Dear Old Dad

My father Tharel Thurman Kanitz was born on December 16, 1907 in Douglas County, Illinois. He died November 24, 1999 at the age of 91, just a couple of weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. Today would have been his 98th birthday, had he lived. Mother has outlived him by almost six years so far.

Tomorrow is Dylan's 8th birthday. Dylan was born on December 17th, 1997, the day after Dad turned 90 years old. If he had been born on Dad's birthday, Laurie would have named him Dylan Thurman in honor of Dad. Dylan was really smart to wait an extra day, and to become Dylan Patrick!

Family Day at Concord Place

The day begins with an appointment to see Dr. Burke (the world's best doctor). He listened agreeably to my list of complaints (he's such a good listener), and came up with two immediate solutions and one wait and see. I'm going for an MRI next Tuesday and I have one new temporary prescription. Thanks Dr. Burke. Even if I don't feel so well when I enter his office, I always feel a lot better when I leave.

Jim came up this morning to have lunch with Mother and to exchange Christmas gifts. We met at Mother's and exchanged the gifts. Ho Ho Ho! It was good to see him and we all had a good time talking about the grandchildren. He has me outnumbered two to one. Somehow, our family managed to get the cutest, most intelligent, and funniest grandchildren. We're so lucky! Mother seemed to be holding up well. Jim looks great.

O Tannenbaum

Time to decorate the Christmas tree. Thank goodness that last year we bought a new ornament storage system. It made it so much easier to select the ornaments - some ornaments come out year after year, and some only get selected occasionally. The tree is just the right size to hold all of my favorite ornaments without having to use a lot of "fillers". I'm happy with the way it looks, and so by lunch time, we are all decorated for Christmas. Dick was working at the Agency during the decorating. Luckily Jana called and so I had a family feeling talking to her and placing ornaments at the same time. What I really wanted was the whole family to be there, plus a glass of egg nog.

There's always a line at the Barlow Post Office. Even when it isn't the Christmas season, there's a line. Today I was only in line for 15 minutes, with my two packages and 10 DVD envelopes. People are pretty much in a holiday mood, so it wasn't an unpleasant line as it sometimes is. The amazing thing about the Post Office is how much the postage has gone up. One box for Florida was $12.00 and the other was $13.00. Shipping charges are actually cheaper on the internet, believe it or not!

Nice visit with Mother today - we gave out our little personalized angels to the staff, and everybody was happy to get them. Mother felt good about having something to give. The staff is getting smaller and smaller, but I hear that they are training a new person, so that will be a help. They never really run out of caretakers because of being attached to the nursing home - it's a 96 bed nursing home, so they have tons of staff. Mother and I had a good visit. She's adamant about not coming home for Christmas - she just wants to stay where she is. She also doesn't want us to bring her Christmas dinner. She's always afraid of being too much bother....as if.

GeoFriends

This has been a most enjoyable day. It all began at breakfast with Whitard and family at the Omelette Shoppe. The girls are as sweet as ever; polite, friendly, and fun. It was great to touch base with them all again, and next time it'll be our treat!

After breakfast, we were off to Luzerne for the NMG December Meet and Greet. We got there a little bit early so there was time to look for a cache, and wouldn't you know, ABX Guy and Trashcan were heading in the same direction. The wives waited in the car and the men went off to hunt the treasure. We heard great stories from Mrs. ABX Guy about her office Christmas party at Crystal Mountain the night before. Those people really know how to put on a party! I was totally in awe. While we were sitting there, Captain Bud and CachetoGo arrived and went on down the path.

The Meet and Greet was at Ma Deeter's (can you believe it?). Dick described it as a typical northern Michigan bar. Well....it was a far cry from Crystal Mountain! We had a nice lunch, interesting conversation, gift exchange, raffle, baby-admiring, new friends, and a good time.

We had an Afterglow at DinoDuo's cabin on the Manistee River. Debriefing and apple pie, plus so many Christmas items on display - I think that Susie should open a gift shop! As we left, it began to snow, but we had an uneventful ride home.

It was a day to remember.

Hagerty Center Redux

Errands to do in town this morning - Post Office to mail Christmas things, Alfie's to pick up the quilt squares, Tom's to get birthday cards for Dylan, and the drugstore. Then up to see Mother for a quick visit, and home to get ready for the best Holiday party.

Every year we look forward to the Visitor Center Christmas Party. This year it was at the Hagerty Center. (It seems that every event in Traverse City is held at the Hagerty Center! Where did we all go to celebrate before this beautiful building was here?)

We had delicious hors d'oeuvres, wine, soft drinks, desserts, coffee, and also live music by Laurie Sears. It was as tastefully done as it always is. It was great fun to talk to Nancy and Ann, Pam, Karen, and Kathee, Jim and Katie, and all. Thank you Kathee for another memorable party and for all of the kind words.

Double Your Pleasure

Dick was invited to do two presentations today. I was the lucky one, going along for the ride and just being a spectator. The Long Lakers Senior Citizens group was meeting at the Friends Church, and we didn't know it, but it was their Annual Christmas Dinner event. We knew we had been invited for "lunch" but we had no idea it would involve ham, and about eleven different home made casseroles. It was very yummy. There were approximately 30 people there, and Dick made his usual great presentation. This particular group seemed to have fewer questions than other groups, which means that either they are fully informed, or that they don't know enough about the subject to know what questions to ask. It was a delightful group. We sat with Rex, who was full of good stories and kept us entertained and amused.

The second presentation was at 6 p.m. at the Empire Methodist Church. We pulled up to the church, and it was totally dark, with an empty parking lot. At first we thought maybe that it had been called off, or that we had the wrong time - but eventually, people began to trickle in, unlock the building and turn on the lights. This time there were about 65 people there - some seemed quite knowledgeable already - but I'm sure that Dick was able to clear up lots of doubts and questions. They served cookies, brownies, and great coffee.

Simon the Scholar

Northwestern Michigan College every year offers a Genevieve Steiger Richardson Scholarship set up by Dick and Doug after Mother Gen's death. Today the College held its Annual Scholarship luncheon to honor donors and scholars alike. This year, our scholar is Simon, who is in pre-engineering. We always enjoy meeting the other donors, but especially meeting the students - who seem to be getting younger every year!

The luncheon was held at the Hagerty Center at the new Maritime Academy Building. It's always well done and this year was no exception. The best part is always the conversation.

Marian's Cards

Mother and I had a great time this morning addressing her Christmas cards and getting them ready for the mail. It was fun creating the list of people to whom she wants to send cards.

She's so amusing sometimes - there's one neighbor that she didn't want to send a card to because "She'll feel like she has to bake cookies and come to visit!" Well, to me, that would be a good reason to send a card! I never have understood my mother completely.

Anyway, it was a most enjoyable visit. Dick dropped me off and went to the barber shop. We mailed the cards on the way home. Merry Christmas to a select few from Marian.

Mall and St. Francis

I had a great time shopping at Target this morning - no kidding. I bought some more Christmas wrappings and decorations for the tree. I enjoy seeing all of the beautiful things that are available these days.

I was finished just in time to go catch Dick's presentation at St. Francis. We estimated 75 people were there. There were a lot of intelligent questions, which was refreshing. Many of the audience were quite assertive in their manner, which just shows how important these presentations are.

St. Francis has a parish nurse who arranged the meeting. She and her husband were very complimentary to Dick. When the meeting was over, Dick had a long line of folks with individual questions - I'm sure he was very helpful to them.

MIGO NL December M&G

OK - I'll translate: Michigan Geocaching Organization Northern Lower Meet and Greet. Whew! That's why they use initials. The Meet and Greet was at the Hillcrest Restaurant in Cadillac, and I think that over 35 people were there. We love the Hillcrest anyway, so we were especially happy to be there. We met some new friends - Frank and Peggy and the photobugs, and lightning striker - and enjoyed seeing the old friends - coychev, sandrich, sleepy weasel, abx guy and trashcan, etc. We guessed how many M&Ms were in the jar (we were way off), we won some jade in the raffle (really nice), exchanged travel bugs, and just generally smoozed.

During the day we did seven caches, including the event. My favorite was at Lake City - Dick's favorite was koda's ASCII puzzle cache because he spent all yesterday morning figuring it out at the Visitor Center.

It was our favorite kind of day.

Hard Workin' Guy

Dick's Day:

First he ran the snowblower and cleared out the driveway. Schools were cancelled today, and we had a ton of snow.

From 10 until 1:30 he was volunteering at the Visitor Center helping Kathee and figuring out some puzzle caches.

After that there were errands to run, including the library. At 3 p.m. he had an appointment to have snow tires put on the Subaru. It took forever. He got home at 5:30.

Meanwhile, I was doing all the housewifely things - laundry, vacuuming, wrapping Christmas presents, playing Pogo, and watching The Guiding Light (of course). I felt like I had accomplished a lot today until I realized all of the things that Dick did!

East Jordan

Dick had a Medicare presentation at East Jordan High School at 6 p.m. We left around 4 p.m. and the driving was a little slow because of some freezing precipitation - it wasn't too bad, but it did slow us down a bit. We had planned to eat out before the presentation, but we didn't have enough time, so we decided to just grab a bite on the way home.

East Jordan High School is a beautiful new facility. We were impressed with the architecture, and cleanliness, the displays, and the spaciousness. The meeting was in the auditorium, and there were about 60 people there. Dick did his usual terrific job of presenting very difficult material. He is so relaxed and natural and full of common sense. He has a great delivery - his projection is great, and his personality is perfect for putting people at ease. I know that when people left, they understood a lot more about the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit. I know from overhearing some folks on the way out that they have a plan now, a strategy about what to do and how to accomplish it.

We ended up eating at Schelde's in Traverse City - had great Reuben sandwiches.

Mac and Chee

Today we went to the Old Mission Peninsula Wineries' Annual Macaroni and Cheese Bake-Off and Wine Tasting. Whew - that's a mouthful! (So to speak.) We stopped first at Chateau Chantal,probably because it's our favorite. We tasted the Late Harvest Reisling and the Nice Red, and then headed to the "breakfast room" for the Mac and chee. The restaurants represented were Trillium, and two others that I'll remember in a minute! The one in the middle had the best Mac and chee. We left with a case of wine, half Reisling and half Nice Red.

Next was a new winery called Brys Cellars. They have a lovely setting and a beautiful new facility. The wine-tasting counter was full, so we headed right to the Mac and chee and great news for us, the wine-maker himself was serving at a table along the line. We tasted Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay. The restaurants were Peninsula Grill and the NMC Culinary Institute. The Grill served fantastic Mac and chee - it was now #1 in my book. The Institute was very creative and served Reuben Mac and Chee complete with Russian dressing. I discovered that I'm a traditionalist.

Off to Bowers Harbor Winery, where they had already run out of Mac and chee. But we got a good spot at the tasting counter, and I asked for something sweet and white. I got something called Cooper and it was really good - a lot like Reisling, but with a bit of a bite. Dick went for more gewurtztraminer. We left with 2 bottles of Cooper and 2 bottles of champagne for the holidays.

Last we stopped in at Chateau Grand Traverse, another of our favorites. It was very crowded, so we went directly to the Mac and chee. The restaurants were Stella and Windows. Stella won, hands down. They had a goat cheese Mac and chee with crushed biscotti mixed in - wow, it was good. It had a pleasant spicy tang it was really good. The two I liked best at the end of the day were the Peninsula Grill and Stella, and one had fine bread crumbs and the other had the crushed biscotti - so the next time I make macaroni and cheese, guess what I'm going to try.

Turkey Blizzard

Yes, it was a blizzard, not a gizzard (feeble attempt at humor). We've seen worse, but the roads were bad - very slippery. We spent a nice day with Mother - brought her a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and she gobbled it up. (sorry) She enjoys watching football as long as she can stay awake.

Today she was interested in recent happenings among the Concord Place staff - 2 people have quit and the Director is on vacation until Monday. Ann was offered the full time position, and Marla was offended. These gals are all great with the residents, but they seem to be having troubles amongst themselves. As long as Mother is well cared for.....

Shop Til You Drop

I had such fun shopping today - even though most of it was at Walmart. I know, I know, we're supposed to be boycotting Walmart because of their treatment of immigrant employees, and their general overall treatment of their "associates" - lack of benefit packages, etc. I know.

But they had everything I wanted all in one place, and the prices really are good. Among other things, I bought three seasonal tops for Mother so that she can be celebratory in assisted living. I bought some more envelopes for sending Kanitz Family Tree Books, because the requests keep rolling in. And then I went across the street to Catherine's and bought a new casual coat - just what I wanted.

Mother and I had a nice visit, and she appreciated having the new tops.

Frederick Todd Geib was born Nov. 20, 2005 - 7lbs 9oz, 20 inches long. He was born at 10:40 p.m. and he'll be called Fritz. His lucky parents are Todd and Stacey. The baby is my first cousin twice removed, and Mother's great-grandnephew. Got that?

Home Again

We went out to breakfast with Sniders - it was enjoyable, as always. We've decided not to exchange Christmas gifts anymore because they now have 4 grandchildren and one more on the way. I'm sure they would rather buy gifts for the kids! I know I would!

It was an uneventful drive home. This time we just headed up I-75 and went directly home - no geocaching or major stops. I must admit that I slept most of the way. During one of my naps Dick reported seeing 25+ deer strapped onto the southbound cars and trucks.

Took the turkey out of the freezer.

Oops!

We had a rather hazardous drive downstate yesterday - the weather was snowy and blowy all the way to Mt. Pleasant. There was bumper to bumper traffic for some reason, and we were alongside when someone in the outside lane rear-ended the car in front of him. Dick pulled over to the shoulder, and it's a good thing, too, because the car behind the rear-ender pulled over into our lane. We just sat there for a few seconds, and then re-entered the bumper to bumper traffic. It was not our best travel day.

Bill made us a big breakfast this morning and we were off to the "Greatest Rivalry in College Football". Actually, it seems that there are 4 or 5 other "Greatest Rivalries", but this one is ours. During the game I was confident that we would win. Everything seemed to be going our way - fumble recoveries, turnovers, questionable calls, etc. And our team seemed to be scoring and defending in the best possible way. But then with 53 seconds left on the clock, everything went south, and OSU pulled it out to tie for the Big Ten Championship with Penn State. We were so disappointed - being a Michigan fan is a little bit like riding an out-of-control roller coaster.

Saw Rick before the game, and he gave me the pages of family history that he had sent me by email, but were too large to be workable. It was fun to see him - and I think it's a minor miracle to run into him amidst the swarming 111,599 others who were there!

When we got back to Canton, we all watched State lose to Penn State. Heavy Sigh.

We're Off to Beat Ohio

As we prepare to leave for the Ohio State game, I leave you with this:


Oh, how we hate Ohio State

Maize & Blue aim to make blasted Buckeyes red with embarrassment

By Bob Wojnowski / The Detroit News

The Big Game

Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor

ANN ARBOR -- Uh-oh, here they come again, loaded for beer, spittin' passion. According to my sources in law enforcement, Buckeyes began streaming across the border at midweek, clogging rest areas and hourly rate motels. At this very moment, local convenience stores are calling for emergency supplies of Slim Jims and pickled eggs.

Perhaps you've seen them around town, their eyes as glazed as their doughnuts. If so, approach with caution, because these are not the beaten-down folks of a few years ago, back when Michigan regularly drummed Ohio State in a rivalry we truly love, and occasionally fear.

The Buckeyes are back. That's a statement, and also a warning. They've beaten the Wolverines three of the past four years and are favored to do it again Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

Listen. Nothing in the sports world matches Ohio State-Michigan for high stakes, unfiltered intensity and pure pageantry. I mean, there's no greater spectacle than when the Ohio State marching band clambers onto that field and desperately tries to spell out script O-H-O-I.

But let me be honest with you, just this once. I'm concerned some people take the rivalry a bit too far. (Not me!)

For the purposes of this column, I loosely define "some people" as "drunken Buckeyes."

You might recall Ohio State once had a fine coach by the name of John Cooper who won lots and lots of games. But astute Buckeyes fans noticed he was 2-10-1 against the Wolverines and demanded he be fired.

Cooper was replaced by Jim Tressel, who somehow is 3-1 against Michigan's Lloyd Carr despite wearing the geekiest sweater vest you've ever seen. We're never sure if Tressel is coaching football or teaching fifth-grade math. Put a sweatshirt on, man.

Almost immediately, Tressel swiped some of Michigan's trademark arrogance without even asking. When he arrived, he began counting down the days to Ohio State's first visit to Ann Arbor. Then he had the audacity to win that game. Later, he hired, er, signed a running back by the name of Maurice Clarett and won a national title.

Quickly, the Buckeyes' obsession returned, and things really got nasty last year in Columbus (city slogan: "$#@& Michigan"). Before the game, in an incident I'm not making up, bomb-sniffing dogs were set loose on Michigan's equipment truck. Michigan coaches and players were searched before security let them in, confident they weren't hiding a creative game plan.

It was stupid and patently disrespectful, and Ohio State officials knew it, once it was explained to them what "patently" meant. I have no idea what retaliation Michigan is planning, although I've heard rumors of rubber gloves and needle-nosed pliers.

Maybe it's time for the Wolverines to crank up the gamesmanship before Carr gets turned into Cooper before our eyes. The Buckeyes long have treated this rivalry more rabidly than the Wolverines, going back to the days when Woody Hayes refused to mention Michigan by name, calling it, according to my memory, "that far superior school up north."

I'm not sure why this passion deficit exists, but it does. Maybe Michigan fans simply have other distractions in their lives, like dealing with Michigan State fans or running major corporations.

Now don't get me wrong. The Wolverines relish the rivalry and are hardly blameless in fostering ill will. While Buckeyes take pride in making Ohio Stadium the noisiest, most profane place imaginable, Michigan fans have been known to violently shush people. Michigan officials even introduced this week something called "Values for the Victors," a sportsmanship initiative designed to squelch bad behavior, on the field and in the stands.

(Note to our Buckeyes friends: This has nothing to do with your visit this week. Noooo. Nothing at all. Please drop the broken beer bottle and step away.)

(Note to everyone else: When they're riled, it's best to Taser them in the buttocks.)

I know, I know. I sound like a biased whiner. Hey, it's my job. But for more evidence of poor behavior, I found numerous stories of Texas fans complaining about mistreatment in Columbus, after the Longhorns beat the Buckeyes this season. Ohio State's president (yes, they have one) even apologized. One of Ohio State's own, tight end Ryan Hamby, said he received hate e-mails after dropping a potential touchdown pass in the game.

Speaking of that, to stem the deluge of perky messages from Buckeyes fans, the address at the end of this column will accept e-mails only from those who affix 37-cent stamps. So don't even try to send one without the postage! Also, before you ask, I'm not nearly limber enough to put my head where you think it belongs.

I'm here to study the Buckeyes, not denigrate them. Remember, this whole Michigan-Ohio battle started way back in 1835 when the states actually fought over Toledo, true story. Ohio won but took Toledo anyhow. In exchange, Michigan got the Upper Peninsula, Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard and four free passes to Cedar Point.

It's really not surprising that so many Ohio youngsters, such as Heisman Trophy winners Woodson and Howard, dream of coming to Michigan. This year's Michigan roster lists 11 kids who escaped Ohio, while Ohio State has one from Michigan. We won't mention his name in case his family doesn't know.

To be fair, when the Buckeyes got sick of losing, they did turn to quarterback Craig Krenzel, from Michigan's Utica Ford High, to lead them to that completely untainted national title. See, we can help each other, once we understand each other. That's why I'm here, to educate.

For instance, in case Ohioans didn't know, these are the three biggest industries in Michigan:

• Making automobiles.

• Pretending to fix the roads.

• Repossessing automobiles.

In case Michiganians didn't know, these are the three biggest industries in Ohio:

• Giving out speeding tickets to Michigan drivers.

• Recycling tobacco tins.

• Fixin' their trucks.

There. Doesn't it feel like we're getting along better already?

As for the game itself, well, it's still huge, even though Michigan spent the first half of the season playing patty-cake with opponents. Now, if Michigan wins and Michigan State does its big brother a favor and somehow doesn't lose by nine touchdowns to Penn State (ha, good one!), the Wolverines (7-3) become Big Ten champs.

After years of Wolverine dominance, we do find the Buckeyes (8-2) and their newly frothing passion fascinating, if a bit startling. But historically, this rivalry is more about the underdog than the bomb-sniffing dog. For the sake of neighborly peace, it'd be best if Michigan restored order.

Pick: Michigan 23-20.

You can reach Bob Wojnowski, if you're nice, at bob.wojnowski@ detnews.com.

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The Detroit News.
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A Little Bit Dreary

We left Canton early, and did 7 caches on the way home. Dick had to do them by himself because a) I wasn't feeling well, b) some involved a lot of walking, and
c) the weather was miserable - dark, dreary, overcast and misty. But he did find seven caches, so he did well in spite of everything.

We ate lunch at Bennigan's in Big Rapids, one of our new favorite places...and while we were there, there was a power failure! What is it with us and restaurants losing their power? Shades of the Blackout at Hillcrest last week! Luckily, we were just finishing up when the power failed. We had wanted to fill the gas tank before we got back on the freeway, but with no power, the gas stations couldn't pump gas. So we drove off on the freeway keeping watch for signs of power - and Reed City had electricity, so we filled up and headed for home.

Traverse City had also experienced a wind storm and power failure. We had electricity by the time we got home, but no phone service. Our TV with TiVo was not working, so we felt lucky to have our computers up and running for logging caches and reading e-mail. Our neighbors suffered some tree damage, but nothing really serious. We haven't noticed any downed branches on our property.

Michigan vs. Indiana - the Creamed and Crimson

The final score was 41-14 - it was a most pleasant afternoon.

We enjoyed visiting with our stadium neighbors today. This season we are usually too busy biting our fingernails to carry on a conversation with anybody, so this was an enjoyable respite from football stress.

The only downside was that somehow our row was extremely overcrowded, and for most of the game we were practically immobilized by the crowding. You couldn't possibly even get a kleenex out of your pocket! I was poking my self with my own elbows! I'm sure that some of those folks were sitting in the wrong row.

This from mgoblue:

After Indiana scored a touchdown on its opening drive, No. 21 Michigan scored 41 unanswered points in the first half, including 27 in the second quarter, and breezed to a 41-14 victory on Saturday, Nov. 12, in Michigan Stadium. Kevin Grady rushed 14 times for 94 yards and two scores, Steve Breaston caught a touchdown pass and racked up 125 yards in return yardage, and Chad Henne was 17 for 24 passing for 174 yards and three TDs. The Wolverines (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten) host Ohio State next week in the regular-season finale.

Back at Snider's, Jan fixed dinner for us, and then she tried to teach me how to play Stellar Sweeper on Pogo. I had a hard time with it - my head just couldn't wrap around the concept!