Hi friends and family,
I have tried living in other states for short periods of time. While always experiencing a great adventure, I never really felt comfortable as a transplanted individual. It was more than just the alien greenery (or lack of), weather and native accents. I always felt like an outsider. I have made some wonderful friends in these other states and had many good times., but, I always felt like a stranger, no matter how good the company (skip the jokes about being the strange one, please . . . ).
I think it’s because I have always lived in Michigan. I understand what a Michigander is saying no matter if they are from the Lower or Upper Peninsula, East or West Coast. I feel comfortable layering my clothes in the morning so I can shed them as the day goes on. My favorite pants are convertible. They have a zipper at the knee so you can change from long to short pants as the temperature warms up, and back again, when it cools down. I’m quick to lift the palm of my hand vertically to illustrate a map of Lower Michigan and horizontally for Upper Michigan. I can speak enough ‘Yooper’ to pass as someone from Escanaba.
I’m sure if I stayed somewhere more than a year or so I would be able to ‘go native’ but, I’m quite comfortable being a Michigander even if we/they don’t understand that your vote really does count and that you could end up with a ‘reality show host’ if you vote for a ‘reality show host’ . . . There! I said it, again! People don’t change because you wish them to . . .
My dad’s words on his beloved Michigan are beautiful. The article he wrote for Fortune Magazine was very well received and had beautiful pictures to go with his glowing description of the State.
I hope if you read this and have never been there/here, you might think about giving us a visit. We really are a ‘Water Wonderland’. It doesn’t matter what season, Michigan always has beautiful scenery, moderate temperature and welcoming people.
Thanks for reading,
Love to all,
David T
p.s. Comments are very much appreciated.You can write comments and like or dislike below each story.
Pleasant Peninsula? Look Around
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World II: A Retired Reporter Looks At Life“
Pleasant Peninsula? Look Around
Gee, I love the state of Michigan. The more I see of it the more I can’t understand why the entire country isn’t knocking on our doors wanting to move in.
The state motto is so true: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”
A dozen years ago I was asked by the Michigan Economic Development Department to write a lengthy story about Michigan for Fortune Magazine. Before writing I spent nearly two weeks traveling in the Upper and Lower peninsulas talking with chamber-of-commerce types and people on the street and in restaurants.
I was amazed what this state has to offer.
Just look at her sparkling fresh-water Great Lakes and her 3,200 miles of shoreline, longer than America’s Atlantic coast; her 11,000 inland lakes; 3,600 miles of rivers and streams teeming with sport and commercial fish. Michigan has more licensed boats than any other state.
Winter resorts with downhill and cross-country skiing opportunities abound. How many states have a Tip-Up City (shanties on ice) erected each year for ice fishing? (Houghton Lake) What about sport fishing for sturgeon on Mullet Lake and in some spots on Lake St. Clair.
Look at Michigan’s sandy dunes and beaches, some of the best in the world. The state has the most public golf courses in the nation. There are a wide variety of universities and cultural attractions, modern cities, industries and private research facilities.
From picture-perfect scenery to friendly people on Main Street, Michigan is as diverse as it is beautiful, as adventuresome as it is tranquil, as industrious as it is easy paced.
The wintry day I write this column my brother, Frank, who lives in Florida, sent me an email saying he and wife, Shirl, were enjoying a swim in their lanai pool.
I returned the message saying how I enjoyed watching our snowy condo street being plowed by our hard-working outdoor maintenance man, Juan, and his helpers and the sun sparkling off the snow in our park.
Only a small percentage of thin-skinned Michiganders decide to permanently migrate to southern climates after retirement. A larger number — warm-weather states call them snowbirds — buy or rent property in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas or Arizona for the winter months. Each spring they’re drawn back to Michigan.
While I’m not the hardiest of persons, I’m not afraid of a little snow. Only a few times during the harsh seasons do I contemplate lulling [relaxing] on the sand at Miami Beach.
I LIKE MICHIGAN — winter, spring, summer and fall. There is something about this mitten state that acts like a magnet for me and most people.
A few years ago I protested when a former Secretary of State removed the Water Wonderland logo from our license plates. The logo epitomized the only state nearly surrounded by water and dotted with inland lakes. Great Lakes State on our present license plates means nothing because three other states and a Canadian province can claim the same thing.
Have you ever taken a lakeside tour of Michigan. Start out at Indiana border and follow the roads paralleling Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron and Erie to the Buckeye State at Toledo. Those large bodies of water are called ‘great’ because they are like small oceans.
In the heart of the Midwest, Michigan has been one of North America’s most strategic locations since it was first seen by 16th century French explorers in their canoes.
Today, ships from around the world make their way through the St. Lawrence Seaway into Michigan ports. Small ports like Escanaba, which in 1936 processed 100,000 square feet of Bird’s-Eye Maple for use in the English luxury liner, the Queen Mary, have become deep-water outlets for shipments around the world. The locks at Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula are some of the world’s busiest. The Detroit River is the world’s busiest shipping thoroughfare.
So when an out-of-state friend or relative tries to criticize Michigan, fight back. The state doesn’t have to take a back seat to any other.
By Don Tschirhart
