Monday, July 2, 2012

Metro Monday

One of the great things about being a military wife is having the opportunity to travel the world. Over the past 17 years, the Air Force sent us to live in Texas, Idaho, Germany, Ohio, and Michigan.  Once you've set up house, started work, and settled the family, day-to-day life is pretty much the same as yours.  But the vacations (especially when living overseas) are exceptionally memorable.

Before my oldest daughter's 3rd birthday (and before her younger brother's 1st), my kids had been up the Eiffel Tower, fed pigeons outside the Louvre, seen Pisa and Rome, been blessed by Pope John Paul II, climbed Swiss mountains, visited fairy tale castles, and been to the Tower of London... with the Beefeaters playfully offering to find someone to baptize the baby in the chapel where Anne Boleyn is buried.  My youngest child, born almost 11 months to the day after we relocated back to the States, asked frequently as a preschooler, "But when will I be in the pictures??"  She was well aware of being left out of something magical.

One of the worst things about being a military wife is having your life uprooted on a tri-yearly basis.  Every few years, we would wait for the orders that told us where to move next.  Often you have little choice or influence in the matter.  While we awaited our orders to leave Germany, it had been indicated that we could expect a move to England next.  Needless to say, when the papers arrived with the word Ohio on them I was just a bit disappointed.  ((If you are from Ohio, I apologize for the way that sounded but I guarantee that if you had the choice to live in either England or Ohio, you'd pick England too.  By the way, I ended up with a soft spot for Ohio which is a remarkable thing for a native Michigander))  Being away from family for years at a time while your kids are small is no small issue, either.


In 2004, the Air Force offered my husband the opportunity to return home to Michigan as a full-time active duty member of the Michigan Air National Guard.  Full time employment, remaining in the military,  and coming home all in one fell swoop?  Yes, please.  Our first assignment with the guard took us on an extended tour to northern Michigan.  We bought our first house... a 1970's fixer-upper on a hill in the woods, less than a mile from a bike path that connected the entire town.  And it was so difficult to look at this view every day while driving to work every day:


So tough to spend summer days with your kids in locations like this:


Or this


Two years ago, my husband received a promotion (Higher rank = raise which always a good thing).  That promotion, however, meant that he needed to leave his position and take a command downstate.  For those unfamiliar with Michigan-speak... "Up North" is the northern portion of the lower peninsula.  I use  it to refer to anything north of the Zilwaukee Bridge or Saginaw.  "Downstate" is the southern portion of the lower peninsula, usually referring to south of Flint and generally means the Detroit area.  Don't worry, we haven't forgotten that there's an entire other peninsula... they're the "U.P." or "Yoopers" and they loving refer to us as "trolls" because we live beneath the bridge that separates us.

Traverse City and Detroit might as well be in two separate states, two separate worlds.  We were exchanging hills, beaches, and no-more-than 4 lane highways for concrete, asphalt, skyscrapers, and a daunting Interstate systems that ringed the city.  And did I mention this was Detroit???  We dragged our feet moving.  For the first year, my husband worked in Detroit and came "home" on weekends while we put our house on the market.  After ten months, the house sold and it was time for us to make our move.

The situation wasn't all bad.  In a way, I was coming home.  The daughter of a retired Detroit police lieutenant, I was born and raised on the city's west side in the days of residency requirements for city employees.  Yep, I grew up inside the city proper and lived to tell the tale.  Contrary to widespread belief, not all of Detroit is a wasteland.   Most people probably hear "Detroit" and picture this:


This house lies four blocks from my childhood home.  I was overjoyed to drive a bit farther and find this:


The house where I grew up, a bit rough around the edges and slightly worse for wear, but no victim to the urban blight and decay we all hear about.

Detroit has amazing spirit.  Even out in the suburbs, we're a bit sensitive to how it's portrayed to the nation.  Most suburban residents are only a generation or two removed from living within the city limits.  Detroit is "home" and you're far more likely to hear me say that I live in Detroit than Macomb Township (where my current home is actually located).  I think most metro residents would do the same.

So, without further ado, I introduce "Metro Monday"... a glimpse inside the good things about living in Detroit and southeast Michigan.  (Don't worry, it will be far less wordy in future weeks)

The Renaissance Center... a Detroit landmark for as long as I can remember... still magnificent in the June sunshine.  Somehow it's more impressive to me now that it was as a child.

By far, though, the best thing about discovering Detroit has been this:

There's a fabulous metropark mere minutes from my new house... hiking trails through the woods, bike paths, and

The lake, complete with two beaches for swimming.  We will be spending most of the holiday week somewhere inside this park, where it feels like home.  Woods, water, and Detroit.  I guess I am really home.

**********************************************************************


TomCat spent much of the weekend destroying the inside of his nesting box to express his disappointment over TomKat's impending divorce.


"I really thought those two crazy kids were going to make it."


"I may just need to hang out in the laundry for a few days to recover.  Do we have any ice cream?"


Norman spends much of his day hanging out on the other side of Penny's door.  She's not quite sure what to make of this development.


"This is creepy.  Can you make him stop?"

You might think that Penny's got an admirer, but I tend to believe it's her food bowl that our old man is after. If he gets through the door, he travels in a straight line to the kibble.  After all, he's got some weight to gain!

Penny's on the spay list for later this week.  When she's healed and has been vaccinated, she will join the general population outside the foster room.  I know what this means.... do you?? Conversations are being had about the next residents of the room  ;-)













18 comments:

  1. This post brought back lots of memories. I'm an Air Force brat who married a preacher, so there were LOTS of moves in my history. He retired from preaching, and is now teaching, so we've lived in the same house for 10 years! I'm enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The moving and adventure is exciting, but isn't it nice to finally be settled in one place? We were in Traverse for 7 years and will probably be here for eight when all is said and done. Our orders say 2017, but youngest daughter will graduate from high school in 2019. I just don't want to do the whole changing schools thing ever again after this last time around.

      Delete
  2. Great and interesting post!

    I love that you finished it up with kitties and clarified for me that Norman's crush is not on Penny as I initially thought (because she is so pretty!) but rather on her food bowl. Now his 'ears of annoyance' make sense in that last photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There will always be kitties at the end, no matter what I'm talking about... no worries about that! Yes, Norman was quite annoyed that I wasn't opening the door for him. He may also be irritated that Penny gets an all-you-can-eat buffet while he has meal times. )I have to enforce them with him because otherwise the tubby tabbies would do most of the eating for him.)

      Delete
  3. Great pictures and story! My dad worked for the federal government (but not military) so I moved every two years growing up. I've stayed put in SC since finishing graduate school, but every now and then I get wanderlust... (The Rockies are looking good after this week's record breaking 109 temperatures!!)

    Have you tried kitten food for Norman? If it's good for pregnant moms and babies, then I bet the calories would be good for him and easy to digest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Norman does have kitten food in his diet. He eats the same kibble as the other not-so-teeny-tinys, but gets a can of Fancy Feast kitten to himself at snack time. I just need to get him to slow down when he eats.

      I know what you mean about the temperatures. 90s in Michigan are pretty much unheard of, even in summer. We're melting up here!

      Delete
  4. Kelly-Wonderful story. I love hearing about others lives as well as their cats. Every year we try to go on vacation to someplace different with our kids (12+8 right now). I can't imagine doing all of that before they were 3 +1. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Holly. I truly think it's more difficult to travel with them now that the kids are older. We haven't moved nearly as much and they're out of practice. Besides, they liked each other a LOT more as preschoolers than they do as teenagers. Mine are 15, 13, and 11 and would usually prefer their siblings were gone.

      Delete
  5. lovely intro into a continuing segment! I look forward to more Metro Mondays! :)

    LOL@TomCat..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Connie! Heehee... I will admit that I made myself giggle far more than necessary when TomKat came into play over the weekend. ;-)

      Delete
  6. I LOVE Detroit. I, for one, would love as many photos as you could possibly post! Grew up on the east side, Grosse Pointe & spent summers up north. There is no lake as beautiful as Lake Michigan or as scary & wild as Lake Superior. I’m in CA now & the Pacific Ocean still can NOT compete with the Great Lakes. Yes please, more about the city.
    I’m usually the victim of those ‘Norman’ stares at my house. And yup, it’s all about the food.
    Great post, thanks!
    Katie, Big & Monkey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make sure you come back on Mondays and I'll have lots of pictures of home for you. If there's something in particular that you'd like to see, let me know. I'll try to take a picture of it the next time I'm close by.

      East-sider, huh? I will admit that it's weird as a former west-sider to be living on this side of town. People can't seem to understand how I could be lost here after growing up in the area. It's over an hour from my childhood home to my current house!

      Delete
  7. I'm from Ohio, just south of Dayton which is where I'm assuming you lived... I don't take offense, because if I had a choice between England and Ohio, I'd take England, too! Love your pictures today!

    Sharon

    P.S. Did Norman get any ice cream? You should give him some...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! We were stationed at Wright-Patterson for just shy of 4 years. Younger daughter was born at the base hospital and I did my grad work at Wright State. Every time we drive through on I-75, I stop to look at the old neighborhood.

      Unfortunately I need to get to the grocery store before anyone gets ice cream. Tuesday for sure!

      Delete
  8. Oh so you're from THAT side of the state? ;-) Glad you're in a place where you're happy. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All my family is from the OTHER side of the state. I'm a bit of GR, mixed with Detroit, with a dash of Traverse City. I don't know how thrilled I am to be living here again full time, but it's comfortable.

      Delete
  9. Nice job, Kelly. I still miss being in Michigan.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I know what you mean, once upon a time I couldn't wait to get away but now I miss it so much. But ultimately it's more about the family and friends rather than the place. My kids are actually in TR visiting my parents right now. I am SOOO homesick and wish I could be there with them but I'm glad they're able to be there with my family. :-)

    ReplyDelete