We drove 90 minutes up to one of my favorite places on the planet, Marquette, Michigan. We wanted to see Lake Superior and to also talk to the admissions office of Northern Michigan University to check out in-state versus out-of-state status of our family. With Owen starting high school next year, we are already looking at universities and with the world to choose from, we need to consider the possibilities starting now.
I love Marquette because of its progressive culture and intellectual might of a university, while still being in the rural Upper Peninsula. Lake Superior, the pine forests and fresh air are absolutely refreshing to one’s spirit and it is a very peaceful lifestyle. The one drawback is the cold weather, but with lots of snow due to western winds coming off Lake Superior, it is ideal for cross-country skiing. I find the people of Marquette not as friendly as other towns of the UP, it might be because it is the unofficial capital of the UP, although it only has around 20,000 inhabitants.
The gale force winds created huge waves on Lake Superior which made swimming a lot more exciting. The water was warmer than the air. The video on the top of this post shows the Kralovecs swimming and the lifeguards in blankets. We hiked to the top of Sugarloaf to take in the views. Stunning! We also toured Northern Michigan University, including running in the Superior (Yooper) Dome, the largest wooden structure in the world. All in all another fun day in the UP!
The entire family went to Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago to watch AL Central Division foes, the Cleveland Indians defeat the Chicago White Sox 9-3. It was the Indian’s eighth consecutive win. Indian second baseman Jose Ramirez was the hero with four hits and 3 RBIs. Cleveland has a solid lineup from top to bottom and is well-managed by Terry Francona and it showed. They had runners on base the whole game.
We had good seats on the first base side
My big takeaway from the game was realizing that baseball is healthy and its popularity is not lessening. It was a fantastic night out for the family! Most of the people in attendance are not really into baseball, but they are there for the food and beer, the between inning entertainment and just an excuse to sit outside on a cool summer evening. Baseball at the stadium is really a restaurant and bar business, supplemented with clothing sales, parking, etc. The kids were loving trying to catch a foul ball. At the end of each inning, they sprinted down to the first row, hoping the first baseman would flip them the ball as he trotted to the dugout. They were not in luck.
We took the train from Andy’s apartment downtown and it was quite convenient. We are Detroit Tigers fans, but it was our only chance to see an MLB game this year. I wanted to see the Cubs game the previous evening, but tickets were too expensive. It was “Christmas in July” theme night and after the game, fans enjoyed a firework show to Christmas music.
I hope Cleveland does well in the playoffs since we watched them. Francisco Lindor was smaller than I expected. He is also extremely flexible and several of the Cleveland players performed some pretty amazing stretches before the game. Danny Salazar pitched five no-hit innings. The first place Indians are 2.5 games ahead of Kansas City in the AL Central and should hold off the Royals to win the division, but we’ll see. The Astros and Red Sox will be tough competition.
The boys and Uncle Jimmer are awed by the Paulding Light
This past week I spent the week visiting my hometown of Caspian, Michigan for the first time in over 5 years. I will be uploading posts from the week as I get them completed. We had slow internet at my house and I am working on a project for my doctorate and had limited time to write. I hope to get several posts up reflecting on our trips this summer.
One of the attractions that everyone should see when they are in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is seeing the mysterious Paulding Lights. This is a natural or unnatural phenomenon, depending on who you believe. The lights were first reported by teenagers to the police in 1966, and ever since, it has been a tourist attraction. The lights were featured on a SyFy channel program. They are similar to the Marfa lights in west Texas.
Paulding is a tiny, unincorporated village located about a 40-minute drive north west of my hometown of Caspian in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Mysterious lights, hovering and bouncing in the distance horizon above the trees could be seen at the end of a side road off Highway M-45. We have been there several times, both in summer and winter and there are always a few people there. Paulding is not exactly easy to get to, but tourists and locals from northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. On this trip, some guys in a truck were getting stoned and another family was recording the lights with their phones.
This time my brother and I took the kids for the first time, so we played up the unnatural phenomenon theory. A train employee was run over while working on the lines and ever since then, his ghost swings his lantern to warn others. Others speculate UFOs or I heard some other stories. We had the kids good and scared when we approached the dead end, marked by a roadside metal fence. There is an ATV trail that leads towards the lights, so we hopped the barrier and walked to the lights. About 200 yards from the barrier, there is a small bridge above a beaver dam and after about 30 minutes, we turned around. We saw the lights, but couldn’t work out with the naked eye, what exactly was causing them.
Michigan Technological University researchers discovered that the lights are car headlights and tail lights from passing cars on M-45. An atmospheric inversion has a magnifying effect and allows people to see eerie lights hovering above trees in the distance. I am not sure how that works.
It was a classic UP adventure and the kids loved getting scared and walking through the refreshing pine forests at night.
I read Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, on the trip from the east coast to Chicago. He is famous for his book The Perfect Storm which was made into a movie in the late 90s. I saw his excellent Afghanistan war documentary, Restrepo. The book is almost a long essay at 158 pages, perfect for a day of travel. The book resonated with me and gave me plenty to think about. Although a bit simplistic, he does make a strong argument for his point of view and the writing is clear and concise.
My big takeaway is the importance of community for our happiness. It is fundamental to our happiness to have a greater interest than ourselves and have intimate, close relationships with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, clients, customers, etc. Junger asserts that our modern, Western lifestyle disrupts community and relationships. He takes the point of view of returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. He spent a year embedded with troops and experienced the intense camaraderie that comes from living together in a stressful situation. The affluent and urbanized society the troops come home to is nothing like they experienced in the military.
Junger goes on to give many examples and statistics, things like the high incidences of mental illness (depression, loneliness, poor health) that are symptoms of us putting extrinsic values over intrinsic ones. Our long evolution of communal, tribal living, sharing our life with extended family in dangerous environments, has shaped what makes us human.
The book details American colonists preferring to live with the Native Americans over staying in their rigid societies, or despite seeing their community being destroyed, the residents of Sarajevo missing the intensity and close connections the siege created during the breakup of Yugoslavia. (Junger was a war journalist for many years.) He sees the current Republican versus Democrat divide as the tribe wanting all members to contribute to the common good of all balanced with the need to help those who cannot take care of themselves.
The book inspired me to promote closer relationships in my work as the head of an international school. Teachers sharing ideas, frustrations, accomplishments with each other in what can be an isolating profession. Teachers going beyond the normal classroom instruction and truly getting to know their students and their parents. Reaching out to parents to help them raise their children in this age of personal technology and access to so much information, good and bad. And most importantly, all school stakeholders keeping the interest of others and the school community first. If we are all looking out for one another, all of us individually will be happier.
The highlight of our second day in the city was riding bikes along the Lake Michigan trail. We rode over 25 kilometers round trip south to the University of Chicago campus. I love the Great Lakes and swimming in the cool, fresh water was invigorating. We stopped at one of the numerous beaches for a quick dip. In the summer, in my opinion, Chicago rivals Miami and other coastal cities with its proximity to the water. Beaches do not come to mind when one thinks of Chicago and perhaps they should promote them and invest more into developing them. There were not a lot of people using them. A beautiful summer day in a city of 7 million people, I would have thought there would have been more people on them. I love bike paths and parks and this part of the city abounds with them. The rental bikes were good quality but expensive. We stopped heading south in part due to the amount of crime in the south part of Chicago.
We stopped heading south in part due to the amount of crime in the south part of Chicago. The city has the largest number of gangs in the USA and a murder rate much higher than LA or New York, but not as much as other smaller cities like Detroit or New Orleans. In reflecting upon the crime statistics, it is a symptom of poverty and lack of opportunity. Most of the victims and perpetrators are African American young adult males. Lowering the crime rate would need a huge investment in the poor neighborhoods to make a whole-scale culture and economic change. NPR’s This American Life did an excellent podcast on Harper High School, which is close to Hyde Park, where we stopped our bike ride yesterday. They really define the daily challenges faced in the crime-ridden sections of Chicago.
Ocean with the Chicago River in the background
Last night we had dinner at the Saigon Sisters which is owned by a childhood friend of mine. His family belonged to our parish in my village and it was great to see him after such a long time. We had a delicious meal and I recommend it. Thanks to Dan for the special treatment! It was another example of people from my village moving to cities and doing quite well. It is sad that economic opportunities are not available in small towns anymore.
This is my first time visiting Chicago as a tourist. My previous visits were for transit purposes, as the city is a hub for flying to my birthplace of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My brother and his wife live downtown, close to Lake Michigan in the heart of the city and we are here for a few days to see the sights and spend time with them.
Michigan Avenue
The population of the Chicago metropolitan area is 9.5 million people and includes from Kenosha, Wisconsin to Gary, Indiana. It is the third largest metro area in the country, behind only Los Angeles and New York. However, it is one of the slowest growing (0.55% growth), and will probably be passed by Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC in my lifetime. It is an anomaly as most of the large cities in the USA are in the Atlantic or Pacific coasts or in the south (Texas/Atlanta/Miami). In thinking about Chicago, it is the capital of the Great Lakes, with cities like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Toronto being some of the other population centers. You could also include Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Buffalo as an outer tier of cities. The region is growing slowly and has lost many manufacturing jobs in the past 15 years. Several cities are slowly depopulating in favor of better economies and nicer weather in other parts of the country. Chicago, like Detroit and Cleveland, is racially and economically segregated. I am curious on how climate change will affect the region. Walking around Lakeshore Boulevard and Michigan Avenue yesterday, my family remarked that it feels like New York City, with the sky scrapers and historic buildings. It differs in being cleaner, more spacious and less diverse racially.
Maggie Daley Park
Our first day we spent time with my brother and sister-in-law. The kids tried rock-climbing in the Maggie Daley Park and we soaked up the atmosphere of the city. We are staying in an Art Deco style building developed by the family of the department store magnate, Marshall Fields. We finished the evening sampling the world famous, Chicago-style pizza.
During our stay in Poconos mountains, we have enjoyed spending time in the Hickory Run state park. The large park is about 30 minutes from Freeland and has 40 miles of hiking trails. It also has a disc golf course and small reservoir for swimming.
The Fireline trail has some nice views over the Lehigh River. You can combine with Skyline and Gould’s trail to form a loop that takes about 2 hours. We noticed many trees down due to the recent storm. The Poconos are similar to the forests of northern Michigan, although with fewer pine trees and some different species of plants and birds.
Owen is still enthusiastic about disc golf so we play any chance we get. It is a great way for me to get outdoors and spend time with him. Below is a video showing one of the typical holes.
We had a pleasant long weekend in the nation’s capital, my fifth visit to the district. The amount of history and power concentrated in one place is impressive. The city is special to me because my wife Nadia loves politics so much, it is like me going to a professional sporting event. Seeing in person the sites of the American political system in person is exciting. I enjoy watching her delight as much as seeing the sites myself.
Catching up with friends on the “Poto-Mac” boardwalk in historic Alexandria
Summer evenings are delightful and walking around the National Mall during a beautiful sunset is a great way to spend a night in July. The founding fathers did a good job of portraying the power of this nation. The Roman classical building architecture, the wide expanse of green space and the Potomac River flowing past, it really sets itself apart from European capital cities. There are always a lot of visitors, but it didn’t feel crowded. The Lincoln Memorial captures the spirit of the great president. It was moving to read the words of the Gettysburg Address with his statue just to the side of me. The American Civil War was not all that long ago and keeping together the union has made a better life for Americans today. There are still cultural, economic, social and racial divisions in this huge country, but keeping together is better than splitting apart.
We had to do a “drive-by” of the Trump Hotel
The World War II memorial, next to the reflecting pool is also a fitting monument to the people impacted by the war. Both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters are featured and with quotes by generals and presidents, it stirred patriotic feelings in all of us. We made it to Washington obelisk, and it is fitting General Washington received a Pharaoh’s treatment. On a tour of the Capitol Building, Washington is featured on the fresco on the ceiling of the Rotunda, and the Italian artist Brumidi, pictures Washington ascending to heaven accompanied by angels representing liberty and victory. He didn’t conquer the world like Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar, but being the first president of the future American empire, puts him in that same group.
American Apotheosis on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda
DC is a very busy city and although we avoided rush hour traffic, the amount of entrance and exit ramps, bridges, multi-laned highways, it was a bit confusing navigating the city. I also don’t like any place with a median house price of over half a million dollars. The amount of culture and intellectual energy in the place is great, but I don’t know how educators could live there. Driving through neighborhoods reminded us of Japan because the homes were so close together and streets were narrow compared to the rural Pennsylvania. Space is at a premium in the city.
A beautiful summer evening on the National Mall
We took a short tour of the US Capitol Building. It was interesting to see congressmen walking out of the building into waiting Chevy black Suburbans with secret service drivers. I didn’t realize how vast the space for the inauguration ceremony actually was. The photos from the air during Obama and Trump’s ceremonies were controversial regarding crowd size and it was fun to stand there. On our way home, we made a stop at Chatter, the restaurant owned by ESPN commentator, Tony Kornheiser. I occasionally listen to his podcast and so I wanted to see the restaurant and new podcast studio on the site. The food was reasonably priced and pretty good, so I do recommend a visit.
We also visited an old friend of Nadia’s in Alexandria, Virginia. City officials developed the water front and combined with the historical buildings and lots of restaurants and bars, it was a lively atmosphere. We had a good Thai meal and walk along the water.
I finish this post with a video of Ocean taking part in a street performance. A busker (Aussie term for street performer) called her up to set out the tip hat. I guess using a cute little girl would generate more sympathy from patrons. She of course loves the spotlight and was hamming it up for the crowd.
I have not been blogging much this month due to my energy being devoted to my doctoral study. We did have a nice 4th of July here in eastern Pennsylvania. We are staying with my uncle in the small town of Freeland. The town has the highest elevation in Pennsylvania and is located in the Poconos Mountains, which is part of the Appalachian chain.
My son Owen’s latest interest is disc golf and there are a couple good courses in a nearby state park. The disc golf course at the Hickory Run State Park is challenging, picturesque and well-marked. I am not a fanatic of disc golf, but it is a nice way to spend 2 hours with the family, in nature, and without screens.
We purchased a bunch of fireworks at a “super store” near Tannersville. The kids and adults loved the explosions. Fireworks have come a long way since I was young. Nadia and Jack cooked a delicious meal, and overall, it was a nice way to spend the anniversary of our independence from Britain.
I am writing this in the Hong Kong International Airport. It is an interesting time to be traveling through Hong Kong as this is the 20th anniversary of the turnover of the island from Britain to China. In 30 more years, it will officially become part of China. There is no reason Hong Kong should be part of the UK and reflecting on the history of the British in China, lots of damaging things occurred. It is right that this colonial legacy is ending. However, it is sad that Hong Kong is slowly losing its different character from the rest of the country.
We are on our way to the USA for summer holidays. It is always hectic and emotional to end the academic year at an international school. I am continuing work on my doctoral studies at Lehigh University which start next week. Outside of school, I did find some time to make some observations.
I wish my Dad was alive to see a Japanese lawn crew. They were using “weed wackers” at Osaka University when I was biking through the campus earlier this week. The Japanese pay attention to the details and it was great to see these guys holding screens to protect pedestrians from twigs and rocks that shoot up from the machine. Notice too that they are perfectly dressed and taking such care in their job. No matter how menial the job may seem, they take such great care to do it right. This is a prime example. A very professional job!
My latest addiction is cycling and I can’t get enough of it. I want to bike every day in the Minoh Quasi National Park which is near our house. The views are splendid and going up and down the hills is relaxing, despite being exhausting. I can’t wait for a full year of cycling when I return in August. Japan is up there with Netherlands and Germany for cycling and it is my favorite aspect of living in Osaka.
Bill's Blog 