It’s not hard to imagine returning to this place once in a while, is it?
What He Said
Thu, 28 Jul 2016, 09:05 PM (-06:00)
It was something my grandfather said when he crossed the state line. He’d roll down the windows at the border. He’d breathe deeply. And then he’d say, “Smell them air!”
Breathe deeply now with me, and smell them air!
Central Illinois
Thu, 28 Jul 2016, 08:50 PM (-06:00)
Central Illinois abstract
Central Illinois concrete
Duskish
Mon, 25 Jul 2016, 08:38 PM (-06:00)
“Smell them air,” I said as we crossed into Michigan.
Ben was behind the wheel. Trudy was in the backseat. I was in front snapping pictures of the lowering sun and the shadow of our car reaching out on the green growing beside the road as we raced that final stretch north. North to the lake.
“Will you be here for dinner?” my brother texted. “What is your ETA.”
“Definitely not there by dinner,” I said.
“But what’s your ETA?”
“We’re hoping to make sunset, but we’ll probably miss it. Expect us dusk-ish.”
At 0-dusk-30, Ben turned the car onto that two-rut drive that we’ve driven down so many times.
“That’s our yellow gate,” he said. A gate that he and his cousins painted a few years ago as the mosquitos waged a determined campaign agains them.
We drove down that drive thru the forest. Drove toward the lake. Arrived to the hooting and hollering of those who were already there. We hooted together. We hugged. And we walked down to the lake, which the iPhone captured in good enough fashion that I thought I might share it with you.
Standing Tall
Mon, 11 Jul 2016, 08:37 PM (-06:00)
Iesha Evans v. the storm troopers:
photo credit: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
Checkpoint Restart
Sun, 10 Jul 2016, 07:57 PM (-06:00)
They say we live in a simulation. Or that we could. Or might. To be honest, I don’t know what the line of reasoning is, and I don’t particularly care. I’ve got things to do.
But you’ve got to admit, that if you were in a simulation and if you were British, this might be a good time to restart the simulation from the checkpoint just before that Brexit vote.
What a bunch of fools, he says. The would never happen here, he says, glancing around nervously.
Wildlife
Mon, 4 Jul 2016, 08:32 PM (-06:00)
Late in the afternoon. The sun is beginning to disappear behind the canyon walls. But the sky is still light and blue. And the air is still hot.
We go down to the creek as all the summer’s day revelers are hiking out. We sit in the cool water. We listen to it flow.
There’s wildlife down there.
And signs of civilization, too.
Olympexit
Mon, 4 Jul 2016, 10:42 AM (-06:00)
Oh the poor souls on the International Olympic Committee… Now that Oslo has snubbed them come to their senses, the only remaining bidders for the 2022 winter games are Kazakhstan and China. (What does that say? Discuss.)
“Senior politicians in Norway appear not to have been properly briefed on the process and were left to take their decisions on the basis of half-truths and factual inaccuracies,” the IOC executive director clucked to the press.
How about this for a truth: The IOC demanded that (among a long list of other perks) that they (the committee — that bastion of full-truth and accuracy) be granted a meeting with the king and that drinks at the royal reception be paid by the palace (or by the local organizing committee, but certainly not by the IOC who are there, after all, to schmooze and booze and … well do those things that global elites are so want to do).
So then Oslo pulls out of the running. And the IOC executive director thinks that the Norwegian politicians have not been properly briefed.
What a perfect example of our globe-trotting, elite-centric world. Olympexit. Good riddance.
Part of Something
Mon, 4 Jul 2016, 09:09 AM (-06:00)
There were several people laughing in the background when they picked up the phone. The woman who answered was chuckling.
“You’ve answered my question already,” I said. “I was wondering if you were open today. It sounds like you all are having fun.”
We were planning to meet some friends there for lunch — to buy a few groceries there rather than packing picnics ourselves (because we were all feeling kind of lazy). We were planning to sit in the shade in the breeze under the big Oak trees. Ranga said they’d bring board games. Anthony said to count them in. I said we’d bring folding chairs — just in case.
“Ha ha,” the woman on the phone laughed. “Yes we’re having fun. We love our jobs. And it’s a good day!”
I’ve been going there since they opened many years ago. I used to take Ben there on Saturday nights after I’d driven into town for the weekend. We’d eat, and then he’d run around with all the kids and climb on the playscape. I’d sit and watch and listen to the live music and enjoy feeling part of something. Those were hard years, and feeling part of something was important.
So anyway… we’re going there this afternoon. Because they’re open. Because we’ll have fun. And it because is indeed a good day.
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