Batting .500

I have achieved A Place To Live.  I’m not sure if it’s a carriage house, a mother-in-law cottage or, as Cousin Ruth suggested, Slave Quarters.  Given the demographics here, I don’t think I should make a habit of referring to it that way.

 

I believe I shall move Monday.  And, in keeping with my goals at this point, it is Cheap As Hell.

Proof of life

Wow.  Didn't mean to take a big ol' hiatus there.  After the drive to Georgia (Columbus, to be exact), I sort of fell into a blue funk of job/housing searching and...well, didn't really feel much like talking.

I've found neither a job nor a house, but I think I'm getting close on both of them.  Although Jack likes apartment living just fine, I think we'll be bailing on Cousin R and her fabulous husband pretty soon for a shack of our own here in the area.

The adventure continues, folks, but sometimes it isn't enough fun to warrant commentary.  I think the blue funk is lifting, so we'll do better. 

We're alive!

I know the smart people say one should post something each day, but we're just not that high speed.

Jack and I made the trip to Georgia with little drama.  Our only issue arose when I tried to pull over in a rest stop for a cat nap.  The dog who had managed to sleep from West Michigan to Birmingham was suddenly wide awake and on guard.  That wouldn't have been bad if, as instructed, he limited his guarding to, say, a ten-foot radius around the vehicle.  But no...everybody within a hundred yards required growling.  We pushed on.

We're staying with Cousin R, who, along with her husband, resides in a nice apartment complex.  Said complex has a pond, .75-mile running trail, and, best of all...a Bark Park.  Given the number of fabulous canine distractions, my sidekick has not had a lot of trouble adjusting to being an apartment dog.

While the getting's good...

I woke up this morning at Dad’s and wandered outside for a smoke.  Somewhere in this oak woods, some trees has decided it’s time. Leaves were falling.

 

On that note, my dog and I are headed south.  If you find yourself run off the road between Michigan and Georgia by a Jeep and a trailer being driven by a black lab…that’s us!

Offloading

In preparation for the next phase of movement, in which I will soon head south out of Michigan, I staged my very own tragic boating accident today.

Okay, so it really wasn't all that dramatic, but I moved all my long guns and associated crap into Dad's basement so they don't have to be sitting in a trailer while I go into the seriously transient, trailer-parked-outside phase of this whole thing.

Wild weekend

Yesterday was Mom's Birthday.  Mom, of course, rocks.  So I was left trying to figure out how best to celebrate such an auspicious occasion.

Why, by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, of course!

That would be your author, coming in for a landing that, thanks to my tandem jumping buddy, was not a crashing disaster.  Mere seconds later....

Not a bird, or a plane, but Mom.

First time for each of us to do that, and it was a hoot.  We jumped from around 10,000 feet, had just under a minute of freefall, then about 5,000 feet of pleasant drifting to the ground.  We went with the fine folks at Skydive Allegan, who have a dog on their website and so were our first choice.  They were great.

World's Coolest Grandmother was on site (although she did not jump out of an airplane) to take pictures.  And, in a fabulous stroke of good luck, one of Mom's hospital coworkers is a private pilot who flies out of the same airport.  After our jump, he packed all three of us into his plane and took us for a lovely spin around West Michigan.

That, folks, is what it looks like where I'm from.

walkabout Grand Rapids

Walked around town this evening with Mom and the World's Coolest Grandmother, taking in some of the displays in a local public art contest.  Sometimes it's a little difficult to get large, public art, but it's usually interesting.  For example...

Foreground right you can see a sculpture in the Grand River that was descibed as "kinetic."  Obviously, a more traditional use of the term that the one that popped into my mind.  Apparently it was designed to spin or do some sort of weathervane type of thing.  Kinda pretty, but with no breeze, it was a little deficient in the motion department.  Then, atop the blue bridge, you can see...a giant table and chairs.  Okay.  Whimsical - I dig it.  There's also some sort of pink Gumby-like figure on the left side of the bridge.  That one I really don't fully appreciate.

We moseyed on, taking in a couple of other large, metallic objects.  And, as thing worked out, at that point we encountered some truly intriguing art that was not a part of the official city art project. 

Yeah.  See, that's a couple whitetail deer mounted on the back of a car.  Wearing hats.  According to Mom, they're often seen around downtown GR, although the hats may be a new addition.

New footwear update

I wore the wacky shoes around for a little bit last night with no weird side effects, so I took them out walking and running today.  They were already easier to get my feet into, although there is still that one "special" toe.

Mom has a nice stretch of sidewalk along the river here that provides a great place to walk or run, and plenty of grass alongside to try as well.

Walking in them was comfortable, although I could definitely feel myself trying to figure out how to place my feet - I felt as though I was slapping them down at first.

I think I have pretty normal feet:

One more foot shot for reference:

 OK.  So fairly normal feet, normal arches, etc. 

The running was...fine.  I'm not the world's greatest runner, by any means (I don't lift my knees enough), but I found them comfy at both a job, a slow run and a pretty good clip.  I tried them off the sidewalk and really enjoyed that.  I'm usually a little hesitant to run on rough terrain, as neither my ankles nor my balance are very awesome, but these shoes increased my awareness of the terrain variances enough that I felt quite comfortable.

My only concern is the lack of cushioning for running frequently on pavement.  We shall see about that.  I finished up with one small hotspot (pre-blister) on a toe, but nothing bad.  My lower legs have felt a little more tired than is normal with a fairly easy run, but we'll see if there was major muscle exhaustion when I get up tomorrow.

Thus far, they're interesting.

Joining the cool kids' pack

After reading LabRat's review, and finally being somewhere where I could go try some on, I picked up a pair of them thar toe-glove shoes.

I dunno yet.  I have on kinda-retarded toe that seems a little hesitant, but we shall see.

Coyotes and Elks and black bears

Oh, my!  Dad and I are off to the Great Northern Forests for the long weekend.  If I’m never heard from again, it can be assumed I joined the legions of lost annually devoured by porcupines.

Totally wasted day

I tried to get up in a timely manner, but found myself hemmed in on both sides by fairly large dogs who, each time I thought about getting up, muttered nah...just a little longer...

I finally dragged myself out of the rack.  I loaded Jack up (after promising Sarge some one-on-one frisbee time later) and hit the road. Off to the lake, can you beat it?

Well, yes.  If you add a Kong-on-a-rope.

That, according to Jack, is about as much fun as one can have.  Add in a little rolling in the sand, and life is super.

Maaaaaan, that's a happy dog!

Ran away from home

to wild and crazy Ohio.

Ohio might not be the most entertaining state in the union, but it does have the best place out there to ride roller coasters, so Mom and I hit the road.

We shall be zooming til we puke!

(Probably not, actually, as neither of us are prone to pukiness, but we will try)

Love this country

It's a beautiful day and I woke up to blue skies and sunshine.  Of course, when you've come to Michigan via Iraq and Texas, sunny beautiful days aren't to be trusted - one grows used to them being hotter than a Birmingham steel mill.  But I walked outside and...78, 80 degrees?  Fabulous.

Since I'm hanging out at Mom's place (more of a treehouse with internet connectivity and available takeout than Dad's hollow tree), we toddled off to the local farmer's market.

Mmm...blueberries.  Once, when I was a small child, I partook so enthusiastically in fresh blueberries that I ended up vomiting in the middle of the night.  According to Mom, at first blush, yakked blueberries are dark enough to cause a young mother to mistake them for blood. 

The farmer's market, in addition to being full of awesomely scrumptious things, is colorful.

And not just pretty food.

But, best of all about the farmer's market is hoovering up the goodies afterward.  Tomato + toast + mayo + salt = pure, unadulterated awesome.

You could ask me how many tomato sandwiches I've eaten today, but I would totally lie to you.

Irrational Fears

Dad’s got hummingbirds around the house.  I like hummingbirds as much as the next person, but they worry me a little.  They way they zoom around reminds me of bumblebees, which tend to not have the best navigational skills and occasionally smack into you.  I can’t quite escape the vision of one of these tiny bird smacking into my head and embedding its beak in my skull.

 

As the daughter of an ER nurse, I’ve imagined several times how that visit would play out.  “Yes, I’m fairly certain my insurance will cover the removal of this bird from my left temple…”

Scenery

This is really probably the nicest time of year up here.  Everything is green - it's shocking how green when you've been so long someplace that is almost entirely dirt-colored.  It's been a wet summer, and not a very hot one, either.

So the water is good in the river, and the trees are...well, somewhere between healthy and out of control.

I'm fairly certain one of these trips up here I'll find that Dad's place has been entirely overrun by giant oak trees and aggressive squirrels.  I sit out here on the back porch (where I can kinda get some internet signal, sometimes) and listen to things falling through the oak canopy.  There's never any way of knowing whether it's just a limb, or perhaps a poorly balanced possum, since it's just a sea of green.

What's funny is that in just a couple of months, the view from back here will enable one to sit and watch deer cross the field 500 yards away.  Today they could be camped 25 feet from where I'm sitting and I'd have no clue.

Ahh....

I made it successfully to Hollow Tree, Michigan, where I received the World’s Most Enthusiastic Dog Greeting. 

 

That was, of course, after swinging by the hospital to see Mom (interrupting her workday, so my apologies to anyone who may have had a near-death experience in Barry County today – your care may have been quicker if I hadn’t stopped to hug my Mom, but that wasn’t going to happen). 

 

Jack did get to me before my Dad, but I got some good hugs from him, to (unlike the lab, Dad did not pee on my foot.  Appreciate that, Dad).

Observations from the road

It doesn't matter where I am or where I'm going, I'm going to leave my cell phone charger plugged into a hotel room wall somewhere.  [sigh]  Gotta find an AT&T store tomorrow...

Iraq wins.  I'm in Springfield, Illinois tonight (the Fun Capitol Of Middle Illinois!), and it was about 68 degrees when I checked into my room.  I immediately turned the heat on.

There's always someone creepy sort lurking around the parking lot that causes me to have to sclepp a footloacker of handguns, ammo and other heavy stuff into my room rather than lock it in my (soft top) vehicle.  Thanks, tweaker chick.  That's really alright, because that's one police report I do not want to deal with...actually, officer, it wasn't a handgun that was stolen...

Those highway worker awareness signs?  "Hit a worker - $10,000 fine and 14 years in jail!"  They make me think of pulling over, striding up to some road worker and punching him in the nose.  14 years in jail?  Probably not.  Ass-whipping of a lifetime?  Much more likely.

How is it the instant I left the ExMister all my to-go sippy coffee cups, there are none to be found at any gas station I stop at?  Can you imagine how any times I sloshed scalding coffee into my crotch today?  It's a matter of public safety, folks.

Updates from the road

The Jeep is handling surprisingly well with the trailer - I'd say the greatest issue is the spastic driver, but I'm relaxing some.  This may be the only time on pavement I've ever used first gear, though.

In other news, I still can't stand Oklahoma.  I'm sure someone likes it here, and they'll have no competition for vacation rentals or retirement property from yours truly.  Hard to say if I'll make Michigan tomorrow, but I put some good miles in today.

The adventure continues.

Plans

Because at this point we're co-dependent and confused with all this time on our hands, my entire team is meeting up tomorrow for a meat-and-beer festival.

And beforehand?  At least three quarters of us are going to the funshow.

Look out, North Texas - we could have flashbacks at any point and start asking about the state of your local water distribution!

Winning (slowly)

I found and procured a trailer - found one used and saved a little money that way.  The masking tape is defeating me soundly, and the pile of stuff has grown to point of fitting-all-that-in-there-is-going-to-be-an-adventure.

The party never ends, folks.