Wednesday, 9/8

 And greetings from somewhere on I-75. I’m not quite sure where, but it’s the place where there are trees on the left and trees on the right.

So wherever that is, that’s where we are.

We had a very nice, very extended weekend down in Reese, visiting Loraine’s family and keeping the surprise celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary a secret. Loraine, one of her brothers, her sister, and a nephew had been coordinating the surprise, and when it came off without a hitch everyone was quite happy.

Especially Loraine’s parents.

Otherwise, we just spent time hanging out, playing with Loraine’s parents’ cats, eating a lot, and, uhm, going to the one place we can’t go to in Marquette, if only because we don’t have one--Aldi. Don’t believe me?

Hi, my name is Jim, and I’m an Aldi-holic. And if you think I’m bad now, just wait until we actually DO get one in Marquette. After the first week, I may need an intervention.

So be forewarned.

We also spent some time just wandering around Loraine’s home town. Reese reminds me a lot of and is about the same size of Gwinn, with one rather glaring exception. Everyone, let me introduce you to (and this is Loraine’s phrase) “The awesome flatness of Reese”--

It’s actually hard to capture in a picture just how flat Reese is; in sections with no trees you can see for miles and miles and miles. Because it’s flat it’s home to hundreds of farms, which means that the only things that rise more than 20 feet above the terrain would be the grain elevators--

Although some of the farm equiment on sale might qualify, as well.

But if you know where to look, you can see things in the nooks and crannies that make Loraine’s home town nothing like what I'm used to and therefore charmingly and uniquely “Reese”.

The most important part of the trip, though, was to spend time with her family, especially the members we haven’t seen in two and a half years, and we were able to exceed her dreams in that respect. That, in fact, even led to a rather interesting discussion and thought experiment with the youngest member of the family.

Details on that--and perhaps a homework assignment for you--tomorrow.

(jim@wmqt.com)