Monday, 7/31

Farewell, July. We barely got to know ye.

I don't have a “favorite” month of the year, but if I did it might be July. Oh sure, the argument could be made for December, with the holidaze and my birthday all rolled into one,. But I think December would lose out on the argument for the very same reason that July might win it--

The weather.

July is (usually) warm and sunny & fun to play in. December (almost always) is not. That's why if I had to choose a favorite month, it would probably be July. Especially at the beginning of the month when the sun's high in the skies, the days are long and the nights are short, and you can walk around outside and not worry about various parts of your body falling off.

You can't say that about December.

And even though this July has not been particularly warm, dry, or sunny (in stark contrast with the rest of the planet) there have still been days beautiful enough for walks on the beach or countless bike rides or soccer practice sessions with Loraine..

Once again, you couldn't do that in December.

But you know what?. I'd take a cool & wet July over even a mild December any time. You can just do the things I like to do with no problems at all in July. If I did have to complain about something, it would be that July is just too short.

Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about that.

So faretheewell, July. Thanks for making it fun this year. I just wish you were able to stick around a little longer.

Tomorrow—the strange thing I discovered this year counting license plates.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 7/28

I have to go check a few things for damage from last night's mega-storm here in Marquette (and was that intense or what?), but I do want to share two small things today, both of which are a bit of a tradition.

The first is that today is the Blueberry Festival here in downtown Marquette, and that means I get to hang out enjoying it with one of the coolest people in the world--

My mom.

Since the Festival started we've had this standing gig to check it out together. She walks up to the station, I join her, and we see what there is to see (and, me being me, buy stuff to eat). So if you happen to be at the festival and see me hanging out with someone, stroll over and I'll introduce you to the best mom in the world.

My annual Blueberry Festival date.

The other tradition? Well, every year I take a bunch of flower pictures and post them in a blog, and seeing as how I put up a shot of wildflowers a few days ago, daily blog reader Brianna of Marquette wondered when the “real deal” is coming.

Soon, Brianna, soon. In fact, want a sneak peak?

Have a great weekend, everyone. And with 87,000 things going on in Marquette County this weekend, maybe I'll see you at one or two!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 7/27

Repeat after me—the sidewalk is NOT a parking lot!

I'm sorry, but I'm gonna spend this blog complaining about something. I know I seem to have been doing that a lot recently, and if you don't want to hear me do it again, you have my permission to come back tomorrow. I promise to talk about something cheery, like sunshine or rainbows or unicorns.

Honest.

Now, on to my rant. There are, sadly, many places around the city of Marquette where people do not know how to park. I know this because I run and walk up & down city streets all the time, and I always have to duck into the roadway when I come across something like this--

 

I'm pretty sure there aren't two parking spots here. Heck, I don't even know if there's one parking spot there. And because of the way these vehicles are sitting means that every single person who walks or runs down this particular sidewalk, plus many others in the city, every parent pushing a stroller, every child riding a bike, and every person who needs a wheelchair or some unblocked access to the sidewalk, has to veer out into the street, where traffic, because drivers are too busy staring at their phones, is often speeding past at 10 or 15 miles an hour over the speed limit.

All because one individual does not know now to park.

Now, if this was just a one time event, I wouldn't be raising any kind of ruckus about it. But this happens all over the city, thanks to people oblivious to the both the fact that the sidewalk is not a parking lot and to the fact that they could be putting people in danger by making them veer out into a very busy street. I don't understand people who do things like that. I don't understand why people would break the law by using the sidewalk as a parking lot. The sidewalks belong to everyone, not just whoever happens to live next to it.

They're OUR sidewalks, not yours.

I think that's what getting my goat here. It's the same thing that gets my goat when I see dog owners bring their pets on a beach or some other place where there are “No dogs allowed” signs. These are public areas; they're not your personal playgrounds. By using them as your own, and by willfully flouting the rules, you're disrespecting every other single person who might need to use them and every single person who does try to follow the law. There are 22,000 of us living on a small piece of land, and the rules (like not blocking the sidewalk or not taking your dog on the beach) are there to make sure that we can all live together in harmony. I try not to disrespect any of the other 21,999 people in Marquette. I'd hope everyone else would return the favor.

Apparently, though, that's not the case. At least for that's the case for people like the one pictured above.

Okay; I'll shut up now. I just needed to get that off of my chest. Like I said, tomorrow we'll talk about puppies or flowers or chocolate. Or how nice & hot it's supposed to be today.

And I won't complain about a thing. Promise.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 7/26

I hope she wasn't disappointed by the answer.

As you may recall, I'm taking time off here and there this week. I did so yesterday, and enjoyed a nice sunny stroll along one of my favorite places in Marquette—the South Beach bike path. While I was just chilling a woman came up to me and said “hey”. She said she sees me enjoying that path every so often, and said she wonders what I'm thinking about while I'm out there relaxing.

I have to admit she looked a little surprised when I said “mosquitoes”

Seriously; I was thinking about mosquitoes, although not for the reason you think. I often use my meanderings up & down that path to think about my “Life in the 906” bits. In fact, last summer when I knew I would be doing them but before anything had been announced, I walked up & down that bike path rolling my mind over ideas, many of which have made their way on the air.

That's why I was thinking about mosquitoes.

I had actually another one of those instances where I had woken up in the middle of the night with an idea in my head, and I was just trying to flesh it out. I'm hopeful it'll be a memorable one; I guess we'll find out next Monday night.

So, if you ever see me mindlessly wandering up & down that bike path, be aware that the wandering isn't actually that mindless. I'm actually working, even of that work just consists of thinking about things like mosquitoes.

8-)

If you're curious (and I know you must be) the wildflowers are in full bloom along the path, as well!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 7/25

I wonder how many times a day it actually happens?

As I mentioned Friday, I'm in the midst of counting license plates this week (14 different states after the first day), so I'm keeping my eyes on the streets as cars go by more than I usually do.

And that's when I see them going the wrong way on a one way street.

The one was street is the one block Blaker Street/ East Bluff Street here in downtown Marquette; specifically, this one--

I tried to get a picture of a car coming out of it the wrong way but, of course, as I was standing across the street with a camera no one actually did. But it happens multiple times a day, mostly by people with out of state plates but occasionally by people who are from around here (or at least bought their car around here).

Thankfully, I haven't seen the wrong-way driving cause an accident, although I'm sure it could..

Now, I don't blame the drivers for driving the wrong way on a one way street. Almost all of them are coming out of the back parking lot of the Landmark Inn, and unless you look very closely you don't even see the signs (across the street from the parking lot, partially covered by tree branches) letting you know you're on a one way street. So, I guess, it's natural to turn right and go down the street the wrong way instead of turning left and going around the block, like you're supposed to.

It's just one of those things.

I'm sure the city could put bigger and/or better placed one way signs across from the parking lot, or even in the parking lot itself, just to let people know. And I'm also wondering if some drivers are just doing what their GPS is telling them to, and the GPS doesn't know it's a block of one way traffic. Either (or both) of those would help, but maybe it's just one of those things.

Maybe having one block of one way traffic in the middle of a downtown is just so...weird that something about it just doesn't register with people. I dunno. I just hope that there aren't a lot of people who end up doing it, and that those who do don't (accidentally) cause any trouble by doing so.

See what you notice by looking for license plates?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 7/24

I wonder if I could make a living at it?

Several times this past weekend, while I was out enjoying our almost normal (for once) weather, different people stopped to ask me directions or to ask where something was. That’s not unusual; when Loraine and I are out walking, we get that quite a bit. I don’t know if we just look approachable or like we know what we’re talking about or what, but it happens quite a bit. Not only that, but if we happen to be passing a tourist commenting on a local sight, we’ll give them a little local color, fill them in on what they’re seeing, and usually walk away with “thanks” and seeing a big smile on their faces. Add into all the tours I’ve given this summer (with more to come), and it has gotten me to think--

Could I make a living doing that?

Don’t worry; I’m not quitting any time soon. It’s just that every once in a while I think to myself about how great it would be to spend my days walking around Marquette, helping people who are visiting the area, and educating anyone who wants to be educated about what they see in front of them. I could take them on walking tours, biking tours, and any other kind of tour they’d like. Aside from beach bum, if I could have a dream job, that might be it. Of course, I realize that as with being a beach bum, there’s probably not much money in being friendly to tourists, but a boy can always dream, right?

8-)

It's just one of those things that pops into my head as I'm walking around on a nice summer day. And, just so you know, the forecast for this week calls for (finally) a bunch of nice summer days, so if you happen to see a “best of” or not see one of these posted on a day, know that I'm not ignoring you.

I'm just out enjoying summer while it's here and, in a way, making sure that you don't have to read me whining about it again.

You're welcome.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 7/21

Once again this year, I'm going to be a geek.

(And, as always, I'll pause for a second here while you yell “In which year AREN'T you a geek?” because, you know, that's what you want to do).

Art on the Rocks week is coming up next week, the week when I do my annual survey of out-of-town license plate in Marquette. I don't know exactly why I started doing it (aside, of course, from being a geek) but if I'm counting correctly (and I'm pretty sure I am) this will be the 20^th summer in which I've done this particular task.

So...yay me?

8-)

The fact that I've been doing this for two decades has provided me with not only a way to gauge the way the tourism industry is going up here on a year to year basis, but its also a little bit of a key to how much things have changed in Marquette over the past 20 years. While I don't know why I started this particular habit, I do know why I chose Art on the Rocks week—back then, it was THE big summer event in Marquette. And now, while it still is a huge event, it's been join by so many others, everything from Ore to Shore to the Beer Festival, that I (technically) could choose just about any week for the survey.

However, for both sentimental reasons and to keep it statistically valid, I keep doing it during the week leading up to Art on the Rocks.

So if you see me walking around the next few days scribbling something down on a piece of paper or swiveling my head around to catch the plate of a car passing me by, have no fear. I'm not dangerous.

I'm just being a geek.

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)