MUSINGS FROM MICHIGAN: January 10, 2012

Hello, dear family & friends!!!

I am not going to go into detail about this week's work. It has continued about the same as usual. But, we took our first real, almost-all-day preparation day. I am including pictures of our adventures. (The first three photos, however, were taken here in Battle Creek today, where the weather continues to be spring-like. I am not complaining at all. We are supposed to get lake-effect snow Thursday and Friday. Michigan does not run short of water, so all of this great weather does not cause problems that way. (We tell our friends that it is because our Moms are praying for us to keep warm.) It does, however, put a dent in the snow removal paychecks. If I understand it correctly, workers get paid for each day. If they work holidays, like they did New Year's Day, they get holiday pay. If they work weekends, they get time and a half. There have only been a couple of storms, which is very unusual. As a result they are not getting paychecks.

Our First Adventure with Michigan

(I took this from my journal.)

Elder H came in after his walk and asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to see a Great Lake, or a lighthouse, or something lovely. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he said that he wanted to see something lovely.

I looked online to see what is fairly close around here. I called Janet Torrance and asked her. (Ed was supposed to come home from the hospital today. I’m so glad.) We took off to South Haven. On the way, we decided to go to Benton Harbor and St. Joseph first. It was over forty degrees here in Battle Creek. Janet said she has lived here all of her life, and she has never seen a winter like this.

Benton Harbor looked like a ghost town in it’s downtown area. Battle Creek does also. (All over America downtowns are in trouble. Life centers around the malls on the edge of town.) We passed through Benton Harbor, the town, not the harbor, and went into St. Joseph’s. The town sits on a hillside overlooking Lake Michigan. We stopped at the top and took some photos. There was a cool statue honoring some firemen who saved people when their opera house burned down in the late 1800s. There was an outdoor pavilion near there for concerts. How cool would that be, overlooking the Lake?

We headed down to the beach. A home owner was out trying to shovel sand away from his house. The wind was blowing piles and piles of it. It drifts like snow does in Jerome. We walked down a pier across from a light house. The sky had a few clouds, and it was cool, but it was lovely. There were fishermen on the dock fishing for white fish. We stopped and talked with a man about the fishing and about his cart, etc. He told us about a place called the Box Factory. His wife is president of the art council. They have taken an old factory and have turned into an art gallery and 14 artist’s studios. We went there, and it was fun.

We then took MI A2 highway up the coast to South Haven. We stopped at a park, and took the trail down to the beach. There was an amazing house there. (The one with yellow on it in the photos)The trail was filled with acorns. Elder H says that the deer love to eat those.

Once we were in South Haven, we stopped and had a sandwich at Burger King. I tried a Swiss Mushroom burger. That’s two hamburgers I have eaten without ketchup...amazing how full of adventure my life is.

We went down the piers to the lighthouse. The wind was really blowing, and it was cold. The sun was covered by clouds. Once again, there were fishermen. The waves were huge. I kept trying to get pictures of the splashing waves upon the pier, but did not push the shutter at the exact moment. There was a young boy with his dad on the end. The son would get close and then try to outrun the waves that splashed up. A huge one got him. I was so mad that I did not have the camera ready.
We had a wonderful relaxing time.

We also drove past the WORLD HEADQUARTERS of the Whirlpool Corp. Also in that area there are huge fields of blueberry bushes, (they are bright red this time of year), cherry orchards, and Christmas tree farms.

A note from some new friends we have made who are investigating:

We found a message on Elder H's phone last night from Grant. When Ron got him on the phone this morning, he wanted us to be sure to tell our family that they appreciate their sacrifice for us being out here. SO THANK-YOU ALL!!! We are glad to be here and feel that we are making a small difference in the lives of a few people. They are making a huge difference in our lives. Words cannot express all we are learning and feeling. So many experiences go hand in hand with the times Kristin and I had in Poland in June. I will never take my upbringing or my life with Elder H & our children in Jerome forgranted again. We have been greatly blessed. Life is a gift from God, and is meant to be enjoyed and full of service to others. We are, for the most part, all of us enjoying good health. We are comfortable in warm houses, with loving families around us. We have plenty of food. It is strange to me that, in America, that is not true of everyone. I have heard that and read that, but I have not seen it like this. We have been blessed to have the gospel in our lives on a daily basis. We have wonderful friends, who feel like family to us. We have strong leaders. We have the opportunity to get an education, to get a job and work. The list goes on and on. The people here are wonderful. Life is extremely difficult in ways I do not feel appropriate to go into detail about, but sometimes, in some homes, I cannot help but think about the old "Island of Misfit Toys." However, these are real people who are alone and lonely, not cartoons. It tugs at my heart. So, while we miss you, we are grateful to be the Lord's hands here ministering where we can.

Michiganisms:

One of my favorites continues to be: "Everyday men die from stubborness."

On a billboard: "Today an 8th grader, Tomorrow a dairy farmer.

(I keep trying to get a photo of this, but miss it every time.)

A sign on one street reads:

"Slow kids playing.
Speed lemit."

The kids are slow???

A man was walking down the road here around BC somewhere. He stopped to watch some deer on the road when more deer came running through, mowing him down. He is in the hospital. Really. It was on the news.

A man went ice fishing. If you look at the walking on water photo below, you might note that it is not frozen all the way across. Most ponds, etc. that we have seen are not frozen. After all, it has been in the forty's a lot. He managed to go out a ways, but fell through the ice. Well, neighbors heard him screaming and called 911. He was fine.

One thing I am grateful for is the gps. You know how lots of places are laid out to the square and each block is a hundred, two hundred, etc.? Well here, a lot of streets look like they just laid them out following the cow paths. When the end of the block comes, they do not start the next hundred, they just keep counting. It takes blocks and blocks to get to the place we think we should be.