What do you love about the place where you live? Is it the little hummingbird that comes to your feeder? Or that rose you planted ten years ago that still blooms each year?
Is it the sound of the spring peepers in the marsh across the street, singing you to sleep at winter's end? Or the thunder and rain that makes the air smell so sweet?
Is it the stray cat that steals a meal wherever she can? Or the old hound dog that has been your best friend for years?
Is it the morel mushrooms that surprise you as they pop up once in a blue moon? Or the spring beauties with their pink-striped white flowers, dotting the edge of your yard?
Is it the intoxicating scent of your lilac bush as it gently swirls in your bedroom window at night? Or that annoying robin that starts to sing hours before the sun appears each morning?
Is it the northern lights that danced in the sky back in 1990? Or the Big Dipper and Milky Way that enchant you at night?
Is it the lullaby of the crickets on a hot summer night? Or the yipping of coyotes in some distant field?
Is it the paper wasp nest hanging from that branch in the corner of your yard? Or the bee hive you carefully tend?
We protect that which we know and love. A sense of place grows strong conviction and the more we get to know that place we call home, the more we will protect it from harm. Maybe we are letting people hurt the Earth and the land we love because we don't get out so much anymore. We don't know the peeper or the paper wasp or the robins like we used to.
Do you love the sand dunes? Do you love the Great Lakes? Do you love the coastal shores? Do you love the great north woods that we call Michigan? Our wild lands, waters, lakes and rivers? Our bears and moose, elk and wolves? Our geese and cranes, deer and mushrooms? Our sunsets and sunrises, our clean fresh air?
We protect that which we know and love. Where is your love? Are you willing to protect these things?
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Things that Remind Me of Home
1. Sparkling snowflakes on a cold, moonlit night.
2. The call of the house wren, Grandma Barton's favorite song.
3. Corn on the cob, fresh from the field.
4. Pan fried blue gills, morels, leeks and fiddlehead ferns, followed by a dish of homemade ice cream.
5. Salt water taffy, Mackinaw Island Fudge, Sea Shell City and the Mystery Spot.
6. The most beautiful lakes in the world.
7. Pancake breakfasts with real maple syrup.
8. The smell of aspen trees in the fall.
9. Pasties.
10. Long-held traditions that give us black ash baskets, birch bark canoes, mukuks, wild rice, white fish, porcupine quill baskets, sweetgrass baskets, traditional songs, and so many more Anishinaabek gifts.
11. Rivers and streams, big and small, fast and slow, warm and cold.
12. The Mackinac Bridge.
13. Cherry pie, cherry pop, cherries, cherries, cherries.
14. Lake Michigan sunsets, Lake Superior storms.
15. Birch and white pine trees.
16. Sand dunes.
17. Sleeping Bears.
18. Bald Eagles.
19. Wolves.
20. Moose.
21. Mushroom hunting.
There's no place like home. Michigan.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Genetics, Democracy, and Michigan
I am not sure how to prove this, but I think that Homo sapiens (that would be us) has a fatal gene that is silently paving the way for our total and complete destruction. Now I realize this is a very sensational statement, but I will repeat it at the end of this blog and you tell me I'm wrong here, OK?
All animals have instincts, evolved and developed over time to protect us (yes us, we too are animals) from harm. Think fight or flight. Harm used to be saber-toothed tigers or giant bears or warring next door neighbors. Things we could see. It used to be bad meat - tastes bad, spit it out. Immediate response geared toward protecting our life.
But at some point during the rise of present day civilization, a defective gene started to express itself. Humans began to take unprecedented risks that endangered their lives. The kind of risks are the clue to the existence of this now common gene.
When I was a young woman, I tried peppermint schnapps. I had an immediate reaction and ran to the bathroom. I didn't make it to the bathroom, the reaction was so strong and sudden. I never drank peppermint schnapps again. I had a negative physical reaction to something bad for my body and I took action to ensure it didn't happen again, to protect myself. Even bringing this unpleasant memory up to the surface makes me want to hurl. My body is protecting me even today.
Enter defective gene expression. Everyone knows cigarettes can and do cause cancer, emphysema, asthma, and other serious health issues. Yet we smoke them. Why? The defective gene blocks that critical connection in our brain that links the action we are taking to the consequences. Our body seems to require visceral confirmation of the potential harm of a substance before our brain will engage in stopping the behavior. For instance, if our skin turned green and nasty sores appeared on our skin every time we smoked a cigarette, do you think we would keep smoking? We seem to need immediate consequences for us to protect ourselves from harm. We smoke but don't suffer the health consequences until decades later. We eat junk food all our lives and slowly become obese, have diabetes or heart disease. It is the slow process of it all that kills us. We don't see it coming. We know it, but that doesn't matter. The defective gene keeps us from taking action.
This defective gene is also affecting the health of our communities and nation. How, you might ask? Let me explain.
Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail from the Unemployment Office. There was a new law passed that now requires me to fill out a form verifying that I have applied for at least two jobs every week. I must take this form to the Michigan Works Office or go online and file it every two weeks BEFORE I file for my benefits. Otherwise, I will not get any money. I have no issue with this, other than it is an annoyance for me and one more piece of poverty paper I have to fill out. But what struck me about this was that 1) I never heard about this new law, and 2) I have been directly affected by this new law in a tangible way. A kind of wake up call, if you will. I am responding. I am writing this blog. And I am dutifully filling out the form.
Perhaps this defective gene is the cause for apathy in our society. If it doesn't directly and tangibly affect us, we ignore it. Meanwhile, all kinds of laws are being passed, wars are being fought, corruption is occurring right under our noses. We ignore it. It doesn't directly affect us. But just like with smoking, our collective lungs are filling with black tar and we will soon be gasping for breath.
There is something going on in Michigan that I would bet most citizens have not heard about. It involves the deconstruction of democracy in our fine state by the Republican majority and Governor. The Michigan Democrats have sued the Michigan Republicans for the right to vote. What? The Republicans are ignoring parts of Michigan's Constitution in order to put laws which further their agenda into immediate affect.
When laws are passed in Michigan, they go into affect 90 days after the end of the current legislative session. A clause was put in place as part of the original bill to allow for them to take Immediate Affect should an emergency situation arise (war, natural disaster, etc), but it would require a 2/3 majority of the vote for it to happen. The Republican majority has been using this Immediate Affect clause on 96% of the bills they have been passing. Not only is there no real emergency, there is also no 2/3 majority. Democrats ask for a roll-call vote and the Republicans ignore them. Hence the lawsuit by the Democrats.
How does this make you feel? Do you want to run to the bathroom, are you shrugging your shoulders and saying, "who cares?", are you mad as hell? This is where our defective gene can contribute to the degradation of democracy. If we don't react and respond now, democracy is in trouble.
Thanks to Rachel Maddow for repeatedly calling attention to Michigan on national television. She is incensed at what is happening to democracy here. Watch her segment on the attack on democracy in Michigan. It may shock you.
I think that Homo sapiens (that would be us) has a fatal gene that is silently paving the way for our total and complete destruction. Now I realize this is a very sensational statement, but I am repeating it at the end of this blog. You tell me I'm wrong here, OK?
All animals have instincts, evolved and developed over time to protect us (yes us, we too are animals) from harm. Think fight or flight. Harm used to be saber-toothed tigers or giant bears or warring next door neighbors. Things we could see. It used to be bad meat - tastes bad, spit it out. Immediate response geared toward protecting our life.
But at some point during the rise of present day civilization, a defective gene started to express itself. Humans began to take unprecedented risks that endangered their lives. The kind of risks are the clue to the existence of this now common gene.
When I was a young woman, I tried peppermint schnapps. I had an immediate reaction and ran to the bathroom. I didn't make it to the bathroom, the reaction was so strong and sudden. I never drank peppermint schnapps again. I had a negative physical reaction to something bad for my body and I took action to ensure it didn't happen again, to protect myself. Even bringing this unpleasant memory up to the surface makes me want to hurl. My body is protecting me even today.
Enter defective gene expression. Everyone knows cigarettes can and do cause cancer, emphysema, asthma, and other serious health issues. Yet we smoke them. Why? The defective gene blocks that critical connection in our brain that links the action we are taking to the consequences. Our body seems to require visceral confirmation of the potential harm of a substance before our brain will engage in stopping the behavior. For instance, if our skin turned green and nasty sores appeared on our skin every time we smoked a cigarette, do you think we would keep smoking? We seem to need immediate consequences for us to protect ourselves from harm. We smoke but don't suffer the health consequences until decades later. We eat junk food all our lives and slowly become obese, have diabetes or heart disease. It is the slow process of it all that kills us. We don't see it coming. We know it, but that doesn't matter. The defective gene keeps us from taking action.
This defective gene is also affecting the health of our communities and nation. How, you might ask? Let me explain.
Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail from the Unemployment Office. There was a new law passed that now requires me to fill out a form verifying that I have applied for at least two jobs every week. I must take this form to the Michigan Works Office or go online and file it every two weeks BEFORE I file for my benefits. Otherwise, I will not get any money. I have no issue with this, other than it is an annoyance for me and one more piece of poverty paper I have to fill out. But what struck me about this was that 1) I never heard about this new law, and 2) I have been directly affected by this new law in a tangible way. A kind of wake up call, if you will. I am responding. I am writing this blog. And I am dutifully filling out the form.
Perhaps this defective gene is the cause for apathy in our society. If it doesn't directly and tangibly affect us, we ignore it. Meanwhile, all kinds of laws are being passed, wars are being fought, corruption is occurring right under our noses. We ignore it. It doesn't directly affect us. But just like with smoking, our collective lungs are filling with black tar and we will soon be gasping for breath.
When laws are passed in Michigan, they go into affect 90 days after the end of the current legislative session. A clause was put in place as part of the original bill to allow for them to take Immediate Affect should an emergency situation arise (war, natural disaster, etc), but it would require a 2/3 majority of the vote for it to happen. The Republican majority has been using this Immediate Affect clause on 96% of the bills they have been passing. Not only is there no real emergency, there is also no 2/3 majority. Democrats ask for a roll-call vote and the Republicans ignore them. Hence the lawsuit by the Democrats.
How does this make you feel? Do you want to run to the bathroom, are you shrugging your shoulders and saying, "who cares?", are you mad as hell? This is where our defective gene can contribute to the degradation of democracy. If we don't react and respond now, democracy is in trouble.
Thanks to Rachel Maddow for repeatedly calling attention to Michigan on national television. She is incensed at what is happening to democracy here. Watch her segment on the attack on democracy in Michigan. It may shock you.
I think that Homo sapiens (that would be us) has a fatal gene that is silently paving the way for our total and complete destruction. Now I realize this is a very sensational statement, but I am repeating it at the end of this blog. You tell me I'm wrong here, OK?
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Man Killing Clam and Other Roadside Attractions
When planning your summer vacation this year, consider this. Michigan is peppered with some of the most awesome, bizarre, curious roadside attractions in the country. I love them. One of my favorites is a contraption someone set up on the side of a road. Cars passing by can toss a bottle or can and try to hit a hole that had been cut out of a board, which was propped up between two 50 gallon drums. As long as you hit the board or the hole, your beverage container ends up in the trash can.
Another favorite is the Prehistoric Village in the Irish Hills, built in 1963. I only discovered this gem back in 2003, four years after it had closed. Damn! You could take a little train back into the woods, where giant mechanized dinosaurs (sculpted by James Q. Sidwell) would roar at you and fake cave people would be posed as if carrying on their daily life. There was a waterfall, a smoking volcano, and a waterslide. Now, it is an eery abandoned, prehistoric ghost town. You can buy this gem for less than a million bucks. I am on a mission to save it and restore it to its former glory so watch for an upcoming blog on this very special place.
One of the most famous of Michigan's roadside attractions features nothing at all from Michigan. Sea Shell City was created in 1957 before the Interstate was even built. It has thousands of sea shells for visitors to ooohhh and ahhhhh over, and not one of them is from North America. But in the land of snow, it is a refreshing tropical escape, taking us to warmer places. The star of Sea Shell City is the Man Killing Clam.
The Man Killing Clam is placed just outside the men's bathroom. According to the owner, the giant clam does not eat men, it just clamps shut on their feet when they try to steal its body for the dinner table. Of course once the jaws of death are dropped, it is bye bye. Just what is this monstrous bivalve?
The giant clam (Tridacna gigas) is the largest living mollusk and is found in the shallow coral reefs of the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, and can reach weights of up to 450 pounds. Wow. It is also found in the Philippines (this is where the Man Killing Clam shell reportedly came from) and in the North Sea of China. It is gone from many of its former habitats and the remaining populations are highly endangered. With an average lifespan of 100 years or more, these clams have been over harvested because of their highly prized flesh.
After visiting the Clam, head on up to Mackinac City for some fudge, salt water taffy, and smoked white fish. Sit on the shore of the Straits and imagine the bottom is littered with giant Man Killing Clams, shooting up from the bottom and snatching Yoopers, Trolls, and Fudgies alike, dragging them to the depths of Lake Michigan, never to be seen again. Delicious.
***Definitions: Straits - water between Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Yoopers - people who were born in the Upper Peninsula. Trolls and Fudgies - all people who come up to the north from southern Michigan.
One of the most famous of Michigan's roadside attractions features nothing at all from Michigan. Sea Shell City was created in 1957 before the Interstate was even built. It has thousands of sea shells for visitors to ooohhh and ahhhhh over, and not one of them is from North America. But in the land of snow, it is a refreshing tropical escape, taking us to warmer places. The star of Sea Shell City is the Man Killing Clam.
The Man Killing Clam is placed just outside the men's bathroom. According to the owner, the giant clam does not eat men, it just clamps shut on their feet when they try to steal its body for the dinner table. Of course once the jaws of death are dropped, it is bye bye. Just what is this monstrous bivalve?
The giant clam (Tridacna gigas) is the largest living mollusk and is found in the shallow coral reefs of the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, and can reach weights of up to 450 pounds. Wow. It is also found in the Philippines (this is where the Man Killing Clam shell reportedly came from) and in the North Sea of China. It is gone from many of its former habitats and the remaining populations are highly endangered. With an average lifespan of 100 years or more, these clams have been over harvested because of their highly prized flesh.
After visiting the Clam, head on up to Mackinac City for some fudge, salt water taffy, and smoked white fish. Sit on the shore of the Straits and imagine the bottom is littered with giant Man Killing Clams, shooting up from the bottom and snatching Yoopers, Trolls, and Fudgies alike, dragging them to the depths of Lake Michigan, never to be seen again. Delicious.
***Definitions: Straits - water between Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Yoopers - people who were born in the Upper Peninsula. Trolls and Fudgies - all people who come up to the north from southern Michigan.
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