GO SPARTANS...GO GREEN

Day 27

The championship game is tonight. But the big championship game is not until next year. Still tonight's game is huge. For the Spartans to reach the NCAA championship game they first have to beat undefeated Iowa tonight in Indianapolis. Should be easy, right? Wrong.

Tonight they play the only undefeated team in the Big 10. And that's never easy, even in the so called "watered down" Big 10. I hope the Spartans are not dismissing the Hawkeyes by looking ahead. Most local pundit's believe MSU is a shoe in to play Clemson in the first elimination. 

The Spartans are a legitimate national powerhouse and should be capable of dispatching Iowa. Unless there is a total meltdown of the committee, they should give MSU the fourth and final spot if not better. So keep your fingers crossed and then keep your fingers crossed again.

GO SPARTANS...GO GREEN

Until tomorrow,

Ken

DO NOT READ THIS!!

Day 26

Aw, what did I just tell you. Slept most of the day recovering from Detroit Lions "no time on the clock last play" because of a face masking penalty on the real last play. My throat still hurts from yelling at the television. The Lions are cursed, that's the possible explanation. The players played hard and they played well. The coaching staff have done a good job.

The defense makes the Packers fumble, the ball goes forward 10 yards across the goal line, only to be covered by a Packers player for a touchdown. The Packers defense grabs Stafford's arm fro a fumble at the 10 yd line and then get a touchdown right after. Finally the questionable face mask call giving the packers one more play even though time has expired and the "hail Mary" pass caught by the Packers for a touchdown to win the game. NOBODY has that much bad luck in one game, except the LIONS. It's a curse.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

I am a Procrastinator

Day 25

I am a procrastinator. There I've admitted it, but it doesn't change anything. I have a hole in my kitchen floor about the size of a mans size thirteen gray slipper right foot. How do I know? Because that's what made the hole. And it's not the first hole. Just a continuation of another hole. I put my whole right leg through the first hole. I should have completely removed and replaced that section of the floor. I went fishing instead. Numerous times.

I went to Home Depot to get a piece of wood to cover the hole so I won't get any uninvited guests tonight. I placed the piece of plywood over the hole and checked by the door to see if I had taken the screws back out to the shed after I had covered the first hole. Fortunately I had procrastinated about taking them back to the shed so I didn't have to fumble around in the dark looking for the screws. One for procrastinating.

I grabbed the cordless drill motor off the table where I left it after covering the first hole. Two for procrastinating. The screw bit was still in the chuck, That's three. I loaded a screw and started to run it into the wood cover to keep it from moving. The battery was dead. I had put off charging it. While the battery is charging I have time to write my blog entry for today. Call that even.

So while I'm waiting for the drill motor battery to charge I'll just say this. If I had done the job right in the few hours it would have taken, I wouldn't have needed the drill motor or the screws. But it all worked out in the end. Soon I'll be watching football. I can finish patching the hole in the morning.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Papa's Key of Life: A Story

Day 24

He walked up the center aisle past the rows of gunmetal gray folding chairs. His steps were slow and deliberate like the pendulum of a clock. Eyes downcast, watching as first one shoe would appear then the other. There was a small scuff mark on the left toe, it would have to be buffed out. Looking up he saw the bronze metal casket with golden handles. The right half was closed and draped in a blanket of red roses. The left half was open showing the ruffled, lily white satin liner. His mind drifted back to just a few weeks ago.

“Papa, why do people die?”

The old man hesitated a moment and then continued to shuffle forward down the hall until he and the boy were standing in front of the dusty grandfather clock. He opened the glass door on the front, reached down and picked up the key. He reached up, opened the clock face and inserted the key. The boy could here the sharp click, click, click as Papa wound the clock spring. The key was placed back in the body of the clock and with a gentle nudge the pendulum started to swing side to side in a slow hypnotic rhythm. Papa turned to the boy with a thoughtful expression.

“People are very much like this old grandfather clock. When we are born an angel comes down from heaven with a key. The key of life.”

They walked back to the study and Papa sat down in his favorite chair next to the fireplace. The boy climbed up into his lap and snuggled into the crook of his arm.

“The angel inserts the key right here”, he said pointing to the boys belly button. “You see? Then the angel gives it a turn and winds up the life spring inside us. When the spring of life winds down our souls are set free, like a moth leaves it's cocoon and then flies away. How long we live depends on how many turns of the key we receive.”

The boys mother took his hand in hers bringing back to the present. She wiped away a tear. The boy peered over the side of the casket. It looked wrong somehow. This was not his Papa. This looked more like a department store mannequin, plastic and cold. He remembered what his Papa had told him. This was just a cocoon, the soul had already departed.

His mother smiled and said, “Your Papa loved roses”

The boy watched the delicate wings flex next to a red petal and said, “He sure does.”

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Musings From My Mind: Computer Dating

Day 23

Back in the 70's, when I was much younger, my cousin convinced me that she had a friend who liked me. The plan was I would call this friend on the phone and ask her if she wanted to go to the varsity basketball game on friday night. I felt scared, excited and queasy all at the same time. What if she didn't like me? What if she said no? What if she said yes? I broke out in a cold sweat. My mouth and throat felt like the Sahara desert at midday. I picked up the phone and started to dial then hung up. I dialed again, the phone on the other end started to ring. What if mother answered? What if her father answered? I was facing the firing squad without a blindfold. She said yes. I went through hell and came out the other side and found paradise.

I dated that same girl for eight years through high school and college. She became the other half of my life, the better half even. We had our ups and downs as any couple does. It's all a part of growing. In the end, we grew apart. She wanted to get married and I just wasn't ready. It may not have been the best relationship I ever had but it's in the top two. She set the bar awfully high.

(Had to stop for a glass of wine, I was getting all choked up)

As I aged it became easier to ask but more difficult to date. I always felt I was being compared to the "Ex". Checking for similar flaws to the last guy. Eventually I met someone with the same ambitions as me and a personality similar to my high school sweetheart. We didn't always agree; we learned about each other. We were together for eleven years until her untimely passing at the age of 43. This was the other of my top two relationships. Both relationships took courage and compromise and time to develop.

Nowadays young people simply fill out a form on the computer and a dating sight shows them several of the best possibilities for a successful relationship. My favorite commercial is when the young woman says, "I don't have time...". OK the bar scene may not be your best bet to finding true love, there are other places to look. I have to wonder if she doesn't have time to look for a relationship (the reason for the speed and convenience of using a dating service), how will she find time to HAVE a relationship.

The dating companies brag about the number of marriages resulting from their match making services. They never mention how many end in divorce. How long do their match ups last?

I never started a relationship with the soul purpose of getting married. I did it for the experience and companionship and the love.

Take a chance. Ask someone your interested in. Don't wait for a computer to set you up with yourself. Variety is the spice of life.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

"Dashing Through The Snow" Coming to Kirtland Community College

Day 22

Coming to Kirtland Center for the Performing Arts "Dashing Through the Snow" performed live December 11 at 8 pm, December 12 at 7 pm and December 13 at 2 pm. For more info click here.  Then scroll down.

Kirtland Center for the Performing Arts will be doing a LIVE radio broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" on December 19th at 5 pm. Broadcast on 100.3 FM. Seating is limited and no one will be admitted after 4:55 pm. For more info click here.

Until tomorrow,

Ken

Michigan Bigfoot or Dogman Does It Matter Which?

Day 21

Cut River at Lansing Rd Houghton Lake Area

Fact: A few years back a group of Bigfoot hunters came to Houghton Lake to film the stories of local residents claiming to have seen, heard or smelled the elusive Michigan Bigfoot. There was an ad in the local paper inviting anyone with a story to come to the Playhouse on a certain day. I don't remember the exact day but I do remember thinking I would have something better to do with my time than listen to a bunch of reality TV wanna be's. What happened next was about 18 months later. It doesn't matter if you believe me. I'm just telling a story. A fish story if you will because that's where this begins.

Lansing Rd is a scenic dirt road that runs about five miles between Roscommon County Rd. 100 and Michigan Hwy. 18. The Cut is a small river that runs from Higgins Lake south to Marl Lake along the east side then wanders through thousands of acres of mostly undeveloped land. Eventually crossing under Lansing Rd and then on to meet Backus Creek before spilling into Houghton Lake. The spot where the river runs under Lansing Rd was a favorite fishing spot for Bluegill and Rock Bass until the fish moved on. Now it's mostly tangles of deadfall, and home to a few small Suckers and one very large snapping turtle. And there's something else.

I enjoy fishing in this spot because no one goes there anymore. Except for the occasional sight-seer driving by it's peaceful, almost secluded. It was a moderately warm sunny day in the fall. I set up my folding camp chair, baited my hook and took aim to the left of the dead tree reaching halfway across the water. As I sat in quiet reflection of my wasted youth, I noticed a small black snake called a Water Moccasin slither across my shoe and down a snake hole I hadn't noticed before. I learned long ago in nature if leave it alone it will leave you alone. Usually.

I was there about fifteen minutes when the wind shifted and I caught a whiff of what I thought was skunk grass. It was at some distance away because my eyes hadn't started to water. Then I heard it. A loud bellow the likes of which I had never heard. It sounded like a cross between an elephants trumpet, a lions roar and a bawling bear. All mixed into one.

At first I thought someone was driving up the road with their sound system cranked up loud. But no one passed me and the sound wasn't repeated. I resumed my attempt to catch anything. A few minutes later the bellow came again only louder and closer. This time I could tell it was coming from the woods to the left of the river. I considered someone might be camping nearby but the trees and vegetation on both sides of the river is very dense. Also there are no roads or two track paths coming off the road and going into the woods anywhere nearby. Still I decided that it was just someone playing a joke on me. I wasn't about to let anyone get the better of me by running off. I kept on fishing.

It came again, louder and longer than before. Suddenly I realized the strange odor which had increased, was coming from the same place. The area was inaccessible. No one could get back in there, especially with a sound system strong enough to produce this volume of sound. This was no teenage prank.

A bear, I thought, perhaps coming for a drink of water or some fish. I kept looking to the road half expecting to see a bear standing there. Watching me. Each time I looked, just empty dirt road. My bravado began to fade. Fifteen minutes passed and I thought the creature must have moved on. Anxiety built inside me. I reasoned the fish weren't biting so I reeled in my line and began to pack up my gear. I glanced at the road. Nothing

Now let me interject right here that I am a portly man. I weigh over 300 lbs. If you were being chased by a bear, I'm the one you would want along because you could outrun me. But let me tell you, when I heard that last roar, sounding like it was right next to my ear, I could have outrun Satan himself. It wasn't until I was in my Ford Explorer, fishtailing down the road spraying dirt and gravel everywhere, that I chanced a look in my rear view mirror. All I could see was the fishing gear and chair I had left behind.

I stopped and made a Y turn, driving back toward the river over pass. There was nothing but dirt road. I loaded up my gear and kept on driving west to M-18. I thought I might catch sight of some of some jokers having a laugh at my expense. I didn't see anyone until I got to M-18.

It was a few months later that I remembered the television show on Bigfoot. It was on OnDemand so I watched it. My experience was not exclusive as others had described hearing an almost identical sound and describing the same odor. I was not alone.

 Eventually I went back but I haven't heard the sound since then. I have found several extremely large and deep prints, like a dogs prints only bigger and wider. Was it Bigfoot? Was it Dogman? The footprints would lean toward the later. I have seen those prints near the Muskegon River also though no odor or sound.

Well, that's my story. Believe it, don't believe it. It doesn't change anything. But if you find yourself on Lansing Rd by the Cut River, and there's an odor like skunk grass in the air, I would just keep on going. After all the fishing there isn't very good. Besides I've found if you leave nature alone it will leave you alone. Usually.

Until tomorrow,

Ken