Enjoying Life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Nancy and I (along with Tricia, Peyton, and Oscar) are enjoying a some beautiful days at the family cottage on Piatt Lake, located near Whitefish Bay and fifty miles north of the Mackinaw Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1957, exactly fifty years ago. As you approach the bridge, which is part of Interstate-75, it is pretty overwhelming, as you can see from the photos to the left.

The bridge is approximately five miles long, including the approaches, and it has four lanes. What can be somewhat unnerving is that the left-hand lane going north and south is not solid pavement. The left lane is a metal grid, and you can actually see the water 450 feet below you in the Straits of Mackinac. The reason for this is that the bridge has to be able to withstand the wind currents and have some "give and take." It was very elaborately designed back in the 1950s. The bridge connects the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Today (July 24) is also our 37th wedding anniversary, so it is a good time to reminisce about getting married back in 1970. We spent our honeymoon up here at the cottage. Nathan and Andrea Crane (our nephew and his wife) have recently purchased and renovated the cottage.

During our honeymoon we visited the Soo Locks over in Sault Ste. Marie as well as taking a boat trip to view the Pictured Rocks along the southern shore of Lake Superior. We drove down to St. Ignace and took the ferry boat across to Mackinaw Island. In addition to the historical sights such as Fort Mackinaw and other related buildings, the island is home to several dozen fudge shops. Incidentally, there are no cars on the island. One either walks, rides a bike, or rides in a horse-drawn carriage.

But your trip to the Upper Peninsula is not complete without a trip to see Tahqhamenon Falls. There are the Upper Falls (pictured here), as well as the Lower Falls. The river actually has a copper cast to it because of the minerals deposits that the river flows through on its way to Lake Superior. There is a five-mile trail connecting the Upper and Lower Falls, but most people just drive from the one area to the other.

All in all, it's been a wonderful time this week. Watching our grandkids swimming and having a big time reminds us of thirty years ago when we would bring our own gang up here summer after summer. Nancy's dad took great delight in his role of "King of the Raft" by throwing the kids off the raft. And Nancy's mom made great pies out of the blueberries the kids would pick. Nancy often reminded the kids about the children's classic story Blueberries for Sal, which was set in New England. But we leave Friday and return to Owatonna where we begin in-service training for the fall semester at Pillsbury.

The Detroit Tigers

On Tuesday evening this week, three of my sons (Daniel, Darrell, and Andy) attended a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. This has become somewhat of an annual ritual for the McGuire boys and their dad. Although the game was played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, we were all rooting for the Tigers. And the Tigers won the game 1-0. Of course, many of our fellow Minnesotans do root for the Twins, so when our two respective teams are playing each other, we just have be nice. In fact, Tricia's husband Harlan is a diehard Twins fan, so we just talk about other stuff when the Tigers and the Twins are playing each other.

We often form allegiances for our home team based on childhood memories and experiences. Although the Tigers now play in Comerica Park (photo above courtesy of Ryan Southen), when I was growing up in Plymouth, Michigan, during the 1960s we went to games at Tiger Stadium (pictured on the right). As a junior high kid, I would sit with my dad in the upper deck bleachers out in centerfield. As I recall, it cost 50 or 75 cents to get into the bleachers. I knew that it was asking too much to sit in the box seats behind home plate; those tickets cost $3.50 in the early 1960s.

When Nancy and I were first dating nearly forty years ago, we did sit in the box seats—the price had skyrocketed up to $4.50 a seat. We did see Mickey Mantle play during his last season with the Yankees. And did I tell you that we Tiger fans were NOT Yankee fans in those days? Indeed, when the Tigers defeated the Yankees in the 2006 playoffs, there were a lot of older Tiger fans who remembered the days when the Yankees seemed to be unstoppable. But much has changed since those days.

I must say that I am glad to continue the tradition that my dad started with me. Going to the ballpark with your boys (even though they are now in their twenties) is a lot of fun. It creates some good memories. I hope they will do the same with their children. In the interim, GO TIGERS!

Owatonna, Minnesota: A Great Place to Live

Nancy and I have often discussed the fact that Owatonna, Minnesota, has been a wonderful small town (population 22,000) in which to raise our children, as well giving us the opportunity to minister at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Grace Baptist Church. As you may have learned from reading some of my earlier posts, we moved to Owatonna with our first five children in 1984, and twenty-three years later our two Owatonna sons (Matt and Andy) are in their twenties. Our family has come of age here in Owatonna, and now we are blessed with having our grandchildren living in Owatonna as well.

The "culture" of Owatonna is relatively conservative, but we welcome innovation. Owatonna is home to impressive architecture (see the Louis Sullivan bank above) and a number of new businesses in recent years. Probably the most well-known Owatonna landmark along Interstate-35 is our local Cabela's store. Folks interested in the great outdoors flock to Cabela's to purchase all kinds of clothing and outdoor gear. Owatonna also has a diverse business and industrial base, which provides many work opportunities for our Pillsbury students.

If you check out Owatonna on the web, you will discover that we have a number of parks and walking trails. Central Park is the venue for a number of performing groups during the summer. I play oboe in the Owatonna Community Band, and we had a top-notch concert last evening. Local business groups donated the funds for the modern bandstand you see pictured here. We are blessed here in Owatonna with an above-average fine arts scene, with high school musicians enthusiastically performing in groups such as the Owatonna Community Band. It's very gratifying to perform music with so many who really enjoy what they're doing.










Nancy took this photo of me before last night's concert, and the photo to the right is from a concert last summer. But I leave you with a "humorous" photo that I took before the concert last night. This sign is posted on the door of each restroom below the bandshell. The wording on the sign gives the impression that whoever wrote it doesn't clearly understand the English language. I'll let you make of it what you will.

The Importance of Family

From time to time, we are reminded of the importance of our families. My mother-in-law recently visited us here in Owatonna. During the course of her visit, we took this four-generation photo. Tricia, Peyton Rose, Oscar Jonas, and Nancy are in the back row, and Nancy's mom is seated in the front. One sometimes sees five- and even six-generation photos in the local paper, but we are very happy to show off our four-generation family.

We attended a McGuire reunion in Louisville on June 2. The irony was that most of those in attendance were cousins, second cousins, and "cousins-in-law." There is only one living spouse from my father's generation of seven siblings. We must acknowledge the fact that we now live in the twenty-first century, and the future lies with our children and grandchildren. We are thankful for our children and grandchildren. And speaking of those grandchildren, here are two more photos of Har and Tricia's contributions to the cause:

A Crazy Weekend Stunt

It seems that one Kent Couch of (who lives in Bend, Oregon) wanted to do a little flying over the weekend, but he accomplished his goal a bit differently than most normal people. According to the Associated Press, he "settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks — and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons."

"Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home." "'When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind,'" Couch told the Bend Bulletin. "'When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them,'" he said. "'This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that.'"

"Couch is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters — who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons. Walters had surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters paid a $1,500 penalty for violating air traffic rules."

It's one thing to be bold and go where no one has gone before, but this guy (just like Larry Walters) is definitely messing around with the law of gravity, if not common sense. These kinds of stunts are fairly harmless unless, of course, you suddenly lose altitude! As for me, I plan to enjoy life while firmly planted on terra firma.