Drenched

It poured today. And I mean poured.

I always feel bad for tourists who get caught out in the rain. Especially on days like today. Today wasn't a get-a-little-damp kind of day; it was a get-soaked-to-your-core-and-have-wring-out-your-undies kind of day. It makes me wonder what they were thinking. Why would you go to a place where you will spend 75% of your time outdoors and not plan for rain? I also wonder about the people who come here wearing Dollar Store flip-flops. Again - you're going to spend an entire day walking around, did you not think about what doing that in flip-flops was going to feel like? Then again, maybe I'm the weird one. Maybe because most people don't deal with the elements the way I do, the possibility of rain doesn't enter into their vacation planning. Either way, I was glad I was dry.

Family

I got to see my brother today!  (And his wife and her parents - which was a delight!) I never get to see my brother - I bet it's been at least eight years since we were in the same room together, which is way too long! It was wonderful to catch up. I wish we lived closer so we could do it more often. 

Ooooh, maybe now that my kids need to log their driving hours, we just might need to take a trip down to Columbus. One kid could drive down, the other could drive back and both could earn seven of their 50 required driving hours. I'm going to have to think about this one.

Shiny

In case you didn't know, this past winter Mackinac Island got a new, very fancy ambulance. Since no one in my family has needed to ride in it (thankfully,) I really never got a good look at it - that is until earlier this week. I just happened to be at the Mackinac Island Medical Center when they had it out for a bath.

My first thought was to refer to the ambulance as a "her." According to the UK's Imperial War Museum's website, ships are usually referred to using the feminine because of the idea of a mother figure or goddess guiding and protecting the crew and the ship. Given the job of an ambulance, using "her" seemed appropriate, but I don't want to imply that males can't / don't guide or protect, so I opted for the gender-neutral term "it" instead. No offence was intended if I used the wrong term.

Goodnight

Tonight is one of those perfect Mackinac nights; 

beautiful and cool. Goodnight.

Collecting

In case you've ever wondered, this is what a winter's worth of (mostly) pop cans looks like. The other day K and I returned eight of those bags. (They were worth worth $63.70.) Unfortunately, those bags were less than half the pile!

Benefits

I have chickens. (I joke that they are my emotional support chickens.) Despite the time and effort they require, they really do make me smile. Plus, you just can't beat quiche made with eggs that are less than 12 hours old. Even the teenagers in the house claim to be able to taste the difference between store-bought and farm-fresh eggs. 

In case you're curious, that's Princess Buttercup. She is the chicken on my shoulder in this photo from last summer. Now, she's all grown up...

Invasion

It is a damp and rainy day here in Northern Michigan - a perfect day to pop off the Island for an orthodontist appointment. On our way, my son and I noticed a seemingly unending line of UPS trucks.  (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

There must be a distribution center down that way. We sat and watched for a few minutes and the trucks just kept coming.

Happy Independence Day

Everywhere you look there are flags on Mackinac.

It seems as if everyone is in the mood to celebrate.

Happy Independence Day!

 

In Action

My husband (and others) spend a lot of time working on the Mackinac Marine Rescue Boat.  A few days ago, as I was on the ferry coming back to the island, I heard my husband's voice on their radio. The Rescue Boat was out helping a kayaker in distress. It was neat to get to see my husband in action; usually I just get to hear about their runs after the fact.

Jackpot

My youngest child and I were in St. Ignace the other day to get their Covid-19 vaccination. We happened to have a few minutes to kill before catching the ferry home, so we popped into the local thrift shop for a quick peek. Nestled in with the rubber stamps I found these beautiful made-in-West-Germany cookie molds. Happy happy joy joy! 

The cookie molds are typically used to make traditional German springerle cookies, like the ones pictured above (from 2018.) To buy the molds new is quite expensive, so you can imagine my joy at finding the whole lot for $5.00!