Monday Morning Musings

Last Monday I promised I would recap my vacation and book tour, and I try not to break promises, so here is the first installment. Our youngest daughter, Dany, the graphic artist and Web designer, went on the trip with me, and it was great to spend that time together and not have to drive alone. Plus, she was such a big help at the signing events. I can't thank her enough for taking the time to go along.

Me and my mother

On a professional level, the book tour was very important, but on a personal level the visit with family meant more to me. In fact, it was a desire to visit my mother and sister that spurred the idea to drive 3,000 miles in two weeks. Yikes, written like that makes me tired all over again.

My sister, Juanita

It took three days to get to Lake City, Michigan where my mother lives with my sister and her husband. I hadn't seen my mother in two years and I wasn't sure what to expect from a lady 92 years old, but she looked much the same as last time. A little slower to move around, but there is nothing slow about her mind. She is still very sharp and missed little as conversations flowed around her.

Mother with Katy

We spent a week with the family in and around Lake City. I have two nieces and a nephew there, as well as some great nieces and nephews and I got to see them all. Katy, the oldest great niece, graduated from high school. I didn't realize it beforehand, but her graduation was the same day - and time - as my signing event at Horizon Books in Cadillac. She came over to the bookstore after the ceremony so Grandma-Great, which is what they all call Mother, could see her.

Mother Sketching

A visit up north always involves a day at the lake and Mother was up for going again, although strolling the beach is no longer an option. In the past we have spent hours walking along the water looking for shells and rocks. This year, we sat in the pavilion with our sketchbooks. We always like to draw, and one time when we went to the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, the waiter asked if we were famous artists. Mother remembered that and we had a good laugh.

Going to the farm that my niece and her husband own is also on our list of "must do" when going up north. They have a beautiful old farmhouse, barns, and this year baby calves that, Jacob, their five-year-old son couldn't wait to show Aunt Maryann.

My nephew, Dayle, who works with his father in the construction business and farms, had to check out the hay meadow while we were there.

Oh, I almost forgot the spa day when we all painted our nails with funky crackle polish and did tattoos. Even mother got into the spirit of it all and got purple crackle polish and a rose tattoo.

One of the best things about going back is the chance to connect with old friends, and I saw one of my best friends, Flo. She drove up from Coldwater, MI to spend several days with her family in Cadillac, but also to visit with me and my family. I first met Flo right after high school when we both worked at the same restaurant. She was the first one to introduce me to the Cadillac area. long before my sister met and married a man from McBain.  Flo and I used to drive from the Detroit area to spend weekends up north.

I hadn't seen Flo in twenty years and the first thing she said to me was, "God, you've gotten old." Like she hadn't. Mother enjoyed seeing Flo again, too, and reminded her of when she used to come to the house and stir Mother's fish bowl. "Just giving the little fishes a ride," Flo would say.  When she stopped coming over, the fish died.

Flo is still funny and fun, and offered to sign books for me if I needed to take a break.

Michael, Me, John

After leaving Lake City, we drove "downstate", as the folks there like to say, and went to visit my brother, Michael,  in Lapeer, where he lives with his partner, John. The visit was short, just an afternoon and overnight, but we had a nice time. John is a wonderful cook, so we had some good food and a pleasant morning in the garden. John is a landscape artist, as well as a potter and sculptor.

We also got to visit some more nieces and nephews, and I got to put on my editor's hat for a moment and help a great-nephew with a paper he was writing for school. He was hesitant at first, but his mother talked him into bringing the paper out and it was quite good.

Sarah, Pam, Emily, Paul Van Gilder

The last few days of the trip took us to Bloomington, IN for a signing, then on to Memphis to visit my brother Paul and his family. While we were there, we went to the animal shelter to help them pick out a new puppy for their daughter, Sarah. Paul and his wife, Pam, thought Sarah could benefit from having a companion dog, and there was this darling puppy at the shelter that really needed a home. I discovered, again, that I should not visit shelters. Had we not been two days from home, there might have been a few kittens in the car.

From Memphis, Dany and I went to Hot Springs, AK, to take advantage of the bath houses there. I've never been much for that kind of pampering, but Dany convinced me that a massage and some time in the mineral waters would be a great way to end the trip. She was so right. And I even got to do a little research for a book that is set there in the 60's that I hope to finish this summer.

Let the Adventures Begin

Today's post is from Tracy Farr. He has a twisted sense of humor to say the least. When he first started writing a column for me at WinnsboroToday.com, his blog was related to a fictional town, Stinky Creek, Texas. Then he started another blog at TracyFarr.net. His latest is School Bus Cowboy and it has the best of all of his writing. If you visit his blog, be sure to read his May 16th post about breakfast cereal. Enjoy....

Just the other night as I was driving home from Dallas, an SUV zoomed past me and I could see the kids sitting in the backseat watching a video. “Wall-E” it was – right there in the backseat. So since I’d never seen the movie, I sped up and stayed right on their bumper to watch it. It wasn’t quite as relaxing as a drive-in theater, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

The movie wasn’t half bad (even without sound), but when it was over, I started feeling sorry for those kids, as well as all the other kids of today. They’re not near as lucky as we were when we were kids. Kids of today never go anywhere without a hand-held video game or a stack of movies. And it doesn’t matter if they’re driving to Washington to visit the Smithsonian or they’re going down the street to Wal-Mart. See kid. See car. See kid get in car. See kid in car watching “Wall-E.” See parents thankful their kid is quiet for two hours.

When we were kids, we didn’t have such things as video games and DVD players and cell phones and text messaging. Nosirree! We had it much better. We had comic books and Etch-A-Sketch and portable chess games and maps so we’d know where we were. And if we got tired of all those luxuries, we made up games like “Count The Road Kill Between Towns” or “Stare Your Brother Down Until He Punches You In The Gut.”

Ah, yes. Those were the days.

My favorite long-trip activity was to follow our route on a map, marking off the towns as we passed them by. I’d say, “We’re coming up on Childress. Only 509 more miles till we get to Wolf Creek Pass.” And when we got to the other side of Childress I’d say, “That was Childress. Next town is Memphis. Only 506 miles to Wolf Creek Pass.”

I’d do my little human GPS thing until my Dad would say, “I’m coming up on a Truck Stop. You mention how many more miles we have left to Wolf Creek Pass and I’m leaving you there.”

Kids these days don’t care about maps. They don’t appreciate the joys of unfolding a new one, trying to follow along from town to town, and then trying to fold the map back exactly the way it came – which, by the way, requires an engineering degree to do.

Maps are a part of our American legacy. Our Founding Fathers came to this country using maps; they founded Virginia using maps; they went west and discovered Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and Big Screen TVs using maps. Of course, those maps were not folded – they were rolled up. Trying to fold a map back then would have taken precious time away from exploring the “New World.” And that sense of exploration is what is missing when our kids watch “Power Rangers” instead of counting the utility poles between Wichita Falls and Amarillo. (“Count The Utility Poles” was another fun activity our parents challenged us to do)

When we were kids, parents were much more inventive and creative than the parents of today. They had to make up things to do, tell stories, challenge kids at who could be the quietest the longest, and a whole lot of other fun-loving trip activities. Parents had to think on their feet, they had to manage crises on the go, they had to be sneaky, inventive, and resourceful.

Parents of today are taking the easy way out of traveling when they say, “Put in another video.” Those parents are actually sending a message to their children that it’s better to interact with Disney instead of with the people and world around them. Well, I say instead of letting Little Johnny watch “The Lion King,” let him count the buzzards that are circling that dead cow out in the middle of the pasture between Amarillo and Dumas. Let him experience the “Circle of Life” up close and personal – and in extreme high definition.

So the next time you go on a trip, whether it be to Branson, Missouri or the K-Mart down the street, I dare you – I triple-dog dare you – to leave the DVDs and the video games at home and come up with something to do on your own. Flex those little grey cells up there in that noggin of yours. When you do, that’s when the true adventures will really begin.