| General Fiction posted September 14, 2020 | Chapters: |
...20 21 -22- 23... 
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The water, winter, wonderland
A chapter in the book Attack of the Fifty States
Attack of the 50 States:Michigan
by Bill Schott
I now begin the task of writing about my home state of Michigan. I was born in Flint in 1955. Lower Michigan is shaped like a mitten, so Flint is in the lower 'thumb' region. A Michigander would point to his/her palm to indicate where that was.
I never really learned much about Michigan until I was middle-aged. I think my family was in survival mode all of my younger life, with my parents trying to keep it together with six kids. The schools never taught about Michigan, though I did learn about Christopher Columbus, Ponce Deleon, Magellan, and that there were three Presidents: Washington, Lincoln, and whoever was in the office then. I didn't realize that JFK was President until LBJ was.
We did learn about the Great Lakes, but the minutia that would make that information important was not impressed on me. I considered the mnemonic use of HOMES for remembering the large lakes my great feat.
Many people know that the Great Lakes surround Michigan and make the lower peninsula highly recognizable on a map. What some don't know is that there is an upper peninsula of Michigan. An explanation for that comes later. The two are separated except for the man-made Mackinac Bridge.
The early history of the territory that would be Michigan is woven together with other tales of explorers who came through waterways from the east to hunt and trap where only indigenous peoples had before. French explorers followed the Saint Lawrence River from the eastern coast of Canada, down to Lake Ontario.
The French controlled that region until losing it to the British, who lost it to American forces during the revolution.
The capital of Michigan was once Detroit, but it was always in danger of attack from the waterways by British forces. For protection, the capital was moved inland to Lansing.
Michiganders (or Michiganians, as some insist) have a nickname of WOLVERINES. This, like other proud names, began as a taunt. During the Toledo War in 1835, between the Michigan Territory and the state of Ohio, people of Michigan were called wolverines, as that animal was considered a stinky, filthy and otherwise useless creature. Rising to that occasion, the name became synonymous with Michiganders being tenacious and dangerous opponents.
The result of the Toledo War was the city and port of Toledo becoming a part of Ohio, and Michigan expanding its territories to include nine thousand square miles now referred to as the U.P. (Upper Peninsula). The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio has lived on since.
Michigan became the 26th state of the United States just after South Carolina, a slave state, which took precedence due to the process of statehood directed by the Missouri Compromise.
Skipping ahead a century or so, Michigan became an industrial hub due to the invention of the automobile and its main production being done in Michigan. GENERAL MOTORS (Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac); CHRYSLER (Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymoth); and FORD (Mercury and Lincoln) were all built there with headquarters in Detroit. Everyone who didn't work for a car company, probably worked for a satellite industry that supplied them.
The automobile industry, and the unionized labor, is credited for helping create the MIDDLE CLASS of America. Cars meant people traveled and needed GASOLINE to get to MOTELS to buy SOUVENIRS or go to RESTAURANTS.
The automobile industry was so vital, when Ford Motor Company stopped manufacturing cars for a year back in 1929, the domino effect created what was eventually the Great Depression.
My father worked at Buick most of his life and retired. My oldest sister married a man who worked at Chevrolet his entire adult life, my oldest brother became an engineer and worked for General Motors. My next older sister went through two husbands who both had worked for Chrysler. My next older brother worked at Buick from seventeen until he retired thirty years later. Only my next older brother and I avoided that route and left Michigan for other careers.
Michigan's best feature is its climate. Unlike the South, where it's hot and muggy or just hot, Michigan has four distinct seasons of deep winter, flowery spring, sunny summer, and
a cool, beautiful fall. It was once known as the Water Winter Wonderland.
People snow ski at Mount Holly, sail and fish on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, hunt all over the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula, and run, walk, hike, ride, fly, and camp everywhere else.
I could probably probe around and pull out a number of natural resources like timber and minerals to talk about, but they are kind of boring. I'm just going to throw out a few biggies for me, give them a nickel explanation, and drive on.
The Soo Locks: this engineering feat allows ships to traverse from Lake Superior to the thirty-foot lower Lake Huron and eventually Lake Michigan.
The Mackinac Bridge: connects the five-mile span between upper and lower Michigan.
Mackinac Island: is a non-motorized tourist site where Fort Mackinac is located. There are summer tours which cover historic sites, geocaches, shopping, water activities, and other stuff. The Grand Hotel, an historic and palatial landmark is still active and was the site of the 1980 film, Somewhere in Time, with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve. There hadn't been any cars on the island for over a century, until Vice President Pence insisted that his motorcade be allowed access last year.
Frankenmuth: a town in the thumb area that is world famous for its Bavarian theme, including food, spirits, authentic recreated sights, and the giant Christmas store, Bronners. One can find a road sign advertising Bronners on Interstate Highway I-75 North leaving Miami, Florida, and when traveling south from Toronto, Canada.
Lumberman's Monument: a site honoring Michigan's logging industry, and includes forty-foot carved, wooden statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
SPORTS!!! Love or hate those Detroit Lions. Always rooting for the Detroit Tigers. Hoping for the best with the Detroit Pistons. Usually dependable Detroit Red Wings. The newly formed professional soccer team, Lansing Ignite.
Bigger than the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio is the rivalry between the University of Michigan (U of M) Wolverines and the Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans. Both are usually in the top five during the playoffs of major college sports.
HUNTING and FISHING!!! Deer, bear, turkey, ducks, salmon, smelt, bass, trout, pike, and sturgeon.
I lived my first nineteen years in Michigan, but didn't really appreciate it. The next twenty-five I spent in the the South, or out of CONUS. The last twenty years I've been back in Michigan and can only say that I liked the people of the southern states I was in, North Carolina and Oklahoma, but love everything else about living here.
Go Blue!
I now begin the task of writing about my home state of Michigan. I was born in Flint in 1955. Lower Michigan is shaped like a mitten, so Flint is in the lower 'thumb' region. A Michigander would point to his/her palm to indicate where that was.
I never really learned much about Michigan until I was middle-aged. I think my family was in survival mode all of my younger life, with my parents trying to keep it together with six kids. The schools never taught about Michigan, though I did learn about Christopher Columbus, Ponce Deleon, Magellan, and that there were three Presidents: Washington, Lincoln, and whoever was in the office then. I didn't realize that JFK was President until LBJ was.
We did learn about the Great Lakes, but the minutia that would make that information important was not impressed on me. I considered the mnemonic use of HOMES for remembering the large lakes my great feat.
Many people know that the Great Lakes surround Michigan and make the lower peninsula highly recognizable on a map. What some don't know is that there is an upper peninsula of Michigan. An explanation for that comes later. The two are separated except for the man-made Mackinac Bridge.
The early history of the territory that would be Michigan is woven together with other tales of explorers who came through waterways from the east to hunt and trap where only indigenous peoples had before. French explorers followed the Saint Lawrence River from the eastern coast of Canada, down to Lake Ontario.
The French controlled that region until losing it to the British, who lost it to American forces during the revolution.
The capital of Michigan was once Detroit, but it was always in danger of attack from the waterways by British forces. For protection, the capital was moved inland to Lansing.
Michiganders (or Michiganians, as some insist) have a nickname of WOLVERINES. This, like other proud names, began as a taunt. During the Toledo War in 1835, between the Michigan Territory and the state of Ohio, people of Michigan were called wolverines, as that animal was considered a stinky, filthy and otherwise useless creature. Rising to that occasion, the name became synonymous with Michiganders being tenacious and dangerous opponents.
The result of the Toledo War was the city and port of Toledo becoming a part of Ohio, and Michigan expanding its territories to include nine thousand square miles now referred to as the U.P. (Upper Peninsula). The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio has lived on since.
Michigan became the 26th state of the United States just after South Carolina, a slave state, which took precedence due to the process of statehood directed by the Missouri Compromise.
Skipping ahead a century or so, Michigan became an industrial hub due to the invention of the automobile and its main production being done in Michigan. GENERAL MOTORS (Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac); CHRYSLER (Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymoth); and FORD (Mercury and Lincoln) were all built there with headquarters in Detroit. Everyone who didn't work for a car company, probably worked for a satellite industry that supplied them.
The automobile industry, and the unionized labor, is credited for helping create the MIDDLE CLASS of America. Cars meant people traveled and needed GASOLINE to get to MOTELS to buy SOUVENIRS or go to RESTAURANTS.
The automobile industry was so vital, when Ford Motor Company stopped manufacturing cars for a year back in 1929, the domino effect created what was eventually the Great Depression.
My father worked at Buick most of his life and retired. My oldest sister married a man who worked at Chevrolet his entire adult life, my oldest brother became an engineer and worked for General Motors. My next older sister went through two husbands who both had worked for Chrysler. My next older brother worked at Buick from seventeen until he retired thirty years later. Only my next older brother and I avoided that route and left Michigan for other careers.
Michigan's best feature is its climate. Unlike the South, where it's hot and muggy or just hot, Michigan has four distinct seasons of deep winter, flowery spring, sunny summer, and
a cool, beautiful fall. It was once known as the Water Winter Wonderland.
People snow ski at Mount Holly, sail and fish on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, hunt all over the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula, and run, walk, hike, ride, fly, and camp everywhere else.
I could probably probe around and pull out a number of natural resources like timber and minerals to talk about, but they are kind of boring. I'm just going to throw out a few biggies for me, give them a nickel explanation, and drive on.
The Soo Locks: this engineering feat allows ships to traverse from Lake Superior to the thirty-foot lower Lake Huron and eventually Lake Michigan.
The Mackinac Bridge: connects the five-mile span between upper and lower Michigan.
Mackinac Island: is a non-motorized tourist site where Fort Mackinac is located. There are summer tours which cover historic sites, geocaches, shopping, water activities, and other stuff. The Grand Hotel, an historic and palatial landmark is still active and was the site of the 1980 film, Somewhere in Time, with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve. There hadn't been any cars on the island for over a century, until Vice President Pence insisted that his motorcade be allowed access last year.
Frankenmuth: a town in the thumb area that is world famous for its Bavarian theme, including food, spirits, authentic recreated sights, and the giant Christmas store, Bronners. One can find a road sign advertising Bronners on Interstate Highway I-75 North leaving Miami, Florida, and when traveling south from Toronto, Canada.
Lumberman's Monument: a site honoring Michigan's logging industry, and includes forty-foot carved, wooden statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
SPORTS!!! Love or hate those Detroit Lions. Always rooting for the Detroit Tigers. Hoping for the best with the Detroit Pistons. Usually dependable Detroit Red Wings. The newly formed professional soccer team, Lansing Ignite.
Bigger than the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio is the rivalry between the University of Michigan (U of M) Wolverines and the Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans. Both are usually in the top five during the playoffs of major college sports.
HUNTING and FISHING!!! Deer, bear, turkey, ducks, salmon, smelt, bass, trout, pike, and sturgeon.
I lived my first nineteen years in Michigan, but didn't really appreciate it. The next twenty-five I spent in the the South, or out of CONUS. The last twenty years I've been back in Michigan and can only say that I liked the people of the southern states I was in, North Carolina and Oklahoma, but love everything else about living here.
Go Blue!
I never really learned much about Michigan until I was middle-aged. I think my family was in survival mode all of my younger life, with my parents trying to keep it together with six kids. The schools never taught about Michigan, though I did learn about Christopher Columbus, Ponce Deleon, Magellan, and that there were three Presidents: Washington, Lincoln, and whoever was in the office then. I didn't realize that JFK was President until LBJ was.
We did learn about the Great Lakes, but the minutia that would make that information important was not impressed on me. I considered the mnemonic use of HOMES for remembering the large lakes my great feat.
Many people know that the Great Lakes surround Michigan and make the lower peninsula highly recognizable on a map. What some don't know is that there is an upper peninsula of Michigan. An explanation for that comes later. The two are separated except for the man-made Mackinac Bridge.
The early history of the territory that would be Michigan is woven together with other tales of explorers who came through waterways from the east to hunt and trap where only indigenous peoples had before. French explorers followed the Saint Lawrence River from the eastern coast of Canada, down to Lake Ontario.
The French controlled that region until losing it to the British, who lost it to American forces during the revolution.
The capital of Michigan was once Detroit, but it was always in danger of attack from the waterways by British forces. For protection, the capital was moved inland to Lansing.
Michiganders (or Michiganians, as some insist) have a nickname of WOLVERINES. This, like other proud names, began as a taunt. During the Toledo War in 1835, between the Michigan Territory and the state of Ohio, people of Michigan were called wolverines, as that animal was considered a stinky, filthy and otherwise useless creature. Rising to that occasion, the name became synonymous with Michiganders being tenacious and dangerous opponents.
The result of the Toledo War was the city and port of Toledo becoming a part of Ohio, and Michigan expanding its territories to include nine thousand square miles now referred to as the U.P. (Upper Peninsula). The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio has lived on since.
Michigan became the 26th state of the United States just after South Carolina, a slave state, which took precedence due to the process of statehood directed by the Missouri Compromise.
Skipping ahead a century or so, Michigan became an industrial hub due to the invention of the automobile and its main production being done in Michigan. GENERAL MOTORS (Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac); CHRYSLER (Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymoth); and FORD (Mercury and Lincoln) were all built there with headquarters in Detroit. Everyone who didn't work for a car company, probably worked for a satellite industry that supplied them.
The automobile industry, and the unionized labor, is credited for helping create the MIDDLE CLASS of America. Cars meant people traveled and needed GASOLINE to get to MOTELS to buy SOUVENIRS or go to RESTAURANTS.
The automobile industry was so vital, when Ford Motor Company stopped manufacturing cars for a year back in 1929, the domino effect created what was eventually the Great Depression.
My father worked at Buick most of his life and retired. My oldest sister married a man who worked at Chevrolet his entire adult life, my oldest brother became an engineer and worked for General Motors. My next older sister went through two husbands who both had worked for Chrysler. My next older brother worked at Buick from seventeen until he retired thirty years later. Only my next older brother and I avoided that route and left Michigan for other careers.
Michigan's best feature is its climate. Unlike the South, where it's hot and muggy or just hot, Michigan has four distinct seasons of deep winter, flowery spring, sunny summer, and
a cool, beautiful fall. It was once known as the Water Winter Wonderland.
People snow ski at Mount Holly, sail and fish on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, hunt all over the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula, and run, walk, hike, ride, fly, and camp everywhere else.
I could probably probe around and pull out a number of natural resources like timber and minerals to talk about, but they are kind of boring. I'm just going to throw out a few biggies for me, give them a nickel explanation, and drive on.
The Soo Locks: this engineering feat allows ships to traverse from Lake Superior to the thirty-foot lower Lake Huron and eventually Lake Michigan.
The Mackinac Bridge: connects the five-mile span between upper and lower Michigan.
Mackinac Island: is a non-motorized tourist site where Fort Mackinac is located. There are summer tours which cover historic sites, geocaches, shopping, water activities, and other stuff. The Grand Hotel, an historic and palatial landmark is still active and was the site of the 1980 film, Somewhere in Time, with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve. There hadn't been any cars on the island for over a century, until Vice President Pence insisted that his motorcade be allowed access last year.
Frankenmuth: a town in the thumb area that is world famous for its Bavarian theme, including food, spirits, authentic recreated sights, and the giant Christmas store, Bronners. One can find a road sign advertising Bronners on Interstate Highway I-75 North leaving Miami, Florida, and when traveling south from Toronto, Canada.
Lumberman's Monument: a site honoring Michigan's logging industry, and includes forty-foot carved, wooden statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
SPORTS!!! Love or hate those Detroit Lions. Always rooting for the Detroit Tigers. Hoping for the best with the Detroit Pistons. Usually dependable Detroit Red Wings. The newly formed professional soccer team, Lansing Ignite.
Bigger than the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio is the rivalry between the University of Michigan (U of M) Wolverines and the Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans. Both are usually in the top five during the playoffs of major college sports.
HUNTING and FISHING!!! Deer, bear, turkey, ducks, salmon, smelt, bass, trout, pike, and sturgeon.
I lived my first nineteen years in Michigan, but didn't really appreciate it. The next twenty-five I spent in the the South, or out of CONUS. The last twenty years I've been back in Michigan and can only say that I liked the people of the southern states I was in, North Carolina and Oklahoma, but love everything else about living here.
Go Blue!
 Recognized |
HOMES= Huron Ontario Michigan Erie Superior
Mackinac is pronounced Mack-in-aw
CONUS = Continental United States
Image from Google
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Mackinac is pronounced Mack-in-aw
CONUS = Continental United States
Image from Google
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