Sunday was a mellow day at Mom’s. I went for a walk in the morning, which was great. A front had moved in, and the wind was gusting to forty mph or more. I walked to the beach to see the waves, and the wind was strong enough that it made me stagger twice. That was quite a feeling. The waves were pretty big, and I loved the wildness of it all, although I could not stay long near the beach with the combination of the cold and the high winds.

It was the last week of the regular season in the NFL, so I tuned in the Bills game on my computer, and I puttered around the house, as I am wont to do. I don’t like to just sit and listen to games, so I like to do things while the game is on. So, I cleaned two bathrooms and the windshields in Mom’s car, and then I walked on Mom’s treadmill for over an hour. The Bills lost, but at least I had been productive.

Mer, Mom, and Marc went to the see the movie The Way. I was in a stay-at-home mood since the game was on, but I encouraged Mer to do as she liked. She said she enjoyed the movie. Mom and Marc then made a really nice dinner. The weather had been picking up, and more and more warnings of lake-effect snow were coming in over the television and online. There was a severe weather warning through Tuesday morning, but nothing was really going on yet in Bridgman. So, I made the decision to leave. We threw our things together and loaded up as quickly as we could. We called our friend Ellen in Hillsdale, and asked if we could come and spend the night. She graciously said yes, and so we made our quick goodbyes and headed out.

It was okay at first, heading south toward South Bend. There were two or three spots where the snow was heavy, but the bands were short in duration, and the roads were not too bad. We got east of South Bend, and I thought we were clear of the lake-effect snow, but I was very wrong. About thirty minutes east of South Bend, we hit some of the heaviest snow I have ever seen. It was near white-out conditions, and it was all I could do to see the taillights of the truck in front of me. I could usually make out the white line on the edge of the road because that was where one tire track was on the pavement. There were times I could not see even that. It was some of the most hazardous driving I have ever done. We finally cleared that band of snow after thirty minutes of white-knuckle driving, and we got on a northbound highway that was the shortest route to Ellen’s house.

What we did not know was that we had to get off that highway very quickly and use back roads all the way to Ellen’s. So, although we had driven out of the lake-effect snow, and we could now see, it had still snowed in eastern Michigan also. They had only gotten two inches or so, but since Michigan has a budget shortfall, they have decided to save money by not plowing often and by not using salt. As such, all of the roads to Hillsdale were packed snow and ice, which made for more tense driving. We did finally make it to Ellen’s, aided by eastern Michigan’s very straight roads, and by the nonexistent traffic we had the good fortune not to encounter. I was very happy to see Ellen’s.

Ellen graciously welcomed us, and I pretty much went right to bed – I was exhausted after the drive. Mer followed soon after. In the morning (Monday), I checked the weather, and there were warnings in Ohio for Lake Erie lake-effect snow, with it getting worse as the day went on. So, I made the decision to be very lame guests, and we left as soon as we were both awake. Ellen understood and sent us on our way with homemade scones.

The road south from Hillsdale to Ohio was terrible. It had not been plowed, and it was packed snow and ice. As soon as we hit the Ohio border, the road had been plowed and salted, although it was still messy at first. Once we hit the highway, all was well. We had smooth sailing to within about twenty miles of home, when we hit some light lake-effect snow, but it was not too bad. We made it home in good shape, and out kitties were all well. I hope it is a long long time before I see driving conditions like the ones we had passed though. I am deeply grateful that God can step in and save me from my own bad decisions, and that we made it home quite safe.

Still, it was a great weekend. It was fun to see Mom and Marc, to see new towns in western Michigan, and it was good, albeit brief, to see Ellen as well. I hope next time will be a bit smoother as regards travel.

I had last Friday off because New Year’s Eve fell on a Saturday, and I had Monday off as well, so Mer and I decided to take a trip out to Michigan to see Mom and Marc, whom we had not seen since last July. We headed out around one on Friday, and we made very good time since we ate before we left; we got to Mom and Marc’s place a little after 5:00. We did not have any extravagant plans that evening – we ate with Mom and Marc, and we visited, and Marc beat me in three straight games of chess. It was a pleasant and mellow evening.

We decided that Mer could be in charge of Saturday. We slept in, and I walked down to the beach and then into town with Mom for about an hour-long walk. Late in the morning, Mer and I headed out to the small town of Dowagiac. Dowagiac has a decent three-block-long downtown that has some nice restaurants and shops along it. Being that it was New Year’s Eve, most shops were closed, but the restaurants were still open. Mer had wanted to eat at a classic ice cream parlor, Caruso’s, but they had a very limited “real food” menu, and they had no public restrooms. We had wandered the downtown before going into the ice cream place, so we popped over to the nearby Italian restaurant, Woodfire. What a great find. It was a classic old building with high, tin-covered ceilings, and the place smelled great. They were playing fun swing music and 40s-era songs, and the booths were comfortable and pretty private. The food was fantastic. We certainly need to go back there again. We had a wonderful lunch, and then we headed over to Caruso’s for dessert. The place reminded me a lot of Taggart’s, a local ice cream place we have in Canton. Caruso’s also had a very good-looking candy counter, but we did not try any on this trip.

After dessert, we headed over to the town of Paw Paw, where we toured a winery. While we do not drink wine, the tours of how they make wine are interesting, and in this winery (St. Julian), they bottled fruit juices. We picked up a bottle of carbonated raspberry juice, which later proved to be excellent; Mer even liked it, and she usually only drinks water.

After the winery tour, we wandered the very cute downtown area of Paw Paw. They have a lot of water in and around the town, so we wandered to the lake and then followed a river partway back to our car. It looks like a great town to go explore when it is warmer.

We headed back to Mom and Marc’s place, but made a detour on the way home. We stopped at the Chocolate Garden, where they make truffles. Mer tried the pick-three sampler, twice, so she sampled very small amounts of six different truffles. She was very pleased with that. I passed, as I was getting hungry again for real food. We drove back home, passing though St. Joseph’s, one of our favorite Michigan towns. They have a high bluff that overlooks the lake, and the bluff was heavily decorated with lights for the Christmas season. The lights were not on yet, as it was still daylight out, but we talked about coming back to see them.

Back at home, Marc had made his excellent burgers. Mom and Marc had to make an appearance at a friend’s house, but told us we could eat if we wanted. I was quite hungry, so I ate, but Mer waited for Mom and Marc to get back later in the evening. Once they were back, and everyone had eaten, we talked about going to see the lights on the bluff in St. Joe’s. Mom and Marc said they would be happy to go along, so we piled in Marc’s car and headed north.

The night was fairly cool, and the wind was quite biting when it blew, but the bluff was beautiful. The entire bluff was decked out in lights, and we got there in time to see the synchronized-to-music light show that happens once an hour. The entire walk was probably over a half-mile long, and was magical (if a bit cold at times). What a great way for a town to show itself off. Even with the cold, there were a good number of people out on the bluff looking at the lights and enjoying the music.

We went back home, and Mom and Marc dashed off to another party. I tried to stay up for the new year, but gave up at 11:30. I told Mer she could wake me, and she did. So, we wished each other a very happy new year, and I went back to sleep. Despite being lame about going to sleep early, I had wrapped up the year in a fine fashion.

Last Wednesday Mer and I went over to the home of our friends and colleagues Dave and Chrissy Kamp. They had invited us over for dinner, and we happily accepted. The Kamps live nearby, just ten minutes away or so, so it was a relaxed drive to a relaxing evening.

Mer and I are very fond of Dave and Chrissy. Dave is fairly quiet, with a good sense of humor and a very helpful spirit – Dave was one of my friends who helped me put on a new roof two years ago. Chrissy is always “on” – she is energetic and very funny. Dave teaches chemistry and Chrissy teaches calculus at CVCA. They have a son, Tyler, who is eight and is quiet and seems to be bright (he spent much of our after-dinner time playing with an electronics kit).

Dave and Chrissy collaborated on dinner. We had pork chops, broccoli and cheese, stuffing, and crescent rolls. It was excellent. Dessert was a berry pie with ice cream. We chatted a lot about work, especially J-term, since it is upon us. Dave and Chrissy are leading a J-term trip to Alabama to Space Camp for the second year in a row, and the trip is full again this year. Next year they hope to do a diving excursion to the Bahamas. We sat around the living room while we talked, so I got to help Tyler once in awhile on his circuit projects. That was cool. It was a great little evening. Mer and I are very fond of our colleagues – we work with good people.

On Thursday, we went to a local reception for a recently married couple. Art McMahon used to teach at CVCA, but for several years he has been at a school in Haiti. While there, he met a young and amazing Haitian woman named Miquette. She had become convinced that hope for Haitian children was in education, so she started a program called TeacHaiti, which tries to help children get schooling. That evolved into opening a school, and then expanded again to helping feed the children once a day at school so that they could focus on learning. Art and Miquette were married in Haiti back in October, but they wanted to have a reception here in Ohio, where Art is from.

We only got to see Art and Miquette briefly, as could be expected in a room full of people who were there to see them and wish them well. They are a handsome couple, and they are doing a lot of good in Haiti. In addition to seeing Art and Miquette, we got to see a ton of CVCA folks. We saw Dave and Chrissy and Tyler again, and Mer had a great conversation with some students whom she taught in her first years at CVCA – they are now in their mid-twenties and married and have good career jobs. They thanked Mer for teaching them how to write well, since they either write a lot in their jobs or get complimented on their writing. I’m always happy when Mer gets good feedback on her work, since she pours herself in to her job so much.

We got to see some parents of former students, and some former colleagues, and Mer got to see a few classmates from her time at CVCA. It was sort of a multigenerational reunion, and it was good to see so many people.

On a fun note, a few months ago one of Mer’s former students had gone to Jordan for a semester abroad. She brought back a brightly-colored belly-dancing belt/scarf for Mer, and it is covered in small metal disks that catch the light and jingle together when she walks. It is a fun little item. and Mer wore it over a basic black dress to the party. It was much commented on, and also helped me keep track of where she was in the room.

Last Tuesday we had a fun time. In January of last year, when we took students to London for J-term, one of the plays we got to see was a World War I play about a teenager and his horse, and the play was called War Horse. Steven Spielberg made the book/play into a film, and Mer and I came up with the idea to use the film as a reunion. We invited all the London students, and on Tuesday we headed to a theater in Macedonia, just north of our home. We had six of the thirteen students show up for the film, and it was great fun to see them together again.

The film was quite good. Spielberg made some changes to the story, but nothing that detracted from the experience. In fact, the small changes made for some good discussions among the eight of us after the movie was over. Mer and I were invited to go out for coffee/hot chocolate with three of our former students, so we went along with that, and had a good time visiting for about forty-five minutes.

As far as we could remember, the film made these changes from the play:
– The film made the brothers into landlord and tenant farmer.
– The film added a grandfather, instead of a mother, for the French girl who fell in love with the horses.
– The film added two German soldiers in place of part of the role that the nice German officer played in the play.
– The nice German officer of the play became a German sergeant who had a much smaller role in the play.
– The bet between the brothers in the play was if the horse could plow a set distance; in the film the horse had to plow the whole field.
– The play used French and German with no translation; the film just used English with accents.

Both the film and play are worth seeing, but Mer and I thought the play was more magical because of the full-sized puppets.

On Monday, Mer and I had “our” Christmas, where we exchanged gifts. I got Mer some clothes and a few books, and she got me the two Batman movies and two outings to Cleveland – one to see an illusionist/hypnotist and one to see an improv/skit comedy group. Those should both be much fun. It was a nice and mellow morning.

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s, so I wanted to go for a walk. Mer agreed, so we hopped in the car. I had every intention of going down to Peninsula to walk on a part of the Towpath on which Mer had never been, but partway there I decided to go to Brandywine Falls, on a whim.

We had been to Brandywine Fallls before, but we have had a lot of rain of late, so I figured the falls would be impressive. As we pulled up to the parking lot area for the falls, I noticed that the park district had been doing several improvements to the area. In the past, the hike and bike trail had to use the road for about one mile in the Brandywine Falls area, but the park district has made a new extension that connects the hike and bike segments. The path is wide and scenic as it winds through the woods. That made me very happy, as it gives me a new place to run. Also, there was a new, paved parking lot, and new walking paths around the falls area. It was great. I am glad Ohio still invests in the park system.

Mer and I walked down to the observation platform for the falls, and the falls were in good form, with lots of water rushing about. We watched the falls for some time and enjoyed the warmth of the day, along with a whole lot of people out walking their dogs. We then went to the upper observation deck to see the falls, and then I thought we should explore the new hike and bike extension. We walked the whole length of the new section, and we both thought it was very well done. After we got to the end of the new extension, we turned around and walked back to the hiking trail that follows the river. We were a little worried that the water might be high and cold since the footpath forded the river at one point, but I half-jokingly told Mer that maybe the park system had installed a bridge. In fact, they had – a new wood-and-steel walking bridge that is only two or three feet wide, but kept us perfectly warm and dry. Once on the far side of the river, we headed back to the car.

At that point, we still had daylight and sun left, so I decided to try the Towpath Trail section that runs north our of Peninsula. The trail follows the Cuyahoga River fairly closely, there are two locks still standing next to the trail, and there is a long boardwalk through a marshy area, all of which I wanted Mer to see. She was delighted with the walk – it was very pretty and scenic. We did walk back at a brisk pace since we were losing daylight quickly, and things were cooling off rapidly. Still, any walk we can take in December is a great time, so we had a pretty good Boxing Day.

On Christmas Eve, we spent much of the day at home taking care of home-things. In the evening, we headed out to New Baltimore to go to the Christmas Eve service. We actually had parts in the service: we were reading the parts of Mary and Joseph in a historical-fiction recreation of how the birth of Jesus may have gone, in more detail than the Bible gives us.

I have to admit that I was not excited for the service. I was tired, and I wanted a passive role in a quiet service. But we had agreed to help out, and Janet (the pastor’s wife) is a good friend, so I went to do my duty. I’m glad I did. The service was really good – our readings were interspersed with music, both congregational singing and solos or small groups from the stage, and there were Scripture readings as well. It all came together beautifully, and it made me feel a lot better than when I had left for church. Mer and I read our lines fine (no botches), and Mer sang a solo that was very pretty. The service ended with the singing of “Silent Night” by candlelight.

On Sunday, which was Christmas day, we were supposed to go to church in the morning. First, I remembered I needed to run in to work to make a quick e-mail server adjustment because of some changes the e-mail company had made. While I was there, I got pretty ill from something I had eaten the night before, so when I got home, I skipped church, and Mer went by herself.

I made some dessert for a party Mer was going to later in the day, and slept a little. That helped me to feel better, so I headed down to North Canton to Aunt Mary’s place for lunch. Mer and Aunt Mary were pleased to see me, and dinner was on the stove. Aunt Mary had invited a couple of her friends over, so we had a party of five for lunch. It was a later lunch, about 2:00, so after we had eaten, I excused myself, since I was still feeling a bit ill, and I went home. Mer stayed until almost 5:00, and lost to Aunt Mary in a game of Trivial Pursuit.

Mer then went to the Georges’ house, where her best friend from childhood was home for a few days. She got in a good visit over supper, and came home by about 8:00. As such, we did not really get to spend much time together on Christmas Day, so we had agreed to have our Christmas gift-exchange on Monday, which I had off from work.

Last week was a short work week for me – I had Friday off as the observed day for Christmas Eve. Mer’s Christmas Break started Thursday, but she had an in-service teacher day on Wednesday (no students), which had been preceded by exam days, which keep the students occupied. So, happily, Mer did not keep accumulating grading to do.

On Monday, Mer went down to Canton to see Aunt Mary and her parents, and I puttered around home.

On Tuesday, Aunt Mary and Dale and Carlene came up to our place for supper. Mer made a very good lasagna, and I bought some fresh bread from a local natural-food market. We chatted and ate and had a good time. Mer and her family went off to visit a local family who had recently built an in-law suite. We are strongly considering doing that for Dale and Carlene, and so wanted to see how it was done. Sadly, by the end of the meal, I had a pretty good headache, so I just went to bed while everyone else went to visit the new addition. I’ll have to check it out later. Mer’s parents left on Wednesday morning, which was unfortunate since Mer’s vacation started Thursday, but that was all the result of using vouchers to fly (certain dates were blacked out for travel using the vouchers).

On Friday, I took Mer out on a mini-date. We both had the day off, and Saturday was going to be somewhat busy with church in the evening (Saturday being Christmas Eve), so I took Friday as “my” day. In the late afternoon, we headed south to Canton, to the cheap theater, where we saw In Time, a science fiction movie about a society where everyone stays twenty-five years old forever, but have to keep earning more time through work or gambling or the like. I liked the premise, and it had Amanda Seyfried in the movie; I have been fond of her since seeing Letters to Juliet, which charmed me. She played opposite of Justin Timberlake, and both actors did fairly well. Amanda’s role was not sweet at all, but both characters were interesting and believable, at least in context. There were a few moments in the movie that were hard to believe (poor security in a bank, police that are bad shots, etc.), but the overall movie was entertaining. While not a super-deep movie, it did make both me and Mer think and talk about allocation of resources, and the advantage the rich have over others (and rich nations have over others). It was very much worth $3.00 to see.

After the movie, I took Mer to Red Robin, a burger chain. I had a gift card that I could use, and Mer just got a light supper, so she was a cheap date – to the extent that we still have enough on the gift card to go back sometime. So, it was a fairly mellow day, but a good one.

Last Saturday, Mer went to Canton to pick up her parents, and I met them at EJ Thomas Hall in Akron. We met in the main lobby with no trouble. We were there to see “Tuba Christmas,” which is happily a free concert.

Akron’s Tuba Christmas is one of the biggest in the country, with over five hundred tuba players and two “sell-out” performances. Tuba Christmas started in the 70s as a way to get people interested in the tuba family. It plays in over a hundred cities around the country, and it is all made of Christmas music arranged for the tuba family.

At Akron, the tubas play through the song once, and then they play through again while the audience sings. Song books are not provided for the singers, so half the fun is in seeing how many songs the audience knows. Mer and I did pretty well, with Mer knowing (and prompting me on) all the songs except the lyrics to “O Christmas Tree.” We need to learn that one for next year, since we had been stumped by that last year as well.

As a fun bonus, the usher for our row, which was in the balcony, was a former colleague of ours (from CVCA). Mer said that she had run into our former colleague when she had gone with Ellen to see My Fair Lady back in November. Since there are dozens of ushers, that is quite the happy coincidence.

All in all, the concert was much fun. The tubas were decked out in lights and garlands, and we sang lots of carols, and Dale and Carlene seemed to enjoy themselves. I hope to be able to see Tuba Christmas again next year.

On Sunday, we headed down to Canton to Aunt Mary’s place, for lunch with the family and with Mer’s “Aunt” Zovie (her adopted aunt). We had a good lunch together, and then Aunt Zovie had to go. The rest of us had our family Christmas. Since we are all grown-ups (and me), and we all have tons of stuff, this year we decided to to give to charities as gifts for people. We did decide to spruce the gifts up by giving the details of the charity as a riddle or as limericks. So, we made a good show out of the “gift” opening, and we all felt pretty good about how things turned out.

Mer’s parents got to town Monday evening. Mer’s candle party was Tuesday, and her parents and Aunt Mary were coming up to attend. The event seemed to me to be leaning in a girls’-night sort of way, so I made plans to go out with Mer’s father, Dale. We headed over to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant, where we had a very good supper and chatted for about an hour.

Mer’s friend Jill was the woman behind the natural candles, and she seems like a lot of fun. The party had Mer and Jill, Aunt Mary, Carlene (and later Dale), and four others. That seemed like a good-sized crowd. I retreated to my bedroom when I got home so I could read, but the party went on until about 10:00.

On Wednesday, Mer went down to North Canton to Aunt Mary’s for supper and visiting with her parents. I stayed home and cleaned up some from the party.

On Thursday, I had thought that Aunt Mary and Dale and Carlene had plans. Those plans fell through, so Mer went to North Canton to visit, but I had already made plans to go see CVCA’s hockey team in action again. This was a very tough opponent, and it was a great game. I only stayed through the end of the second period, when CVCA was up 4-3. I then left because I had to work the next day, but CVCA ended up winning the game 8-4. It was a very entertaining evening.

On Friday, Mer and I went south to Canton again, and we all went to Taggart’s Ice Cream shop. Taggart’s is a family favorite place to eat, and I was very happy that we managed to get there. They serve good simple food (like burgers and sloppy joes), and have great ice cream concoctions. We drove back to Aunt Mary’s, but Mer and I did not stay long. We did, however, make plans to get together on Saturday to see Tuba Christmas in Akron.

Last Saturday was Mer’s day, but she had a couple of events coming up during the week – she was hosting a natural candle and natural lotions party with an old high school friend, and her parents were coming into town for an early Christmas visit. So, while she wanted to do something out and about, she wanted to keep the outings fairly short and simple so that we could get the house clean and ready to go.

To that end, our big social outing of the day was our heading over to Kent State University, to the ice rink, to see CVCA’s hockey team in action. I was delighted. Two of the seniors on the team are in my Connections group at school, so I wanted to support them. Also, I like hockey – it is a fast game, and the checking at the high school level is not vicious, so people do not get hurt often. Lastly, the Kent ice arena has good food. I got french fries and a hot chocolate.

The game started off quickly, with CVCA scoring a goal in the first few seconds, and going up 3-0 within the first four minutes. CVCA has a pretty good hockey team, and they were playing a team that has struggled this season. I’m afraid it was not much of a game. Even with lots of substitutions and an attempt to slow the game down some, CVCA won 11-0 at the end of the second period (high school hockey has a “mercy rule” where if you are winning by 10 or more at the end of the second, the game is over).

I liked seeing my guys play, and I enjoyed the action, but there is not much fun in watching a blow-out. I’m hoping future games will be more entertaining.