Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Oh, MichiganNative, what to do with you?

What's up, Michiganders?

WOW, what a nutty week it's been. I got some totally unexpected praise from Jay Nordlinger, managing editor of National Review. I am stunned. And traffic to my silly little page of Michigan euphemisms has quadrupled. Thanks, Jay!

Given the new attention, I've been contemplating what to do with this site. I've been nursing it along, what, ELEVEN YEARS NOW. Started off as a page on AOL in 1995. I am so overwhelmingly busy at work that I cannot give it the time and attention it deserves, nor am I able to respond to all the people that write me. I'm sorry about that, Michipeeps! Work consumes most of my waking hours - bills gotta be paid and the dog needs his kibble, so there ya go.

Please know that I do read every email...I just find it impossible to reply to all. I get emails from people every day, giving me words and phrases they would like added to the Pronunciation Guide. The only problem is, 99% of them are already in the Guide, or are not unique to Michigan. I know, I know...who's got time to read the whole damn thing? And for that matter...who's got time to blog?

So I'm going to pull down the Submit Your Own Addition page and replace it with something different and fun. Keep your eyes peeled.

On being an expatriate...and missing the dirt.


I've been thinking a lot about Michigan lately. I love Washington State, where I currently live. It reminds me of a Michigan with mountains, ocean and bald eagles (which are incredible, by the way). But I miss the sound of robins...lots of robins...in the morning. Finding a turtle in the front yard. The Grand River. Stopping at the WhippiDip in Grand Haven for fries and ice cream on a hot summer afternoon. Driving down the Lodge with the radio blaring, or seeing the sunlight come through the trees on Pierce Stocking Drive at Sleeping Bear. Blowing snowdrifts. And fresh-squeezed cider and fresh-baked doughnuts at Robinette's Orchards in Grand Rapids.

And I miss...and this sounds weird...the smell of the earth in Michigan. That peaty, mossy soil. Something about it smells...comforting.

Is that crazy?

I also think about having left, and the friends and family left behind. My family and high school classmates in GR. They're all great and I miss them, and it makes me wonder, what drove me to become such a gypsy, and for others to permanently settle close to where they grew up? I've definitely got the wanderlust...same stuff that drove my ancestors to move from New York/Vermont to Michigan in the 1830s.

Exploration brings appreciation


An online contact from Flickr came out to Seattle on her cross-country roadtrip of nearly the entire US. Rachel hung out with us at a Flickr meetup, and it was so great to see someone from GR exploring the country. Travelling and living elsewhere makes you realize that there are a lot of really cool places in the US: and that while Michigan is just one of them, it IS unique. I appreciate it more having moved around a lot, and I encourage those of you who are able, to spend time elsewhere to get an open-minded feel for other parts of the US. You may return home or you may not, but you'll definitely notice the things you took for granted.

AvalancheI hope you all have a great October. Go, carve pumpkins, hand out candy and watch high school football. You're on my mind!

- Eric

13 Comments:

At 12:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm another Michigander, I miss the fresh pressed cider up on 34th street in Kalamazoo county. Dere was a place yuh culd go an by fresh cider an all ya hadda do wuz bring a clean melk jug.

 
At 2:40 PM, Blogger Katie Weller said...

Woohoo, WhippiDip! :)

I was just thinking along those lines today (no, not the WhippiDip, the living elsewhere thing). I have a friend in New Zealand and we are forever coming up with differences between the two places. We have Christmas with snow, they have Christmas with a day at the beach. We have thousands of miles of fresh water shores with mutant seagulls and that funky sharp grass that looks like leg stubble, they have rocky shores with steep angles and penguins and tide pools.

I can go there on vacation and experience those things once, and I'd probably remember them on some level for the rest of my life, but I KNOW what Michigan smells like (earth), I know what Michigan looks like (flat), I expect Robins in the spring and Canadian Geese in the fall, paczkis on Fat Tuesday and Festival of the Arts in June. No matter how far I go or how long I stay there, I'll always know these things. They are imprinted on my vision, my hearing, my sense of smell, and my sense of time. I'm lucky to have that. You're lucky to have that too, and you can take it with you wherever you go. And if you're very lucky, you'll "learn" Seattle as well and then you'll "know" two places. And that is lucky indeed.

 
At 2:34 PM, Blogger Kathy said...

Hi Eric! Great to see ya again. Was so happy to see a recent blog entry. Stop by some time and say hello. kgregovich.blogger.com

Happy Holidays!!

You know all the boys are up north "huhn-ten" right now. :0)

Kathy Gregovich

 
At 4:04 PM, Blogger Kathy said...

Ooops. Posted old blog addy. Here's the new Beta Blog:
kgregovich.blogspot.com

Kathy

 
At 1:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 10:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

For whatever it's worth, I'm another transplanted Michigander out here in the Seattle area - and I re-read your site (especially the Guide!) often.

I miss the smell of the earth, too - apples, cider and donuts (at Erwins, I'm from SE MI), and going to "the store", and Meijer(s) (Fred Meyer sucks, let me tell you...) and... and... and...

(How *is* it that we live in the fargin apple state, and you can't u-pick, drink cider and eat fresh donuts all at one time?!?!? how??)

Thanks for keeping it going - it gets a smile (and usually a giggle too) out of me every time.

--Former (reluctant) b'hamite (CK'93 - so glad no one out here knows what that means) - AW

 
At 12:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another transplanted Michigan here, this one living in Maine. As I like to say, you can take the gal out of Michigan, but you can't take the Michigan out of the gal. One comment on your site, and why we say things like K-Mart's, Ford's. Well, for those old enough to remember, K-Mart was originally Kresge's Five and Dime. And yes, it was Kresge's. Guess we added the 'S to everything. See this image:
http://tinyurl.com/393sn2

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger Maria said...

Another Michigan expatriate here - my friends and I LOVE to make fun of the Michigan accent - and I know that's not what you're doing, but we are :) Yer guide however has been a helpful tool for people who don't know what the hell we're talking about.

I would like to add that Captain Sundae on the way to Ottawa Beach is my summer afternoon ice cream of choice...

 
At 9:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

www.michigab.com

 
At 12:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had the UNFORTUNATE experience of living in Atlanta GA for two years. I know have the utmost appreciation for Michigan and the people here. I love a lot of places that I have traveled to (and there's been a lot), but at the end of the day Michigan is my home. Four seasons, so much history and culture, so much to do and see that most people don't realize until they move away...It's GREAT to be HOME:)

 
At 9:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

missing the smell of the dirt isn't crazy... left michigan in 90 and have lived in chicago and florida... now texas. The first spring here i smelled that smell again and it took me home instantly... i look forward to the smell of spring in east texas because it reminds me of the dirt at home.

Just found your site and spent my morning laughing so hard i cried. Yes they did tell us we talked normal and i just recently conceeded that ok, maybe i have an accent.

thanks for spending the time on this, you took me home for just a liddle bit. I grew up in addison, you know, bout where your lifeline begins, was the child of those who traveled the dixie hwy and all my relatives work for gm. it will always be home.

 
At 7:16 PM, Blogger Jeannette said...

Hi all,
I am still in Michigan and would love to share some photos with you if you tell me how to send, connect to your site, etc.

 
At 3:03 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

just a side note there are bald eagles in michigan, i see them every summer when i am at my cottage

 

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