It’s Sunday evening, and I’m sitting here reflecting on the
past week. Sometimes our days, weeks,
months are rather uneventful, but this last week was jam-packed.
Things kicked off last Sunday, which was Father’s Day. After a little family celebration at home, we
headed to Jason’s parents’ house to celebrate our dads, as well as to celebrate
Jason’s 48th birthday. The
day was a hot one, but it was nice to have our families together.
Sunday evening, Emerson and I drove north to spend the night
at the cabin. We were headed up to
Marquette for Orientation Week, and decided to split the travel between two
days. As I sat on the beach, enjoying
the sunset, my oldest friend, Carolyn, along with Christy and Sawyer, pulled
their boat up to our dock and I hopped in.
I hadn’t seen them since before the pandemic and it was so nice to catch
up!
Monday morning, Emerson and I were out of bed with the early
sunrise, and soon we were on our way to the Upper Peninsula!
Of course, we had to make a pitstop at the Mackinaw Bridge for a quick
photo!
After crossing the bridge and heading west along US-2, we
made the turn to head north and west towards Marquette. Emerson had been in an online chat group with
a bunch of new students who would also be attending this orientation session,
but the thought of meeting them all in person was starting to make her nervous! We made quick work of registering and getting
her new student I.D. and then headed into town for some delicious Mexican food
for lunch.
The first friend Emerson met was J.R., and he was nice
enough to help us carry our luggage into the dorms where we’d be staying for
the next few days.
Parents stayed in a different wing of the dorm than
students, so I went my own way and got myself settled. Twenty minutes later, I texted Emerson to see
if she was doing alright, and she informed me that she had already made two
more friends and they were all hanging out together. So much for being nervous!
Soon it was time to head to our first meeting, for both
students and parents. Emerson’s friend
group had now grown larger, and I joined them for the walk over to the
conference room.
After that meeting, everyone branched out to smaller groups
and I didn’t even see her the rest of the day-she is quite the social
butterfly!
While we were having fun on the campus of Northern Michigan
University, Nash was attending his first day of Flint Junior Golf. He had a great time and shot a 32 for five
holes. Thanks to Grandpa Steve for taking him!
Also back at home, Alayna and Jason were busy, too. After much consideration, Alayna decided that
her two horses, Blaze and Rainy, were just too old to compete with her on the
Equestrian Team this fall, and she decided to retire them. Aunt Ani generously offered a field ready for
grazing for the two horses, so she came out with the trailer Monday evening to
move them to their new summer home.
Monday was such a whirlwind day, and I’m quite sure I fell
asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night.
Tuesday, I was up early, and excited. I didn’t have a meeting to attend until after
lunch, so after a nice breakfast in the cafeteria, I threw on my pack and hit
the road. I hadn’t run the North Country
Trail in Marquette yet, so that was my plan.
The trail is just about a mile from campus so no driving was needed. After traveling down a few little streets, I
was on the trail. I
decided to head east, and it did not disappoint. The day was sunny and cool and Lake Superior
was so calm. I stopped often to take in
all the beauty.
After a few meetings on Tuesday, I met up with Emerson to
take a tour of the Cosmetology Center where she will be calling home for the
next two years. The facility is brand
new, and they only accept 28 students into the program each year, and Emerson
is very excited to be a part of this group.
When our tour was over a cameraman stopped Emerson and J.R. for
an interview. She had her first
television debut that night!
And then she was off and running again! That would be the last time I’d see Emerson
until we were done with orientation.
Judging by the pictures and stories she told, I’m quite sure she had a
great time.
Wednesday morning, arrived very quickly and I once again had to hit the trail. This time I chose to head to Presque Isle, which is one of my favorite places. I watched a huge barge coming in, and went out onto the lighthouse pier to take in the views.
Back on campus, I cleaned up and checked out of my room. They had thought of everything for us, and NMU provided us with boxed lunches to go, which were tasty! Actually, every meal I had on campus was really great, and the staff was amazing. I even had the privilege of having lunch with the Vice President on Tuesday. It turns out he is a Harley rider in his free time, and we had lots to talk about!
After saying her final goodbyes and planning a summertime meetup with her new friends, Emerson and I headed to Black Rocks. We couldn’t make the trip to Marquette and not get out on those rocks! The day was sunny and warm, and the cool breeze coming of the lake was just about perfect.
We had a long drive ahead of us, but we were determined to make it home Wednesday evening. Thursday was going to be another big day!
While we were up in the U.P., life was still busy at home. Alayna works at a farm several times a week, Nash spends endless hours hitting golf balls in our yard, Jason is overseeing several projects including the restructuring of Saginaw Street in Flint (and taking care of all those bricks) and also keeping the M-15 road construction through the north end of Davison moving along. And Grey? Grey has found his own way to make money. He buys dirt bikes, fixes them up, and sells them for profit. He hasn't been able to find anyone to hire him as a 15 year old, so he found his own way to make money!
Thursday was a day for celebration. It was the last day of school! Greyson said goodbye to being a Freshman, Alayna said goodbye to the Middle School, and Nash said goodbye to Elementary School. Nash's school celebrates fourth graders by inviting parents, relatives, and friends to attend a "Clap Out", where the students take their final walk through and around the school.
Thursday evening, Nash, along with Greer and Nana and Grandpa, headed to the Flint Elks Club for their golf program. While they were doing that, Jason and Alayna headed across the state to check out a new horse. Alayna is a girl on a mission, and saw promise in this potential horse. After meeting the horse and basically falling in love with her, no one could seem to get her into our tiny trailer! The family graciously offered to deliver the horse on Friday, and Jason and Alayna came home with the empty trailer, but excited for the next day's delivery.
Friday arrived, rainy and overcast, but did I get out for a run? Yes, I did.
And then it was time for Alayna's big delivery! The new horse was here! This horse is much different than our other two-she came to us as an OTTT, which is an Off the Track Thoroughbred. Upon closer inspection, the inside of her upper lip was tattooed, meaning she actually was a race horse at some point! I spent some time researching her, and this is what I found: Her official race name is Pay Me N Pennies, she is nine years old, born in Louisiana. She raced in twenty-five races in her career, even winning one in 2018. And if you follow her family tree backwards, she is a descendant of Secretariat, the horse who famously won the Triple Crown in 1973. How cool is that? Alayna is hoping she will be a good fit for the barrel racing competition on the Equestrian Team.
While Alayna was busy getting to know her new girl, whom she decided to name "Penny", I snuck into town with Nash for some ice cream. A girl we know was working!
Can you guess what we did Friday night? We just had to have a movie night to watch Secretariat!
Saturday morning arrived and it was muggy and hot before the sun was even up. I got out early for my long run but the humidity was punishing, and I was drenched with sweat almost immediately. I was approaching the ten mile mark when Alayna texted me and asked for help at her job. Time to change gears!
I buzzed home and took a quick shower and reluctantly put on jeans and long socks and boots. It was time to muck some stalls. Aside from a little of that on our farm, I had never done this job before. Alayna quickly showed me what needed to be done, and I got to work. Again, I was almost immediately drenched in sweat. There's nothing better than sweat-drenched jeans, let me tell you.
Then it was time to change gears again! Emerson and I were headed to some friends' open houses in an hour and I needed to not smell like horse manure and sweat. I made it happen, though, and it was a nice afternoon celebrating high school graduates.
You'd think the day would be just about over now, wouldn't you? Well, that's not the case. Jason and I had promised Nash we'd take him golfing, so it was time to change gears yet again. Time for my fourth outfit of the day! I had exactly one golf shirt in my closet and hadn't picked up a golf club in more than ten years, but we took Nash out for his first official nine holes of golf. It was swelteringly hot, but he didn't seem to mind. I think he ran about 80% of the golf course and when we approached the ninth hole, he decided time had gone way too quickly and he wasn't ready for it to be over. He played very well and we are excited to see him improve over time.
All of the sudden, Sunday arrived. And it has been a hot one. Did I mention that we don't have air conditioning and the a/c in my truck is not currently working? Literally no relief from the heat! I took a cold shower after my run and was getting ready to do some work when we had a visitor! A neighbor had found a dog in the bushes down the road and hadn't been successful in finding the owner. Jason offered to keep it until we could get the dog back home.
We all sat outside with this giant, super-friendly, Saint Bernard girl. We were all kind of hoping she'd end up not having a home so we could keep her but I knew someone had to be missing her. I was hesitant to post her on social media, for fear of her ending up in the wrong hands, but I messaged a couple friends and searched websites for anyone who might be looking for this girl. After about an hour, a neighbor happened to spot a sign about a missing Saint Bernard and I knew it was our girl. I called the number and the man said he'd be right over. It turns out this laid back, sweet girl had jumped the fence in her backyard yesterday, traveled more than a mile and had been on a 24 hour adventure! They were so happy to have their family pet back, and we were happy we could help out.
As I sit here writing this, the most glorious summer storm has rolled through and watered our plants and trees and fields, and cooled things off quite a bit as well!
And not more than ten minutes ago, Greyson sold two dirt bikes right in the middle of this downpour and came in with a big wad of cash. I wonder what he'll find next!
Oh, and I'm not forgetting about Owen! Although he is not here with us, he is always in my thoughts and I talk to him daily, even if it's just a quick good morning text or a funny Snap. He is pretty settled into Camp Lejeune and has several friends who have arrived from San Angelo there now. The group is planning a trip up to Virigina for their 96 next weekend to meet up with even more of their friends. I am so thankful for the guys he met in Texas. They are a tightknit group and I know they'll be friends for life, no matter where in the world they end up. He's not that into sending me selfies, but every now and then I get a little glimpse into his life there.
So yeah, that was a doozie of a week we've just had here! There's just one more week of June left and ours will be filled with more golf, and farm life, and running, and ice cream, and dirt bikes, and construction. And then? Then we're going to celebrate the Fourth of July with a good long break from all of it!
