Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Cha-cha-changes!
Cha-cha-changes!
Various Ramblings
Michael Nowak
Seeing can mean believing.
Seeing can mean believing.

memories

Tuesday Truths - Holiday Edition

Here are my hot takes on US holidays that no one asked for including my ranking:

  1. Christmas/Winter Solstice

  2. New Years

  3. My Birthday

  4. Halloween

  5. Thanksgiving

  6. Labor Day

  7. Memorial Day

  8. Independence Day

  • Thought I’m not a religious person, I love Christmas and I think many others do too because of the light and sparkle so maybe I really just like Winter Solstice? I think Xmas took all of the things about a Winter Solstice celebration anyway, so they go hand-in-hand.

  • Halloween/fall in general is nice because of the spooky factor, cooler weather, decor, and traditions. We love a reason to celebrate the onset of cooler weather and to tell scary stories around a campfire.

  • Thanksgiving ranks a little lower only because I think we should do this quarterly and not once a year and only for the food/friends/family, not the whole pilgrim thing. I should start implementing a quarterly Friendsgiving. I’m grateful all year.

  • My Birthday is actually more important than all summer buillshit holidays because summer holidays are not real. Celebrate accordingly.

  • Summer is either hell (in Texas, etc) or should be celebrated with gusto every day a person has off (places with nice summers).

  • I actually think the birthdays of friends and fall equinox are far more important than any bullshit summer holiday.

  • I didn’t include Easter because I don’t think it’s a paid holiday at work and I don’t celebrate it other than eating clearance candy (which I can do all year).

  • Fourth of July is the worst because of amateur fireworks and arrogant people who think they’re good at amateur fireworks. Between the jump factor and obnoxious smells alone, I’m over it two days before it even happens. Don’t even get me started on fireworks and forest fires… *head desk*

  • Memorial and Labor Days are fine, yay for a corporate day off, but why not just have 4-day work weeks all year instead of trying to recreate at the local lake with everyone and their brother one long weekend at a time?

  • I’ve worked for companies that have given me MLK Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, and the days after T-giving/Xmas off. I have no real opinion on these days.

  • Federal holidays are weird in general because we’re not supposed to be a Christian nation yet our recognized days are mostly Christian in nature. As a godless heathen, I don’t really care why we get days off, as long as I can enjoy them.

Stay-At-Home, Week 3 Check-In

I’ve got road trips on my brain, again.
Do they ever leave my brain?

I’m longing for one of those GOOD road trips that involve little planning and maximum adventure. Back in the day my buddies and I would get in the car and plot out some stops and fill in the rest as we went. We made minimal hotel reservations, didn’t know when or where we’d stop to eat, and didn’t much care.

Read about the four trips I did with some best friends as I transitioned from college to real life.

Memorable trips more recently include drives back to Michigan, trips to Missouri, long hauls to the Redwoods and Oregon, and shorter ones to places like Big Bend or New Mexico. I have the Redwoods on the brain today, but who knows where I’ll be tomorrow? Daydreaming is getting me through this time of quarantine.

My Top 5 States (in no particular order)

  1. Washington

  2. Michigan

  3. Oregon

  4. New Mexico

  5. Minnesota

Some honorable mentions are Alaska, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Nevada. I have yet to truly dive in to Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. I haven’t done much out east, either, and it shows. I am not opposed to the east side, I just love what I find in the west. I think my top five list is based on accessibility - it’s easy to explore in those places, or I have connections. We have family in Alaska, so if it were a top six it would be on there. Alaska is expensive to get to and expensive to navigate if you want to get off the beaten path. The west is best.

I’m so excited that two of the trips I have planned for late summer/fall are to Washington. Some friends and I are going to camp on the beach in Olympic National Park, hike through the forests of Rainier, and anything and everything in between. Then, I get to go back a month later to run my first 10K up a mountain in the same area! Have I mentioned I love Washington?

Travel is clearly my escape. I know it’s a privilege, and it can seem very annoying to whine about canceling trips. I posted a similar statement on Twitter, only to be refreshed at the responses. I hadn’t thought that people, like myself, prioritize trips in their lives over other things and events. I forgot that trips to nature are the literal escape our brains need sometimes and it’s okay to miss it or to have feelings about it overall.

We’ll all get to travel again, when we get a handle on this virus. One way or another, the world still spins madly on. Enjoy some photos from my favorite states.

Stay-At-Home, Week 1 & 2 Check-In

I’m writing to calm my brain. I’m going to start writing little blurbs every week to check in, document what’s going on, and put some shit out there for the world if they need a distraction. Currently, I’m on week two of working from home and the first week of “shelter in place” mandated by the county in which I live.

My days are honestly wonderful…

  • Get up, run if it’s a run day, make breakfast, and watch some nonsense, check some emails

  • Go to my “home office” and start actual work, beyond communications

  • Take a break to go for a walk, then have some lunch

  • Go back to work until dinner time

  • Make dinner, maybe do some work or email stuff

  • Watch some nonsense, read something not for work, and/or work on Campfire Stories.

I’m going to check my privilege here, because I know I’m pretty damn lucky. I work for a company that has allowed us to work from home and receive normal pay. My job can be done at home easily, even though some things are just better in person, and I’m grateful for the flexible productivity. I am having an awful time focusing - not going to lie about that. Oh well, I’m getting work done on my own schedule and that’s all that matters. Thank you, company, for letting me work from home and allowing me to continue to support local businesses and friends who need it.

In between work, exercise, and doing absolutely nothing, I’ve been looking through old photos. I’m working on re-mapping my old trips in Google Maps because Microsoft Streets and Trips is obsolete and my files don’t work. Talk about Throwback Thursdays. I’m going to share a few of those photos here and when I get some maps done, I’ll probably share those in a post for Campfire Stories next month.

Today I’m dreaming of being at the family cottage in the warm summer sun. The cottage is situated up on an inland lake on the northeast side of Michigan’s lower peninsula. When I first heard we were going to have to isolate, I immediately though of packing up our lives and moving to the cottage until this blew over - but things didn’t happen the way I had hoped.

With my grandmother aging, and the dementia taking hold, the family cottage is never going to be the same. We have uncertainty about of what new memories will be made there, but the old ones will never be erased. The cottage will always be a place, as long as we own it, for family gatherings and good times. I’m going to share some of my favorite photos from time spent there to lift my own spirits and encourage others to stroll down memory lane.

#WayBackWednesday - An August Weekend

At the cottage with my grandparents was one of my favorite places to be.  We always went on boat rides in the evenings, during cocktail hour before dinner, and spent the days prior soaking up the sun or swimming after yard work.  I miss being so close to the cottage, I miss Phil, I miss their old dog Abbey.  Things have changed so much, but I will never forget the good times that are frozen in time with these photos from August of 2009.  Forever my favorite place, with some of my favorite people.

The back of our family's cottage - my grandparents lived out here from late spring til fall.

View of the cottage from the front, out on the water.

Coreopsis - my grandmother's favorite

Clematis crawling all over the garage

My "step" grandfather (he was part of my life 1991 til his death this year) and my grandmother, on our evening cocktail pontoon cruise

Abbey the dog, in some of her best years.  This dog was just the best - lovable, fun, friendly, and always up for a boat ride.

Crescent Island - out in front of our cottage.

Nothing caps off a day on the lake quite like a sunset over the bay.

#ForestFriday - Herman Vogler Conservation Area

Back in my hometown of Rogers City, MI there is a park called the Herman Vogler Conservation Area.  The park has a few trails over the river and through the woods just down the road from my grandparent's house.

This place is special because my grandma would take us there to cross-country ski and walk the trails all throughout my childhood.  I have fond memories of muddy feet in the spring and sore back sides from falling while skiing in the winter.  This park is where I learned to love cross-country skiing and reminds me how much I miss it!

At the end of 2017, I was fortunate enough to be up in Michigan for the holidays and did my final two hikes of the 52 Hike Challenge 2017 here.  Hike #51 & Hike #52  Both hikes were through the snow, and both brought back memories instantly.  I hold this place near to my heart and look to it as a way to remember the good times from childhood, especially now that my grandparents are older and less active.

The photos below are from a visit my BFF Molly and I made in October of 2009.  Enjoy the forest and happy trails!

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