Okay, so you’re right, that’s not how you spell geocaching and there is no ka-ching about geocaching in any case. But I always feel like spelling it that way and, anyway, what do you do in January in northern Michigan when there’s no snow? This is what we/I did, more or less, omitting some of the more slugly activities:

• Drove lazily in a figure-eight pattern around Houghton and Higgins Lakes, stopping at the Hub grocery store, Home Depot, the ski ranch, and several geocaches along the way. I would not let the GG stop at the geocache that was yards away from where a state cop had pulled over what must have been the only vee-hickle besides us on Old US27. I figgered if the cop was bored enough to stop that person, he was probably bored enough to wonder what we were doing rummaging around in the woods. I didn’t feel like trying to ‘splain geocaching to him. Another day for that cache.
• Hiked at Beaver Creek and took GPS readings and corresponding pictures with the intent to eventually synch them together. Don’t hold your breath.
• Took a nature hike at the ski ranch with Karen the forest ranger.
• Transferred files from my old computer and my backup drive to my new computer.
• Studied some experimental web sites and wrote a paper about them.
• Blahgged.
• I don’t know what else.
• Oh yeah! Owl adventure! We were driving along, heading home for the afternoon when some sort of mouse-eater with big wings flew low across the road, right smack in front of our vee-hickle. If we had been going any faster, we might have hit it. When it lit on a tree branch right next to the road, we saw that it was an owl. See the pictures below. I wish they were better (click the thumbnails for larger and and some non-owl pics):

(click pics to enlarge and get more non-owl pics)

…is about what me and my 12″ G4 powerbook have been through together for the last four years. It was my dream computer. I know better than to have a dream computer or a dream vee-hickle or whatever but that machine and I were buddies. At the time I got it, I had been sharing an aging strawberry iMac with two other people, one of them a teenager. It was just about the end of the days of shameless music downloading and sometimes I’d get up at my usual time of 0-dark-thirty and there’d be so much stuff on that thing that I couldn’t run applications like Appleworks, which, at the time, I was using to make graphics for the YAG website. Yes, I really was using Appleworks.

Anywho, it was getting hard to run my life, not to mention a busy non-profit organization, on a computer that I had to share with two other people. Then one day, I opened up the latest New Yorker and THERE IT WAS!!! The 12″ G4 powerbook! It was BEAUTIFUL!! I HAD to have it! One tiny little problem. Canya guess? (Hint: Kalamazoo College.) I plotted and I planned and after a month or so, I managed somehow to finagle a way to obtain one of those cute little beasties. I didn’t tell the GG and managed somehow — even though he was home when it was delivered — to get the thing unpacked, up and running before he knew anything about it. Finally, he came out to the front living room to pick up another cute little beastie, the one we used to call Guinea Pig among other things (he died in December 2003). I think the GG jumped about three feet when he saw me with my new powerbook.

That powerbook has had a hard life. For four years it went *everywhere* with me. Up and down the I75 SUV Speedway. All over The Planet Ann Arbor. War driving. For almost the whole first year, I didn’t even turn on the waaaarless network card. We didn’t have waaaarless at home yet and I was clueless. The first time I got online via waaaarless was outside the makeup room backstage at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. I turned on my card and the uProd network showed up and email started coming in. I squealed, “I’m on the Internet!” and my friend Paula (who died in December 2004, sigh) came running out of the makeup room to help me celebrate. After that, I began discovering waaaarless networks just about everywhere I went and it got to be a frustration when YAG was doing a play somewhere there *wasn’t* a waaaarless network.

2.something gigabytes… Hmm… I needed to install Flash. There was no way. So yes, I have one o’ them thar Macbooks now, as a few of you knew and a *very* few of you guessed. This time it was the GG’s *idea*! (And, no, it was *not* in the budget. Same reason, different kid.) It wasn’t my dream computer and I was planning to try to keep my 12″ G4 powerbook going at least a bit longer. I loved it. It was a dream computer. Sigh. Life goes on. This one is a little bit wider but it’s thinner and I think it might be a bit lighter weight. I am having *no* problem getting used to the faster processor and comparatively huge amount of free disk space. A few years from now, I’m sure I’ll be cramped again. That’s the way it goes.

I can’t say sayonara to my old friend quite yet though. Its destiny is to serve as an accomplice to the GG’s new GPS unit. With any luck, it’ll have a few more good years.

I was gonna post something borying boring about my school schedule and wine whine about my so-called life but then I opened an email from Jane about a dream she had, and it is much more interesting and I even found a picture that kind of goes with it, with Jane in the kayak supervising Mouse and Liz in a dead fish/plastic bag recovery operation. Here’s Jane’s dream:

we’re all at the cabin and I look out the window at what appears to be a shark fin, then it becomes clear that it’s actually a sailfish, and Mouse has caught it while out swimming. with her bare hands. and she’s coming into the shore. I yell to everyone in the cabin and we all troop down to the beach, which conveniently has been furnished with a covered table area. so she gets to shore, puts the fish on the table and we all proceed to eat bits directly from it. (we’ve all turned into sushi eaters and it wasn’t bloody, or gross at all.) so it was an exciting day at the beach for all involved, AND while I was eating I turned and said “Mouse, is this the first fish you’ve caught bare-handed?” [Editor’s note: er actually, in the dream, Jane used the name on Mouse’s birth certificate and was amazed that Mouse didn’t yell at her!] Oh, and while we were in the midst of getting the fish to the table Jim was standing at the waters edge watching the entire scene.

this dream may have been caused in part because of a story Bubs and Harry told me last night – before I was born I guess – everyone was at the cabin and there was going to be an eclipse. the best way to see it was out on the lake so everyone piled into the large Regenstreif canoe and pushed off. but Tigger wanted to be included and swam out to the canoe, which had about 2 inches of freeboard above water, and many many people in it. and no extra room for a dog. 😉

I personally have vague memories of being in that canoe that night and having my dog swim out with us. Tigger was a fantastic swimmer. She would chase sea gulls way out until the water was over her head and my head and Grandroobly’s head and he was six feet tall! The Commander and all of us would be standing on the beach ineffectively yelling, “Tigger! Tigger!”

P.S. Speaking of hearing stories about stuff that happened before you were born: Fins, did you realize that Donald Manson Finlayson, of Saskatchewanian fur-trapping fame and a great-grandfather of my generation of Fins (I guess that would make him G0), was 6’5″? Some of us are taller than others but that was a bit astounding.

One birthday that I never forget because it’s only a few days away from mine and she’s married to the GG’s other half.

UPDATE: Happy late birthday to Nathe, who turned 6 on the 10th and celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese!

What was that big ring around the moon early this morning? It was still drak dark. The ring’s radius was, oh, maybe 20 degrees. I pointed my forefinger at the moon and my thumb at the ring and the distance between them was about four inches.

Staples guy: “Ma’am, are you a member of the Staples Rewards Club?”

Moominmama: “No.” [Hoping that would be the end of the conversation, especially since I’d already been waiting five minutes to purchase under $5 worth of mailing supplies. With cash, no less.]

Staples guy: “Blah blah blah well, it’s free and you can get blah blah blah.”

Moominmama: “No thank you. I am not that frequent a shopper.”

Staples guy: “Oh but blah blah blah so many people are surprised at their savings even if they think they are not frequent shoppers blah blah blah.”

Moominmama (getting a little panicky): “Well, I used to run a non-profit so I was in stores like this all the time but now I’m just a mom who mails stuff to California.”

Staples guy: “Oh.” [taking a step backward]

Uh, *what* did I just say? Geeesh, I wonder what *that* would look like on a resume?

Dear unintelligible foreign-sounding male neanderthal. I am so sorry I missed your call. It was dark and at first I couldn’t find the phone. When I finally did find the damn-fool implement of harassment, I DROPPED it as I tried to answer it. I would’ve *so* enjoyed talking to you. I hope all that screaming in the background was just party people. Grrrr.

Whar be th’ snow ‘n’ ice?

click for more

I was walking along Portage and there was a guy a couple of blocks ahead of me walking a dog. Ho hum. I see people walking dogs all the time. The Adam E. Cornelius was inching its way down into the Poe Lock and this AEC measured her speed against the other AEC, determining that I was faster. And then I saw the guy with the dog again. Except that he was at the corner in front of Das Gift Haus now and the dog was gone. Where did the dog go? Around the corner, maybe? As I got closer and closer, I thought that this was just about the strangest person I’d ever seen. Was it a real person or not? I was almost afraid to look at the face!

(click pics to enlarge)

Back in the Jurassic Age before the I75 SUV Speedway existed, when we wanted to visit our relatives in lower Michigan, we began our trip by taking US 2 to St. Ignace. We’d cross the Mackinac Bridge (or take the ferry until I was three) and then hook up with US 27. We would continue on 27 or split off to 10 and 23 or whatever, depending on which destination we were headed to: Detroit, Royal Oak, Ann Arbor, or Lansing.

Two lane highways consituted the bulk of the driving for any of these trips. As we neared Megalopolis, we encountered actual freeways with two lanes going *each* direction and entrance and exit ramps. Our eyes grew wide as we digested this new way of driving amidst so many millions of cars. Fortunately, Grandroobly was an expert driver (and airplane pilot) and he handled all of this newfangled stuff with aplomb.

A trip to Detroit was long when most of the roads were two lanes. Imagine getting stuck in the middle of a slow-moving National Guard convoy with no passing lane.

Anyway, the Underground Forest was one of the few tourist traps our parents would take us to pretty much every single time we drove down to Megalopolis. I can’t remember what it cost, maybe a quarter or fifty cents. The building was built into the side of a hill and we paid our money and walked back into the dark, probably kind of dank area where the display cases were. Dioramas of taxidermied northwoods aminals in their natural habitats!

The I75 SUV Speedway eventually made its way all the way up to Sault Ste. Siberia. It ends at the International Bridge and if you want to go anywhere after that, you have to take Highway 17 north or east. I *think* that the Underground Forest eventually migrated over to the I75 SUV Speedway and became the Call of the Wild. I have never been there. I bet it costs more than a quarter or fifty cents now. I should go there to see if it even begins to remind me of the old Underground Forest.

Hmmm. There’s really a name for this?

“I’m excited to go back to California but it’s also hard to leave Ann Arbor.” — Lizard Breath, approximate words. That statement was just about exactly what I needed to hear. I’m going to mortify my kids now, each of whom is now back in her home away from home. Whenever someone asks me what/how one of my daughters is doing, I tend to stammer a bit and say something like, “oh, she’s fine.” I’ll try to be a bit more articulate today:

• Lizard Breath is living in Berkeley, CA. She loves her job as an assistant producer for the bilingual radio show Childhood Matters. She’s responsible for a variety of production and administrative tasks and has become a “walking encyclopedia of Bay area services for babies.” Her boss treats her like a family member and her office comes equipped with a kitten. She shares an apartment with Jess, another 2006 Kalamazoo College graduate who’s been one of Liz’s best friends since middle school. Berkeley is a fun place to live, almost like a larger version of The Planet Ann Arbor with earthquakes and the Pacific Ocean.
• Mouse is a sophomore at Kalamazoo College with a theatre arts major, anthropology minor and concentration in women’s studies. And doing very well, I have to add. She has a job in the costume shop and is in the process of applying for study abroad and I won’t tell you any more about that for now. Mouse said to me today, as we were driving to kzoo, “I can’t travel as light as Liz.” And she’s right! Spinning wheels and sewing machines, etc., take up some space. Mouse’s roommate this year is none other than Lairi the Rake, who she has known since kindergarten and I don’t even want to try to describe some of the stuff they used to get up to. Heck, if you really want to know what’s going on in Mouse’s life, check out her blahg.

Is this a brag? That isn’t my intention. I know all kinds of interesting, intelligent young adults. I envy them the opportunities that are available for them to plan (or not plan) interesting careers. It’s just that once again I am sitting in the middle of the highway of life wondering what hit me. Where are the 6-pound babies that I used to feed and change and schlep everywhere? How did they turn out to be the beautiful women that they are? Grok grok. Yeah, Ol’ Baggy never even changed a diaper until my owner was born. Grook grok. What are your wonderful children (of all ages) doing? Replay Reply Comment (!!!) and tell us.

Once again, the GG and I are left to our own devices. Grok grok. What abou’ me? Grok grok. Er, Akshully, I wanna go truckin’ with Aunt Joanny. Grok grok. Those truckers were fun t’day. Grok grok. Bye. Shut up, Froog. I’ll get used to it. Later this week, I’m going to *be* a daughter for a few days. Since things seem to be going well up there in the Great White North, I guess all I can say is that, for the time being, I’m happy to be the filling in this particular generational sandwich.

Happy New Year!!!

I began the first day of 2006 quite optimistically. I remember it very clearly. I was feeling more or less myself after several days of illness and thinking that nothing could be worse than 2005, the year I lost my brother and began what turned into 18 months of living out of a suitcase. 2006 had to be better. But fate had a different idea. Prescient dreams came in January and we won’t go into the rest of it. There were plenty of good things about 2006 and all of them involved friends and relatives. Reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen in years. Making the effort to stay connected with those I do see frequently. Pushing myself to reach out and make new friends, not the easiest thing for a shy extrovert. If I have a resolution on this first day of 2007, it is only to continue to carry on. One step at a time. No great expectations. Stay the course. (I don’t care *who* else says that.)

People have asked if I have any pictures of Chris and Kelli’s wedding and I regret to say that I wasn’t in a particularly good picture-taking mood that night. I’m a mediocre amateur photographer on a good day and getting good pictures in that kind of venue is almost beyond me on any day. Joanny was taking pictures left and right. If we’re good, maybe she’ll share some of them with us. We did get a *very* few little video clips, which I put together and posted on YouTube. Unfortunately, they didn’t include Chris and Kelli, but we did get the wedding party, Doug juggling on the dance floor, and Mouse doing what Mouse does, which is knit. In the dark, no less. It was a great wedding and I bet a lot of people slept later than I did the next day. I didn’t wear my Tevas, we didn’t do the Hokey-pokey, and nobody tried to foist a propane tank off on me. Or even a boat motor.

Last but definitely not least, go take a gander at our niece Sheila’s page. She’s an artist who’s currently making (and selling) glass beads to die for and you can see her work and pics of her studio, etc. Buy beads!

It’s been a hectic holiday season and I have a busy week ahead and then school starts up again next week and the classes I’m taking this semester are prob’ly gonna kill me. Therefore, I’m doing as little as possible today. I don’t even care if there’s a football game or two on the boob tube as long as nobody has a hissy fit. Happy New Year!