Totality 2024

Families don't get much nerdier than mine, so of course, we had to drive down into totality (again) for this year's eclipse. The moon arrived right on time and we were treated to about 4.5 minutes of wonder.

Totality was incredible, but I was surprised at how different it looked than in the 2017 eclipse. In 2017 the sun's corona visibly moved and appeared to have what looked like swaying tendrils. This time that wasn't nearly as pronounced, but we could actually see CMEs (coronal mass ejections); it was amazing!

Photo courtesy of Craig Turpin

We spent the rest of the day watching the moon and just enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Oh yes, and taking advantage of having access to a garage. (Something we rarely have.) Since I had access to a garage and a shop vac, I spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning out the car. That may not seem like an interesting thing to do, but since I live on a vehicle-free island, I rarely have the ability to leisurely clean out my car. So I made the most of the opportunity.

 

Happy Worm Day!

My family may be the only family that celebrates, but happy Worm Day anyway! What is Worm Day you ask? Why Worm day is the first warmish, wet day each spring when the earthworms come out en masse. It's a day we celebrate as one of the heralds of spring (along with other spring happenings such as the First Boat, the First Freighter, or the opening of Grand Hotel's tulips.)

Worm Day is a sure sign that spring is here. Often it doesn't hit until early May, but it has been so warm in Northern Michigan this year, I'm not surprised they came out early.

It's not the best picture, but all those little lines on the pavement are worms, and they are all wishing you a very happy Worm Day 2024!

A Final Tribute

You may remember I lost my dad in May of 2022. Today he was laid to rest. We celebrated his life two years ago, but since he donated his body to Michigan State University's Medical School, we had no remains to bury.  

Today we attended a lovely service at Michigan State to honor the people who willed their bodies to MSU in the same cohort as my father. It was very moving to hear medical students thank the families and explain how their knowledge of human anatomy was deepened by being able to work actual humans rather than models. It would have made my dad smile to know how much his gift enriched the education of those future doctors. 

Then we drove to the cemetery to see where he and his fellow donors were buried.  Despite the windy, rainy weather, I'm glad we went out to see the memorial before driving home. It was a long, hard day, but impactful; and so fitting for the kind of man my dad was...

Nerdom

 

I take my nerdiness very seriously. 

So, of course, when a Star Trek fan travels through Bloomington, Indiana, you must stop to visit Captain Janeway's future birthplace. Or, when you discover a traveling exhibit of Trek items just happens to be at a Seattle museum when you're in town visiting a friend, how can you not go? I mean, come on. 

If you haven't guessed, I am a huge Star Trek fan. I love it all: the Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy and Lower Decks - they're all outstanding. To be honest however, the Original Series will always be my favorite. Watching it reminds me of snuggling next to my dad and watching it with him when I was a kid. Such good times...

Homemade Pop Tarts

Mackinac Island's Watercolor Cafe is well known with the locals for their Poppies - or homemade pop tarts, so when a recipe for homemade pop tart dough popped up in my Pinterest feed the other day I thought I'd give them a try. I'm posting the recipe here because for some reason the link works on my phone but not on my laptop... 

This recipe is from Jennifer Pineda (In Jennie's Kitchen). She shares the dough recipe freely, but if you want her filling recipes you have to subscribe. Rather than do that, I just used different kinds of my own homemade jam. I made peach / mango, blueberry, and raspberry, and they were sooooo good. My taste testers (thank you Aimee and Travis) told me they liked how this dough was a little sweeter than regular pie crust and slightly cookie-like.

Homemade Pop Tart Dough 

1 1/3 cup flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for rolling
1/8 tsp. baking powder
4 Tbs. cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs cream (I used half & half)
1 egg

Additional cream (or half & half) and powdered sugar for glaze

Directions: 

1. Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix. 
2. Add the butter and pulse until it forms a sandy looking mix. There will still be some pebble sized pieces.
3. Pour in the cream. Pulse until you get a rough ball of dough.
4. Place dough on lightly floured surface and knead a few times until you have a smooth dough.
5. Roll to the thickness of a pie crust and cut out bottoms and tops for your pop tarts. (I used a mix of half flour and half powdered sugar to roll mine out.)
6. Beat the egg in a small bowl.  
7. Place a spoon full of jam in the center of a piece of dough and spread. Don't get too close to the edge.
8. Brush a thin ribbon of egg around the outside of the dough, close to the edge.
9. Place another piece of dough on top and use a fork to crimp the edges.
10. Use a fork to poke holes in the top piece of dough so steam can escape. (This will keep them flatter.)
11. Bake at 350 degrees for about eight minutes. (I baked mine on parchment.)
12. Cool on a wire rack and glaze if desired. (I made the glaze with half and half, powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla.)
13. Sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles if desired.

One batch of this recipe made eight, three-inch square pop tarts.

I Love Mackinac

Sometimes it's the little things about Mackinac Island that make me smile. Little things like the picture above. This young man, his siblings, and his parents were having dinner out at the Mustang the other day, and while they were waiting for their food, the kids popped over to another table to paint. I've never seen something like that on the mainland, but scenes like this are fairly common on Mackinac in the winter. It made my heart happy because not one person batted an eye - not the server, the other patrons, or the manager. 

It reminded me of the time my daughter and I went to breakfast at the Mustang years ago. She was about five and wanted to sit up at the "counter," A.K.A. the bar. I patiently explained, that people under 21 weren't allowed at the bar, but we could sit at any other table because we were the only ones in the restaurant at the time. The owner came over and told K that she could sit at "the counter" this one time because no one else was there and that was the only time it was allowed.  She was so incredibly happy.

 It was such a little thing, but it made her day.

Carhartt Army

This time of year, the first boat and the last boat often look like this - filled with workers. Many of them commute daily, so when the boats run all winter, as they did this year, it works out well for business who have construction projects.

Do you know what we call these hard-working folks?  The Carhartt Army. (Before hip-hop artists started wearing it and Carhartt became cool, the brand was well-know for its warmth and durability. It remains very popular with tradespeople who work outdoors.)

Today

I took this picture today on my walk to the bank. Scenes like this are common on Mackinac in the spring - snowmobiles parked when there was snow, that now need to be driven on dry pavement to get them home. It's a typical scene at the end of March or early April but not typically in early March. I'll tell you, this has been the weirdest winter. 

And yes, when this happens we have little choice other than to ride the snowmobile home, scraping pavement all the way. Although we'd squirt dish soap on the slides, since without snow there's nothing to lubricate them as the track moves. (Slides are pieces of plastic that prevent the track from rubbing on metal as it moves. If the slides get too hot, they'll melt. The skis also have protectors called "wear rods." They are positioned at the bottom of the ski so they wear instead of the ski material.)

Hello

Today was rehearsal number one for Mackinac Island Community Theater's newest production: Hello Dolly. After all the fun I had participating in Little Shop of Horrors, I tried out again. This year I requested a part without lines because I just didn't feel I had the time to memorize them, so I'm in the chorus. 

The weather today was perfect for a walk to MICT's new rehearsal space at Mission Point Resort.

Glorious

Today was a glorious day - calm, quiet, and sunny; a perfect start to a new month. And even though it's only March first, it really feels more like mid-April. The winter of 2024 has certainly been an odd one weather wise, that's for sure, but Mackinac looks beautiful in almost any weather.