Michigan, Sunburns, and Toads

Michigan

I had an interesting thought strike me today. While on the way to the store, I saw a billboard advertising hiking up on the Upper Peninsula Michigan. Because I’m contemplating a trip out that way, I’d been checking out some maps and such of the area. Between the two, it struck me—how did UP Michigan end up as part of Michigan rather than Wisconsin? My husband said it was because of some political deal at some point in the past. He’s probably right. It still makes me wonder, though, how did that happen? Because it looks to me like Wisconsin got screwed. I know, these are some interesting questions that run through my mind all stemming from something as simple as a billboard I pass regularly.

Sunburns

Man did I sunburn myself a little over a week ago. We took our kayaks out for the first time. My husband and son had never been kayaking before and it had been over twenty years since I had. We had a blast spending the afternoon on the lake. Because I knew the sunburn factor would be high, I was careful to make sure we all had sunscreen on. So how did I end up seriously sunburned? Because I forgot to reapply the sunscreen after we had been out for a while. The result was that I sunburned my legs bad. One ankle swelled up and, after a week, my legs are just starting to peel. The lesson in this? I need to be a lot more careful about putting sunscreen on after I’ve been out for a while. For so many reasons, I don’t want to do this again.

Toads

The funniest thing happened today. My husband and I were outside doing some chores after we’d sent my son off on a trip with my mother. While I sat on the front step planting some flowers in hanging baskets, my husband got the garden hose out and started watering some other plants in the front garden. Suddenly something dark went scrambling in a panic directly under my feet. I about had a heart attack. Then I saw what went diving under my feet. A big toad. Now, I love toads, but I don’t appreciate when they scare the daylights out of me. I caught the toad and move him into a different part of the flower bed so it didn’t get hurt.