Where "neck of the woods" comes from

Mike Sheehan at the Traverse City Record Eagle blogs gives the scoop on how the phrase "neck of the woods" came about. You always here people (especially the tv weatherman) say stuff like "here is what is happening in your neck of the woods." Do you ever wonder how that phrase came about? Well, I actually have wondered and this morning I stumbled across Mike Sheehan's (I am pretty sure he is not related to anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan ;)) blog with the following explanation.

“Neck” had been used in English since around 1555 to describe a narrow strip of land, usually surrounded by water, based on its resemblance to the neck of an animal. Neck of the woods is a US phrase dating to 1780.

There you have it!

Pork Roast

My mother-in-law made this delicious pork roast for us not too long ago. I couldn't believe how easy it was and just had to share the recipe. It's also that time of the year when warm "comfort food" dishes replace the salads and grilling out that we ate during the summer. What you need:

• pork roast
• 1 c. water
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• potatoes

Directions:

• Cut potatoes into chunks and put in the bottom of a slow cooker. Put the pork roast on top of the potatoes.
• Combine water and onion soup mix in a small bowl. Pour over the top of the roast.
• Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 9 hours or until the meat is tender enough to fall apart.

Bear roast starts fire that destroys garage

A bear roast cooking in an oven in a garage in Hamlin Twp. is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed the garage. Area firefighters believe this is the first time they have ever heard of a bear roast causing a fire. Thankfully no one was injured during the blaze. The only losses were lawn equipment, tools, and some mounted animals that were stored in the garage.

I guess the bear got the last laugh on this one.

Read the full story in the Ludington Daily News.

Michigan Gas prices week of 9/5/06

Wow! Was I wrong last week or what? I predicted that the price of gas would go up by the weekend (as it almost always does) and instead it went down. The average price of gas in Michigan as of today is $2.602. Around here in southwest Michigan the price of regular unleaded has hovered around $2.57 since the middle of last week. I heard a report that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped to $68 or less as of this morning.

Too bad the prices were so high during the summer. I am sure that Michigan's tourism industry will end up reporting a down or no-growth level in state tourism for the summer of 2006.

Gas price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

Top 10 Regrets from Summer 2006

Most everybody gets to the tail end of summer and thinks about things they should have done or wished they had done. I know I had planned on getting more projects finished around the house, but I certainly don't regret that ;). Here is a list of 10 things that I thought about when I looked back at this past summer. I know there are still a few weeks of summer left, but my wife has gone back to school teaching and we just don't have the freedom to do everything we want now. For me, the spirit of summer is pretty much over.

Here is the list of 10 Things I should have done (or done more of) this summer:

1. Ate more ice cream (remember, there is ALWAYS room for ice cream)
2. Drank more lemonade and less water
3. Watched more sunsets
4. Sat on the back deck and enjoyed the evening
5. Gone to the beach more
6. Spent an afternoon reading a book
7. Gone to a Detroit Tigers game
8. Gone camping more
9. Spent more time relaxing in the yard and less time mowing it
10. Slowed down and enjoyed those lazy summer days

2006 Labor Day Bridge Walk

Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end to summer and once again about 50,000 folks in Michigan celebrated by participating in the 49th annual Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk. Security was tight for the event as it has been since 9-11.

The above picture was captured at www.MackinacBridge.org under the "Bridge Cams" link. The only camera still in operation is from the St. Ignace side of the bridge. There used to be one from the Mackinaw City side that offered a profile shot of the bridge. I don't know what happened to that one.