meal?  You can see where my mind goes first…the birthday cake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8shIhgOLTw0

(A Bushel and a Peck)