Union Pier! After Storm! Major Damage!

Saturday morning I rode with relatives to Union Pier, in southern Michigan and an hour from Chicago. I was having a quick overnight visit with my gal pal, Nance K. We started the table way back when the Ferry Building reopened in San Francisco.

About an about into the drive Nance had just arrived to her cottage and she called to say that the major storm that struck Chicago Friday night hit Union Pier. Power was out and trees down. She had loaded up on ice and that was a very smart thing to do.

When we entered the resort community there we huge trees down and many of them had crashed into homes. Nance was lucky. The three cottages around hers all had trees crash into them. I have posted pictures.

It was 85 degrees and muggy after the storm so we made a bee line to the beach which is private and only for the association and their guests. The mosquito's were vicious as we walked to the beach. The beach was spectacular and the sand was a creamy white and Lake Michigan was so blue and the temperature of the water was SO swimmable! Unbelievable so early in the summer. I had not been in the Lake in 13 years and it felt great. I looked just like the sea lions back home in San Francisco!

Nance and I swam and sunned for a couple hours. We could see the John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower in Chicago from the beach. We headed back to the cottage so Nance could get in a nap and I could take Quincy and Nance's Elsie for a good dog walk.

With the power being out until Tuesday, it was a good thing I had brought nibblers that I made earlier in the week. We nibbled on my homemade tapenade and a Greek roasted red pepper feta spread. Nance always has the best wines!

Dinner was made by candlelight! I had clipped fresh herbs from my garden in the morning so I made a tomato salad with kalamatas and a chiffonade of basil and oregano drizzled with olive oil and Nigel's dried lemon sea salt. I grilled a whole chicken "beer can" style. In the can I put garlic, lemon juice, wine, etc. and put the chicken over the can. This makes the best chicken ever! I grilled a bunch of asparagus and tossed it with some of the nasturtium butter I made for Nance. We had a Sebastiani Zinfandel and that made dinner just perfect.

As we we cleaning up, a light came on by the grille. I yelled to Nance in the kitchen that the power was on. She turned on a light and it worked for a second. Then we hear these explosions and cracking and the sky is lit up like there was fireworks. Transformers were popping along the road. Nance called 911 and they came within 2 minutes. Apparently, a huge tree limb that did not fall during the storm fell out of a tree and hit multiple transformers and started an electrical fire. I took a few pictures of the damage.

We both took off early Sunday morning, me to northern Michigan and Nance back to Chicago. All and all it was a fun trip.

FYI: I took a picture of myself on the beach. In that position you can really see the damaged collarbone!

Finally, the First Sail of the Season!

Yesterday the weather was just perfect for a few hours on the Lake. David and I took the raft out to the mooring and boarded Phaedra. She still remembered me. We caught a great wind and off we were, slicing right through West Bay. The views were amazing.

Grillin' & Chillin' in Hot, Hot , Hot Weather!

The past week, Northern Michigan was hit with record-breaking heat and humidity. San Francisco weather is perfect for me- 65 degrees most of the time. We had upper 90's and sticky, even at night.

While doing my day job as usual, I still find time to weed the garden, water the lawns and other chores. Evenings I can be found on the grand front porch reading with a vodka tonic before grilling dinner. Quincy enjoys the cool grass and every night he is rolling on his back in the lush lawn.

I enjoy the low profile since I have not been back here in 12 years. The area is so different from how I remember it. It still has that resort town feeling while remaining the small municipality it really is. It is a funny feeling that 20 years ago I was elected to the City Council and Mayor here. I went on a bike ride along the water the other day. On a bridge was my name along with some other elected officials. Not many people get their name on a bridge. But when I thought about it, it reminds me of a tombstone. My name carved into concrete. Humbling.

But I must say this break is agreeable. Never thought I'd say that. It damn near killed me packing up San Francisco and putting it all in storage there and then leave for my sabbatical. I'm cooking everyday, reading more books in the last three weeks than I did in the past 5 years. I'm even doing dishes since Mums has no dishwasher.

Sailing starts tomorrow if the weather clears. I'll be postings "Saturday Sailing" photo's for my Wine Bar pals back home in San Francisco.

OH! Mum's and I went to a shop yesterday and got these hip new sweatshirts that say, "LAKE MICHIGAN UNSALTED!"