A Michigan Holiday

My week in Charlotte, MI was straight out of a winter-tale storybook. We opened presents under the Christmas tree, sang carols, and ate a few Christmas goodies that Nathan's mom and sister had baked themselves.

Nathan's family has lived in Michigan all their lives, and they live smack dab in the middle of the hand-shaped state. Contrary to popular assumption, they are not working farmers. They do, however, own lots of beautiful land (12 acres!), and most of their neighbors are farmers. From their house, you can see lots of different crops going every which way (now covered with snow). There's even a farm with a few tall dairy silos down the lane. I say lane, not street, because the road to their house is not paved.

I was very excited to experience my first white christmas, complete with a beautiful homegrown blue spruce christmas tree (when Nathan was very young, his parents planted a bunch of spruces to sell during the X-mas seasons). Here are a few shots of Nathan's family and their tree:


From l to r: Rachel, Joe, Melissa, Jason, me and Nathan


The Whitakers have a couple of ponds on their land, and when they're frozen over, you can ice skate on them. When they were younger, Nathan and his siblings would skate on their ponds, as well as on their grandma's (she lived 5 miles away). While charmed by the idea of skating on a private pond not owned by Donald Trump, my non-Midwestern senses were alarmed by the possibility of me drowning in icy waters.

Hence, Jason, Nathan and I headed over to the Michigan State University hockey rink. During certain hours, the enormous rink is open for public skating, and its spacious icy surface is perfect for beginning skaters like me. Plenty of room to wobble and fall down without getting in other people's way. The last time I skated was almost 2 years ago in Central Park, so I think I did pretty well, especially since it was only my 2nd time ever.

The great Zamboni

Holdin' the wall (just in the beginning!)

Skating, happy people


All in all, I had a good, low-key vacation, and it was nice getting to know Nathan's family and their friends a little better.