July was busy month… both for business, and personally. I’m glad I got to slip back up to Michigan City with the family. It’s such a practical place for us and those who know me, know I am *Mr. Practical*.

Serious, I still maintain that the Great Lakes offer just as much beach as any coast. Then again, I’m more of a snowy mountain guy than a sunny beach 🙂 Still, it’s just an awesome 4.5 hour drive from home. I don’t even leave Indiana. Many people argue that the Great Lakes have colder water, but to me, it seems insignificant. It may be true, but it’s freshwater and the “beach community” we stay in is something out of a Walton’s episode. It’s like people come here to love one another. Serious.

It feels like we gained a week back in our life after this trip. It’s perfect for kids and just a short scenic walk to the lake. We took two trips last year and just did our first one this year. Friends Brian Hensley and Jeremy Ostrow rode their bikes up for the day on Sunday to check it out. Since it’s only about a 4.5 hour ride up, it was a good trip for them. We fed them dinner and sent them on their way. We’re told it was a worthy trip for them. The rest of the week was good to us. There was plenty of sun and a slightly overcasted day right in the middle of the week so we could take a break from the sun and hit the local scene. Can’t wait to go back soon.

The garden is running at approximately 75% and we’ve been pulling produce from it since we’ve returned from vacation. We have had our first tomato’s and in less than a week, we’ll be making salsa and canning so they don’t go to waste. I’ve also harvested all the garlic. See it in the garden photos below.

The banana trees, fruit trees, grapes and berries are all doing well. The peach tree has been a total wuss this year. Had to cure it of peach leaf curl first thing this spring and I had it pumping out the serious foliage since then. However, it seems to have another “leaf dropping” ailment that I’m still diagnosing, but I’m not worried. The goal is to get a good year of green growth this year. My cherry trees are going nuts. They look text-book healthy. All for now.

Michigan City (Northern IN at Southern tip of Lake Michigan)

July 2009 Photos

For us, spring is a busy time of the year, not just with all the work and school stuff going on, but the needs of the garden, grapes and other horticultural rituals we love to do. There is grape pruning, garden tilling, seed planting and bringing out the banana plants. I have a habit of propagating anything I prune off my grapevines and jade plants even if it is to hand out to friends. I’m not yet sure of the significance to me of why I do it, but maybe it’s just a friendship thing… from our house to yours. If that grapevine takes off and becomes something significant, someone might say, “we got that from the Morgan ranch back in the spring of ’09.”

Hannah did her school play “Jack and the Beanstalk” and we’ve already been down to Louisville the weekend of the Kentucky Derby to make derby pie with Andy and Debbie… who by the way, made it up the very next weekend to do the canoe and camp trip.

From the wildlife, flora and fauna in our back yard… to the images of all things renewed, Spring just rocks.

We shook it up a little this year for Susan’s birthday. She usually likes to canoe and camp on her birthday and we usually go to the Brookville location. This year, we tried the Ft. Ancient location since it has been so long since we visited there. We also wanted to pay our visit to the June Morgan River Sanctuary.

It was good to see all my cousins and my uncle Bob who I usually only see during the holidays or other significant gatherings. We stayed in the cabins at Riverside Campground and the place looked beautiful. Upon arrival Lori was weeding the flower beds and Dirk was making picnic tables. It’s clear the Morgans go out of their way to provide a fun-filled experience with the grounds pleasing to the eye and hospitality equal to down south.

We were driven up the river to put in at the Livery. Cousin Randy opened the door of the van and greeted us while Gary gave us a tour of the livery and the upstairs museum. I’m so glad my family are the chief proprietors around these parts. They have collected knowledge of the area and responsibly documented it as well as organized fossils, points, stones and other artifacts for display and education. The Morgans truly are the keepers of this land and river.

The canoe trip was as scenic as ever. We stopped at June’s Sanctuary and talked about her pioneering the efforts to clean up this once polluted river. The weather was beautiful and we soaked in the scenery and even caught some turtles basking in the sun on a log (see pictures).

After the trip, I ran into my uncle Bob at Riverside campground and got to catch up and update him on my dad. Then, Dirk showed us a tree that was leaning over a little too far so he jumped on the tractor and pulled it straight. Sunday morning, I watched (with some guilt) Dirk pounding rocks and dirt around the planter to stabilize the tree that we straightened the day before.

Later in the evening on Saturday, Dirk and Lori gave us a tour of their home and we finally got our glimpse of the famed turtle rock as well as the other awesome artifacts in Dirk’s personal collection. Later, they set up a corn-hole tournament at the campground that thoroughly entertained us and our guests. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to slow down and forget about work and responsibility and I want to thank my family for welcoming us and our visiting friends from Louisville and helping us forget about things for a while. For those of us over-worked and under-paid, it really goes a long way and means a lot. After our friends Andy and Debbie were stuck on I-71 for an hour and a half on their commute up on Saturday morning, it really meant a lot to them as well.