Paczki Day

Rio has its Carnival and New Orleans its Mardi Gras, but here in Detroit we celebrate Fat Tuesday with paczki! Paczki (pronounced POONCH-key) are basically fat Polish jelly donuts stuffed full of fruit, cream or custard fillings. Eat enough of these fat-filled treats and you'll be willing to give up just about any food item for Lent---or, at least until the chocolate eggs and bunnies show up.

Winter Meltdown

You may have noticed during my last posting, that I had a bit of a meltdown. I attributed it to a lack of chocolate compounded by five inches of "blankety-blank" snow. I'd like to apologize to my ancestors and all the daring explorers who allowed me to live in the beautiful state of Michigan. I'd also like to thank the Girl Scouts for bringing Thin Mint cookies into my life.

Now, at the risk of converting this "mostly" travel blog into a weather blog, I have to report another meltdown. For the last three days or so, we've had temperatures in the forties and fifties. The weather has been windy but sunny, Elliot Beagle's favorite. His days have been spent mostly outdoors, soaking in the sun and sniffing the breeze. It has been so warm, I found a woolly caterpillar in the yard. I'm not sure what he had planned, but he was moving across the yard like he was on a mission.

I realize it's only February and winter will soon be back in all its furious and awful glory, but for now I'm thinking spring.

In The Deep Freeze

It seems like just a few days ago I had decided that winter wasn't so bad, as long as I had plenty of sun and chocolate. Well, a couple of days ago I had neither. What I did have was five more inches of snow. The local weather forecaster had predicted only an inch, so imagine my surprise when I went to let Elliott Beagle out. He refused to leave the house until I had cleared a path to his favorite tree.

Now, normally I'm a pretty nice person but, exchange my chocolate for another blizzard and watch out! As I shoveled my way down to Elliott's tree and then out to the driveway to find my car, things turned ugly. I went back through history and cursed the French, the English, the Americans--- anyone in any country who sent explorers to Michigan and the Great Lakes. I cursed the builders of the Erie Canal, that allowed my ancestors to settle here. I cursed myself for moving back to Michigan from Texas. There was so much foul language in the air, before I finished shoveling there was a huge blue streak down the middle of my driveway.

Today's better. The temperatures may be below freezing, but the sun came out and my niece brought me some Girl Scout cookies. After I dig my way out to my compost heap, I'm going to come indoors and settle in front of the tv with a cozy box of Thin Mints.

A Winter Respite

You've probably noticed excessive whining from this blog lately. I'm been complaining about the weather being too gray, or cold, or snowy or windy...etc, etc, etc. I've reached the point where I've nearly bored myself to death with my continuous complaining. Of course today is a beautiful sunny day but, I'm sure my moodiness is totally unrelated to the weather (or chocolate).

In addition to the sunny weather and copious chocolate, I had a chance to take a quick trip, something that always cheers me up. I attended the annual winter conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, in NYC, last weekend. It was a great educational and networking opportunity. The weekend was intense with manuscript reviews, critique sessions, and workshops. The speakers were fantastic: Jane Yolen, Jules Feiffer, Lois Lowry and many other talented and knowledgeable writers and illustrators. I'm still laughing from some of the stories told by my favorite speaker, R. L. Stine, the best-selling children's author of all time. My son was a fan of his Goosebumps series when he was a kid.

Speaking of my son, I had a chance to get together with Dan and his fiancee, Caitlin while I was in New York. We went out to dinner two nights, checking out new restaurants and catching up on all the news.

Getting together with family, meeting new friends, gathering and sharing information, and exchanging encouragement and support with colleagues, all combined to create a fantastic weekend. I came back to Michigan fired-up, with a renewed sense of purpose and enough energy to get me out of the winter doldrums.

Warming Up To Winter

I've been kind of whiny lately, complaining about the sub-zero wind chills, gray skies and seemingly, never ending snow. I've tried writing to friends and family in sunny locations, asking if they'll adopt me for a couple of months and, so far I've received no replies. Maybe I'm not getting enough sunlight, or maybe I need to eat more chocolate. Yes, I'm sure that's it, I need more chocolate.

Yesterday afternoon, after watching another rerun of Alaska State Troopers , followed by The Weather Channel's report of 48 degrees below zero temperatures in International Falls, Minnesota, I had an epiphany. There's nothing like the realization that there's a whole lot of places worse than Michigan to live in during the winter to make a person get up off the couch and change into a pair of clean pajamas.

I also realized January is almost over and I haven't wished anyone a Happy New Year. So, using some of the words stolen from lasts year's greeting...May your year be purposeful, productive and fulfilling. May you find wonder, joy, love and...a little warmth everyday. Have a wonderful 2011. Happy New Year, love Julia!

Elliott Beagle Bakes

Elliott Beagle and I have started our Christmas baking. In my family, everyone has their favorite "must have" treat that helps make their celebration complete. I start with the ones that have to be mailed out: chocolate crinkles for Dan, snickerdoodles for Caitlin and maybe some fudge, some sugar cookies and a cranberry-pumpkin loaf. Next, ginger cookies for Kate, cherry bars for Dale, scotch-a-roos for Don, lemon squares for Kay, more chocolate crinkles for Amanda, and scrabble for Mark. My dad likes sugar cookies and Mom likes white chocolate cranberry cookies. My favorite? I like peanut butter chocolate cookies.

What is Elliott Beagle's cookie baking role? His job duties include sleeping under the kitchen table while I work at the counter, listening to CBC Radio 2 while I bake and always helping with spills and clean-up.

Mother-Daughter Roadtrip

Not too long after I returned to Michigan, my mother was ready to take her own roadtrip. We'd both been hearing about the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Fredrick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan and thought we should see it before the snows start. We left Van home in the garage and Elliott Beagle with my dad, then headed west.

Why I don't go to Grand Rapids more often is a mystery to me. It's the second largest city in Michigan, about three hours west from where I live and only about 40 miles from Lake Michigan. As a kid, I used to go with my parents to visit my mom's relatives in Holland, Michigan, not far from Grand Rapids, but I can't remember visiting the west side of Michigan since my children were young. For some reason whenever I go on a roadtrip in Michigan, I seem to head north or east, towards Lake Huron or Lake Superior.

Grand Rapids is a great town, with loads of things to do and places to visit. At the top of the list is the Fredrick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. The gardens and sculpture park is a hard place to describe. You could easily spend an entire day there without getting close to seeing everything. It's one of those places which will surprise you every time you visit. There are both indoor and outdoor exhibits, permanent and temporary displays, a sculpture trail and a fantastic children's garden. Mom and I probably spent an hour playing in the children's garden. It made me wish my kids were still little.

All throughout the gardens were installations and displays by world-class designer and glass artist, Dale Chihuly. His fantastical blown-glass creations added a sense of whimsy, wonder and beauty as we explored the gardens. We spent the entire day wandering about, both on foot and by tram. After a little time in the gift shop and the cafe, which has a Chihuly installation on the ceiling, it was closing time. We left wanting to see more, but knowing we're sure to visit again.