Road Trip!

 

Reason for trip: art show at Kalamazoo College

Since the return from Arizona in the spring of 2023, completing my first cross-country round-trip without the Artist, I have been pretty much a homebody here in northern Michigan. Except for a day trip to Cadillac last fall and Reed City this spring, and a quick dart as far south as Interlochen once or twice, I’ve mostly stayed put. Asked the other day if I’d ventured south of Leelanau County over the winter, I thought for a minute and then replied that I’d been to Grand Traverse County a few times. Going as far south as Kalamazoo is a whole ’nother story! It means, usually, going through Grand Rapids and the rest of the way from there on expressway, and that’s what I did on Tuesday. 

 

Sunny was with me, confused and anxious about our departure from routine, but once we reached our destination my son dog-sat in the car with her while I attended grandson Jack Willits’s show of paintings (the ultimate destination) at Kalamazoo College, his senior project, which earned him graduation with honors. Meanwhile, Ian managed to log into his home computer from his phone, thus to work on his writing while tending to the dog girl, who found her favorite hidey-hole under the steering wheel while I was gone. (That settled her down enough that she didn’t feel compelled to bark at every passer-by.) Jack was pleased that I had made the trip, and his work—a full room of paintings done during the past year, his senior project—was beautiful: a wide range of subject matter, from landscapes to figures, in his own very distinctive style. His grandpa would have been so proud and happy! Family, friends, and lots of young people were there, of course. Neither Jack’s mom nor I managed to get good photographs of all the family together, or even all of them separately, but everyone was impressed by the work and happy to be there to celebrate it.

Artist and his model

After a drive back down to Portage and a bite to eat with my son, the dog girl and I repaired to our motel for the night, and after a little dog walk, I had half an hour’s conversation by phone with a dear friend before ending the social part of my day. Then, saving the last pages of the novel James for morning, I watched an episode of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s “Finding Your Roots” (television is such an occasional, rare part of my life!) before letting sleep claim me.

 

With so much to do in my home and yard and business, return trip came the very next morning, but I had a couple of other objectives along the way: first, to avoid Grand Rapids; second, to stop in Newaygo at a bookstore I’d spotted (new store with used books) on the way south. That being the case, my route on Wednesday took me west from Kalamazoo and then north through Van Buren, Allegan, Ottawa, and Muskegon counties. Unlike the drive south, there was no one expecting me and nowhere I had to be at a particular time, so if my drive north took an hour or two longer, no problem. 

 

At River Stop Café (a favorite stop for the Artist and me on many trips), I bought a sandwich to go (my choice was the “M-37,” but there are no wrong decisions at this café) and then managed to find eight volumes to buy at Flying Bear Books (I would have found more if Sunny hadn’t been waiting for me in the car) before seeking out a park where Sunny and I could have a relaxed picnic before the last leg of our travels.

Since every road trip for me is a trip down Memory Lane, it’s easy for melancholy to get its foot in the car door as associations with the past accumulate. The Artist and I had many, many road trips over the years, and the best of my life were with him. No one was more fun! This time, a few little country roads I’d never been on before helped, as did a new bookstore to visit and not having much of an agenda for the return trip other than, eventually, reaching home. All told, the trip was worthwhile and successful, an important mission accomplished.

Home--and at work--before dark

Reminder: June 10, 5-7 p.m., is the launch for Marilyn Zimmerman’s novel, In Defense of Good Women. This is not an event for young children, but everyone else is cordially invited. Marilyn and I are very excited and hope you will join us! 

Happy author, my friend Marilyn Zimmerman