The Hamster Returns
Glenn, MI
July 22, 2019
Banners wave along the Champs-Élysées as the Grande Armée marches toward L’Arc du Triomphe.
Confetti falls on Broadway as parades proceed down the Canyon of Heroes.
Soldiers are joyous in Times Square, downing Champagne and kissing the first girls they can find.
Fifty years ago last weekend, man took a small step…and mankind took a giant leap.
None of that rivals the revelry today on the streets of Glenn…or our elation when we saw the Consumers Energy trucks parked under the wires as we turned toward Lake Michigan.
Like benighted tourists begging for a same-day reservation at Le Cirque, we rolled down the window and made our naive plea.
“Well…is this a good sign?”
Like the president of the Math Club asking the head cheerleader on a date, we dangled the question with no expectation of a favorable response. As it happened, the person to whom we spoke was most certainly not the head cheerleader.
“Yep. You’re good!”
“Really?”
“Yes. All set.”
“What happened? What caused the power go out?”
“Oh, you just needed to flip the circuit breakers. They’re in a box on the side of the house.”
OK – that last part isn’t true, tho’ at least one person reading this would have no trouble believing it was.
Despite assurances our electricity was restored, our doubts persisted. Like a man returning home at 2AM and praying his wife was asleep, we raced to the house as fast as unpaved roads would permit…hoping for the best, but still expecting the worst.
We pulled up, and watched David shoot from the car like a teenager with an uncharged iPhone. He peered in the front door and, as his arms shot skyward, we knew the hamster was back on the wheel.
We give credit to Consumers Energy. Not only did they return our electricity, they did so two days earlier than projected. I felt like an analyst on their quarterly earnings call. They under-promised and over-delivered. And, with us, their stock just garnered a “buy” rating!
This morning, the beach saturated with overnight rain, the sky covered with recalcitrant clouds, and the kitchen deprived of nutrifying electricity, we decided to venture out.
Saugatuck is a very pleasant, seasonal resort town…in the manner of Bar Harbor, Maine without the lobster ice cream, or Newport, Rhode Island without the Kennedy wedding. We had lunch at Grow, a cafe with good food, nice service, and casual ambience.
Afterward, we strolled a bit down streets that have become as familiar – and agreeable – to us as MASH reruns…albeit with more fudge shops, Christmas ornaments, and profane t-shirts.
We patronized a few places that over the years have become almost mandatory stops…Uncommon Coffee Roasters…American Spoon…Wine Sellers of Saugatuck – a proprietor of wines from Michigan to Mendocino.
The skies darkened as we drove from Saugatuck to South Haven. Like First World preppers, we stopped at Meijer to buy a couple more bags of ice to dump in the cooler and a few more steaks to hoist on the grill.
By the time we returned home and confirmed its power had been restored, we put the grill to work…but the ice aside. It was no longer needed.
The skies had cleared, a cool breeze blew in from the lake, and the sun set over the horizon.
We had enjoyed our high-end campsite, but are glad the hamster is back at his post.
JD
