WALT'S WORLD

WE LOVE MICHIGAN!!! We had a rough crossing yesterday on the big old SS BADGER, but were recovered enough to enjoy the evening in Ludington MI. Ludington is a port, and has a beautiful beach and lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Since we had a time change to EST,and since we were tired anyway, we got a late start out of Ludington on the way to Wolf Lake. Oh, and there was also the fact that I stopped at a place called THE HOUSEFUL OF FLAVORS and had their specialty, "grilled biscuits". Excellent choice!

We ran into a dog whose speed was matched by his anger this afternoon--- I'm usually not bothered by dogs, I practice that Zen thing of calling to the dogs who are chasing me. And, I'm usually riding out front, which means that I get the dogs agitated and stirred up a little bit and by the time Kami closes the football field gap between us, those dogs are loaded for bear. But, this morning's dog was neither a zen practitioner, or prone to waiting for Kami. He ran at me from the left side of the road, nipped at my left side, then ran in front of my front wheel and lunged from the right---a routine he kept up for quite a distance, while I was encouraging him to give me his best shot. Meanwhile, a farmer came up behind us, hauling a hay wagon. He kept right in my blind spot---either waiting for the dog to get me, or waiting until he could get the dog. It was a mess! Finally, I cranked it into Lance-like sprint, and lost the dog. The farmer then passed me, and gave me a huge thumbs up for my efforts.

The map showed a "gas pump" and a "grocery cart" symbol at Free Soil road, and I was anxious to get there. Ten miles later, we arrived at the intersection to see that a mini-mart had been boarded up years before, and there was a guy with long hair in a pony tail sitting outside with a drill making bird houses. He had a business called Walt's World of Wood, and I found out he also had a refrigerator with diet cokes inside. I was admiring his tattoos---an elaborate heart with "mom" written across it on one forearm, and a "pin up" style Cowgirl, with a big rope lasso on the other. He told me that his son runs a tattoo parlor in a nearby town. Then he showed me another tattoo I hadn't noticed, a crude stain on his leg, next to a horrific scar. He told me he had gotten that tattoo on his "senior field trip", and after some discussion, he revealed that he had spent his senior field trip in Vietnam, in a rice paddy collecting personal effects for the families of casualties. He was eighteen years old. It was quite a moment for me out in the gravel---we both enjoy riding our bikes, and Walt told me that sometimes when he's on his mountain bike and the sun is coming up, he sees a pretty flower or a deer in the field and he just can't understand why people can't get along any better. I agreed. I've been shown many kindnesses today in Michigan---the woman who runs the DayStar motel is about to drive us to another town down the road where the food is better. She wants to take us out, she wants to wait for us to eat, and she wants to bring us back to Wolf Lake. How's that? Just about right.