Summer Time

Ahh, yes. To paraphrase Kid Rock "it's summertime in Michigan". While I firmly believe that Chicago is about the best city in America in the summertime, I also believe you can't beat a great Michigan vacation. Miles of beaches, great woods, fun and funky cities and towns along the way, water sports, fishing, boating, you name it, you can find it here in the state of two peninsulas.

Yup, in case your knowledge of geography is limited, Michigan has a Lower Peninsula and an Upper Peninsula. Those living in the UP are called, of course, Yoopers. Yoopers call those from the lower peninsula Trolls. See, the main route from lower to upper is the Mackinaw (Or Mackinac) Bridge, a 6 mile long suspension bridge connecting our state. Obviously if you live "under the bridge" you are a troll. People from the southern part of our state are also called "Fudgies" because of the great number who head up north and partake of the famous fudge confection.

I am a natural born Yooper. Born in Hancock, MI in the heart of the copper country, where for a time about 80 per cent of the world's copper came out of the ground near where I was born. I consider myself immune from Troll or Fudgie because of my UP birth.

Yoopers sound a lot like the folks from the movie Fargo, except the accent is more pronounced. I asked a Yooper what the weather was like and if I should visit in June or July. He answered, "Badder mayk it Chooly; der's a fuddasnow onda crown and annadder fudda wet snow comin' tonight." (Better make it July; there is a foot of snow on the ground and another foot of wet snow coming tonight. Classic Yooper.

Anyway, my lovely bride and I started in Chicago, her birthplace, to visit family and celebrate both our kid's graduations from college. We also met to celebrate my daughter's engagement, which is still very recent and very exciting. She's marrying the type of guy who actually came and asked my wife and I if we approved before asking her. It killed us to wait an entire 24 hours to find out. Another new chapter in our lives.

The two of us then spent the week touring the west coast of Michigan, from Bridgman and Douglas, Saugatuck and Grand Haven, Holland and Grand Rapids. Beaches, sun, fun, relaxation, hiking and (ugh) shopping. I tell you, when we vacation it's like we're just kids dating again. Good stuff.

I'll tell you what, too. When you look at Lake Michigan, sparkling like shimmering gold in the sunshine, with an endless horizon, waves washing up on white sandy beaches, you can't help but wonder how this beauty came to be. You know, when you look at a sculpture or painting, or magnificent sky-scraper, you think of the artist or architect or dreamer conceiving of the project, and then try to imagine all the work involved in moving from concept to finished product.

Why then, is it so hard for some to believe in a Creator who did indeed separate the day from night, the water from dry land, the One who hung the stars in the sky and called them by name, as it is written? If I see a car, I know many people were involved in the design and construction, from iron ore mines to steel plants to rubber tree farms, etc. If I see a billboard or television or laptop I know it did not just miraculously evolve from some smaller, less complicated sign, or machine, or whatever; no more than the skyscraper or painting came together on their own by some evolutionary process.

Why, then, when people look around at this magnificent Earth, at the diverse people, animals, landscapes and plants, do they think all this evolved from some "primordial stew"? (Thanks a lot, Carl Sagan). Doesn't it indeed take more faith than that of any Pentecostal Evangelical Born-Again Christian to believe in simple chance as to the birth of our very universe? Really, if I say OK, I believe in man's evolution from some amino-acid laced puddle in a newly formed world, how do you explain the difference between a Great Dane and a Chihuahua? How can you explain the difference between grass, corn, apple trees and Kentucky Blue?

Any way you slice it, the fingerprints of a single creator are all over this world, and all over us. It's just not cool to speak out on behalf of One God, the master creator of everything. There is no proof of an evolutionary process, that I'm aware of. There is lateral adaptation, as in the Galapagos Finch, which is still a finch. There is the salt-water swimming iguanas, which are still iguanas. I watch old movies, look at old pictures, heck, my family has pictures from the very dawn of photography. People still look like people, animals like animals and things really haven't changed too much.

Deep thoughts for summer vacation. It's amazing when you don't have to worry about work, or deadlines. When all you have to do is look at the world around you, it's people, plants, animals, lakes, oceans, etc., you really can see the workmanship of a Creator who desires you to be friends with Him. Try it, you'll like it. Happy Summer Vacation to all, wherever you are and whenever your summer is.