About Ann Arbor's Saline

If you live in Ann Arbor or Saline or anywhere in Washtenaw County for that matter, you have probably seen the Goodyear Blimp flying over. It is actually called a "Ship".

It parks (is that the right word?) at the Ann Arbor airport. This week it has been here for the NASCAR race this weekend at MIS Speedway in the Irish Hills area.

Ann Arbor residents are use to seeing the Blimp, it has been coming here as long as I can remember. When our kids were small we always took them to see it, and they would get so excited. One of our children "had to have a Blimp" model for his birthday. It was cool, lighted up on the sides just like the real one. It always shows up for the Buick OPEN and the Michigan vs Ohio State football games.

The crew told us one year they "love to park," in Ann Arbor as there is so much to do.

Joe Mathis, one of my favorite reporters at the Ann Arbor News got to take a ride in the Blimp yesterday. Am I jealous, yes, you betcha.

The most I could get were a few photos of the Blimp flying around the area.

Now it is parked at the airport for the last race at MIS Speedway the NASCAR series. The race will be held this Sunday in Brooklyn, MI.

I got an email yesterday from Larry Osterling, Executive Officer at the Saline Chamber of Commerce that they had some tickets available if anyone would still like to go. Call 734-429-4494.

MIS is located in the Irish Hills area of Michigan and covers over 1400 Ac, not including all the camping and open field area's.

Everything you need to know about attending a race at MIS can be found here.

We drive by MIS every weekend going out to our lake house. With over 200,000 people traveling in for the race, the Michigan State Police have it down to a science how to get folks in and out. Of course many people stay and camp for the whole weekend and don't leave until Monday or Tuesday. We learned the hard way, to NOT come home on Sunday from the lake. What is normally a 45 minute drive took 3 hours. Traffic only leaves the area, one way...OUT.

I'm sure we will see the Blimp fly over our cottage in Irish Hills and listen to the sounds of the NASCAR cars in the distance. Nope won't be back until Monday.

Recently I blogged about a teasing letter we received at our home regarding awards night at Saline High School that suggested our son was up for an award and strongly encouraged our attendance. Friends of his had received the same letter but they were actually LIKELY to receive awards so we were just confused. My son and I attended anyway, just in case.

Kevin is a kid who has learned extraordinarily well, has avoided the typical temptations of youth, besides computer games (death to computer games!) and a senior year girlfriend (we like her - she is motivated, technical like him, success-oriented no matter what it takes, and adorable). He has endured psychological testing to determine that he is decidedly not ADD and that his only real problem is boredom and "you can't make me do it" (damn you psychologist - we already knew that!).

So there we sat at award night wondering if there would be an award. Many of Kevin's dear friends received embarassments of mention, monetary and non-monetary, individuals who were the only recipients of very specific awards, sometimes repeatedly. Congratulations dear friends! There were honor roll awards (nope), specific field of study awards (nope), nice guy/gal awards (nope - though he is), and the departmental awards. Kevin was on the edge of his seat waiting and wanting one of several English department awards - his brilliance had been noted through the years - but how can an award be given to an individual with a sub 3.0 GPA? So many more candidates who put in the time and effort to hand in the homework and get good grades could not be upstaged by someone who shunned the requirements even if they led the discussions and invigorated the classroom. They could not be honored even if they received extra assignments since they had already read all the books in the curriculum and sat in the hallway with advanced reading material, popping in on cue to comment in the classroom discussions on books. The teachers may have known who the best candidates really were but they are bound by rules. The tap on the arm and hello to our son as his AP English teacher left the stage signaled to me that she wished she could have given it to him.

The most egregious example of this sort of thing was a few year's back when our daughter's friend was denied the position of number one graduate because he did not spend enough time in the high school during high school. As I understood it, he did not have the required high school credits - he was taking college courses at the university nearby since he had exhausted the curriculum at the high school. Upon graduation he could have entered the University of Michigan as a senior, age 18. In a "post mortem" or should I say "post mortar board" decision he was awarded first place, not in time for graduation; he got second billing then.

Here's the thing though. High school and even college are not life. They seem that way at the time, but the most brilliant student may turn out to be only a brilliant student - not a good employee and there are absolutely no guarantees about entrepreneurship. Someone who follows the rules is unlikely to take risks - just my opinion - and be an entrepreneur. There is a certain "devil may care" attitude, or "la-di-da" as my husband calls it in regard to my efforts in keeping bills paid, that is REQUIRED in entrepreneurs! If fear were to rule the day, no one would invent that better mouse trap or Microsoft Vista - sorry, wrong analogy.... I truly believe my son will do great things when the constraints are lifted. Time will tell.

Regarding that award, yes he did receive one - the Michigan Promise Award for exemplary performance on standardized testing, required by the state of Michigan. It is worth $4000 and he was in good company with about a quarter of his classmates. I wouldn't sneeze at a $4000 tax-free/company-dollar-free commission these days, would any of you?

Congratulations Kevin! When you hit the really big time I will be sure to blog about you then too. For now, good luck at Michigan Tech. (He applied and was accepted within six days - his ACT score was that good.) It is the perfect school for you Kevin, despite the snowfalls that require six foot poles above the fire hydrants so the firefighters can find them in the ten months of winter.... You are going to love it there! Seriously, you are going to love it there, just as we love you. Now get out of here and raise that GPA. Dad is researching that Arctic-rated parka he had in the Air Force and intends to order it for you. Make a snowman, make a snowfort, make a snow time traveller machine. I trust you can make anything you desire, if given the means. See you at Thanksgiving. Let's stock up on the Ramen Noodle now.

Tonight I actually stopped at our rural mailbox and took the mail out.

I remember 32 years ago when getting the mail was such a big treat. My husband and I had no credit history, no accounts, didn't live anywhere long enough to have associations - we were blissfully free of the mail assault. The only mail we got was mail we wanted.

Now, 99% of the mail we get is nearly or completely unnecessary. We pay and monitor accounts online but keep getting paper statements since most online statements make NO sense; we need the paper for clarification but don't open them unless there is an issue. As for advertisements for goods and services, we shop when we want, where we want, by word-of-mouth, and buy only what we need. Little by little, we began to disregard the mail completely. (Anyone out there listening? - we are baby boomers and WE PAY NO ATTENTION TO OUR MAIL!!!) People call to see if we have received this or that. "Let me check; I don't bring in the mail." Hah! No one brings in the mail!! The other day our oversize rural mailbox was so full that one piece was in the weeds; I think I heard crickets too, it is so peaceful and natural around our mailbox. It was a rejection for a job at Lowe's for our son - no position available. How appropriate....

My son is the prompt for this post. Today he gleefully announced that he has ridden the school bus for the very last time. He's right. He has an extended fun day tomorrow and will drive to school, with exams on Thursday and Friday - his last day - so limited and busless days there too. And that is all there is to his high school years, except parties, the graduation ceremony, diploma, parties, and the long goodbye of the summer, punctuated by parties. We are hoping there will be paid employment too; time will tell. (He is going to Michigan Tech in August, Computer Science/English Literature, dabbling in music for fun - accepted? last September, his first choice of schools.)

So today's impetuous stop at the mailbox presented a letter addressed, "TO THE PARENTS OF..." and that was interesting. I opened it fully expecting to find that our son would not be graduating because of a four year library fine in the gazillions. We know his cap and gown is being expedited to our residence since he did not bother to order it IN NOVEMBER. We suspect there is no yearbook on order either, oh dear. We know his photo will be in the yearbook though - that was on us to arrange. But no, the letter read:

Kevin will be receiving recognition at the Saline High School Senior Awards Program. While many students are aware of the awards they will receive, some awards and scholarships may not be announced until the evening of the program. We strongly encourage attendance for this awards program.

WHAT? There might be some award for our son who almost certainly did not GPA for even the second or B honor roll? Is this some sort of joke? Yes, we know you all love him - you said so at conferences in the fall, and essentially in every year he has been in the district since grade three. You have said almost the same thing, all of you. "Intrinsically motivated to learn, not motivated by grades." Some of you have gone so far as to say he is brilliant, bored to tears, and needs to just be done with high school so he can experience the challenges that might motivate him. Wouldn't those be YOUR failures, not his? Just a thought. None of you have denied that he has learned, perhaps more than any other of your students, and has been a delightful and insightful contributor in the classroom. Some of you have admitted he is among the most completely intellectual AND well-balanced students you have ever taught. It has been a pleasure hearing those things. It has been less of a pleasure seeing the grades his non-compliance has wrought. Particularly the failing grade this past quarter from you, his psychology teacher! You said he was likely to get a 5 on the AP test - are there no allowances in high school for superior learning WITH non-conformance? Sometimes life just sucks!

Unless you are Kevin.... In his blissfully happy world, from the day he was born to present, life has been an adventure without worries. He is the most self-actualized individual I have ever personally known. As a parent, it has been an exercise in futility to get him to care about anything he does not care about. Did Einstein fail math? - so the rumor goes. Did Bill Gates drop out of Harvard? - I think so. Will Kevin live in a cardboard box under a bridge? - I hope not...

Is this letter a tease? Is this some sort of form letter sent out to the entire student body so there is a good audience to applaud the chosen few? Or does our son stand a chance at getting some sort of award or scholarship? Of course we will attend. I said he should shave and try to look nice. He said he would wear a suit. The way he thinks, his suit will be in his honor or for his friends who will certainly be winning awards. He has always hung out with the "right" (nerd) crowd. You can be proud for yourself and/or proud of your friends. As parents, we are proud of all of the kids graduating this year. It will be a great night with lots of applause, no matter who is on stage.

First let me define the title.

Fiddlers ReStrung is a Saline, MI high school group of select musicians who perform under the guidance and regulations of Saline's Community Education department and Saline Area schools. Audition is mandatory and many do not make the cut. It is not a club, though at the younger levels that feed into the group, all levels of abilities are welcome without qualification. Go to www.fiddlersrestrung.com for all kinds of pertinent information.

Next, there is my son Kevin, who has been a member of this group for 3 years. Before I go into my accolades of him, I must mention that as noted above, there is an audition process and he was defeated there the first year of tryouts. The second year, tail figuratively between his legs, he auditioned and succeeded.

Since I will be posting this to "localism" I feel that I must define the "them-them" portion of the title. I should even perhaps go so far as first defining Active Rain as the definitive real estate resource for realtors: advice, information, problem-solving, comraderie, condolences, congratulations, and available to consumers if appropriate. "Them-them" is an extension of the "me-me" where a member of Active Rain is asked to expand upon their bio and really let loose from what most of us post in our profiles. "Them-them" can be about anyone, real estate or not. It is just a shout-out to say, "you are appreciated." I have only done two so far, one for my daughter and her adventures living in Paris this semester (www.saraanneinparis.blogspot.com) and another for her cat left behind. (The cat doesn't have a website but I think she is fully capable of it, like all cats....) See, they can be about anything! I think I may have missed all the marks though when I them-them'd a cat, even a geriatric one rescued when a family was foreclosed upon and who may have a thyroid problem....

For a change, I am going to hit the them-them right on target, in all regards. I will start with Fiddlers ReStrung. Tonight I witnessed a performance so polished I wonder if it will ever be surpassed, absolutely ever. Part of my thinking is that there are an inordinate number of senior members this year and I doubt that will ever happen again; their experience was so evident! The music, the stage presence, the easy flow of complicated maneuverings on stage - to mikes for solos or groupings, the abandoning of instruments for dance sets, the announcing by students and leaders; it was all orchestrated without being orchestrated. The on-stage banter was fun but not distracting. They knew what to do and did it - so professional! At many of the group's year-round events, comments are often made that it is hard to believe that these kids are high-schoolers, some as young as 9th grade. I only wish all the year-round event attendees could all make it to the hometown concerts because that is the best of the best. This night surpassed every hometown concert event I have ever seen, and I have been attending them for nearly ten years now, since we have lived in Michigan - I saw perfection tonight.

Regarding my son Kevin, I know I will not insult him by first saying that I was shocked that he took to music, particularly playing music, on violin, as naturally as he did in 5th grade. He is not a coordinated fellow in most regards - sports were an adventure in failure - but music is apparently completely different in brain chemistry terms. His eyes, hands, mouth, and body could coordinate in this regard so unexpectedly! When dance (clogging) was added to the mix soon after his admission to Fiddlers ReStrung, I worried if he would ever really get it. Tonight, I was so proud of him in the new dance quartet performance with his break-out solo. He was a hit and I was amazed! Sometimes overconfidence pays when it equates to "give it your all" and he did that flawlessly toight. In another area, Kevin introduced an upcoming song in what has to be the most verbose soliloquy this group has ever witnessed. (Any wonder that his major will be computer science, for the money, and English Literature as a minor, for the passion, in the fall of 2008 - Michigan Tech?) The audience was laughing with enjoyment and his delivery was impeccable, all bass voice with the remnant of enunciated British accent he acquired in our two years in England, apparently impossible to erase via speech therapy here in the states. I have never heard a student introduction so eloquent, carefully timed, and precise as his tonight. Yes, I know I am his mother.... What a great way to go out as a senior!

All in all, a tribute and round of applause to all concerned: Artistic Director, Cori Smith, Assistant Artistic Director, Josh Herter, Community Ed principals, Scot Graden and Rebecca Groeb-Driscoll, choreographer Sheila Graziano, and all the parents and other supporters who make this group strong and successful. Congratulations all!

If I manage to snag a video, there will be a follow-up to this them-them. They deserve it and you will enjoy it, guaranteed, or your money back. OK, no money back, this performance will be free. Enjoy!

Please visit my website at www.susanwalters.net

My daughter is somewhere over the Atlantic right about now, February 18, 2008, if all is going well. Tonight she left for Paris for a 4 month study-abroad program via the University of Michigan.

I remember the day she graduated from kindergarten and how I cried to another parent. I knew these years would fly by and that mother laughed, yet they have. As each school year would begin, it seemed an eternity to the end, then suddenly the end was in sight and another year was just around the corner.

Each year I took pictures of our three kids on the first day of school, decked out with new backpacks and their finest new clothes - not that you could tell when they were pre-distressed from the factory. I was mocked the year that I made them all turn around so I could get a photo of the backpacks on their backs - all character backpacks. They were 10, 8, and 6. Middle school started for the oldest the next year - character backpacks were definitely out! There was never a year before or after that last year of innocence that I could have done that, no matter how strange it may have seemed at the time. It was a snapshot of them then. They had chosen those backpacks and it had been important. Would they remember if I asked them about that time? Unlikely.

Tonight's goodbye was so hasty there was no time for tears. My daughter's boyfriend had come from his California school to say his farewell and they had skipped to Washington DC to have a private au revoir over the weekend. A last minute doctor's appointment took up the early part of the day and the afternoon was spent in banking and other details. Time was running tight and I called my husband to come home early from work to be sure to say goodbye. She is somewhere over the Atlantic now and there was just not enough time....

As it worked out, her boyfriend was going back to California, same terminal. She argued that we didn't all need to go to the airport so we let them be dropped off by his parents since his departure was two hours earlier. The flight was delayed and last I heard he was at her side as she was ready to board. I'll be watching the news for the unlikely catastrophe that I envision, then waiting for the, "I am here" correspondence at her new, temporary, family home. We'll wait while she searches for a converter for her laptop and buys a new phone. Then we will know she is OK.

Three years ago I took the first first-day-of-school photo without her and this September it will be without her brother too. They'll be one child with an indistinct backpack but the same distressed jeans, brand new, in the photo this year. Where have these years gone, and why so fast? There were times when I looked at them and said, "Stop growing!" I really meant stop growing up, but they didn't and here we are. Waiting. We're used to that by now. This has to be the longest and most distant wait of all. So far....

It's been three days since I started this post and we still wait. No air or other catastrophes noted but I'd like to know about the family she now shares a home with. I know we will hear as soon as she is reasonably able to contact us. This is going to be a great adventure for her, an opportunity for growth far beyond the college experience she has had just seven minutes up the road from our home, in her words. She is going to grow up, come back changed, and embrace the adult world. I know it. She was already there but this is going to seal the deal. Change is good. Letting go is good. We'll never again have the hold on her we had, or thought we had. She is like a cat who resists herding - some of you may recognize that reference. For the rest of you, I assure you she is exceptional, and now she will be completely unsurpassed, in whatever way is important to her.

I expect that contact any time now; I need to wait for her. It's just not as easy as I thought it would be.