Let me fill you in on our August adventures. While the DC area was hit with earthquakes and hurricanes (every time I think of DC's August I think of that REM song about the end of the world), Evan and I were in the safe state of Michigan enjoying family and cool temperatures. The ground didn't shake and the sky didn't fall. My little family went to Harbor Springs for a week and enjoyed beautiful Lake Michigan beaches. The following is a picture from Petoskey State Park, which featured one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The turquoise water was warm in August (and as a bonus, naturally salt-free!), the sand a silky white. As you can see, Evan was a born beachcomber.
Up North (that's what Michiganders call that part of "the mitten" -- if you don't know what "the mitten" means, just look at a map of Michigan; they also like to point to whichever part of the palm they refer to when discussing MI geography) also has a lot of lovely farms. We went to one a couple of times the week we were there called Pond Hill Farm. Evan had a ball doing all the farm activities, as you can see from the pictures here of him feeding the animals and riding on the tractor. Pond Hill Farm is also home to a winery, so I enjoyed "farm activities" just as much as Evan.
After our trip to Harbor Springs we were supposed to return to NoVA, but Hurricane Irene created just enough mayhem to delay our flight a few days. While my DC friends were fearing for their lives Evan and I stayed in the Ann Arbor area with family and went to a small farm in Dexter, MI called Jenny's Farm Market. This is a great little place for kids with a hay maze, pumpkin doughnuts, horses, rabbits, and even these adorable baby goats (well, they were babies when we were there anyway):
I should probably collect some royalties from the Michigan Board of Tourism (or whatever such a thing is called up there) for saying so, but truly Michigan is a great place for a family-oriented vacation in August. It isn't too hot to actually enjoy the outdoors, the lakes are beautiful, and the culture in many of the smaller towns is Norman Rockwell-esque.
So now it's September -- September 11th to be exact, 10 years after the day our world changed. We're back in the DC metro area and everyone is on high alert due to terrorist threats and the general unrest that accompanies a constant barrage of 9/11 footage. I understand the desire for this on the part of the media, and I understand the pleading to never forget on the part of all those affected by the attacks. But now that I'm a mother I think I would prefer not to dwell on the looming threat of terrorism. I've felt anxious all day and that just bugs me, because it was otherwise a perfect September day. The skies were clear, the air was clean, the summer lingering. I don't want to remember all of that violence right now, and I especially don't want to consider the reality that more attacks have been threatened in my own backyard. I've started to really enjoy the DC area, but this is one thing I will say about my time up north in Michigan -- it felt a great deal safer to be way the hell up there. Maybe it's the Alaskan in me that feels comforted by some distance from the bullseye, but that proximity never bothered me before Evan. We've lived in major metropolitan areas (Philadelphia and DC) for the past 9 years, and I've always loved the endless possibilities offered by a city. Yet I guess I might prefer the idyllic comfort of the small town lifestyle now that I am responsible for the safety of this new little person. Does that make me prosaic? A cliché? Probably.
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