State of Denial

Sometimes, I really do believe that I am in denial about how cold it is going to get up here in Michigan. Then I open the paper to headlines like "How to survive winter's misery" or hear A2 in winter described as a "sunless landscape devoid of any joy." How wonderful.

I've also noticed how different the ad circulars are up here. There are lots of snow melting and snow removal products for sale each week. There are also lots of ways to pass the time in the frozen Upper Midwest...ice fishing for one. You can buy a heated inflatable igloo for your ice-fishing camp from Cabela's at the same time you pick up a gigantic hand-grill for the ice. Brrrrrr. Sounds like fun.

On a warmer note (and it really hasn't been that cold up here...yet), I read a funny quote in today's paper. The Royal Shakespeare Company is winding up its 21-performance residency (its only U.S. performance for 2006) today with a matinee of "The Tempest." I saw "The Tempest" two weeks ago and yesterday Zack and I saw the matinee of "Julius Caesar." It was another brilliantly acted and staged production but the audience (and perhaps the exhausted company) seemed to lack the fire of my "Tempest" experience.

Or maybe it was because crowd-favorite Patrick Stewart wasn't in "JC." Which brings me to my quote.

Patrick Stewart was the guest conductor at last week's football game versus Ball State. Here's where I'll quote from the Ann Arbor News:

"At that game's halftime, Stewart conducted the Michigan Marching Band as they played the 'Star Trek' theme, harkening back to his role on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.'

'The public address announcer said, 'Captain, we go to Columbus in two weeks, what are your orders?' And Patrick Stewart, playing Jean-Luc Picard, said 'Go forth and beat the Buckeyes," said Ken Fisher, director of the University Musical Society. 'The crowd went nuts for about half a minute. And then as it got quiet, Stewart said 'Make it so, Number One.'"

And apparently the crowd went bonkers.

On to the photos.

The snowy one was taken on November 1st. The one of IEM was last week at Greenfield Village's roundhouse. That's a real steam engine behind him, one that Henry Ford bought in the early 1900s and refurbished. The one of EPM is in our backyard last week.

Thanks for stopping by.