Dog Days of August

The rest of August centered around the move from my apartment into a little house with Sally, a fellow Foundation employee from Yorktown. Before the move, there were a variety of smaller outings, including a going away dinner for Kai (our one remaining wage employee for us three Honor Guard supervisors to supervise). (photos: Don, Carol (lost in the middle), Kai, and James giving Kai her farewell hug; Mark and Kai doing apparently doing something interesting; and Kai, Matt, and Sally.)



The day of the move was one of the hottest of the summer thus far, which was saying something considering that there had been a fair number of 100-110+ (and humid) days since my return from Michigan. I spent the Wednesday before the move packing my entire apartment, and that evening with some friends, packing my Lil’ Sammy U-Haul moving truck. We’d hoped to move in that evening while it was cool, but had to wait until the next morning.

Thursday the 16th started early for Sally and I as we met at the house to get our keys. While she made a trip to her house in Newport News for her things, I unloaded my truck. It didn’t take too long for it to get hot. Jack had come over to help unload my truck and we definitely had to pace ourselves. For the rest of the afternoon, we were all taking turns to try to find ways to get out of working in the heat any more than necessary. With a brief nip back to my apartment to get the last load and to clean the last bit, we spent the day unloading, unpacking, and cleaning. Many of our moving assistants stayed later to relax on our new fantastic couch for a movie. We were all glad the day was over, but I was off to work the next day and had to put off the rest of my unpacking for a few days. (photos: Our cute house from the outside; Stephanie mooching our internet and trying to make "the face"; and some of the crazy storm clouds as we're at Circuit City in Newport News buying our cute router.)



The day after our move was the staff picnic. Apparently smaller than in years past, the picnic had all sorts of homemade food and activities. Jeff was very excited to get a squirrel painted on his face and some of us even attempted the watermelon seed spitting contest. The big feature was the band currently called “Live Music,” a group of interpreters (mostly) that performed at previous picnics. Some of their wives even distributed racy panties to spectators to fling at the band after their set. Pretty fantastic. (photos: Jeff getting his face painted; Ashley excited about her racy underwear to fling; Live Music -- Duane on guitar, Frank's stepson on bass, Todd on drums, Jaie on vocals, and Frank on guitar; Mark showing his love for live music (and his love for Jaie on his face); and Jeff showing Callie how to shoot the monkey.)





The following Thursday after our move was our housewarming party. In the end, we had thirty or so friends and coworkers come over to hang out, chat, eat, shoot screaming monkeys, and drink over 100 bottles beer. We were really glad to have so many of our friends over and it was a fun, chill evening. (photos: Jack and Baby Armand; the boys in green -- Green Mark and Scott; Jeff perplexed at my insistance that his shirt really is a show of affection for me and not some Californian city; Jeff also left his car door open, so some of the boys decided to open all of his car doors, allowing Mike to crawl right in; and Jeff's housewarming gift protecting my tomato plants.)





That Friday, the Honor Guard (plus Joyce to replace Kai) was off to Deltaville for the Rendezvous of the John Smith Shallops for the weekend. Deltaville was a very small town with friendly people. Joyce and I stayed at a B&B with a circa 90 year-old “unrepented hippie” complete with a half dozen “kitty cats” and a goat. The residents of Deltaville had a few events to which we were invited, including a dinner at a house (that probably cost a couple of million dollars) and a fundraising reception. The final day of the event, we even got to go rowing in the shallop to help the local museum prepare for the big shallop race. (photos: The gypsies perusing a yard sale (mostly old tea cups and fishing/boating gear) in Deltaville, with Jack in his best about-town ensebmle; the sign we all enjoyed on the dock where the Deltaville shallop is usually moored in front of its museum; stairway to nowhere; the Deltaville shallop arrives at the reception on the Piankatank River; and how I was often spotted that weekend as I tinkered with and organized my new phone (I was in this case checking the weather as it was noticeably quite hot and humid).)





(photos: The Dove and the three shallops docked at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the Rendezvous; Grace the pirate reenactor, Mike, and the old sailor guy singing sea shanties; Jack's feet hurt; and the shallop races.)




Coming up at the end of the month, there are plans to go to the German Pantry in Norfolk for my birthday and some birthday shnitzel, the start of UofM football, and the first official gig of Jeff’s heavy metal band. Should be fun!

Michigan, My Michigan

After a busy and fun July, August began with a trip home to Michigan. I flew home the morning of the first and was met at the Detroit airport by my mom and brother Josh. That same day the family was heading North to St. Ignace and the Upper Peninsula, so the rest of the day at home in Lansing was spent relaxing while everyone else scrambled to get their things together. Around 5pm, we piled into the two cars and headed out on the road.

Since we left so late, we didn’t get to St. Ignace until pretty late, but it was fantastic to be back in northern Michigan. We took a quick hop to a pub in town that evening (much to my mom’s dismay), but we were all pretty exhausted and headed to bed soon after. The next morning, we went to Java Joe’s for breakfast and then left to drive to Whitefish Point.

It was my first time to Whitefish Point and I was quite excited to visit. We went through everything, including the Shipwreck Museum, lighthouse keepers’ apartments, and the obligatory movie about the Edmund Fitzgerald (yes, Gordon Lightfoot was playing in part of the museum). I also loved the view of Lake Superior and my mom and I enjoyed strolling on the beach. Josh, Leslie, and my dad were quickly done with the museum (my dad and brother grumbling about how much the museum cost) and were more than eager to get into Paradise for some lunch. The Yukon Inn was the perfect yooper dive for a meal – they didn’t even have tuna since it was too hot and might spoil (odd to not have a fridge in a restaurant, eh?). After lunch, we were off to Tahquameenon Falls. We strolled around the paths for various views, but I soon had to leave the family to head back to St. Ignace to catch the ferry to Mackinac Island. (photos: Mavelously realistic mannequins (and a bit biker-esque) at the Shipwreck Museum; Leslie demonstrating how she enjoys museums; Lake Superior; Leslie and Josh in front of the Whitefish Point lighthouse; and me, Mom, and Leslie at Whitefish Point.)





(photos: Lower Tahquamenon Falls; me and Leslie at the lower falls; fabulous facts about Michigan (we all love our state!); the upper falls; and Leslie, me, Josh, and Dad at the upper falls.)





I was quite excited (again) to visit the Island for the first time since working last season. It was weird to be going back as a visitor, but the smell of the horses and fudge was fabulously familiar and welcoming upon arrival. Katie and Bruce met me at the dock and I made my way to the Mission House to drop off my stuff before heading back downtown to meet Katie, Bruce, and others at the Astor Street for dinner. Since we had to wait a bit, we all went to the Seabiscuit for a drink before dinner, and afterwards Katie and I hiked up to the Scout Barracks for ice cream with the Detroit boy scout troop. We felt a bit rotund from all the food, so we helped Bruce walk his dogs with a little hikey hikey (in the dark, of course! Just like old times…). After, we decided to try to find something fun downtown and found Myk Rise, one of our favorite musicians on the Island. (photos: A scary crew -- Trace, Bruce, and Bever at Astor Street; Katie and I already eating our way through the weekend, starting with some delicious bread pudding; and Katie and Lily, doing their thing.)



The next morning, I slept in a bit before heading up to the fort to meet Katie. We split food from the Tea Room (mmmm… tomato soup…) before Maria and I went downtown for a second lunch with a quick pit stop at the downtown buildings to say hi to the blacksmiths arriving for the Blacksmith Convention. By this point, I began noticing a pattern of my eating and walking as Maria and I then went to walk off the food and catch up on drama and things. We headed back to the house only to head back downtown for dinner, a brief hikey, and then to the Gatehouse for night one of Hot Carl. We’d decided to start at the Gatehouse to see Will and Nidal open for Hot Carl, then do a stint at Sinclair’s to fulfill our obligation to the blacksmiths and Pub Runners, before heading back to Hot Carl (they were just so much more fun!). It was a long night as we danced the night away and closed the bar, fully planning to recreate the night again on Saturday night. (photos: Ah, one of the sights I missed the most -- the view of the lake from the Mission House; another great vista from the Straits side of the Island towards the Bridge; the man-child and equally mangled-looking mannequins; the view over the Straits featuring the smoke from the big forrest fire in the Upper Penninsula near where I had been only the day before; and the view out over the channel of the smoke (it was so thick that the whole Island smelled like smoke).)





(photos: Katie and Peggy excited for live music; Bev and me (sorry, it's blurry); Trace, Katie, and me getting our dance on; Katie tickled to see the Pub Runners inebriated; and Hot Carl (showing the gut) to the rest of his band.)





Saturday, I was up to meet the crafties for breakfast before getting dressed to help Maria with her lunch rotation. I wasn’t sure that I was going to dress up and actual interpret on my vacation, but the two hour gig was just enough to satisfy my withdrawl from my crafty past. After again, we played with the blacksmiths before heading back to the house to greet Jenny as she came to the Island to play with us and Hot Carl. We then went down to the Gatehouse for dinner, more music, and more dancing. We were even able to corral a fort staff contingent that evening from the pub to enjoy the Hot Carl magic… Marvelous. (photos: Dad, Leslie, me, and Josh at the Tea Room for lunch; Jenny expressing her true feelings about the condiment caddy; Will and Nidal; Lily and Phil (daughter and dad) dancing; and Geoff, Bever, and Joe at the pub.)





(photos: One of my favorite blacksmiths; me and Peggy; Sandy and Katie; Jenny and her lampshade friend; and (sorry, blurry again) Maria, Sandy, Peggy, Jenny, and me.)





The next morning, Jenny left early and I slept a bit longer before packing my backpack to head down to St. Anne’s to meet Katie for lunch (again at Astor Street, this time with Peggy and Fr. Rey) and for Heather May’s recital. Afterwards, we discovered Br. Jim’s flying monkey toy that inspired me to purchase one to take back to Virginia (it’s been quite a hit, making appearances at work, the pub, and various social gatherings thanks to Jack ordering three more off the internet). We finally caught a ferry and I was back in Lansing by dark. (photos: Peggy and Fr. Rey at Astor Street; Darren and Ollie at St. Anne's; and my favorite ice cream with the chewy chunks of fudge.)



Monday, I hung out with my family and met Bruce for lunch at the Mediterran Café downtown. The next morning, I was to be up relatively early for my flight back home. However, on our way to Detroit, we hit horrible traffic and I arrived barely too late for my flight, missing it and causing much stress until I was able to fly stand-by on a flight a few hours later. After a stressful trip back, I was much relieved to be home, but also very much enjoyed my time home with my family and my visit to the Island.

**Bonus Hot Carl shots: