Monday, August 22, 2022
For the first time in three years I boarded an airplane. I wore a mask in the airports and on the planes. I do not want to catch Covid.
First airplane.
Plane tickets are ridiculous. I had to fly into Detroit, rented the cheapest car (a Mitsubishi that blew around in the wind and got terrible gas mileage). And drove to my sister Susan's house.
She was attending a concert. I discovered the black raspberry bushes behind her house at delicious blackberries on them. I also discovered her septic tank was backed up.
Black raspberries.
She still has Mother's 16 or 17-year-old toy poodle Darby. The poor thing is blind and pees everywhere.
Homer, Susan, and Darby.
I ended up renting a hotel in the middle of the woods near my brother's house. It was like a serial killer hotel, but I got to see deer and turkeys and enjoyed the AC.
We went often to Tractor Supply, where I bought horse medicine, dog and cat food, and some clothes. I was naughty and snuck this picture of my Amish brother getting into the tiny red car. I chose a red car since it was easy to find in parking lots.
Amish brother.
We went to Oakwood Cemetery and looked at tombstones. This is my great great grandparents'. He was a Civil War soldier.
Philip David Feiger and Julia Ana (Krauth) Feiger tombstone.
He has a mulberry tree next to his house and I enjoyed eating mulberries right off the tree.
Mulberries.
My brother joined the Amish church in 1996. Below is a panorama of his house, not wired for electricity but with a bathroom with water pumped by his windmill.
Brother's house, click on photo to enlarge.
It was the tail end of cherry season. I bought one batch that was really good, and one batch that had good ones on top and mediocre ones hiding below.
Mediocre cherries.
I had gone back to Michigan to attend Uncle Phillip's funeral/memorial. I had to buy a last-minute tie.
First tie in three years.
Perry Hannah house.
Lots of relatives showed up. Aunt Judy said, "You don't look like Homer." I said, "I'm bald and fat now." Sisters Elizabeth and Susan, brother-in-law Jeff. My Amish brother could not come because of the military aspect of the event. Cousins Deb, Andy, Fred, Janeen, James, Richard, Tim, Marcia, and Edna (I had not met her). As well as various spouses and children. I always enjoy talking to my Ransom relatives and when I got back to Michigan I sent them the family history I had put together. Deb, Fred, Richard, and Peter told stories. Members of the American Legion fired a salute (Phillip had been in the Marines).
Afterward Susan and I drove to the cemetery. There Phillip's urn was placed in a plastic casket, lowered into the earth, and we sprinkled soil on him.
At the cemetery. Sister Elizabeth is in the red shirt, with brother-in-law Jeff next to her.
At the Amish store where my brother works I bought a bunch of jams and some granola for Matt at the general store. Lee works in the Produce store down the driveway.
Produce store.
At the back of the produce store is the ice room. They cut the ice on nearby ponds in the winter and it keeps things frozen and cold all year long.
Ice house room.
On the way back to the airport I stopped at Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. I noticed the nativity out front did not have a Black king (all three were very white).
Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.
The interior is enormous with areas with specialized ornaments. Penguins! Food! Unicorns! I bought a rhino and a Santa baker in the clearance section. Still a little pricy.
Bronner's interior, click to enlarge.
I made in back to Tucson safely. I did not catch Covid despite not wearing a mask in most places (hardly anyone does up there). It was a nice trip.
