Right. So it is the beginning of August and I have completely slacked on adding information to this blog. In short, during the month of July Natalie and I lived like homeless nomads. (The distinction between a nomad (an individual or group who move from place to place and take their home(s) with them) and a homeless nomad (an individual or group who travel around Michigan visiting and living with various family members) is slight but significant. Natalie and I were blessed with the opportunity to travel around Michigan in the summer (arguably one of the only times Michigan is beautiful).
Week 1 found us in Detroit where I worked and Natalie did various really really really important things that made it possible for us to move four weeks later. Also, not to be underestimated, Natalie helped her mom Debbie (my most favorite Debbers-in-law) begin to organize her parents basement. For those of you with Michigan basements full of random stuff, you know how difficult that can be.
During Week 2, Natalie and I, through the generosity of her parents (Thanks again Kevin and Debbie) borrowed their black, manual six speed Miata convertible, and went driving through the thumb. (If you are not from Michigan, hold your right hand, palm out out in front of your face. You see your thumb? That is where we were driving….only not on your thumb). This was great, partly because I love driving fast cars on windy roads with the sun down and the music bumpin’, and mostly because this was very similar to the drive Natalie and I look the day we got engaged. Good memories.
Needless to say we spent the majority of week 2, at my parents cottage at Higgins Lake. This was excellent because I have not seen much of my mom in the last couple of years (hi Mom!) and Natalie and I had the opportunity to help her with a series of projects. Okay, lets be honest. Natalie was a great deal more helpful that I was but that should come as no surprise to any of you. Overall the week was quality and I was a bit sad to leave at the beginning of week three.
Week 3 found Natalie and I at beautiful Drummond Island. For those of you who do not know where Drummond Island is…..go to Google Maps to find out. That is how I found it originally….Anyway, we had an excellent time reading, walking, playing with the dogs and looking for pudding stone with Debbie. (If you don’t know what a pudding stone is ask Debbie… she tells me they are native to Canada.) While on Drummond Island I decided that I wanted to spend our retirement on a boat going from the Upper Peninsula to Alaska every year.
Do you think it could happen?
To be honest what really inspired this thought process was this boat, the Mary E.
One of the highlights from my time at Drummond Island was the bat infestation. When I say bat I mean a bat like this.
I do not mean this type of Bat.
Right. Now that we have that bit of confusion take care of….The short story goes something like this. The first cabin we were housed in had bats. Lots and lots of bats. Debbie is scared of bats so this of course was not a good thing. Debbie spent the night in the Jeep. In retrospect, I think I should have joined her. Kevin spent the night using a window screen (the big kind) to swat the bats out of the air. He enjoyed this so much he started calling himself the “Bat Killer’. Apparently he stayed up most of the night listening to Iggy Popand killing bats. Judging by the large number of bat he annihilated with the window screen, I thought this name was appropriate. Although I helped kill bats for awhile, I eventually headed off to bed. Natalie and I spend the night listening to the enraged winged rodents crawling around and gnawing on the ceiling tiles above our heads. This bothered Natalie more than me but it was a bit creepy. After all of that drama, Debbie had a long talk with the owners of the cabin and we had a new, bat free, cabin to stay in for the rest of our time on the Island.
This was a definite improvement.
Sadly, I had to leave Drummond Island on Tuesday and headed back to Higgins Lake for work. Before I left however, Natalie snaped this picture of me and the Bat Killer (Thanks for saving us Kevin).
Highlight: Driving over the Mackinaw (not the Ambassador, as was previously stated) Bridge (a really large bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas) on a beautiful sunny day with the top of the Miata down.
Natalie spent the rest of the week at Drummond Island chillaxing with her parents and enjoying nature. I spent the rest of the week at Higgins Lake talking to my mom and working.
Kevin and Debbie dropped Natalie off on Friday on their way back to Detroit (Kevin and Debbie, thanks for bringing her back) and my dad (yo Pop!) came up to lake on the same day. I viewed this as a positive because I really wanted to see my dad before Natalie and I left for Colorado. We went swimming (I got burned and I am still peeling), played poker and generally had a fun time.
Before saying goodbye we started screwing around and taking pictures, here are my favorite highlights.
All of this shenanigans brings this long and rambling story to week 4.
Week 4 found Natalie and I back in Detroit saying our final goodbyes to our families and tying up a few loose ends. I went to the Dentist, which although I usually am not a huge fan of people sticking blunt metal instruments in my mouth, was not all that bad. On an up note, I was able to coax my dental hygienist into discussing the fact that that after accountants, dentists are the second most likely profession to commit suicide. H
Her words. Not mine.
Remember, I had blunt metal instruments in my mouth. I believe the conversation started when I asked….”How do you cope with the stress of your job…..”
Unexpectedly my brother Jason was in town for about 12 hours. This was quite enjoyable as I do not have many opportunities to see my brother. Of course Jason’s unexpected arrival into town brought my mom home from Higgins Lake (she lives there in the summer). This also coincided in a dinner at PF Chang’s. I really like lettuce wraps.
All in all week 4 of the month of July was rather uneventful. Wait.
My good friend Dave Boulton arrived back state side from Costa Rica late Saturday night. I convinced him, and his lady friend Allyssa (I hope I spelled that right) to meet Natalie and I for breakfest on Saturday morning. At 6:00 a.m. I took pictures but to be honest none of them are pretty because we were all so tired.
Well, that about sums up the month of June. I hope to write more often and I am going to (maybe) get Natalie to write some thoughts up here so all of you faithful readers can get a different perspective from time to time.
Mack
