Episode 48: August 2009
Highlights of the month:
• Weekend in Holland/Saugatuck, Michigan;
• Deb’s week in Zurich;
• Weekend of kiteboarding lessons in Tawas, Michigan.
August’s weather this year was more unpredictable than either of us remember it being in the past in Michigan. The month of August during our last two summers was predictable: long sunny days, warm temperatures…the height of summer. This year, however, the summer season has been unpredictable, and August in particular brought unseasonably cold, rainy days. Unfortunately, most of these days came when we decided to take a few weekends away!
Our first getaway was a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip to some of our favorite cities along the west coast of Michigan: Holland and Saugatuck. We left work a little early on Friday and within 2.5 hours we were in the city of Grand Rapids where we stopped for dinner at one of our favorite tapas restaurants, San Chez. After dinner, we drove to the town of Holland where we stayed the night. The following morning, we explored downtown Hollard, which looked very different from the last time we visited when the town was adorned in tulips for their annual tulip festival. Within a few minutes of arriving downtown, the skies opened and it literally poured with rain nonstop for the rest of the day. Undeterred, we pushed ahead and enjoyed strolling around the farmers market and the unique local shops before heading to the next city of Saugatuck, a gorgeous coastal town that comes alive in the summer months, even on the most rainy days like the day we were there. We enjoyed a nice long lunch in Saugatuck and explored some more on foot before deciding to head home rather than stay another night, given the weather.
The following week, I headed off for a business trip to Zurich, Switzerland. I made it there in time for my best friend, Maria’s, birthday and was excited to spend that day with her doing my very favorite things: walking the streets of Zurich, window shopping, and stopping for the occasional coffee and catch-up with some other friends. Dad and Julie came over to Zurich on Sunday so we could spend the day together, and I got to catch up with my friend, Jen, Sunday night. The rest of the time, I was tied up in meetings and business dinners and, unfortunately, did not have enough time to catch up with everyone I would have liked to see. In contrast to Michigan, Zurich was experiencing a true heat wave, with temperatures hitting and remaining in the mid-30 degrees Celsius (high-90 degrees Fahrenheit). Apparently, since living in the U.S., I have become quite the diva and am now very much accustomed to air conditioning, so I did my fair share of sweating and sleeping badly while the temperatures refused to let up.
I returned home on Thursday night, making it to Midland in time for the special event of the month: a retirement dinner for my very dear mentor and the man that hired me into Dow, Ken Jewsbury. After a 42-year (!) career with Dow, Ken came to Michigan for the U.S. portion of his world tour/farewell gig (Ken lives in Shanghai), accompanied by his lovely wife, Elizabeth. We had a lovely dinner that was hosted by our CEO and was attended by about 25 people that Ken wanted to see before he left. People honored him with stories about the impact he has had on them and their careers, all of which were very touching.
The following morning, we got up early and hit the road for the town of Tawas, located along the east coast of Michigan, where we met up with friends, Craig, Yvonne, Ed, and Michelle, for a weekend of kiteboarding lessons on Lake Huron. Unbeknownst to us until that weekend, Michigan is known for being a kiteboarding hotspot, given its huge lakes and ever-present winds that sweep across the water. We came to learn from our instructors, Mark and Kyle, that there is a whole kiteboarding sub-culture across the state. Unfortunately for us, this was yet again another weekend where the weather was uncooperative, which dampened (literally and figuratively) our plans of joining the kiteboarding movement. On Saturday, the weather was not so lousy – mostly cloudy and a little cold, but there were a few moments of sunshine. Unfortunately, there was no wind at all, which meant we could not have our lessons as planned (kiting without wind = forget about it). Instead, we played around for a while on some of the instructors’ other toys, and took a particular liking to the paddle board. We then boarded Ed and Michelle’s boat and watched them do a bit of wakeboarding. From there, we headed to our cabin and played beach volleyball and threw around a frisbee for a few hours before cooking dinner, telling stories and playing cards into the late hours of the evening.
The next morning, we got up and bravely headed back to the beach where we intended to resume lessons. The wind was marginally better, but it was very cloudy and the temperature had dropped another few degrees. The lake water was near freezing, which made it terribly uncomfortable to be in the water for more than 30 minutes or so at a time. Still, we managed to learn how to set up the kite, fly the kite on the beach, and get dragged through the water by the kite. Unfortunately, the weather did not hold up enough for us to try strapping the board onto our feet and seeing if we could put it all together. Although we are far from being kiteboarders, we had a great weekend away with friends and will definitely take another lesson when the weather is more cooperative.
As usual, we also managed to fit in a few more events during the month. We celebrated our friend, Carlo’s, half-century (50th) birthday, which he did in true Aussie style, complete with party pies. We also had some one-on-one time with Ken and Elizabeth before they headed back to Sydney via Shanghai to begin retirement. Also, work and community activity picked up again this month as most people were back from their summer vacations. Between fundraisers for Big Brothers Big Sisters, work dinners, and our regular after work activities, August came and went before we knew it.
Looking back, it was a busy, but productive, month. We hope September holds the same…and some better weather!
