The Glass is Half-Full

It's July 30. Summer, right? Wrong!!! In Michigan, we had our summer two weeks ago for about 10 days. Saw a recent post on Facebook that read:"You know you're in Michigan when you wear your bathing suit on Monday and your parka on Tuesday." We sweltered for a week or two and then were chilled again. That's where we are now. Chilling at 70. Weather aside, it no longer feels much like summer. The back-to-school ads, commercials, displays and talk have begun full-force. And I feel like I just got used to having the three-not-so-little Piggins home again and now I have to get them ready for school. Delaney has a little longer, but Michael leaves for Wayne State law in two weeks and Matthew for his sophomore year at DePauw in three.  I get the nest re-feathered and damn these 'baby' birds but they stay for too short a time then fly away. *sigh* Since this is the "glass half full" blog of a pseudo-Pollyanna, I will revert to thinking positively

Summer television. Almost an oxymoron, isn't it? At least for those of us that grew up not watching in the summer. More on why in a future episode of the Glass is Half-Full . . . In the Piggins' household, however, it means repeated episodes of shows we don't watch (mostly) the rest of the year. And each summer seems to have it's own show. There was the summer the kids watched 'Seventh Heaven'. Another 'Full House' was popular at least with Delaney; her brothers would often groan when she was in control of the remote! As they got older, the shows got 'older' too - like 'That 70s Show' or 'How I Met Your Mother". Questionable content - sparking lots of interesting conversations. For awhile, these shows were watched as downtime and when they were actually airing. Now, though, the shows are DVR'd and watched whenever they have downtime. Which often means at different times for each of the three not-so-little Piggins. Let

I love the Wizard of Oz. My favorite production, of course, was the one done by Holland High School in 2011. My second favorite was the one done by the Peanut Butter & Jelly Players in Saugatuck with director Justine Kinnaman and a cast of children, teens and yours truly in the coveted role of the Wicked Witch. I was perfectly awful of course - but I had such fun being a little wicked. (I couldn't be too wicked and scare the audience of children). The favorite scene was when the witch is doused with water and melts - the cast loved that scene because they actually threw water on me, the audience loved that scene because they wanted to see me melt, and I loved that scene because the lines "I'm melting. Oh you killed me and my wicked loveliness " Or something to that effect. Such fun to act out. Well, I catch myself these days uttering those words. And not because I'm being doused, but because like 50 percent of this country, there is a heat-advisory where I

I have been to Boston two other times in my life. Both times, if my memory is correct, it was a bit like being a mouse in a maze. A maze directed by an evil scientist that kept changing the blockades and making this mouse change directions. So that by the time I reached the end and that much-sought after cheese, I was no longer hungry. This time this mouse had GPS! Take that you evil scientist - or diabolical city planners! It is still a chaotic mess and is not a place I would want to live, but I felt like I could manage the drive with fewer expletives. There were still some heated exchanges between John, the driver, and me the navigator but I imagine far fewer had we not had Garmin Gal leading us along. But GG only came in handy when we had an address and a plan. Not so on our way to see Paul Revere. I'm still not completely sure how we stumbled on North Church and the statue of Paul Revere - and that is indeed what happened. One minute, I was saying, "I have no idea what

Sitting on my deck yesterday morning, I was enjoying my first cup of coffee and listening to the plethora of birds. One of the things I like best about being nearly surrounded by wilderness - is the early morning bird calls, songs and sounds. It's peaceful and musical. So, there I am sitting, enjoying, soaking it all in when suddenly and seemingly without warning, I hear the grating sound of chainsaws quickly followed by the nerve-shattering sound of wood chippers. My peace was no more and the only image that came to mind was of Robert Duvall's character in "Apocalypse Now" when he steps out of his tent, taking a big breath and declaring "There's nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning" as helicopters zoom and hover in the background midst smoke and fire. While it wasn't napalm, it felt as destructive! They're starting construction on a house in the lot next door. The lot that has stood empty for these 11 years that we have lived here

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha