A Perfect (Michigan) Summer

Spring is taking its sweet time to arrive in Chicago. Today, it's somewhere around 2 degrees. Oh, no, wait, my phone says it's 34. On March 23rd. Last year at this time it was close to 80. I had brunch in the Deerpath Inn Garden this weekend last year. But I digress.

Although Spring has yet to arrive, I'm already thinking about Summer. Specifically, I'm thinking about Watervale. Just under 5 months until I'm at Watervale and Lord willing, I'll be there sooner than that.

The 2013 Pure Michigan campaign kicked off this past week and each time I see one of their commercials, I'm immediately transported to my favorite place on earth. In fact, I don't even have to see the commercial. I just have to hear the music that opens nearly all the commercials and hear Tim Allen's voice and I'm there.

You'll appreciate my delight at discovering the 2013 Pure Michigan Summer Playlist on YouTube a few minutes ago. I squealed with happiness.

I love you, so here are my favorites:

Sand Dunes


Lighthouses

Sleeping Bear Dunes - Starry Nights

I found this video the other day thanks to Pure Michigan on Facebook, I think.

Sometimes people ask my why I love Northern Michigan so much and I often just say "Sleeping Bear Dunes." Its beauty is second-to-none. Now all I'll have to do is point them to this video.

Enjoy!


Sleeping Bear Dunes - Starry Nights from Kenneth Snyder on Vimeo.

As always, if you read Little Merry Sunshine via email and the videos don't come through, visit the site and watch the video. Trust me, it's a little slice of Heaven.

M-22 . . . It's A Way of Life

A few years ago, I started seeing all sorts of paraphernalia including stickers, t-shirts, and sweatshirts sporting the M-22 road sign shield. Mostly, I was seeing it all in Northern Michigan, but every once in awhile, I would see it in Chicago and I'd just smile to myself and wonder where people were getting it because I'd never seen it in stores.

For those of you not in the know, M-22 is a state highway in Northern Michigan. It starts in Manistee when you turn left off of M-31 at the Little River Casino and continues north through many of the towns I love finally ending in Traverse City. If you've ever been to Sleeping Bear Dunes, you've driven on M-22. If you're part of the Watervale family, you know M-22 intimately and could drive it in your sleep (but I would strongly recommend against doing that).

Turning north onto M-22 means I've got about 30 minutes until I pull into Watervale. I can always instantly feel my blood pressure drop significantly as I make that turn. My stress level becomes non-existent. The air is lighter, clearer, and just smells better. Being on M-22 means I have spotty cell phone reception and have left the big city far far behind. It means dark nights lit only by God's natural nightlights, the stars that seem so close I can pull them out of the sky. It's a refreshing lack of McDonald's, Starbucks, Walmart, and chain movie theaters in favor of mom & pop restaurants and coffee shops, roadside farm stands, and the Garden Theater. No matter where you are on M-22, you're never more than a few feet from Lake Michigan, even if you can't see it.

What I've also learned about M-22, since first spotting the road sign on t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc., is that the M-22 shield was adopted as the company logo for Broneah Kiteboarding based in Traverse City. In 2006, the owners wore one of their M-22 t-shirts on the cover of Traverse Magazine and their phone started ringing off the hook by readers wanting their own M-22 gear. The rest is history.

While kiteboarding isn't my thing, M-22 is. As Broneah Kiteboarding says, "M-22 is not just a road; it is a way of life."

My Love Affair With Michigan

It's no secret that I love Michigan. Well, possibly not all of Michigan, but certainly the northwest corner of the state that includes the Traverse City area. Most specifically, I love Watervale. In fact, I'm counting down the days until I get to sit on the beach and do nothing except count the grains of sand during the day and the stars at night.

Normally, when I watch TV, commercials annoy me. I don't have TiVO or a DVR, so I don't have the option of skipping them. However, when the "Pure Michigan" ads come on, I always stop what I'm doing and watch, longing for the days when I experience my own version of Pure Michigan.

I've collected my favorite Pure Michigan ads for you to enjoy.

Lost & Found


Pure Michigan Backyard


The Potential of Water


A Simple Sunrise


Trailhead

Summer Fun on the Cheap!

I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but times are tough. We're all trying to save money any way we can. Carpooling and biking to work are on the increase. Recession gardens are all the rage. Many people are taking staycations rather than vacations this summer.

In spite of it all (or maybe especially because of it all), we still need to have some fun now that the weather is warm (or almost warm). To help you and me have fun this summer, the National Park Service has created Fee-Free Weekends at 100 National Parks across the country!

Imagine taking the kids to Yosemite National Park for FREE if you're in California. Or how about going to the Grand Canyon if you're in Arizona? Are you land-locked in the Midwest? That's okay. Stop in at Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Memorial in Missouri and check out the Gateway Arch. Of course, for all you Watervale families, you can go to Sleeping Bear Dunes for FREE! Eastcoasters have lots of options too. If you're in the DC area, you simply must go to Harpers Ferry. I had the best first date I've ever had there. In Florida, go to the Everglades.

To avoid entrance fees, just visit June 20-21 (Father's Day Weekend), July 18-19, or August 15-16 (I'll organize the field trip from Watervale to Sleeping Bear Dunes this weekend).

Enjoy!

I've Never Been So Proud!

I just called my brother Dave and he answered and said he couldn't talk because he was phone banking for Obama up in Traverse City, Michigan!

This is the first campaign he's ever been involved in. I just love that Barack is energizing young people and other people who have not previously been engaged.

Yeah Dave! I'm so proud of you!

Now if I could only get my dad to vote for Obama instead of McSame and Caribou Barbie.

A Friend Died

I'm headed to Watervale in the morning. I was supposed to be there today, but I spent the day following up on all the leads I got at The Mane Event last night. Although I hated missing a day of vacation, I will benefit from the work I did today for years to come.

Watervale is a place where time has stood still. There is one phone in the entire resort. No internet access. No tv. Cell phone service is sketchy. Heck, the rooms don't even have keys to the doors. There is nothing to do, unless you can entertain yourself and survive without all the modern conveniences. Families spend time hiking, biking, canoeing, playing tennis, fishing, and hanging out on the beach during the day. Nights are filled with board games, cards, reading, the drive-in, beach fires, staying up late hoping to see the Northern Lights and watching the Perseids Meteor Showers. The only air conditioning is provided by Mother Nature.

The thing about this trip is that I spend the week with the same families I've been seeing this week for as long as I can remember and although we are vacation friends I keep in touch with some of them all year long.

My dad called an hour ago to find out my estimated time of departure and in the course of our conversation told me that my friend Julia died. I was stopped in my tracks. She was 24 or 25 and I've known her most of her life. Her family is one of my favorites and and she was a newlywed, having gotten married last year in Israel. She was a shining light of a young woman.

I don't know all the details, but my dad said she went to the hospital with a non-life threatening illness, developed an infection that spread to her lungs and she died.

Watervale won't be the same without her and I will miss her.

Hooray for Solar Attic Fans!

One of my least favorite things to do is climb up into the attic during the summer months. Historically, if it's 80 degrees outside, the attic is easily double that. I've always had an attic fan that I've never been convinced did anything other than suck up electricity and cost me more with Com Ed. Also, I believe there are monsters that live in the attic.

But today, I was forced to climb into the attic in search of one of my bins of summer clothes because I needed a cute outfit for a party tonight and couldn't find a skirt I wanted. Prepared for a lack of breathable air and monsters, I hesitatingly climbed the ladder. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was relatively cool in the attic, despite it being over 80 and very sunny outside! The attic was so comfortable that I could have easily stayed up there and gone through old boxes of crap. I didn't, but I could have.

What's the difference you ask? Well, two weeks ago when Dave was in town, he installed a Solar Attic Fan for me. He sells and installs only Sunrise Solar Attic Fans because they use the most advanced solar panels to collect and deliver power directly from the sun to the highly efficient 12-volt DC motor inside the power vent. A Solar Attic Fan, just as its name implies, relies on the sun for its power, not electricity, as it sucks the heat out of your attic. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about the difference with the new Solar Attic Fan, except that since he installed it, I haven't turned on the air conditioning once!

I love that with my new Solar Attic Fan, I'm helping the environment and living more greenly, but I REALLY love the impact on my wallet! PLUS, there's a 30% tax credit available this year when I do my income taxes! Yeah! AND Dave's business offers a 5 year warranty, which is 4 years longer than Michigan Building Code requires and other companies provide!

Want one for yourself? Call Dave. That's what his new business - Crystal Solarlighting Solutions - does. He can be reached at 231-651-0214. And yes, he'll do installations in the Chicago Area, as well as Northern Michigan.

Oh, I also didn't find any monsters in the attic. That doesn't mean that they're not there. Just that they were sleeping.

Watervale - All Summer Long

As I was driving home late last night, I heard a new song that immediately sent me back to the summers of youth at Watervale. In less than 4 minutes, the song perfectly captured every moment from my early teen years through my college summers and I was convinced that it must be written or sung by a new artist that coincidentally I'd grown up with at Watervale.

I also knew immediately I had to share the song with Dave because he lived it too. Hell, he's STILL living it and I'm just a wee bit jealous!

As a guest, Watervale has been part of my life since 1977 (and we still migrate there every August - just 69 days from today!!!!!), but I spent the summer of 1990 there on staff and it took on a whole new meaning for me. That summer can best be summed up with the slogan from the back of our staff t-shirts: "We died every morning, survived every afternoon, and lived every night!"

My cumulative years at Watervale are filled with many firsts:

• My first kiss
• My first alcoholic drink
• I first went to a beach fire at Watervale
• The first time I went skinny dipping
• I learned how to drive a stick-shift car at Watervale
• The first time I was offered pot (I just said no)
• I first saw the Northern Lights at late one night on the beach at Watervale
• I learned how to sail at Watervale
• The Bulls started their six-peat as NBA champs during my summer on staff at Watervale
• My first weekend road trip alone was to Watervale
• I really learned to cook at Watervale - I baked bread daily and creme brulee weekly, in addition to my regular salad making responsibilities
• My first and best drive-in experiences happened at Watervale
• And so many more . . .

Watervale is about the simple things in life. The rooms don't have phones or tv's. In fact, there is 1 public phone in the whole resort and there are no televisions! My cell phone barely gets reception. There are no street lights polluting the beauty of the night sky. Meals are simple and amazing with everything being homemade from scratch with many ingredients coming from the herb garden and many more locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Watervale has been part of my family's summer for probably close to 60 years and loved by 4 generations of Gardner's.

So at long last, here is the song that started this wonderful trip down memory lane . . . Oh, and it turns out that it's not by a friend from Watervale. It's "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock.

Just A Thought . . .

Wouldn't an Obama/Edwards ticket be the hottest looking Presidential ticket ever?