One Week, Four People, Up North

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Scenes from our recent vacation


Here is a group of artists and their easels on the beach. It's hard to get the colors right when sand keeps blowing into the paint.


Four old friends take a break from a game of mini golf.


M and K play a game at Lucky Jack's - they have this game at home, so why not pay someone else in another city to play it when you're on vacation?


"So then I said 'I know you're still wearing it, but I found the watch, so it's mine. Ha ha ha ha!'"


K and Laurie play a game where they shoot balls at a target at Lucky Jack's.


A nice evening shot of the Frankfort lighthouse - picture by J.


On the way home, we stopped at Adventure Island in Cadillac, MI. M and I challenged each other to a few laps on the go-kart track. M demonstrated outstanding leadfootery and reckless driving, two traits I hope he doesn't carry with him when he starts to drive real cars.


M and K enjoy a plastic straw full of honey at Bee Dazzled, a farm in Benzonia (near Frankfort).


K and M on the beach.


M and K enjoy a decaf mocha while playing checkers at Trick Dog, an art store and coffee shop in Elberta, across Lake Betsie from Frankfort.


"...and I found the '64 Buick over there where that seagull is. I told you about the '64 Buick, right?"


This is what the lighthouse looks like when you're standing right next to it. It's much taller than it appears from shore.


Another great sunset shot by M.

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A Trip to Jackson, Some Tennis, and a Few Links

Jackson Visit

We went to Jackson last week to visit Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa), and especially to see Dad's (Grandpa's) most recent sculpture outside Ella Sharp Museum.

It's titled "The Blonde Trick-Rider Practices for the State Fair".




At Ella Sharp, M finally realizes his dream of being on TV. Or in TV. Or behind TV.


M and K try out the "Whispering Bench", so named because a person can whisper into one end and the other person can hear it perfectly.


A yucca plant next to the house has sprouted quite a stalk.


While we were at Ella Sharp, we noticed a lot of hot-air balloons taking off. We were a little puzzled since the Hot Air Jubilee is scheduled for this coming weekend, but we were told that this was a preview of the Jubilee, intended to create excitement and publicity for the real thing.

Tennis Update
K played his first official USTA tournament over the weekend. He played four matches over two days, and we were exhausted just watching him play. Three of his four matches were against kids who had played many tournaments in the past, but he played hard and didn't give up any easy points. For all the time we were there, we somehow neglected to take even a single picture.

Links
Gears, gears, and more gears.

A clever idea for the reader on your Christmas list.

Shops and shopkeepers.

I keep looking, but I've never seen one of these to rent at the canoe livery.

And finally - nope, nope, nope-ity nope.

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Happy Independence Day, America!



M, facing the camera, in the middle of the action, wins the pie-eating contest. The boy with his back to camera who jumps up and celebrates has not actually won - M won, as determined by the judge in the orange shirt. M has dominated this contest two years in a row. Sadly, this is not the kind of talent that helps him get better grades or leads to a promising career, although it does temporarily satisfy his desire for dessert.

July 4th Greetings to All!

We are having a beautiful July 4 here in Michigan. The weather barely hit the low end of 80 degrees, and we had a picnic with a number of friends, acquaintances, and several people we hadn't met before today.

[Editor's Note: I started this on July 4th, but then we got together with some neighbors to eat s'mores and set off fireworks and it got too late to get it in before midnight.]

Happenings

A band plays to a pretty good-sized crowd at Top of the Park
We went to Top of the Park, part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival last night. We had some yummy local food, saw some great musical acts including local favorite Laith Al-Saadi, whose music reminded me of southern jam-band blues. Great stuff. M and a friend of his stayed late to see the movie, which ended around midnight. J and I went home and went to bed at a sensible hour.


A Global Hello
I want to say hello to my friends and coworkers in India who tell me they regularly read this blog. Hello to Mahesh, Sai, Sampath (who have told me they read it) and all my other colleagues there.