Stain-glass Eyes

Being in the cool water up in the U.P. (in the Great Lakes), is my drug of choice.   When I get into the water I like to do it quickly and immediately start swimming as my body hits the water.  My skin tingles as soon as it gets wet.  It’s like putting on a exquisite flowing robe.  Spiraling around me as I move, it stimulates every layer of my senses.   When this natural high hits, something in my brain allows me disconnect from the emotional part of my life.  The connection then becomes a physical.   My brain responds to the cold water, the deep, the sounds and sensations. I'm free from everything but the moment.  I have to breath deeper to handle the cold.  My heart races at first, then adjusts.  It doesn't take long for me to not register that the water is very cold.   When I was snorkeling recently, in St. Ignace, I decided to take off my mask and just float on my back when I was done and about ready to get out...

I feel my body tense, this mid-summer morning. I hear the familiar families of little birds, Boldly play their instruments.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6_LYn4_JA4 Chirp, twitter, chatter. Like some hundred, tiny monkeys in the trees. Flit, flit, bounce, shake. Thin branches and bright, green leaves rock in their wake. They clamor,  “I’m here, I live, I’m exhilarated.” I feel no song in my soul this damp, grey morning.   I envy the birds their simple ritual of dawn. Their persistent duty,  their intentional life. They give voice with their unafraid, clear, high-pitched trills. There’s a distant bleat which becomes a bellow  through the morning air. The trains travel at dawn.  Hustle,  click, roll. They blare who they are. “I’m here, I’m viable, I’m en route!” I envy the trains. With their tried and true tracks. Their offensive, confident voice. Persistent-predestined. ...

I went to the Rolling Sculpture Car Show on Friday, here in Ann Arbor.   I thought, "This ought to be good.  I can compare how this show is to the annual St. Ignace Car Show.”  Hands-down the Antique Car Show in St. Ignace was much better. http://www.saintignace.org/event/st-ignace-car-show-weekend/ It’s not just the beautiful setting in St. Ignace, for the car show.  (which is right on Lake Huron, in downtown St. Ignace)   It’s not just the fact that there are a hundred more cars. (which there are) It’s not just the fact there is Clyde’s Drive-In Restaurant, in St. Ignace. (I love their bison-burgers) I could go on.  It just wasn’t as enjoyable.  But, I did want to see the Ann Arbor Car I’d been hearing about.  There were only seven made in Ann Arbor and this one is in beautiful condition.   I enjoyed taking pict...

Ann Arbor combined with celebrating the Fourth of July had a nice feel for me this holiday. I started the holiday off with meeting some of the regulars at the Washtenaw Dairy.  We couldn’t miss meeting there this morning.  It was Kenny’s birthday and if your birthday is on the 4th of July you need a little bit of attention, especially if it’s your 81st birthday! Kenny, (the guy born on the 4th of July) I made some no-bake cookies to share.  Usually another woman brings something for birthdays, but I figured I’d take a chance at making the cookies about an eighth as good as my mom makes them.   Our conversations ran from having chicken every Sunday for dinner, to killing the chickens, to using all the parts of the chicken to make other things.  From my sister’s chickens getting slaughtered by a local dog, to sheep being killed by packs of dogs.   Then we moved on to the different colors of fresh eggs, to the need for rain before the firew...