Birches: MONDAY FRIENDS REPORT, January 5, 2009

There's lots of talk about basketball around here because it's Michigan State country, and MSU is doing very well. Also, the Wolverines have won more than usual. In the sports vein, the Red Wings are playing super hockey these days, and the Detroit Lions have died a thousand well-deserved deaths.

Weatherwise, we have had every kind of nasty weather possible in mid Michigan this winter. We escaped setting a record for December snowfall by tenths of an inch. Every car is covered with dirt and salt, and half the roads are dangerous because the local governments are out of money to keep them clear. This is what the military used to call: SNAFU.
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What's happening in some people's lives:

TRASE: It has been decided that Trase should get a silver star for Valor, for having a child right in the middle of the holidays. She says she also deserves a gold star for completing her motherhood assignment in such a very competent way.

MARSHA - has finally returned to work in South Carolina. She followed her team to Tampa for the Outback Bowl, where it was unfortunately defeated. She is a great sport about losses, and an even better sport about wins. As she said, which bowl did Michigan go to?

Then she added this note, about the Book Report Assignment:

To my BFF Bud I gave the book Mass Historia: 365 Days of Historical Facts and (Mostly) Fictions. He knows so much about history and has a seemingly insatiable desire for more, so it seemed perfect. Plus he has a terrific sense of humor and I’m hoping he’ll get, if not 365 good chuckles, at least a few. Finally, it has to get challenging finding interesting information for his blog that so many of us have become addicted to, and he does it almost 365 days a year. So, don’t you agree that I am an amazing gift-picker-outer?

PAM - home safely from North Carolina where she and her husband spent holidays with family.

MARI - received some pink suspenders for a Christmas present, buy not many people have seen her wear them. Come on, they're really cute.

ALICE - is recommending a prison term for Bush and other "criminals" in the government.

DIG S - who recently moved to California from Michigan, sent this note: This is an interesting transition in my life. I hope it will work out.
If it doesn't make you very happy, then Michigan will welcome you back.

IRISH MIKE - received a 20 years old book by Tip O'neill, former Speaker of the House. He has become an avid reader of historical biography. Mike reports that in the last big melt-down, his basement got partially flooded, even with a new sump pump (float stuck), and the mess was a major pain right in the middle of the holidays.

MIKE ALMOST FROM CARROLLTON - reports his safe entry into Florida where he plans to spend the next couple of months basking in the sun and, perhaps, frolicking with women in the pool. He says that after Christmas, Florida was having a vast emigration: The north-bound lanes of I75 were jammed for over 150 miles and the Fla turnpike for the next 50 miles. One accident backed traffic at a standstill for over 5 miles on I75 and 7 miles on the turnpike. Thankfully I was going south.

PAT W - showed up at coffee klatch to show pictures of a grandchild, who really is "perfect" of course.

SPARTY - wonder if there isn't, somewhere, a grandparent whose kid isn't "perfect" and talented in every way.

LINDA - says, "Sure I'll look at your grandchildren, but remember then you have to look at pictures of my dogs!" Linda also produced her countdown keychain which tells her Bush has 14 days and 12 hours left in office.

MIKE THE ADMINISTRATOR - asks if anyone could tell him one "good thing" that Bush accomplished in his 8 years. No one could think of any. This was not a joke. A table full of people looked at each other and finally it was suggested, "Once he fell off a Segway."

SANDY - reports the engagement of one daughter and the expectancy of another daughter. Life is sailing along for all of us, it seems. Sandy also needs a few more people for the France trip next fall, so that she'll have enough to constitute a large enough group.

LIAM - has passed his first throw-up without ill effects. Maybe he ate too much.

DASHMANN (Aka Grandpa Herpe) and SKUZZA - are taking friends to Ann Arbor for a Bluegrass concert, as a Christmas present.

FELIX - says that ten years ago today, he reached the end of his long hike. The temperatures were freezing the morning he drew himself out of the shelter and faced the last 7 miles. Then,

"There it is. That rock there, 30 yards ahead. That rock is what I just
spent 5 months and 5 days, thousands of dollars, and 2,160.3 miles
walking to. 'You're kidding?' No, no I'm not. With fists clenched and
high over my head, I took my last steps to the rock. It looked just like
I remembered it. It looked just like I wanted it to. A bent knee and a
kiss and it was over. What had become my life, a wonderful life, was
over with that kiss. That is something that doesnt' happen much in the secular world. Reaching a definite, visible end to an undertaking, an 'accomplishment', with a sign or plaque that says, in essence, 'Either do it again, or do something else.' " What does that mean? I don't know. But that's what happens."

... and then he added a commendation:

I was going to write an open letter to
those that had a profound affect on my life. My parents, my brother, my
ex-wife, Elmer, Scooter, Lizzie, a few other randoms here and there,
Patch, Groovin' Moose, Luke and Jane, Sundown...Pokey and Stoat...I was going to write
something to each of them explaining what they meant to me. Here is what
I wrote:

1/5/99
Your Move
Felix J. McGillicuddy
ME -->GA '98