Sometimes Life Just Needs a Little Plaid

...or a frustrated engineer. If it involves water, power, and construction, I'm a happy woman. Despite a paralyzing fear of both water and heights, I love to spend my time poking about and contemplating the minds involved in the creation of something so amazing.

( A recent weekend trip took the Munders around the state and we visited several of my favorite places. )

How many times have you sat around with friends and family and discussed how you might react to your favorite televised catastrophe? The topic comes up a lot at the Munder household and I always decide I simply don't have as strong a desire to live as those folks on AMC's The Walking Dead or say, Ripley from the movie Alien. But how would you know for sure?

Welcome to Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse — Catastrophes and Human Behavior an online summer class offering at MSU. The class lasts seven weeks and blends traditional coursework with online forums and its hallmark activity: a zombie apocalypse simulation.



"Though the topic is serious and worthy of academic study, the challenges presented in surviving a hypothetical zombie pandemic have real-world applications," Stutzky said. "After all, zombies make everything more interesting."

I wonder if I can audit the course?

Here's a little fun for a Saturday. A friend sent me this link and it's a wonderful glimpse at the variety found in Michigan I try to share in my stories. Also on the cool side: the number of places we recognized and have been to!

Some people love them, some hate 'em. I'm fascinated by the technology and the massive size of the turbines. This weekend we took a drive out to the area to see them up close and personal.

More weekend fun behind us. This time, our third trip to the local cider mill. We're lucky in that we have at least four in a fifty mile radius. Just pick one. This trip we visited Diehl's Orchard and Cider Mill in Holly. An old favorite, this is one of the first mills I ever toured and the press and workings still look the same. The corn maze was closed this year, but there was plenty of our favorite, unpasteurized cider available, the fresh made and deep fried donut line was chugging away, and the selection of fresh apples couldn't be beat. Add in crisp fall weather, the changing colors of the leaves, and the rather large, orange and white tabby that followed us around - perfect.

How about you? Do you have any cider mill traditions/mermories? How do you take your cider, pasteurized, unpasteurized, or hard?

And how was your weekend? As you might guess from the title of this post we went adventuring last Friday. This time to Michigan's Coast Guard City, Grand Haven. I could go on and on about the city; the gentrification of the downtown area, the artsy feel and atmosphere, and the fantastic job they did along the channel walkway, but the real fun can be found in the waves. We've visited the beach before in the summertime and while it doesn't disappoint, it's a whole 'nuther ball game in October. This is why Fall is one of our favorite times to walk the Lake Michigan coast. The crowds are down, the winds are fierce, and the waves are high. It's exhilarating.

After parking in the free public area near the U.S. Coast Guard station and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers building, we casually strolled the entire walkway to the State Park to play along the beach and lighthouse pier access. Two jackets, a headscarf, and a pair of gloves were needed for comfort. Other than a few determined surfers (yes, visit surfgrandhaven.com) and walkers, we had the place to ourselves with plenty of room to brace up against a pole and let the wind and spray batter us around. Then on the way back a sneaky, rogue wave came up behind us and crashed over the rail, hitting us in mid-back, buckling our knees, and soaking us all the way through our many layers. We couldn't stop laughing even though we counted ourselves lucky the rail was there to keep us out of the channel. It was a mile and a half squelch back to our car. Can you say brisk? We couldn't until we finally thawed out. Thankfully, we had plastic bags in the car to sit on for the two hour ride home, but next time we will be sure to bring a change of clothes... just in case.

Here's a video courtesy of jtb4422, taken in September 2009 to give you an idea of what it was like. We were actually across the channel on the lighthouse walkway.

I don't know anyone who has spent time on the Great Lakes without falling just a little in love with the large freighters that travel so beautifully up and down their waterways. We took a drive to the state's East Coast, rather than our favorite West Coast this weekend, and I'm excited to share my new favorite vantage point. Where, I'm happy to report, the temperature was an entire 25 degrees cooler than in my backyard. Go Great Lakes!

The Great Lakes Maritime Center is, in a not-to-do-it-justice word, AWESOME. State of the art AIS screens overlay actual ship locations on top of satellite imagery to show you, in real time, the location of each vessel on the Great Lakes. A live underwater camera feed lets you view activity under the St. Clair River. I could go on and on and still not hit all the high points. I'm talking benches! Glassed-in viewing areas where I know we will spend plenty of time this fall! Gulls! Fishing piers! Power boaters! Freighters! Sunshine! Music! See, I could go on and on. The only thing missing were cots and employment opportunities.

The center is also where I learned about BoatNerd.com. An amazing, and informative website with more info on Great Lakes Shipping past and present then you could imagine. Bonus! You can stalk, erh, track your favorite freighter. Want to learn its tonnage? What freight is it currently carrying? What port did the vessel sail out of and where is it going? Where I can view this freighter?

See? Awesome.

image author: Bob Campbell. This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made during the course of an employee's official duties.

While reading the National Conference of State Legislatures Unemployment Report as of November 23, 2010 I came across this interesting statement:

"Michigan continues to experience the second highest unemployment rate, at 12.8%. After leading the states with the highest unemployment rate for 50 straight months,..." While the article then tries to offer up encouragment as to how this is an improvement over June 2009's 15.2% rate of unemployment it's still not what I would call good news.

So I'm offering up Michigan Product links to those still looking for holiday gift ideas. Most will ship your choice of items across the U.S. in time for the holidays. Buy Michigan and help support our local economy.



-- Vollwerth Fine Meats. Family owned business started in 1915. Seriously the best hot dogs, ring bologna and other meat products EVER. Don't believe me? Try them yourself.

-- Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen. Established in 1964 with mutiple locations (including Fudge du Locke in Sault St. Marie). Made with all natural ingredients, you have your choice of over 21 different flavors. One is sure to be your personal favorite.

-- Holly Candle Shoppe. Featuring soy candles with over 500 fragrance products. Buy a "Hope" candle and all proceeds are donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

-- Pasty.com. Pasties made in the Upper Penninsula. Your choice of U.P., Cornish or Veggy! Gift Certificates are available!

Not sure what gift you are looking for?

Visit Michigan-made.com or Pasty Central and browse their selection of Michigan Vendors and Products.

I have no clue why. LOL. Really I don't. One minute it's a lazy Sunday afternoon and I'm hard at work on my latest, the next I'm bundled into the passenger seat of the truck and we're driving up 1-75 heading North once again. It could have been the fact the day started with seeing a flying wing aircraft up in the sky. Seriously. Can't tell you which one or why - but it gave the day a certain auspicious feel that we just had to exploit.

( Call it a Sunday Drive kind of thing )