Am I a Yooper?

I don’t live in St. Ignace.  It’s my hometown.  But….it’s not my home.  I haven’t lived there since I graduated from high school, in 1975.  I’m more of a visitor. 

St. Ignace-When There Was a Local Theater

Many years of my adult life, I lived in Gaylord, Michigan.  But, I never felt I was “From” there.  I felt like it was where my children grew up.  It was their “Hometown”, not mine.  

Sometimes I still consider myself a Yooper. (a person from the U.P.)  A term of almost mythical qualities.  

I was raised in a small town in the Upper Peninsula, a subculture far, far from any sizeable city.  I identify with the colloquial language I learned to speak as a child.  My illusion of being a Yooper, explains a sample-piece of who I believe I am. 

I really don’t need to reference being a Yooper for someone to understand who I am, do I?  What does it really say about me?  I’m much more complex than I was when I lived in the U.P.

What emotional pull does St. Ignace have over me? Is it the fact that it was a childhood playground?  Or the community members of St. Ignace, I know? Or my parents knew?  Or am I looking for some lost innocence or meaning? 

Catholic School (I attended), in St. Ignace, Until Late 1970.

I toss these questions over and over in my mind. I can’t figure out why I feel so drawn to go back to my hometown.  My mom still lives in St. Ignace and I realize it explains a lot of why I like to go back up.  I certainly enjoy spending time with her. 

I am sure I don’t want to live in St. Ignace.  It has little to offer me as an adult.   

I’m still figuring things out, but I think a city needs plenty of space for me to grow, learn and experience things on my own terms.  Not on my past, but on who I am today.  It includes my desire to be surrounded by diversity and change.  I want it to be a place I can contribute to the community.  Yet, I thoroughly enjoy my anonymity. 

I may not always live in Ann Arbor.  But, It’s a good fit for me now.  

I’ve considered how easy it is for me to reach an international airport so I can travel anywhere in the world.  How important it is to be able to get healthy food, keep a healthy lifestyle and receive excellent health care, close to me. 

I’ll stick to the saying, “You can take the girl out of the U.P., but you can’t take the U.P. out of the girl.”  It does explain me.  Once a Yooper - always a Yooper!   I may not want to live in the U.P. anymore, but it is a piece of who I am. 

Even if I wasn't a Yooper, I have to finish by saying the U.P. is a beautiful place to spend time.  It is refreshing  and beautiful to the five senses.

Just watch the traffic patterns from Lower Michigan---heading north.  I think it speaks for itself.

http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/labor-day-traffic-fatalities/