Yesterday was my 45th birthday. I officially middle aged as my sister Maggie gleefully reminded me. She says now we are in the same age bracket for the first time ever (we are 13 year apart in age so from the beginning we have always been in different age groups. But now we are both in the middle age category).
Since it was Mothers day and the weather was wet (we got 1.1" in under an hour yesterday morning which caused minor and expected flooding around the farm) I did not do much for my birthday other than make a very nice dinner that would have been even better if one could get a decent steak at Kroger's. What we got must have been a real winner as my late father would say. it was tough despite being cooked correctly. This is what I get for trying to save a bit of money on meat and buying factory farmed/feedlot beef (actually this was not a money thing, it was a last minute thought-lets have steak for dinner and go buy it just before we want to eat. This really limits what you can get). Low quality at minor savings. Next time I will plan ahead and buy the locally raised pastured fed steak.
Today is the real celebration. We are renting a car and driving to Cincinnati to go to the zoo. A couple of months ago Eugene asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and I said go to the zoo and so we are. We have not had a day out in a long time. This should be fun. I will bet the zoo will be nearly deserted as it is a Monday, it is the day after a sentimental holiday and it will be cool and rainy. I love it when big public areas have low attendance so this should be extra fun.
We discovered our old van is such a gas guzzler that it is cheaper to rent a small car to drive down to Cincy. So we have reserved a car from Enterprise as they are by far the cheapest rental car company around here (we have rented several cars from them in the past 6 months to go to Michigan while my dad was dying).
So that is our day. Tomorrow we do a farmers market in Oxford which will be fun.
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Warm Feb Morning
It is not even dawn and it is 60˙F and storming. It has been getting steadily warmer ever since we returned from my Father's funeral in northern (Arenac county) Michigan.
Nate is going nuts with his thunder and lightning phobia. Pacing around and periodically barking. How Eugene sleeps through all this I do not know.
This whole climate change is giving me the willies. it is not supposed to be 60 damn degrees at 5am Feb 4th. It should be cold. Yes, we do get winter thaws but we have already had two in January. This just ain't normal. Last Tuesday we had a very severe thunderstorm that knocked down a power pole nearby and deprived us of power for 10 hours. Today the storms are predicted to be worse as it is warmer today than last week by about 5 degrees
Nate is going nuts with his thunder and lightning phobia. Pacing around and periodically barking. How Eugene sleeps through all this I do not know.
This whole climate change is giving me the willies. it is not supposed to be 60 damn degrees at 5am Feb 4th. It should be cold. Yes, we do get winter thaws but we have already had two in January. This just ain't normal. Last Tuesday we had a very severe thunderstorm that knocked down a power pole nearby and deprived us of power for 10 hours. Today the storms are predicted to be worse as it is warmer today than last week by about 5 degrees
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wm G Owsley's Obit.
Here is my father's obit, I am not sure who wrote it but it looks like, his widow, Rebecca, writing style. It sums up nicely a well spent life.
William Gardner Owsley, 83, passed away peacefully at 4 o’clock Sunday, January 27, 2008, without regret, surrounded by family, at his Point Lookout home near Au Gres, Michigan .
Bill, also known to some old friends as “Owl,” was born July 28, 1924, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Merritt Miner Owsley, a Montana born-rancher in Mud Lake, Idaho, and Ada Heath Owsley, of Ionia, Michigan.
Bill returned to Ionia with his mother to enter school, often summering in Idaho and working with his dad. He graduated from Ionia High School in 1942. At I.H.S. he was a member of the track team, and as captain of the struggling football team once inspired his teammates by playing most of the game with a broken collarbone (they lost anyway).
He entered University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he completed his first year of college as a philosophy major before joining the Marines in February 1943, spending most of his World War II service as a radio operator in the Pacific Theater. He served for a time with a member of the Navaho “code talkers.” He never forgot the Morse code he learned and used, and often amused children and friends by tapping out their names or funny phrases.
After his discharge at the end of the war, he returned to the University of Michigan, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 1947 he married Marjorie Rutherford, of Lansing. Upon earning his undergraduate degree, Bill and his new wife took the accumulated savings from his service years and spent a year in Paris, France, hanging out with other Americans in Paris (including Art Buchwald and William Styron), and soaking up European culture. After returning from France, Bill embarked upon a program in Fine Arts, studying art history and painting, completing a master’s degree in Fine Arts in 1953.
Daughter Margaret was born in 1950, and son Scott was born in 1955 after Bill began teaching at Monticello College in Alton, Illinois. He later taught one year at Berea College, in Berea, Ky., before beginning his career at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, teaching more than 30 years in the architecture department. Daughter Lucy was born in Oxford in 1963.
To family and friends, his students, colleagues, total strangers, and especially children, Bill was a storyteller, playmate, mentor, challenger, talker, animal lover, and first, foremost and always, a teacher to all. He was a prolific painter, and continued to create and show his work throughout his life. In all his relationships, he guided individuals to discover the delight in their own creativity, of whatever sort. In addition to his classes in the architecture department, Bill taught several large sections of a popular art survey course to thousands of students. This meant that eventually Bill encountered former students everywhere he went, all over the world.
In 1971 Bill married Rebecca McNamara, bringing together his children and her son Stephen and daughter Heather (and two dogs, three cats, a couple of gerbils, a tank of guppies, a newt, and ultimately a horse) and sharing an historic 1867 house that was perpetually under restoration. Summers were spent at Point Lookout in the AuGres area, near where Bill always had vacationed as a youth with his family. In 1964, he purchased the property that would become his home after retirement in 1989.
Although he traveled extensively during these years, it was at Point Lookout where he and all the family always returned and felt most at home. The open-door policy at Point Lookout welcomed dozens of visitors over the years, from friends of the children and grandchildren to former students to fellow travelers and former colleagues and neighbors.
The last decade of Bill’s life was spent cultivating his pleasures and passions, old and new. He re-built the family cottage to include the heart of the original structure which housed so many memories, and to accommodate new experiences as well. The rooms were never big enough to hold all the books, but always big enough to hold everyone who wanted to be there. He loved summers swimming and sailing Lake Huron, and quiet winters of cross country skiing around the Point. Did a summer day ever arrive on the beach at 4 p.m. when he didn’t say, “Well, the sun’s over the yard-arm somewhere. Can I get anyone a beer?” He loved the walks, and the woods, and the sounds of the wind across the water, his family and friends and continuing interest in ideas. He loved life. He only half-jokingly requested that his tombstone inscription be, “Lucky Guy!”
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, his children Margaret (Richard) Marting, Scott Owsley, Lucy Owsley (Eugene) Goodman, Heather McNamara (Greg) Seaman, and Stephen McNamara, and grandchildren Caroline Marting, William Marting, Coolie Calihan, and Brenna Seaman.
Visitation with family members will be 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Friday at R.O. Savage Funeral Chapel, Standish. There will be a memorial service Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church, Standish.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests those wishing to make a memorial donation consider The Point Lookout Memorial Fund or the Miami University Art Museum Sterling Cook fund.
Bill, also known to some old friends as “Owl,” was born July 28, 1924, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Merritt Miner Owsley, a Montana born-rancher in Mud Lake, Idaho, and Ada Heath Owsley, of Ionia, Michigan.
Bill returned to Ionia with his mother to enter school, often summering in Idaho and working with his dad. He graduated from Ionia High School in 1942. At I.H.S. he was a member of the track team, and as captain of the struggling football team once inspired his teammates by playing most of the game with a broken collarbone (they lost anyway).
He entered University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he completed his first year of college as a philosophy major before joining the Marines in February 1943, spending most of his World War II service as a radio operator in the Pacific Theater. He served for a time with a member of the Navaho “code talkers.” He never forgot the Morse code he learned and used, and often amused children and friends by tapping out their names or funny phrases.
After his discharge at the end of the war, he returned to the University of Michigan, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 1947 he married Marjorie Rutherford, of Lansing. Upon earning his undergraduate degree, Bill and his new wife took the accumulated savings from his service years and spent a year in Paris, France, hanging out with other Americans in Paris (including Art Buchwald and William Styron), and soaking up European culture. After returning from France, Bill embarked upon a program in Fine Arts, studying art history and painting, completing a master’s degree in Fine Arts in 1953.
Daughter Margaret was born in 1950, and son Scott was born in 1955 after Bill began teaching at Monticello College in Alton, Illinois. He later taught one year at Berea College, in Berea, Ky., before beginning his career at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, teaching more than 30 years in the architecture department. Daughter Lucy was born in Oxford in 1963.
To family and friends, his students, colleagues, total strangers, and especially children, Bill was a storyteller, playmate, mentor, challenger, talker, animal lover, and first, foremost and always, a teacher to all. He was a prolific painter, and continued to create and show his work throughout his life. In all his relationships, he guided individuals to discover the delight in their own creativity, of whatever sort. In addition to his classes in the architecture department, Bill taught several large sections of a popular art survey course to thousands of students. This meant that eventually Bill encountered former students everywhere he went, all over the world.
In 1971 Bill married Rebecca McNamara, bringing together his children and her son Stephen and daughter Heather (and two dogs, three cats, a couple of gerbils, a tank of guppies, a newt, and ultimately a horse) and sharing an historic 1867 house that was perpetually under restoration. Summers were spent at Point Lookout in the AuGres area, near where Bill always had vacationed as a youth with his family. In 1964, he purchased the property that would become his home after retirement in 1989.
Although he traveled extensively during these years, it was at Point Lookout where he and all the family always returned and felt most at home. The open-door policy at Point Lookout welcomed dozens of visitors over the years, from friends of the children and grandchildren to former students to fellow travelers and former colleagues and neighbors.
The last decade of Bill’s life was spent cultivating his pleasures and passions, old and new. He re-built the family cottage to include the heart of the original structure which housed so many memories, and to accommodate new experiences as well. The rooms were never big enough to hold all the books, but always big enough to hold everyone who wanted to be there. He loved summers swimming and sailing Lake Huron, and quiet winters of cross country skiing around the Point. Did a summer day ever arrive on the beach at 4 p.m. when he didn’t say, “Well, the sun’s over the yard-arm somewhere. Can I get anyone a beer?” He loved the walks, and the woods, and the sounds of the wind across the water, his family and friends and continuing interest in ideas. He loved life. He only half-jokingly requested that his tombstone inscription be, “Lucky Guy!”
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, his children Margaret (Richard) Marting, Scott Owsley, Lucy Owsley (Eugene) Goodman, Heather McNamara (Greg) Seaman, and Stephen McNamara, and grandchildren Caroline Marting, William Marting, Coolie Calihan, and Brenna Seaman.
Visitation with family members will be 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Friday at R.O. Savage Funeral Chapel, Standish. There will be a memorial service Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church, Standish.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests those wishing to make a memorial donation consider The Point Lookout Memorial Fund or the Miami University Art Museum Sterling Cook fund.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Trip Up North
Sorry I haven't posted anything here for a while-I have been busy.
This past weekend Eugene and I rented a car and drove up North to see my dad. That was bittersweet. He's in bad shape and definitely getting closer and closer to Death's door. He can barely walk, has lost way too much weight so he is now much smaller than me. He does not eat much at all. he's ready to die, it seems. At least his mind is still sharp and we were able to do quite a bit of talking the 2.3 days we were there.
His wife, Rebecca is doing amazingly well. She is doing really wonderful care giving and seems to have her shit together. Still I worry about her, this if hard on me, I can only imagine what it is doing to her. Losing a husband you love is not something I want to go through but if I do I hope I have her strength.
The trip was not all death and depression. My brother, Scott came up with a mutual friend, Sven Johnson, whom I had not seen since my wedding, 11.5 years ago. It was good seeing Sven I have always liked him. He was visiting to say good bye to dad, who was one of his most important professor's at Miami University. It was great seeing Sven. I hope it will not be another 11 years before we meet again.
This past weekend Eugene and I rented a car and drove up North to see my dad. That was bittersweet. He's in bad shape and definitely getting closer and closer to Death's door. He can barely walk, has lost way too much weight so he is now much smaller than me. He does not eat much at all. he's ready to die, it seems. At least his mind is still sharp and we were able to do quite a bit of talking the 2.3 days we were there.
His wife, Rebecca is doing amazingly well. She is doing really wonderful care giving and seems to have her shit together. Still I worry about her, this if hard on me, I can only imagine what it is doing to her. Losing a husband you love is not something I want to go through but if I do I hope I have her strength.
The trip was not all death and depression. My brother, Scott came up with a mutual friend, Sven Johnson, whom I had not seen since my wedding, 11.5 years ago. It was good seeing Sven I have always liked him. He was visiting to say good bye to dad, who was one of his most important professor's at Miami University. It was great seeing Sven. I hope it will not be another 11 years before we meet again.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
It's a New Year
It is the new year. Looks like most of us made it through 2007, good.
This being the first Boulder Belt Blog post of 2008 I will use it to set the tenor for the rest of the year. I am not looking forward to this year as I already know it will not be my favorite year in my life. You see, my dad is dying of unknown cancers and will likely be dead by spring (I figure around my birthday in May. His initial diagnoses happened on my brother, Scott's birthday in November). I am very sad about this fact of life (death) but I, the farm and life will go on as they always do after a person dies.
I am very glad that I got to see my Dad in October as he came down with bad symptoms a day or two after we all vacated Point Lookout. That was my last chance to see him as a whole person. Granted, even than was losing his strength but hey, the guy is 83 years old. I hear from my siblings and him that he has lost a lot of weight, is almost too weak to walk, has quit eating more than a couple hundred calories a day and sleeps 20 hours a day. All the signs of a dying animal.
From what my sister, Maggie, tells me he is ready to die and wants no one to get in his way. He's on a journey towards Death. Apparently if you go to visit him and ask "Bill, how are you doing?" he will respond brightly with "I'm dying" for years if asked about his health/life he would respond with "I'm still circling the drain". Well, it seems he is almost done with all the circling and he is okay with it.
I hope I approach my death as well. I also hope I don't have to cross that bridge for another 40 years
This being the first Boulder Belt Blog post of 2008 I will use it to set the tenor for the rest of the year. I am not looking forward to this year as I already know it will not be my favorite year in my life. You see, my dad is dying of unknown cancers and will likely be dead by spring (I figure around my birthday in May. His initial diagnoses happened on my brother, Scott's birthday in November). I am very sad about this fact of life (death) but I, the farm and life will go on as they always do after a person dies.
I am very glad that I got to see my Dad in October as he came down with bad symptoms a day or two after we all vacated Point Lookout. That was my last chance to see him as a whole person. Granted, even than was losing his strength but hey, the guy is 83 years old. I hear from my siblings and him that he has lost a lot of weight, is almost too weak to walk, has quit eating more than a couple hundred calories a day and sleeps 20 hours a day. All the signs of a dying animal.
From what my sister, Maggie, tells me he is ready to die and wants no one to get in his way. He's on a journey towards Death. Apparently if you go to visit him and ask "Bill, how are you doing?" he will respond brightly with "I'm dying" for years if asked about his health/life he would respond with "I'm still circling the drain". Well, it seems he is almost done with all the circling and he is okay with it.
I hope I approach my death as well. I also hope I don't have to cross that bridge for another 40 years
Sunday, October 21, 2007
And Home Again
Going home we took I-75 south to Detroit. on our way out we stopped at Jay's in Standish so I could buy some Pinconning Cheese. I love the stuff. It's a local cheddar that is my favorite cheese. I also got some Michigan maple syrup.
After shopping we got back on the highway and sped south towards Sterling heights. The trip was uneventful other than seeing a bald eagle. Soon enough we were dropping Scott off. Eugene took over driving from Sterling heights to Eaton. Maggie sat in the back and napped for much of the rest of the trip (well, really she slept for an hour). Eugene and I talked about what we were seeing out the windows (lots of industry and urban sprawl). We made good time and quickly we were through Detroit and Toledo and going by the giant Mosque where US 23 and I-75 either come together or separate depending on the direction your are travelling. Near Wapakoneta we got off the superhighway and onto US 33 going west towards Celina and US 127. finally got back on US 127 and headed south towards home. In North Star we stopped at an ice cream place that boasted 24 flavors of soft serve. I got soup and a creamsicle shake. I would give the food a "C-" but it was dinner.
Soon we were in Preble County and home. When we drove in we noticed the lights on and the front door open. What the fuck?!? Wyatt was not supposed to be there so we kind of assumed the worse. Fortunately the worse did not happen. Wyatt's truck had decided to give up the ghost while he was driving home on US 35 through Eaton. He walked a couple of miles back to our place, mowed the grass and vacuumed the house while waiting for us to get back. Way cool. He helped us to unpack the car than the boys went into town for beer.
While they were gone Maggie and I unpacked and put away the China. My parental units have been threatening for years to send me home with this. The China was my grandmother's and when she sold her stuff in Ionia it was kept back for me. It is Spode, old and beautiful and now I have full service for 6 and partial service for 8. I am ready for Thanksgiving or any other somewhat formal get together that involves putting leaves in the dinning room table. After dealing with the China we sat down at the computer and I downloaded all the photos and video I took of the trip and we looked the stuff. Than Maggie went to bed and I sat out on the deck and drank a beer and had a smoke with the boys before retiring.
It was good to be home.
After shopping we got back on the highway and sped south towards Sterling heights. The trip was uneventful other than seeing a bald eagle. Soon enough we were dropping Scott off. Eugene took over driving from Sterling heights to Eaton. Maggie sat in the back and napped for much of the rest of the trip (well, really she slept for an hour). Eugene and I talked about what we were seeing out the windows (lots of industry and urban sprawl). We made good time and quickly we were through Detroit and Toledo and going by the giant Mosque where US 23 and I-75 either come together or separate depending on the direction your are travelling. Near Wapakoneta we got off the superhighway and onto US 33 going west towards Celina and US 127. finally got back on US 127 and headed south towards home. In North Star we stopped at an ice cream place that boasted 24 flavors of soft serve. I got soup and a creamsicle shake. I would give the food a "C-" but it was dinner.
Soon we were in Preble County and home. When we drove in we noticed the lights on and the front door open. What the fuck?!? Wyatt was not supposed to be there so we kind of assumed the worse. Fortunately the worse did not happen. Wyatt's truck had decided to give up the ghost while he was driving home on US 35 through Eaton. He walked a couple of miles back to our place, mowed the grass and vacuumed the house while waiting for us to get back. Way cool. He helped us to unpack the car than the boys went into town for beer.
While they were gone Maggie and I unpacked and put away the China. My parental units have been threatening for years to send me home with this. The China was my grandmother's and when she sold her stuff in Ionia it was kept back for me. It is Spode, old and beautiful and now I have full service for 6 and partial service for 8. I am ready for Thanksgiving or any other somewhat formal get together that involves putting leaves in the dinning room table. After dealing with the China we sat down at the computer and I downloaded all the photos and video I took of the trip and we looked the stuff. Than Maggie went to bed and I sat out on the deck and drank a beer and had a smoke with the boys before retiring.
It was good to be home.
Up North for 36 Hours
Our one full day at my Dad's began with a walk to the beach with Eugene than coffee and breakfast. Than another walk up the beach with Dad and Maggie.
On this walk we bumped into Judy Kane and sat and talked with her for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was nice to see one of the Kanes. Would not be a proper visit without that. We have been neighbors of the Kanes for decades.
After sitting and talking with Judy we continued on our walk to the point and before long Dad suggested we do not walk to the point but rather go into the woods. So we did.
We took a public access road out to the main road, crossed the street and went into the woods via the tennis courts. I love walking in the woods behind the cottage. They are some very nice woods, full of oaks, boletus mushrooms, blueberries, turkeys, etc.. Simply a cornucopia of wildlife. For years and years the woods was abused by all sorts of people but over time many have realized what a resource they have in the woods and now for some time the woods have been protected by the people of the Point Lookout.
So the 4 of us took a walk in the woods and saw a couple of blue jays, some sort of woodpecker, black capped chickadees. lots of moss, oak trees, red pines, sand, various vegetation of the understory, etc., etc..
After a while we meandered back to the cottage and saw that Scott had shown up but without Speranza. She had decided to go back to Sterling Heights. Okay. It was lunch time so lamb sandwiches were made and consumed and soon enough it was time to get in the car and go to Standish to attend a dulcimer concert in which Rebecca was participating. I took one picture of the concert, it sucks so will not be posted.
Around 20 people played in the concert. Mainly bluegrass/mountain tunes/gospel. Rebecca sang at least 4 songs. The event was well attended I thought and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I did. Eugene bought several selections from the bake sale. Some sort of toffee bar concoction, peanut butter cookies and popcorn. I entered a quilt raffle but did not win.
Concert ended, we got in the car and went home via Jay's Farm Market. Eugene and I looked at the pumpkins and apples and were amazed at the low prices. About half what they are around here. I guess because Michigan got a lot more rain and did not lose their fruit crops this spring. That, and the fact Michigan seems to be in a depression economically.
Got home and dinner making ensued. Dad made us all "Chicken Guillaume" a dish I created when I ran the Alexander House Kitchen back in the early 1990's. It's a boneless chicken breast sauteed than topped with pesto and mozzarella cheese and put under broiler for a couple of minutes. Dinner was good, and unlike the night before, I was able to stay up past 8:30pm and did. Maggie, Rebecca and I sat at the dinner table and talked about life, religion, current events, family until almost 10pm when Scott joined us. It was good. At midnight we all went to bed in order to not be exhausted for the drive back to Ohio the next day.
The next following morning we got coffeed up. Did the last beach walk, ate breakfast, talked and around 11am began to make serious moves towards the rental car and the trip home.
The good byes took a while but were not particularly sad. After a couple of pictures of the Owsley's was shot by Eugene we finally got ourselves into the car and headed south.
On this walk we bumped into Judy Kane and sat and talked with her for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was nice to see one of the Kanes. Would not be a proper visit without that. We have been neighbors of the Kanes for decades.
After sitting and talking with Judy we continued on our walk to the point and before long Dad suggested we do not walk to the point but rather go into the woods. So we did.
We took a public access road out to the main road, crossed the street and went into the woods via the tennis courts. I love walking in the woods behind the cottage. They are some very nice woods, full of oaks, boletus mushrooms, blueberries, turkeys, etc.. Simply a cornucopia of wildlife. For years and years the woods was abused by all sorts of people but over time many have realized what a resource they have in the woods and now for some time the woods have been protected by the people of the Point Lookout.
So the 4 of us took a walk in the woods and saw a couple of blue jays, some sort of woodpecker, black capped chickadees. lots of moss, oak trees, red pines, sand, various vegetation of the understory, etc., etc..
After a while we meandered back to the cottage and saw that Scott had shown up but without Speranza. She had decided to go back to Sterling Heights. Okay. It was lunch time so lamb sandwiches were made and consumed and soon enough it was time to get in the car and go to Standish to attend a dulcimer concert in which Rebecca was participating. I took one picture of the concert, it sucks so will not be posted.
Around 20 people played in the concert. Mainly bluegrass/mountain tunes/gospel. Rebecca sang at least 4 songs. The event was well attended I thought and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I did. Eugene bought several selections from the bake sale. Some sort of toffee bar concoction, peanut butter cookies and popcorn. I entered a quilt raffle but did not win.
Concert ended, we got in the car and went home via Jay's Farm Market. Eugene and I looked at the pumpkins and apples and were amazed at the low prices. About half what they are around here. I guess because Michigan got a lot more rain and did not lose their fruit crops this spring. That, and the fact Michigan seems to be in a depression economically.
Got home and dinner making ensued. Dad made us all "Chicken Guillaume" a dish I created when I ran the Alexander House Kitchen back in the early 1990's. It's a boneless chicken breast sauteed than topped with pesto and mozzarella cheese and put under broiler for a couple of minutes. Dinner was good, and unlike the night before, I was able to stay up past 8:30pm and did. Maggie, Rebecca and I sat at the dinner table and talked about life, religion, current events, family until almost 10pm when Scott joined us. It was good. At midnight we all went to bed in order to not be exhausted for the drive back to Ohio the next day.
The next following morning we got coffeed up. Did the last beach walk, ate breakfast, talked and around 11am began to make serious moves towards the rental car and the trip home.
The good byes took a while but were not particularly sad. After a couple of pictures of the Owsley's was shot by Eugene we finally got ourselves into the car and headed south.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Going Up North
The drive up to the Cottage was uneventful. We got on I-75 towards Flint and had clear sailing the whole way. When I travel up north (anyone from Michigan or who has a cottage, never a "cabin", in Michigan knows that "Up North" means any place north of Flint, generally on one of the great lakes, though an inland lake will do) I look for all the usually signs that we are getting there. The first is the big sign on I-75 say we are going towards Flint, as opposed to Detroit. next is the sign for the Kawkawlin River and than the Raisin River (my favorite, I don't know why. The name perhaps). North of Flint there is a strange American flag made from bricks and mortar that has been on the west side of I-75 since the early 1970's, at least. After the flag I look for the Pinconning Cheese signs than US 23/Standish, MI signs. When I see these signs I know we are less than 1 hour from the bay and the Cottage.
So, we are driving and I am looking for the signs (and they are all there). We talk about politics and global warming/climate change during the drive (my family and I are in accord on such topics).
We see the turn off for US 23 and take it through Standish, Omer (Michigan's smallest City) and AuGres. At AuGres we take a back road towards the bay and soon we are almost on the shore and notice the water is way down. There are grasslands where, 2 years ago, there was shoreline. As we drive along the shore we get more and more alarmed as the wide beaches and low water. This ain't right.
Soon we are driving down Michigan Avenue to my Dad's. And than we are there. Dad greets us
at the door. Rebecca is in a bedroom cleaning.
Beers are offered all around and I take one and sit down and have a drink with my father while my sister takes several photos of the two of us drinking beer and communing. I cannot remember where Eugene wandered off to at this point in time.
We asked about the low lake level and are told it is down 4'. But my dad says this might not be a totally bad thing as it will give us a lot more land. Perhaps, eventually, a 60' by 5 mile strip if the bay decides to dry up completely. We could have a road to the Thumb, yay (she says with sad sarcasm).
Dad, Eugene and me soon wander down to the beach to have a look. You hafta say hello to the beach. If it were summer we would have donned our swimming costumes and dashed down to take a dip. Or maybe not, as the e-coli 157 levels are dangerous in the Bay most of the time now thanks to the Saginaw and Bay City storm sewer system. but it was not summer it was some sort of summery autumn and too cold to go swimming so we walked down and had a short walk on the beach.
The first thing I noticed was the trees were not turning. Normally, in this part of Michigan by mid October the colors would be at their peak. But not this year. A few trees had begun turning but for the most part they were still quite green. I also noticed very few of the docks had been taken down for the winter and few boats were still in their hoists. In a normal year the boats would have been put into dry dock soon after Labor Day and the docks removed and stored. I suppose, because it has been so warm and dry up North, that people are still doing water recreation. I did notice, when we went by the marina, that there were a lot of shrink wrapped boats, all tucked in for winter. So I guess not everyone is into fall boating.
So we wandered around our beach and the Kane's beach and sat on Bill and Joan's (our neighbors) dock for a while watching the waves roll in and avoiding getting our shoes wet. We noted that the grasses are really taking over the beach and stabilizing it. Dad pointed out there is a new grass which he thinks is an invasive. Another alien species to go with the zebra mussels.
After a bit it we all walked back to the cottage. Scott and Speranza had showed up as planned. Dinner was about 45 minutes from completion and so Eugene and I went for a walk in the woods while Maggie, Scott and Speranza went for a walk over to the North Shore.
While in the woods we noticed that someone was apparently pot hunting Indian artifacts. We found 6 badly dug "units" that should have been back filled months ago. We also found several informative plaques telling hikers about the Point Lookout woods. All in all the woods look to be in good shape, overall.
We went back to the cottage and found that dinner was nigh. The table was set, wine orders taken and soon we were all eating lamb, squash, a salad and windmill cookies and lemon custard ice cream for dessert. A classic Owsley meal.
I was exhausted so about an hour after dinner I went to bed. but not before going out for a smoke and seeing a spectacular night sky. I had forgotten how wonderfully dark it is up north and how many stars one can see. Soon after, I went to bed
So, we are driving and I am looking for the signs (and they are all there). We talk about politics and global warming/climate change during the drive (my family and I are in accord on such topics).
We see the turn off for US 23 and take it through Standish, Omer (Michigan's smallest City) and AuGres. At AuGres we take a back road towards the bay and soon we are almost on the shore and notice the water is way down. There are grasslands where, 2 years ago, there was shoreline. As we drive along the shore we get more and more alarmed as the wide beaches and low water. This ain't right.
Soon we are driving down Michigan Avenue to my Dad's. And than we are there. Dad greets us
at the door. Rebecca is in a bedroom cleaning.
Beers are offered all around and I take one and sit down and have a drink with my father while my sister takes several photos of the two of us drinking beer and communing. I cannot remember where Eugene wandered off to at this point in time.We asked about the low lake level and are told it is down 4'. But my dad says this might not be a totally bad thing as it will give us a lot more land. Perhaps, eventually, a 60' by 5 mile strip if the bay decides to dry up completely. We could have a road to the Thumb, yay (she says with sad sarcasm).
Dad, Eugene and me soon wander down to the beach to have a look. You hafta say hello to the beach. If it were summer we would have donned our swimming costumes and dashed down to take a dip. Or maybe not, as the e-coli 157 levels are dangerous in the Bay most of the time now thanks to the Saginaw and Bay City storm sewer system. but it was not summer it was some sort of summery autumn and too cold to go swimming so we walked down and had a short walk on the beach.The first thing I noticed was the trees were not turning. Normally, in this part of Michigan by mid October the colors would be at their peak. But not this year. A few trees had begun turning but for the most part they were still quite green. I also noticed very few of the docks had been taken down for the winter and few boats were still in their hoists. In a normal year the boats would have been put into dry dock soon after Labor Day and the docks removed and stored. I suppose, because it has been so warm and dry up North, that people are still doing water recreation. I did notice, when we went by the marina, that there were a lot of shrink wrapped boats, all tucked in for winter. So I guess not everyone is into fall boating.
So we wandered around our beach and the Kane's beach and sat on Bill and Joan's (our neighbors) dock for a while watching the waves roll in and avoiding getting our shoes wet. We noted that the grasses are really taking over the beach and stabilizing it. Dad pointed out there is a new grass which he thinks is an invasive. Another alien species to go with the zebra mussels.
After a bit it we all walked back to the cottage. Scott and Speranza had showed up as planned. Dinner was about 45 minutes from completion and so Eugene and I went for a walk in the woods while Maggie, Scott and Speranza went for a walk over to the North Shore.
While in the woods we noticed that someone was apparently pot hunting Indian artifacts. We found 6 badly dug "units" that should have been back filled months ago. We also found several informative plaques telling hikers about the Point Lookout woods. All in all the woods look to be in good shape, overall.
We went back to the cottage and found that dinner was nigh. The table was set, wine orders taken and soon we were all eating lamb, squash, a salad and windmill cookies and lemon custard ice cream for dessert. A classic Owsley meal.
I was exhausted so about an hour after dinner I went to bed. but not before going out for a smoke and seeing a spectacular night sky. I had forgotten how wonderfully dark it is up north and how many stars one can see. Soon after, I went to bed
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Detroit
Around 3:00pm we left US 127 and turned east on I-94 towards Detroit and the Wozniak homestead. We got on the highway with thousands of other cars and trucks and sped ever eastward. The landscape went from bucolic ruralness to an asphalt jungle as we closed in on the Motor city. Gone were the farms, fields and forests replaced by high rises, malls and concrete. Rural or urban, in Michigan, you find shrink wrapped boats in either place.
The traffic was building as it was early rush hour. And rush we did, by Ann Arbor, The Detroit Metro Airport (which everyone in the car agreed was about the worst airport in the USA), River Rouge. Than suddenly, we were in Detroit proper and the traffic slowed to a crawl. It was 3:45pm, the 6 lane highway was cut down to 3 lanes and we had 15 exits to go before we got to 8-Mile/Vernier. It did not look like we would hit the 4pm goal we had set. So we crawled through traffic for 20 minutes and eventually got to our exit and within minutes we had arrived at Jack and Lucy's house.
Jack had just gotten home and was walking into the garage when we pulled up. he did not recognize the bright yellow Cobalt Maggie had rented but he did recognize everyone inside the car. We got out and there were hugs all around. Soon Lucy had noticed we arrived and there was round two of hugs. We went inside for a minute
and than sat out in the garden (my cousin Jack is a landscaper and his yard is a multi decade project that gets better and better each time I visit) and drank Bud lights and smoked cigarettes. My sister and jack did not smoke as they do not imbibe in the habit. We talked of weather, work and other light topics for a while
than Maggie went off for a 1/2 hour walk. While she was gone I had another beer (as did Eugene) and we sat around and started planning out dinner. the plan was supposed to be we waited for my Brother Scott and his girlfriend Speranza to arrive and than we would all go out somewhere and grab some food. Scott was supposed to arrive between 7:30 and 8:00. At 8:05 he had not shown up and we were all starving so we called his cell and got his answering service. So we waited another 15 minutes and left him a note as to where we went to eat.
Than we got in Jack's brand new ride (a used Marquis) and drove off to Telly's, a bar about 3 blocks away. Telly's was okay. Crowded, loud and smoky (Unlike Ohio, you can still smoke in bars and restaurants in Michigan. I was amazed at how weird and distasteful I found this). Scott and Speranza showed up right after we had ordered drinks but before anyone had put in a food order. My cousin Lucy smoked incessantly and I did have one or two. I do not like smoking indoors but when in Rome... After we ordered the food most everyone at the table played a round of Keno and small amounts of money were lost. I do not know when gambling in bars became legal in Michigan but there it is. The food came and everyone ate. I had fish and chips which was mediocre but filling.
Front: Lucy (me), Lucy (my Cousin), Jack. Second row: Eugene, Scott and Maggie
We all went back to Jack and Lucy's house and visited for a couple of house and lots of digital photos were taken The one above is of the Owsley's and Wozniack folks with a Goodman (Eugene) tossed in for good measure. Speranza took the shot with my camera. In time Scott and Speranza went home to Sterling heights (where we would go for brunch the next morning) and the rest of us went to bed.
When Eugene and I stay at my cousin Jack's, he always generously offers us his water bed. We appreciate the offer but both Eugene and I find if difficult to sleep in a water bed and always wake up the next day rather unrested. And that is what happened. got up tired, drank copious amounts of coffee, watched cable TeeVee with the sound off and the radio on (Detroit has the best rock 'n roll radio stations).
Around 8am my sister got up and we got our shit together and took off for Sterling Heights so we could have brunch with Scott and Speranza and her parents. Using confusing map quest directions which got us all turned around on 14 mile. Finally we got there a half hour late and we were treated to a wonderful Romanian brunch. For an hour we ate and drank our fill than Speranza's Dad, Tavi gave us the tour of his garden and home and sent Eugene and me off with seeds and plants. It was really delightful.
By 1pm we were on I-75 and driving north to AuGres to see Dad and Rebecca.
The traffic was building as it was early rush hour. And rush we did, by Ann Arbor, The Detroit Metro Airport (which everyone in the car agreed was about the worst airport in the USA), River Rouge. Than suddenly, we were in Detroit proper and the traffic slowed to a crawl. It was 3:45pm, the 6 lane highway was cut down to 3 lanes and we had 15 exits to go before we got to 8-Mile/Vernier. It did not look like we would hit the 4pm goal we had set. So we crawled through traffic for 20 minutes and eventually got to our exit and within minutes we had arrived at Jack and Lucy's house.
Jack had just gotten home and was walking into the garage when we pulled up. he did not recognize the bright yellow Cobalt Maggie had rented but he did recognize everyone inside the car. We got out and there were hugs all around. Soon Lucy had noticed we arrived and there was round two of hugs. We went inside for a minute
and than sat out in the garden (my cousin Jack is a landscaper and his yard is a multi decade project that gets better and better each time I visit) and drank Bud lights and smoked cigarettes. My sister and jack did not smoke as they do not imbibe in the habit. We talked of weather, work and other light topics for a while
than Maggie went off for a 1/2 hour walk. While she was gone I had another beer (as did Eugene) and we sat around and started planning out dinner. the plan was supposed to be we waited for my Brother Scott and his girlfriend Speranza to arrive and than we would all go out somewhere and grab some food. Scott was supposed to arrive between 7:30 and 8:00. At 8:05 he had not shown up and we were all starving so we called his cell and got his answering service. So we waited another 15 minutes and left him a note as to where we went to eat.Than we got in Jack's brand new ride (a used Marquis) and drove off to Telly's, a bar about 3 blocks away. Telly's was okay. Crowded, loud and smoky (Unlike Ohio, you can still smoke in bars and restaurants in Michigan. I was amazed at how weird and distasteful I found this). Scott and Speranza showed up right after we had ordered drinks but before anyone had put in a food order. My cousin Lucy smoked incessantly and I did have one or two. I do not like smoking indoors but when in Rome... After we ordered the food most everyone at the table played a round of Keno and small amounts of money were lost. I do not know when gambling in bars became legal in Michigan but there it is. The food came and everyone ate. I had fish and chips which was mediocre but filling.
Front: Lucy (me), Lucy (my Cousin), Jack. Second row: Eugene, Scott and MaggieWe all went back to Jack and Lucy's house and visited for a couple of house and lots of digital photos were taken The one above is of the Owsley's and Wozniack folks with a Goodman (Eugene) tossed in for good measure. Speranza took the shot with my camera. In time Scott and Speranza went home to Sterling heights (where we would go for brunch the next morning) and the rest of us went to bed.
When Eugene and I stay at my cousin Jack's, he always generously offers us his water bed. We appreciate the offer but both Eugene and I find if difficult to sleep in a water bed and always wake up the next day rather unrested. And that is what happened. got up tired, drank copious amounts of coffee, watched cable TeeVee with the sound off and the radio on (Detroit has the best rock 'n roll radio stations).
Around 8am my sister got up and we got our shit together and took off for Sterling Heights so we could have brunch with Scott and Speranza and her parents. Using confusing map quest directions which got us all turned around on 14 mile. Finally we got there a half hour late and we were treated to a wonderful Romanian brunch. For an hour we ate and drank our fill than Speranza's Dad, Tavi gave us the tour of his garden and home and sent Eugene and me off with seeds and plants. It was really delightful.
By 1pm we were on I-75 and driving north to AuGres to see Dad and Rebecca.
Off to Michigan
This past week has been family week for me. My sister came to visit last Wednesday (a week ago). After hanging out on the farm for a day picking strawberries and instructing Wyatt what he needed to do while we were away, we got in her rental car (along with Eugene) and drove north on US 127 to Michigan. It was a coolish overcast day and the road was clear for the most part. We made good time through Ohio. We stopped for lunch at Lester's Diner (serving the Midwest since 1964) in Bryan, OH. I had a bowl of potato soup and split a Reuben with Maggie.
We did hit a detour south of Van Wert. We assumed because of the flooding in September (or was it August?). This took us many miles out of our way and into new areas of northwest Ohio none of us had ever seen before. Eventually, on the north side of Van Wert we were reunited with US 127
In Paulding we passed the Apache Dairy bar which has a way cool sign drawn/designed by Milton Caniff (he did Steve Canyon and Terry and the Pirates). I have always assumed Mr Caniff was from Paulding but I just looked him up on wapikidia and it turns out he is from Hillsboro, OH, in the SW part of the state. So now I have no idea why the Apache dairy bar has a Caniff sign. Don't really care, either. I just appreciate on my drive up north if I take 127 it is there in Paulding. I have loved his drawing since I was a small child reading the comics.
Got through Ohio and into southern Michigan where we noted a mighty pricing war on shrink wrapping boats. The highest price we saw was $6.95 a square foot. the lowest price was $4.00 a sq foot. Shrink wrapping seems to be the newest way to winterize items. Awfully wasteful if you ask me. This is a waste of money and resources. A tarp would serve folks far better as it is cheaper and can be reused. With some care a tarp can be just as water tight as a shrink wrapped plastic. Sadly, on my travels I saw very few tarped boats. Shrink wrapping seems to be THE way to winterize. Oh when will people learn?
In Ohio I saw no shrink wrapped boats but did see a lot of shrink wrapped hay. At least I think it was hay. Couldn't really tell due to the opaque plastic stretched around the piles. There may have been manure shrink wrapped as well.
Our goal was to make it to Grosse Pointe Woods by 4pm to see our cousins, Lucy and Jack
We did hit a detour south of Van Wert. We assumed because of the flooding in September (or was it August?). This took us many miles out of our way and into new areas of northwest Ohio none of us had ever seen before. Eventually, on the north side of Van Wert we were reunited with US 127
In Paulding we passed the Apache Dairy bar which has a way cool sign drawn/designed by Milton Caniff (he did Steve Canyon and Terry and the Pirates). I have always assumed Mr Caniff was from Paulding but I just looked him up on wapikidia and it turns out he is from Hillsboro, OH, in the SW part of the state. So now I have no idea why the Apache dairy bar has a Caniff sign. Don't really care, either. I just appreciate on my drive up north if I take 127 it is there in Paulding. I have loved his drawing since I was a small child reading the comics.Got through Ohio and into southern Michigan where we noted a mighty pricing war on shrink wrapping boats. The highest price we saw was $6.95 a square foot. the lowest price was $4.00 a sq foot. Shrink wrapping seems to be the newest way to winterize items. Awfully wasteful if you ask me. This is a waste of money and resources. A tarp would serve folks far better as it is cheaper and can be reused. With some care a tarp can be just as water tight as a shrink wrapped plastic. Sadly, on my travels I saw very few tarped boats. Shrink wrapping seems to be THE way to winterize. Oh when will people learn?
In Ohio I saw no shrink wrapped boats but did see a lot of shrink wrapped hay. At least I think it was hay. Couldn't really tell due to the opaque plastic stretched around the piles. There may have been manure shrink wrapped as well.
Our goal was to make it to Grosse Pointe Woods by 4pm to see our cousins, Lucy and Jack
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Small World
A couple of weeks ago regular readers of this blog know that we had our signage partially wiped out. The 6' portable sign was rendered scrap metal and broken plastic by a pick-up doing an uncontrolled power slide a few hours before dawn (that had to be an eye opener).
Since than we have had the property damage assesor out and she declared we had around $550 worth of damage from the accident. She felt the portable sign was worth $350 and the other damage around $200. The next step is getting a check from Safe Auto which will likely take a couple of phone calls next week.
This past Saturday after we got back from the farmers market (3rd Saturday of the month we do the Oxford Winter market) and had settled down to eat some lunch we got a knock on the door. It was Mickey the guy who sold us our plastic, yellow portable sign last June. Eugene had called him a few days earlier to see about getting a replacement and here he was ready to replace our sign.
We had talked about getting an additional 4' sign to put down in the valley the day before and the idea still seemed to be a good one so we told Mickey we would like two signs and he said okay and pulled a 6 footer and a 4 footer out of his van and than handed us 2 boxes of letters for the signs. We now have 3 boxes of letters (sans 1 "M" that got wasted in the accident). 2 have black letters and one has red letters-woo hoo! All for under $500.
After making the sale we got to talking to Mickey and he mentioned he had just been to Northern Michigan a few months ago. I asked where not expecting the answer to be Standish. And he was not expecting a woman born and raised in SW Ohio to know where the hell Standish, MI was. I said "Wow, my Dad lives there, well not Standish but Au Gres" We were both delighted to know we had Arenac county in common with each other and we both started rattling off town names-Omer (Michigan's smallest City), West Branch, Pinconning, AuGres, Point Lookout, The Singing Bridge, East Tawas (okay the last two places are in Iosco County). It turns out Mickey was born in Standish but left when he was around 17 due to women troubles and a need to grow up. This got him to SW Ohio and eventually making portable signs.
Small world I must say.
After talking about my favorite part of Michigan we showed him our store and started talking about organic foods and farming and by the time he left 2 hours later he was convince that organic food was the way to go. This is a conservative Bush (as in GW Bush... ) luvin' redneck who recently has realized that the food at Wal-Mart sucks and we had the opportunity to sway his mind in a good direction and took that opportunity.
You just never know....
Since than we have had the property damage assesor out and she declared we had around $550 worth of damage from the accident. She felt the portable sign was worth $350 and the other damage around $200. The next step is getting a check from Safe Auto which will likely take a couple of phone calls next week.
This past Saturday after we got back from the farmers market (3rd Saturday of the month we do the Oxford Winter market) and had settled down to eat some lunch we got a knock on the door. It was Mickey the guy who sold us our plastic, yellow portable sign last June. Eugene had called him a few days earlier to see about getting a replacement and here he was ready to replace our sign.
We had talked about getting an additional 4' sign to put down in the valley the day before and the idea still seemed to be a good one so we told Mickey we would like two signs and he said okay and pulled a 6 footer and a 4 footer out of his van and than handed us 2 boxes of letters for the signs. We now have 3 boxes of letters (sans 1 "M" that got wasted in the accident). 2 have black letters and one has red letters-woo hoo! All for under $500.
After making the sale we got to talking to Mickey and he mentioned he had just been to Northern Michigan a few months ago. I asked where not expecting the answer to be Standish. And he was not expecting a woman born and raised in SW Ohio to know where the hell Standish, MI was. I said "Wow, my Dad lives there, well not Standish but Au Gres" We were both delighted to know we had Arenac county in common with each other and we both started rattling off town names-Omer (Michigan's smallest City), West Branch, Pinconning, AuGres, Point Lookout, The Singing Bridge, East Tawas (okay the last two places are in Iosco County). It turns out Mickey was born in Standish but left when he was around 17 due to women troubles and a need to grow up. This got him to SW Ohio and eventually making portable signs.
Small world I must say.
After talking about my favorite part of Michigan we showed him our store and started talking about organic foods and farming and by the time he left 2 hours later he was convince that organic food was the way to go. This is a conservative Bush (as in GW Bush... ) luvin' redneck who recently has realized that the food at Wal-Mart sucks and we had the opportunity to sway his mind in a good direction and took that opportunity.
You just never know....
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Quick! Confiscate the Butter!
Here is another raw milk story, this time from Michigan. It seems other depts of agriculture are acting just like the ODA in using gestapo tactics in halting the sale of raw milk.
October 30, 2006
Quick! Confiscate the Butter!
State sting asserts Michigan milk laws, chills farmers
By Patty Cantrell
Great Lakes Bulletin News Service
MLUI
Growing onsumer demand for fresh, unprocessed milk from happy cows runs up against regulations designed for big business and long distance.
For three years now, southwest Michigan farmers Richard and Annette Hebron have kept their family operation in business with weekly deliveries of fresh, un-pasteurized milk and other farm products direct to some 150 members of their Family Farms Cooperative in Ann Arbor.
And, for three years, regulators at the Michigan Department of Agriculture left the Hebrons—and a growing number of other small farmers who also produce and sell raw milk—alone. The reason is that, even though Michigan law requires that all milk sold at retail be pasteurized as a precaution against food borne illnesses, the raw milk the Hebrons provide with two other farms in the cooperative is not really sold that way. Customers buy shares in the cows that produce the milk, which qualifies them for an exemption in Michigan’s dairy law: People who own cows can drink their own cows’ un-pasteurized milk.
This legal truce between the MDA and such “cow-share” arrangements ended abruptly, however, on Friday Oct. 13, when state troopers stopped Richard Hebron on his way to Ann Arbor and produced a search warrant that allowed state agents to seize Mr. Hebron’s products, paperwork, and cell phone.
As the alarmed farmer watched the officials confiscate the privately contracted, un-pasteurized milk, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, and butter, his wife, Annette, was enduring the same thing back home. There, plainclothes agents were packing up other products, taping shut freezers and coolers, and confiscating the family’s computer and business records.
Four hours later, in Ann Arbor, police and other MDA Food and Dairy Division officials produced a third warrant and searched the warehouse of a store that the cooperative uses as a distribution point for its products.
What Is Retail?
Katherine Fedder is the MDA official who approved the sting operation, which included months of undercover work by a spy from her agency, who infliltrated the co-op. She said that her department’s concern is not about cow shares but about location. Delivering to the warehouse of a specialty wine and food shop in Ann Arbor, she contends, may violate the state’s dairy laws because it is a matter of bringing un-pasteurized, unlabeled milk to a licensed retail establishment.
But Mr. Hebron and the store owner say this warehouse space is well away from the store’s retail traffic and that, lacking any clarifying language in Michigan law, they thought it was perfectly legal to make the privately owned, un-pasteurized milk products available to co-op members there.
Ms. Fedder takes issue with the negative reaction to the sting by the press and others, which have described it as “Gestapo-like.” But if the suddenness and severity of the MDA’s Friday-the-13th raids don’t qualify for jackboot status, they certainly are a wake-up call to entrepreneurial farms and their direct-market customers.
Local farm-to-table enterprises like Mr. Hebron’s are revolutionizing food markets by responding to new consumer demands. They are springing up like wild, untamable mint outside the typical, centralized, national and international channels that most food now travels: Nearly every morsel averages 800 to 1,200 miles before reaching our plates.
“Cow share” arrangements like that of the Family Farms Cooperative are increasing because a growing number of consumers like raw milk’s taste, its reported and perceived nutrition and digestibility benefits, and the simple fact that it comes direct from smaller, nearby farms.
But the entrepreneurial spirit re-connecting these local farms and consumers is also challenging the normal regulatory course of business at the MDA, which is charged with enforcing public health rules designed, in this case, to keep the mass-market milk supply safe.
Communication Breakdown?
The ordeal has left the Hebrons and their two partner farm families traumatized, confused, and struggling to stay in business. Two weeks after the search and seizure, the Hebrons had yet to be charged with a crime, were waiting for news, and trying to soldier on without access to seized equipment and records.
A simple warning call from the MDA could have alleviated the agency’s concerns, said Mr. Hebron. “They could have come in and talked to us about it and we could have rectified the situation.”
The MDA’s choice of a sting operation raises an urgent question: How willing is the MDA to explore other ways to protect consumers and regulate farmers who are, in this case, buying and selling milk products that they prefer over what is available in mainstream stores? In other words, are state regulators willing to consider alternatives to regulatory rules written primarily for big business and long distances?
The agency’s treatment of the Hebron’s also is drawing criticism because it conflicts with the agency’s long-espoused commitment to helping farmers understand and comply with regulations. The sting stands in stark contrast to the MDA’s kid-glove treatment of some large livestock operations, such as the 2,500-cow dairies that now dominate the mainstream, industrial milk market, which the Hebron’s customers are deserting. Despite repeated complaints from neighbors and well-documented evidence of severe water pollution, livestock operations suspected of violating environmental laws generally receive months and even years of warnings before the state takes enforcement action.
In an interview with the Great Lakes Bulletin News Service, the MDA’s Ms. Fedder declined to say whether officials attempted to communicate with the Hebrons before the raids. She did confirm, however, that her division assigned an undercover agent to the cooperative last spring. This came after a local health department, apparently in the Hebron’s vicinity, reported in April that two children had become ill after allegedly consuming raw milk. Ms. Fedder also confirmed the facts in an Oct. 19 Business Week commentary: The local health department was unable to trace the illness back to raw milk or any other specific food.
Despite the lack of evidence that the Hebron’s milk was related to any public health harm, the undercover operation proceeded and evolved months later into the sudden sting operation.
Rights and Responsibilities
Ms. Fedder insisted that the MDA respects private consumer choice and tolerates cow-share arrangements because the law says nothing about them: Her concern is about raw milk showing up in retail stores as demand for it rises.
“That’s where we will draw the line,” she said. “My biggest concern has always been a mother who goes into the store and grabs something she didn’t intend to grab versus a person with a high degree of knowledge of what they’re consuming and the choice they’re making.”
Ms. Fedder points to the majority of public health officials, who advise people not to drink raw milk. Mainstream milk producers also repeat this point in a campaign they have launched to defend the industry’s practices and processes—and to discredit and oppose the labeling of raw milk, organic milk, and milk from cows that have not been fed artificial hormones or daily doses of antibiotics.
Yet, ironically, food safety is a major factor in the rise of un-pasteurized milk providers, up from just a few known Michigan providers in 2003 to nearly 30 today, according to realmilk.com, a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which promotes the benefits of raw or un-pasteurized dairy products.
Raw milk consumers like the fact that they’re working with, and helping keep in business, small farmers who may be needed to keep the milk supply safe and secure in a time when more and more food is coming through increasingly consolidated, sometimes quite vulnerable channels.
A recent New York Times piece by author and researcher Michael Pollan pointed out, for example, that 80 percent of America’s beef is now slaughtered by just four companies, 75 percent of precut salads are processed by two companies, and 30 percent of milk by just one. The recent national recall of bagged spinach demonstrates how one small problem along America’s mass food production line can cause lots of damage.
Katherine Czapp, a member of the Family Farms Cooperative, believes Michigan regulators need to take such facts into consideration and give consumers and farmers more security and clarity in their efforts to exchange the food products they prefer.
“I think they need to look at places like California, where it is legal to buy raw milk off the shelf, or Pennsylvania,” said Ms. Czapp, who is also an editor of the Wise Traditions Journal, a publication of the Weston A. Price Foundation. “Let’s see what they did there to make that legally possible.”
Patty Cantrell directs the Michigan Land Use Institute’s entrepreneurial agriculture program. Reach her at patty@mlui.org.
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Sunday, October 29, 2006
CSA Conference, Michigan
Raising Vegetables and Civic Values: CSA in the 21st Century
Second Biennial Conference for Community Supported Agriculture
Second Biennial Conference for Community Supported Agriculture
When: November 10-12, 2006
Where: Kettunen Center near Tustin, Michigan (Just south of Cadillac)
Contact: CSA-MI
3480 Potter Rd
Bear Lake, MI 49614
231-889-3216 (toll free 877-526-1441)
Email csafarm AT jackpine.net
(replace AT with @ and paste into your mail program)
Where: Kettunen Center near Tustin, Michigan (Just south of Cadillac)
Contact: CSA-MI
3480 Potter Rd
Bear Lake, MI 49614
231-889-3216 (toll free 877-526-1441)
Email csafarm AT jackpine.net
(replace AT with @ and paste into your mail program)
November 1 is the deadline to register for the CSA conference without a late fee. We can extend that to November 6. Register today!
Keynote Speakers
We have two exciting keynoters coming to the CSA conference:
Steven McFadden
Farms of Tomorrow Revisited – Community Supported Agriculture and Agriculture Supported Community
Scott Chaskey
Peconic Land Trust at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, New York and This Common Ground – Seasons on an Organic Farm
A Mini-school for new and prospective CSA growers still has a few openings.
WORKSHOPS led by experienced growers and other professionals include sessions on animals and the CSA, Seeds for the CSA, Distribution strategies, a CSA Council Circle with Steven McFadden, biodynamics, permaculture and more. See schedule at http://csafarms.org/csafarms5558009.asp
Vendors, like MACSAC (order your A to Z Foodbooks), Crop Services International, Fertrell products, Morgan Composting, Higher Grounds Trading Company, Steve and Sons Grassfields Cheese and more will be on hand.
A Silent Auction offers great stuff for the farm and home (Planet Jr Seeder, hand-knit items, maple syrup, books, art, CD's, gift certificates and lots more). See http://csafarms.org/csafarms9557788.asp
Time for meeting and mixing with your fellow CSA farmers and farm advocates, and great entertainment on Saturday eve with NW Michigan favorites Seth and Daisy Mae.
Much more information at the website!
http://www.csafarms.org
There are a few stipends remaining for growers who need financial assistance to attend. Reply to this email for more information.
CSA Conference in Michigan, November 10-12, 2006 http://www.csafarms.org
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