Michigan Made

It's almost funny to me, to talk about a place you can say you know like the back of your hand. Growing up in Michigan it becomes too literal when you hold up your hand to show someone where you come from. It's called the mitten state for a reason though, isn't it? But it's more than that, it's home.

Home is one of those preeminent words when you really think on it. Words lose their meaning when you say them over and over again, except for home. Home is one of those words that grows stronger every time you speak it. The more you breathe, the more you focus, the echoes it brings forth in your mind of memories you've created. Home. Can you see it? Feel it? Taste it, even?

I can see it. I can still travel the freeway in my mind, passing under the bridges, watching the giant green signs pass over me. I can look out the car window. I can see it, the big city climbing it's way back from the trenches of poverty and hardship, the closed factories and buildings with boarded up windows that boast vintage signs of a time before. A time when the city truly moved and breathed with creativity and wealth. You can pass by houses that once held families in tiny quarters, where six kids grew up in 800 sf and see now it only echoes those memories. Now with its overgrown vines climbing its sides, hugging the homes letting them know we haven't forgotten. It steals your breath as you remember and even more as you watch one by one the love being brought back to the shell left behind. The painstaking restorations of hundred year old homes one couldn't bear the thought of saying goodbye to, the contagious belief in a future as people pour their life savings into bringing businesses back to the city. The looming 8000 lb fist of Joe Louis hangs in the "Hart" of the city reminding us all of our city's strength and resilience to the times.

I can still feel the wind coming off the flowing waters of the river, strong and unyielding but relief in those bustling summer months. The months when concerts are in every city and town. When you leave the city you can find town after town after town of small, quaint villages boasting tidy little shops all nestled in to storefronts lost in time. Time you can lose going from one to the next, tasting local wines, browsing antiques that whisper memories to you, eating cuisine from every part of the world and hearing the music carry from each town square into every corner of its shops. The people shopping, eating, stopping to throw a blanket down right in the square to take in the summer air and music.

Sometimes you want to stop and take it all in, the excitement, the carnivals that fill the air with popcorn and fried foods, the sounds of laughter, chatter and music, the street lights at night that keep it all going or the peace that follows when its finally time to turn in. But those other times? The times you want to just go? You never have to go far. A simple car ride can take you so far in such little time. Before you know it your toes are curled in the warm sand, the heat of the sun is warming you, softly lulling you into vacation mode and the gentle sound of the waves crashing wash the stress of everyday life away. They say in Michigan you're never more than six miles from a body of water and living here has made me so thankful for that. Water is a life source for every living thing but for Michiganders its more than just that, its a staple of home. It envelops every summer memory made. Memories of neighborhoods filled with all your best friends up and down the streets, running through every lawn sprinkler, biking to the neighborhood pools, splashing and imprinting your youth with sounds and feelings of simpler times. Summers spent at the beach or the family cottages, discovering waterfalls, riding the waters in boats and racing jet-skis, the feeling of walking the docks in your bare feet before diving into the refreshing feel of summer waters. You'd think there's nothing like it but then the leaves begin to fall.

This is the telltale sign that summer is ending but new adventure is beckoning you. The perfect time of year to drive through the rural areas where you didn't know trees could ever be so many different vibrant colors. Fall is that time when every recipe is filled with pumpkins or apples and the smells intoxicate you to foods that make you feel safe and comforted. The kitchen is warm and inviting with its scent of homemade soups and bread, the air turns crisp outside and the cider mills call to you. The time has finally come where you can venture back to the farms, pick your own apples, berries and pumpkins to take back to the kitchen for all your favorite fall recipes. You can ride in the wagons sitting on bales letting the tractor pull you through the scenes of the painted trees, race your friends through the mazes of hay and follow the wafting aroma of the cider and donuts to the best tastes of fall. You can get up close to all the silly, friendly farm animals happy to have the people back for treats and affection. It all winds down by the flickering, warmth of the bonfire and where you can roast marshmellows for s'mores. When halloween peeks in and fills the neighborhoods with scarecrows, haunts and costumed children lugging bags of goodies back home the cold creeps closer.

As the winter months appear the snow begins to fall softly and more lights fill the streets to keep away the lengthening darkness. Every town is immersed in glittering, shining Christmas lights for the months ahead. Now is the time for horse drawn sleigh rides through historic Greenfield Village, snowmobiling the trails up north or the exhilarating thrill of skiing down the snow covered mountains. Snow falling will leave yards flaunting snowmen of all kinds and even homemade ice rinks for the whole family to skate on. You can watch hockey at the new arena in the city or clutch your cocoa by the ponds to watch the local pickup game. But it doesn't stop yet as sledding becomes the sport of champions as the kids race up and down the hills and contests breakout over who can create the most beautiful ice sculptures. After everything is said and done you can warm yourself by the fire, get cozy with a blanket and your favorite hot drink and know spring is just around the corner.

Spring means melting snow and new life appearing, as the flowers and leaves make their way back into view. It also means the start of gardening season where many homes love to grow their own little patches of fruits or veggies. It means the warmth makes its way back in and the windows in the car get rolled down because suddenly 50 degrees feels like a heatwave. The rains begin to fall and you know the wondrous seasonal cycles of Michigan are starting all over again.

Michigan is a hometown you never want to leave and many never do. It captivates you with every season, the beauty and fun that fills each one so uniquely. It draws you in with its charming towns, beautiful beaches and growing cities. Michigan is a place that can walk you through the ages and even stop time. It's a place where the tastes are uniquely its own with coney islands at every corner, slurpees in every flavor and the best kinds of treats you can only get in Michigan. If you've never tasted Mackinac fudge or faygo pop, and never explored a bavarian village then my hometown is waiting for you to discover everything it has to offer.