Rain Days 6/24/2011

WE HAVE A WINNER for the “Mystery Spot” contest at the end of this post. The winner is Tina Fiste from Michigan.  Her correct response was “the flower boxes that line the Grand Hotel porch”. She answered at 12:36 a.m. Friday morning. Scroll to the bottom for the full photo of the Mystery Spot.

When I decided to post every night this week, I was thinking I’d still have plenty to write about when Thursday night rolled around.  After all, even if the Lilac Festival was over, there’s always something going on somewhere on Mackinac.  The crowded streets thinned out quickly Sunday after the parade, and those who didn’t leave the island that day were on the Monday morning ferries.  Everyone downtown was talking about what a great festival it was.  After a really cool, really wet spring and summer beginning, the good Lord smiled down on the island and gave us 10 days of perfect temperatures, sunny skies, and beautiful flowers.  Visitors were estatic, and so were shop, restaurant, and hotel owners.  The Carriage Tour wagons were filled with tourists, people were riding the livery horses, private carriages were busy – it was just a stellar festival.

Then Monday arrived, and weather forecasts predicted a week of rain and cool temps.  And they were so right!

When I left for work at the museum Tuesday morning, it was threatening rain.  Ted said he thought I’d make it home before the rain began, and I was hoping he was right.  The museum was really busy that day, and several blog readers came by, which I always love.

Kathy and Patti from Buffalo, NY. came in to say hello. Kathy took the photo.

 

 

About an hour later, these three sisters from Milwaukee stopped by. Laurine, Jeanine, and Brenda (a name I can finally REMEMBER) visit the island annually as a tribute to their dad, who brought them to Mackinac every summer. They were a hoot and didn't want their photo taken (I insisted). I finally went out on the street and kidnapped a tourist to take this pic.

By 2 p.m. the skies were getting dark, and I hurriedly went to the post office, bought a newspaper for Ted, and crossed to the taxi stand.  I didn’t want to take a chance on getting caught in a storm halfway up the hill.  I boarded with eight ladies going to the Grand, then we picked up two more Grand passengers before we got off Main Street.  That taxi was FULL!  We started for the Grand, with thunder booming and lightning flashing all around.  Everyone made it into the Grand dry, leaving only myself and the taxi driver.  I went ahead and paid the driver before we left the Grand porch, so I wouldn’t have to do that in the rain when we reached the condo (you learn these little things by living here).  As we made the turn at the end of the Grand porch, the skies opened.  I was sitting behind the taxi driver in the front seat, and we commented how lucky we were the rain was coming straight down instead of blowing into the taxi.  We chatted all the way up the hill, and I jumped off and made it in still relatively dry.

And so began the rain days.

Wednesday morning - 9 a.m. Even in this downpour, the carriages were full of island visitors taking tours.

 

Wednesday evening - around 8 p.m. - still raining, still windy. The fog horns began blowing around noon. I never got out of the condo OR my pj's all day. I loved it!

 

 

Thursday - more of the same - but Carriage Tours is still doing a booming business.

 

Ted left for work at noon today, and I did finally change out of my pajamas to take Maddie and Bear out.  Maddie is not fond of “going” in the rain.  Once she realizes the grass is wet, she prances around like a miniature horse, lifting each paw high off the wet ground until she finds a relatively grassless area to do her business.  Bear, on the other hand, runs out and immediately rolls around in the wet grass, getting thoroughly soaked and loving every moment of it, until he has to come into our tiny “mudroom” and stand still while I dry him off.

 

So . . . that’s been the week since Sunday’s parade – not a lot of news.  But you know what?  I really needed this week of rain.  When it’s raining, I don’t feel compelled to go out with my camera, and with Dudley (my sleep apnea mask) and I still working on our sleeping arrangements, a few days of rest was just what the doctor ordered.  The last two nights have gone better, by the way.  I’ve gone right to sleep, and even though I threw Dudley out of bed at 2:30 Tuesday night and 3:15 Wednesday night, that’s at least making progress.  Yeah!!!

 

The rain is supposed to be out of here by the weekend, and we’re all looking forward to that.  There are several events coming up on Saturday, and I hope to be there to cover and share them with you on Monday morning.  I WON’T be posting anything new on Saturday or Sunday this week.  I’m going to take a little break from writing, and you readers could probably use a break also – you’ve done a LOT of reading this week!  However, I WILL be posting the winner for the Mystery Spot  – WHATEVER day that may be.

 

Before I get to the Mystery Spot, I have a funny story to tell you.  Remember the fire we had in our stove on Monday evening?  Remember I talked about Ted bringing the steak back in the house, where I cut off the charred edges and ate the remaining PERFECTLY cooked middle of the steak? 

 

Well – yesterday Smi, one of the firefighters who came to the house, emailed me the photos of our fire . . .

 

Here's our stove after Ben, another firefighter, pulled the pan out and took it downstairs.

 

 

Here's another firefighter standing in our hallway - pretty smoky, huh?

 

 

 

And here's what they did with the steak when they got it outside. Now when Ted went outside, the steak was back on the rack, and the rack was back in the pan. He never knew it was on the ground. Does everyone find that as amusing as Ted did when he saw this photo??? Oh well, it was still a darn good steak!

 

 

THE MYSTERY SPOT

 

Time for the Mystery Spot Contest for this week! The object is to be the first to identify where the object is located. When you think you have the answer, email me at brendasumnerhorton@hotmail.com. I’ll check my email several times a day, and as soon as we have a winner, I’ll post the winner’s name at the top of this blog so you can stop guessing, AND I’ll post the full photo of the mystery spot at the bottom of the blog with the answer. Is there a prize for the winner – yes there is; but the prize is secret, and the only ones who will know what it is are the winners. To be fair, I’m asking residents of Mackinac Island to please NOT guess. This is just for readers who don’t live here . . . but would like to! And the Mystery Spot is . . . .

Where is it?

Again, please email your answers to me at brendasumnerhorton@hotmail.com. PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER IN THE “COMMENTS” SECTION OF THE BLOG.

 

Remember, I’ll post the winner as soon as I get one, but no other postings until Monday – for this week only.

 

Have a fantastic weekend, and God bless.

 

MYSTERY SPOT ANSWER

 

Each of the geranium flower boxes that line the Grand Hotel porch are exactly the same. They were built many years ago by our neighbor "Duck" Andress.