It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Being a native Oregonian I've always had a place in my heart for the great evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest. Hiking on trails inches deep with bark and fern mulch, inhaling the sweet pungent fragrance of the cool damp air filled with Douglas-Fir, rhodies, ferns, and assorted underbrush is a treasured memory. Even on the many gray days with a low cloud ceiling and mist in the air, it is invigorating and one of the great places to be.

Moving to Southern California as a kid, and now having a part time residence in Arizona, I have come to also treasure the brilliant sun, a desert landscape punctuated and bordered with peaks and mountain ranges, and the beautiful cactus and palms. The desert environment is far removed from that of the Northwest and Michigan but offers much to recommend the experience-- especially December through May in Arizona.

This week, however, belongs to Michigan. If you don't have evenings with clear skies and temperatures in the 30's; if you don't have brilliant crisp clear mornings where a sweater and jacket are in order; if you don't have sunny afternoons with a high temperature of 70; if your home is not surrounded by hardwood forests where the red, orange and yellow of fall are beginning to paint the trees-- if you can't say yes to all that you don't have a thing to talk about this week. For a state where we suffer through months of sub-freezing weather, snow and ice; for a state where the peak of summer is often accompanied by percent humidity which matches the high for the day; for a state with more than it's share of economic ills-- this week we own it all and can feel fortunate to be Michiganders.