saturday evening with mr. t...

this evening mr.t speaks of the natural beauty of our favorite part of michigan...

"Speaking of non-sequiters, check this out:

The fall colors must in bloom up north in Clare County this time of
year. If they are not, they will be soon.
In the early nineties I had a job
in which I inpected buildings and other large items for differet insurance
companies. I actually inspected the Michigan Internatinal Speedway which is
about 25 minutes away from here in jackson County, near Brooklyn, MI.

One of the jobs I had scheduled about this week in Sept. was in 1994, I
had to inspect both the Isabella County fairgrounds, and the Clare County
fairgrounds in Harrison MI. you would schedule 2-3 jobs in one day and drive the
route, do your work. I went to Clare County first, drove right by the then still
the basic same Grandma's house, took a swipe over to Dover (neat huh? "Over to
Dover, Red Rover") and then drove the magnicient stretch of fall color to
Harrison on Old 27. I knew I had to! Old times and old ghosts a callin' me
home....

That stretch of Old 27 between Dover Road and Harrison is certainly the
most beautiful stretch of road in the Michigan fall season. the trees are
teeming with colors, bright orange, red and green leaves, dripping wet with dew.
and the mushroom hunters parking their cars along side the road the forage for
the tasty treat 9or else they are looking for a way to murder a spouse for the
insurance money, as we used to joke in our Irish sense of dark humor way).

Even after they built Mid Michigan Community
College they hid it back behind the trees. Some of the rocks in front of the
college are originally from Spike Horn's place up the road, by the way.

The hills and trees were always full of natural pallets of colorful hue
in the sunlight. People have many quiet fall activities. Fishing, hunting,
hiking, just ramping through the woods. Or going for a drive as we used to do
when we were little, with the parents and grand ma and Aunt Theo, while the
husbands tried to fit on that last game of golf at the Twin Pines Golf course. i
remeber driving around a coupe of times in Aunt Theo's old '59 Buick to look
around on the dirt roads at the fall colors. collecting leaves in wax paper for
school.

Maine should be jealous of Clare County, even if they don't have
lobsters. we still have people who talk funny and dress funny - to other people
living else where. the Amish, who are plentiful there now, fit right in with the
fall scenery, making it special with the horse drawn carriages, and simpler
clothing and style of dress-the straw hats, hoods, and beards. And cell phones
and Corvettes..........just kidding. Maybe not about the cell phones, I've seen
those. Their wood working and crafts are second to none and they know it. They
sell a lot of it. I believe they have two big sales per year, according to a web
site I saw a while ago.

Most of all, you can enjoy the fall colors by car,
bus, or foot, or horse, and never have to rake the leaves. God did not say we
had to rake the leaves just because Eve ate the apple, and certainly not eat
poison mushrooms. Say, what are they really doing with those mushrooms anyway?
didn't I have those at a party once? and why do I feel so enlightened after
eating a pizza with mushrooms?

Now that I have gotten Steve Hoover all verklempt and teary eyed, you
notice he has ripped a couple of sections of wax paper off the roll and ran
outside, slamming the screen door behind him. He will find he can only collect
pine needles, cactus, and palm trees and a few other California type bushes -
what's that one with the funny smell, by the way?..........Why is Steve laughing
hysterically, he's on the roof now, running to and fro.
He's yelling out,
"where are the maple leaves? I haven't got any maple leaves yet! Who cut down
all the trees?!" (I'll have to fly up there and get him down).

But I digress, and must drive north.................... "