Our ingredients for a wonderful summer

 HI,

Basically I am writing my blog and my posts as a memoir for myself and perhaps my kids.  It is like a journal of me interacting with my kids.  A diary.  It is mostly for me, but I write it in a blog so it is public.  If there are 5 or 10 or 1000 people interested, whatever, that is fine.  But I have to tell you I am not writing it for you, I am writing it for me.  If you find it interesting, then I am very happy, but if no one reads it besides myself and three people, I dont really care.  Or I should be polite and say, that is also ok.  

The reason I mention this now is actually because this will be the first time I have thought about it.  I started thinkng about it because I knew I was going to write a post which really was probably not going to be interesting for anybody.  But then I thought, well does it have to be?  A lot of what I write here is probably boring or not intersting for people, this one wont be much different.  But all the same, I thought I should write a warning before this post. Then I thought I should write a whole forword and explain.  So... there it was and here it is

Our main ingredients for a happy summer  

Spider Lake and Greilick Road.  I have been going there all my life, every summer. I missed the summer of 2020 so that is why we really had to go in 2021.  Despite the pandemic (it was getting better when I booked, but then was getting worse when we went) this is what I and now my daughters love.  I guess it is not impossible to fall in love with a place.  I have.  Now my daughters love it too.  I cant really say what is so spectacular about the lake.  It is big enough and not too big.  It is getting more boats now, that is true.  A bit busier than when I was growing up on it.  But in my opinion it is just as beautiful as any body of water in the smaller lakes category.  It can compete and win against any New Hampshire, Minnesota, or Northeast state lake.  I guess water has always attracted me.  Sun shining off the water is very beautiful.  The sparkle is magical.  But Spider Lake is even more magical. It has some magnet effect. 

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We used to stay here (1) now we have to stay here.(2) A kind of very sad change that happened in 2018, but I guess it had to happen, maybe, maybe not, and at least we are still on Greilick Road very close to the old location and still in the neighborhood and on the lake.  But even sadder for me, as place 1 is where I grew up and my daughters started out there too.  Now it isnt ours anymore in a sudden change.  But....

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 Then there is swimming.  Naturally in the lake I showed you in the picture above.  I guess these days the recipe calls for swimming at the island pictured below. It has the best swimmng area. It is very sandy and has a big area to swim in.  The problem is, that many other people believe the same.  So on the weekend it is too crowded to swim or we have to wait.  During the week it is fine.  

Michigan corn.  Sometimes we get to our vacation too early to get a lot of corn.  And then I have to cook more suppers, which is not good as I have a limited repertoire.  But this last summer it was August and the corn was in full swing.  We ate it nearly every day or every other day.  And Michigan corn is the best.  Sorry, nothing else comes close.   I know everyone will say their corn is the best, but, all I can say is you are wrong.  Ok, no sense to argue.  Corn on the cob is an integral ingredient for a wonderful summer.  This last summer 2021 it played a big role.  

The thing we do eat EVERY day even more than corn is really bad.  I guess it is my secret enjoyable sin.  Well, in fact it cant be mine because I never get any. My daughters love it even more than I , so I never get any. I have to make myself a regular sandwich lunch and they give me a couple spoonfuls which I was grateful for. Besides I knew it was nt so good for me, especially to eat every day, so a couple spoons was good enough.  And yes I realize I am a bad parent, but a good parent, for letting my daughters eat this awful(ly) bad/delicious food.  It is our favorite. We cant get it during the year.  So, it is a summer thing.  It is part of the summer ingredients.  Here it is.  

Then there are a couple other ingredients.   The best pizza restaurant in this section of the world.  That is another thing people are very patriotic about. Everyone will tell you the best pizza is made in.... Chicago, Ann Arbor, Tulsa Oklahoma.  I wont argue with these people because I do realize in this case that. well, yes there are good pizza restaurants in all parts of the U... world even and each person has his good memories and his idea of what is a good pizza.  But here is ours.  Best around.  Go there if you get up to these parts.  We always get it two or three times in the summer vacation.  Peegeos pizza is the best you can get around here.  And that is very good. 

Then there are assorted other things.  A couple other fast food joints that we go to like a tradition.  I have put up pictures of Bryant Park on Lake Michigan a couple times and it is a necessary ingredient for the summer vacation.  A new event as a result of the pandemic, since most of the restaurants were on lockdown still this last summer we had to get carry out from the restaurant and then eat it on a picnic table in front of the bay.  I have to say was a very pleasurable experience, especially on a sunny day. So maybe we will do that again next year.  Also the museum on the Northeastern Michigan campus we go to every year.  It has a great hands on learning room, which hasnt changed much in 5 years or more, but is still always enjoyable.  

There is one last thing that I must mention.  That is the local branch of the public library system.  The East Bay Township branch.  They have been an integral part of many of our summers, at least since the kids could read.  The staff has always been the nicest and they remember us every year even though we just come in the summer.  Especially nice are the extracurricular events they organize there, especially on Saturdays.  We have painted rocks, made colorful pom poms, watched old short animated films and of course gotten out ten books a shot.  Hats off to the wonderful people who work there.  You have to stop and pay respect to the "peripheral" people in your life who help make the whole life picture much nicer and better.  The library crew at East Bay township branch, well always wonderful and as a result an integral part of a great summer vacation.  

I listened to so many tracks while I was writing this that I am just going to end with a picture of the library instead of my usual recommendation of music I have or will get.  

Thanks for reading and maybe even enjoying.  Leave a message

Max