The Voice of the Turtle

Tiger Stadium was to be my final resting place. Upon my death, my ashes were to be scattered in left field among the ghosts of Willie Horton, Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Alan Trammel, Daryl Evans and many others.I spent many wonderful afternoons in the ball park with my grampa, my dad, hubby and later my kids and grand kids. I stuck with teams both wonderful and going thru the halls of hell. Until the strike .

I never went back to the ball park when the strike was settled and my dad died the next year. I am still angry over the strike. I also hated how the team was decimated and then sold--altho the new owner finally got a clue and is pouring as much cash into it as his beloved Red Wings. But this beautiful stadium was thrown to the wind. Taxpayers are now forced to pay more inside the city to pay for a new stadium. Unlike the owner of the Pistons (who financed his own new stadium) the Tigers threw away a gem and the poorest of the state pay for it-unless you stay at a hotel, eat at a restaurant or otherwise play within the county. I can count on my one hand how many times I have been inside the city limits since then. I will never go inside the new stadium. All my memories are down the road a bit.

This week it was announced that the stadium is set for demolition even tho several solutions to preserve it have been laid out. The mayor wont listen even to Ernie Harwell -the long time voice of the Tigers. Even he has been thrown to the curb. There are several groups who are hoping to save some of it-Ernie wants to save at least the playing field and some seats for a residential park/historical site

The stadium was renovated several times. The original seats were not stationery like this one. The first time I ever went to a game, it was to a seat like this and the ushers would wipe the dust off for a nickle or dime.

These seats are a bit older-notice the designs under the arm. A set of these would set you back several thousand dollars in BAD condition.

So the auction of the innards of Tiger Stadium have begun. I was able to purchase a set of seats here . This again was another upgrade but it will be all I have-I wanted 3 but they only come in twos. One for me, one for dad and one for grampa. There is also a huge auction of many items listed at this link.I want the marquee sign but can only imagine what I would do with it. It belongs at Greenfield/Henry Ford or the Smithsonian or the Hall of Fame -well it really belongs at the Corner. Michigan and Trumbell. But deaf ears and stupidity are taking it elsewhere.

I have had this sweat shirt now for over 15 years and its getting thin but it keeps me close to the ghosts. I still will be scattered in left field. My field of dreams may have a factory on it, may have a McDonald's someday or may just be an empty lot. But dreams never go away. You can always walk thru them whenever you close your eyes and hear the Voice of the Turtle.


""For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.""

Mama Jams Pickup Ball***Explicit Language***

Squares of Me

Four places I have worked:

1. as sitter for a college professor with 6 kids-for 50 cents an hour!
2. Sports Bar and Grill-a college hangout (burned down) also met hubby there
3. Planned Parenthood
4. White Horse (another hangout-for 3 days)


Four places I have lived:

1. Flint, MI (born there)
2. Detroit
3. Grand Blanc Mi (while our house was being built-long story!)
4. Flushing, MI


Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Roseanne
2. Original Star Trek if its not cut to shreds
3. Jeopardy
4. ESPN-Sportscenter



Four places I have been on vacation:

1. China Town/San Fransisco
2. Kennedy Space Center Florida
3. Mammoth Cave Kentucky
4. Galveston Texas


Four of my favorite foods.

1. Peanut Butter spooned out of the jar
2. Garlic anything-raw is best
3. Bread any kind-warm, toasted, homemade
4. Kettle corn pop corn-sweet and salty


Four places I would rather be right now

1. anyplace warm
2. anyplace with the sun out
3. anyplace peaceful
4. at the gym on the track-it eventually gets warm and peaceful.

28 Weird Things About Me

Since February is so short and sweet, I decided to have some fun tonight and come up with one thing for every day in this month that is weird about me. Granted, I could probably find something for every day of the year but maybe later..

1--I got engaged after one date. We had one date before (dinner) and one date after (drive in). I always have been a cheap person to date.;)

2--I think Fred Astaire is sexy and have since I was 6.

3--I have the entire 1984 Summer Olympics on beta-yes beta-and my favorite inspiration is the first official women's marathon when I need to be pumped.

4--I think gnomes and trolls are real. Some live in my backyard.

5--I will only drive a manual transmission.

6--I would rather eat salad than dessert.

7--I never rent DVD's. If I want to see something, I either buy it used or when it first comes out really cheap.

8--I had a MySpace space before my kids did.

9--I hate shopping in malls or mass market stores. I prefer indy stores or the Internet to shop.

10--I have over 60 GBs of music on my hard drive.

11--I try to buy everything I use on my body fragrance free. Perfumes change on me and smell like garbage after a while.

12--I am addicted to the Weather Channel and Jim Cantore is a one hot babe!

13--I always buy postcards of places I visit in case I lose the photos I have taken.

14--I wear plain old white cotton undies.

15--I still have the very first utility bill I ever had in my name. We pay more per gallon of gas now than that whole bill was.

16--I attended the NBA game with the biggest attendance ever. Over 61,000 people at the Pontiac Silver Dome. It rained that night inside-with rolls of toilet paper!

17--I have always wanted to change my name to Jacqueline. It seems very exotic to me, while Jan is so plain.

18--I will put raw garlic or peanut butter on anything!

19--I don't like diamonds or most jewelry-I wear my wedding ring and a running shoe charm and that is it.

20--I have done every Crim 10 miler since 1981. I lost three toe nails in one race-the monsoon year.

21--I collect trivia books and games.

22--I have to see the door if I am eating in a restaurant. I need to know how to escape if I need to get out fast.

23--I will not fly. I had a horrible experience in the early 80's and have never gotten back on a flying death tube.

24--I collect pine tree stamps. Rubber stamps, that is.

25--I wanted to be a left fielder for the Detroit Tigers growing up. Sigh-I was a girl.

26--My brother Bruce and I used to play chess all the time. When he died at age 15 , I said I would never play again and I haven't.

27--I do my own taxes. The only year I didn't, we got audited. And had to pay in-a lot! I actually dream about the numbers for a week after.

28--My nickname in High School was Willie-after my favorite baseball player Willie Horton. I was appalled when the character in the second Indiana Jones movie was named Willie and was so damned annoying!

****29--Just in case I forgot a leap year or something-I have been a vegetarian for almost 30 years. As you can tell by my blog name, it fits! ****


So there it is. How about posting your own weird ditties either as a comment or in a link to your own blog? I will be sure to visit your blog and see who is the weirdest!

Food Porn

I know..I know... A lot of people are gonna get the wrong idea. But this is what my daughter calls photos of food. So sue her! I was instructed tonight to take a picture of the sammy I made. My husband's co-worker is really into bread baking. It's a hobby he picked up after returning from a stay in Europe when he so enjoyed "real bread" and then came here to Wonder Bread. I don't blame him a bit for making his own. I am a bread junkie too! I have been able to find several bakeries that make wonderful artisan type breads, so it is possible without going to a lot of fuss to get good bread in the US. One place that is terrific is Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. http://www.zingermans.com/ They do mail order and have gift baskets too. Costco also has some wonderful breads. I get some every few weeks for dipping in olive oil and herbs-along with some cheese. I don't like white bread so the darker the better. But I would still eat crunchy French bread if it's homemade.

So the other night this person-this Mark-this enabler-sends home with Ron a whole round loaf of bread. I had to hang my head because I knew I wanted to eat it all by myself. I am a bread junkie. I would open the bag and smell it several times and then resist and close it. Yesterday hubby sends me an email with the recipe. Well, at least it's healthy if I don't eat it all at once. It is a very heavy and dense multigrain bread with different seeds and grains. I decided to make some egg salad using Cajun mustard and low fat mayo and some diced garlic and peppers with smokey curry powder. This was a better idea than what my hubby had-one giant burger!! I sliced the bread horizontally in half and filled it with the egg salad and topped it with organic field greens. Then I cut it into serving wedges. For decoration, I topped with cubed Colby Jack cheese and Cajun gherkins.

I decided to serve the sammy with lentil eggplant soup because I knew the salad would be a bit spicy, so the blandness of the soup would even it out. I topped the soup with Creme Fraiche and a bit of fresh ground cinnamon. Served with some organic chips and fresh grapes for crunch and sweetness, it was a very filling supper on a cold night in Michigan .
Mark recommended the following book if anyone is interested in reading up on bread making. "Bread Alone". http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Alone-Fresh-Loaves-Hands/dp/0688092616 This book of recipes and bread lore is written by the owner of a Woodstock, New York bakery http://www.breadalone.com/. You can even tour the bakery if you are in the area-no reservations required.
If Mark wants to experiment and send me a loaf a week-or more-I will be willing to be his guinea pig. An addict will look at any excuse to have their drug of choice.

Mine just happens to be made from grain and nuts

I Was Tagged----the ABC's of Me

A. Available or married: married.34+ years.
B - Best friend: none really. Not the trusting type anymore.
C - Cake or pie: squash pie-but make it rarely-I like the crusts the best.
D - Drink of choice: hot tea
E - Essential item you use everyday: prescription stomach medicine
F - Favorite color: vibrant red
G - Gummy bears or worms: worms-all sugary too
H - Hometown: born in-Flint , MI---reside - Flushing, MI
I - Indulgence: rubber stamps
J - January or February: February , its short and we're almost over winter
K - Kids & names:Courtney, Benjamin,Heather (birth name Shannon)
L - Life is incomplete without? sunshine
M - Marriage date: Oct 11, 1972
N - Number of siblings: 4-3 brothers, one sister -one deceased-at least one "supposed" half-never met
O - Oranges or apples: apples especialy the Aussie varieties-can't stomach oranges anymore-too much acid
P - Phobias or fears: heights-so flying is out, large crowds, water deeper than my ankles, high winds, driving long distances. I could go on.
Q - Fave quote: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The Miracle is that I had the courage to start". John Bingham
R - Reason to smile: spring is coming! Then summer!
S - Season: Summer-hot hot hot!
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Ben, Johanna, Jennifer, Toby
U - Unknown fact about me: I am not capable of hating anybody. I didn't get the gene.
V- Vegetable you don't like: mushrooms-allergic
W - Worst habit: Being too nice to people-who then take advantage of me-which leads to not trusting anybody anymore.
X – X-rays: my whole body at one time or another. I have been zapped mightily.
Y - Your fave food: peanut butter
Z - Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

County Fresh-City Strange

We were driving to the dealership to check out my car damage-see previous posting-and there on the side of the same road I crashed on was a huge cow! I had my camera all ready and it was getting dark, so Ron pulled into the lot and I got these photos. I wanted Ron to sit on this-to be Paul Bunyan. But the cow is a cow and not blue and not an ox. If I were the owner, I would have put a wreath around its neck and strings of Christmas lights. Do you think cows get embarrassed?

I really think old Ruthie needs to be milked and soon! But it was a big smile on a nasty, snowy, sleety, schools closed and strangely odd day in mid January. Go see it if you are local to the Flint area-in front of the new VG's store at Corunna and Linden.

I Fought the Trailblazer and the Trailblazer won!

Here are some of the photos we were able to get of my 2006 Aveo. I tangled with a Chevy Trail Blazer-hitting the back end trailer hitch on Corunna Road last Wednesday about 6 PM. The work has already started and many are saying after a crash like this, I should sell the car and get something else. This baby is paid in full-so don't see a reason to sell. I did say if they totaled it, I would not buy another, but got voted down. I hate driving to begin with, usually 5-6 thousand miles a year, so maybe staying home isn't such a bad idea. I would miss going to the gym but that is about it. I could live without my trips to Micheal's and Joann's and get my groceries delivered. We shall see.....


This is the right side (passenger side) and you can see where the metal was bent toward the right of the photo. They have started to straighten it, hoping to re-use as much as possible to keep costs down. As long as the integrity of the car is not compromised, I am all for recycling.


This is the radiator, air conditioner, part of the hood, the plastic bumper(decorative purposes only I suspect). None of this is re-usable, so I get all new innards!I have no idea what that black square thingie is. Maybe a protector of the engine-a fire wall maybe? It had wires and stuff coming out of it.


Here you will see the left driver side-amazing the receptacle for the washer fluid is totally intact. Every other fluid was lost from the front end-my precious 2.30 cent gasoline is still in the tank-almost a full tank I believe. See the red steel bar over the left tire? That is where the sensor for the air bag is/was. You can see a blue cap about where it would be positioned. The air bag never went off and I was going about 40-45 when I slammed on the brakes. The seat belt worked! I have a bruise to prove it!!



A better look at the hood-scrunched up. Not re-usable. I am still amazed at the damage that I saw with glass, plastic, hissing noises (it didn't blow-so the movies are so bogus!). I hope these guys recycle!.






Now you will have to use your imagination here. We were surprised they had already started work on this. All the crushed metal is gone, all the broken glass hauled away, stripped plastic in another photo above. Pretty ugly now-but not half as ugly as the night of the crash.








The remains of the bumper-this black beauty probably saved me broken limbs. It was buckled in several places but didn't break and neither did I. The first thing I did when I stopped was feel my knees, which have taken so much abuse in recent years. Then I felt my mouth and all my teeth were still there!



Unlocked my belt and wondered why no big white balloon went off-that still really concerns me. I see all those ads on TV with cars hitting walls and stuff-and a big white balloon poofs out-but not for me.

Here is what it will look like again once all the new parts are on and its painted all purdy. I have a sun roof-and an air deflector on the back-but neither were harmed. My air bags did not go off-apparent the sensor wasn't tripped but they are going to check to see that it was actually capable of going off. Everyone seems amazed they didn't, and that I had only a bruise on my left knee and the burn from the seat belt.

I am 99.9 % sure the other driver did NOT have her lights on. But I hit her in the back, so I am guilty. She moved her car twice even tho I said not to. No other witnesses-actually no one stopped to even ask if we needed help. Sad society we have become that getting home 10 seconds faster or making the light is more important. I am so glad Marley wasn't with me as he usually is. He has a seat belt but if you turn your back on him-he wiggles right out of it! Artie thinks that is so funny! But Artie doesn't like his seat belt either and sometimes it mysteriously unlocks itself!! He was so funny-he was glad I wasn't hurt but even gladder it wasn't Ron's car with all the buttons and gadgets that wasn't wrecked. Typical guy!

Just Desserts-Because It's 4 AM and I Am Starving!

You Are Strawberries with Cream

Fresh and uncomplicated, you are always enjoyed but often overlooked. You're confident in who you are. You don't need a facade to feel better about yourself.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

What Sort of Personality Am I?

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's" Your Personality Type?