• Left of East- An Introduction

    In the summer of 2013, I embarked on a solo backpacking adventure across Northern Michigan. With no one to talk to along the way, my journal became a powerful and necessary companion. I wrote journal nearly every day, sometimes many times a day, to capture the events and insights of my time on the trail […]

  • One Cry Fix All

    My submission to The Moth Detroit StorySLAM topic: “Blood Sweat and Tears” When you go through a difficult time in your life, your body naturally deals with it by going into shock. This is a beautiful response because it allows you to go on with your life and get through every day when you’re not […]

  • A Real New Yorker

    They say you’re not a real New Yorker until you’ve cried in public.

  • CH@NGE

    The mathematical symbol for change is a neat little triangle Δ. I can remember drawing it on my notebook with a pencil. The teacher told us what it meant, and we took her work for it, but I wondered why, if we were describing change, did my pencil end up back where it started. There has […]

  • Light on Blight

    I grew up in a sweet, serene, safe community: a bastion of purity in small-town Michigan. We had no world-class issues. The police blotter in the local paper was comedically innocent: “raccoon topples garbage can,” “local man double-parks van.” But not too far away, trouble loomed large. Detroit, with its towering tombs was a shame to […]

  • On Solitude

    People, like deer and celebrities, tend to cluster amongst themselves. Anytime you should encounter a sitcom star, be still! Lower your gaze. Chances are good that his Emmy-winning girlfriend and the whole supporting cast will come trundling after.

Postscript: Big City, Small World

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vanYes, I recovered from that very compelling fantasy about apprehending the bad guys. But that doesn’t exactly mean that I was avoiding it. Yesterday on a bike ride near-but-n0t-at the scene of the crime, I saw that sinister gold van. Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhathwhat? WHAT?! For the second time in a week, I stared dumbly at the parking lot in front of me, unable to process what I was seeing. I hadn’t actually seen the van at the time of the theft but there is no mistaking a “gold van with black flames on the back.” This was it.

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Day 25: Grand Marais to Something-Mile Beach

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Screen Shot 2014-07-30 at 12.36.54 PMThe beach is swarming with flies. A couple-seconds of rest and then BAM! twenty of them land on me. I’ve hardly been able to rest all day because of them which is especially frustrating since my shin is still really painful. At one point, I tried to out-run the flies, that didn’t work. Then, in desperation, I picked up two handfuls of stones from the beach and released them while I spun around like a low-grade machine gun. That didn’t work either. A new  threat to my wellbeing on this trail- insect induced insanity! But at last it was time to set up my tent, no flies inside, and I am calm. Continue reading →

Day 24: Muscullunge State Park to Grand Marais

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photo 1I think I’m in a toxic relationship with the trail. It treats me so badly but I take it back every time! Even when I manage to stay on the trail it is often poorly marked, grown over, blocked by fallen trees. And every time I lose the trail, I curse it and get mad at it and resent it. But of course, when I see that first blue blaze again after being lost, I am flooded with relief and appreciation. I regret every negative thought I ever had about it. I didn’t mean it! Things will be different this time! Then I turn on myself- how much of my blundering is my fault? I am candidly looking at myself and wondering if I actually have common sense. Being out here alone, it’s hard to know if the trail is objectively difficult or if I am just being an idiot. Continue reading →

You Robbed the Right Girl

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Screen Shot 2014-07-29 at 2.02.26 AM

Every time I play soccer, I have to do a handstand. The combination of competition and a field of grass makes me overflow with excitement so I send myself upside-down to tip a little out, to commemorate the joy. Soccer just makes me happy. So the first thing I did when I moved to Detroit last October was join a soccer team. Actually, I joined three teams — only one of them lasted through the winter.

I am a proud member of Roosevelt Parks soccer team. Our soccer season is a veritable tour of the best of Detroit: we practice at old Tiger’s Stadium, we play pick-up beside the beautiful abandoned train station, we scrimmage on Belle Isle, and play our games at Fort Wayne with freighters slowing inching by along the Detroit River.

Soccer has been the most unexpected and rewarding part of my new life in this city. Unexpected because I honestly didn’t even know if Detroit had a recreational soccer league when I moved here — I thought I might start one myself. Unexpected because it not only exists, it thrives — Detroit City Football League is a finely-tuned community soccer machine. Unexpected because I not only met my teammates, I met dozens of people on other teams as well. Rewarding because I fucking love every minute of it.

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Day 23: Lake Superior near Two Hearted River to Muscullunge State Park

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Last night is the most scared I have been in a long time. Here’s what happened:

It doesn’t happen very often that the weather, bugs, and geography align in such a way that I can sleep under the open sky. Last night looked like it might be that kind of night. I set out my sleeping bag on my tarp next to the fire and tried to sleep. There were no trees above to block the heat radiating out into the night sky, nothing to blunt the wind blowing in from Lake Superior and it got progressively colder.

I laid my sleeping bag on the tarp to sleep. It was too cold for that so I set up my tent. Still too cold so I added the rain fly. Then it actually started raining. It didn’t help that I didn’t have my long underwear. All night I was cold, half-awake half-asleep trying to push though it. I’m not sure when but at some point, I realized I was wet. Continue reading →

Day 22: Paradise to Lake Superior near Two Hearted River

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beachA lot to think about today. I am sitting by only the second campfire I have made on this trip. I am on beach along the Lake Superior shore. I am totally alone and it is truly beautiful. Yesterday I suffered a major setback. I tend to worry about food and water and insects and getting lost but I should be focused on another threat- I am a worthy adversary to myself. Continue reading →

Day 21: Lower Tahquamenon Falls to Paradise

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7-26_foamswirlI am marooned in a brewery next to the Tahquamenon Falls as the sky dumps down all around me. I ordered myself Falls Tannen beer and am contemplating my next move. I hardly slept last night. Crazy thunderstorms woke me up and itching feet kept me up. I guess I got poison ivy on my feet when I was trouncing around naked during my Day of Nothing.

I woke up this morning and walked around the trail network in the area before packing up. I felt guilty when I saw the path where the North Country Trail enters the camp because I got a ride here but it felt great to walk around without my pack on. I bounded up and down the trails like a little kid. The water in that area is a big frothy foam of water swirled up by the descent from the waterfall. Continue reading →

Day 20: Naomikong Creek Shelter to Lower Tahquamenon Falls

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7-25_LakeviewJesus what a day already. I was out on the trail by 8:15am and it’s only 9:30 now. I walked all of 5 minutes from my little cabin shelter and what a shock to see my first view of Lake Superior! I actually laughed out loud when I saw it because it was such a thrill. I can’t believe I was so close to for over a full day. There was still a bit of distance between me and the lake but I could see it! Continue reading →

Day 19: Day of Nothing

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7-24_cabinTo the Boy Scout Troops and the Hiawatha North Country Trail chapter,

Thanks so much for the wonderful shelter that you built! I am writing to you from inside of it right now, where I have set up my tent (I still need it to keep the bugs away) and am happily settled for the night. It is so nice to be in this lovely spot and to have a clean space to spread all my stuff out on a floor!

 I have been hiking the North Country Trail for the past few weeks. Yesterday I was hoping to make it all the way to Lake Superior but, with a late start, tired feet, and strong headwinds, I came up short. I had gone over 20 miles but I realized I wouldn’t make it before dark. I set a rule for myself that I MUST stop by 9:30pm. I was running out of time so I turned off the trail into this little clearing. What a surprise to find this beautiful structure! I looked at my watch- it was 9:27. I have been hiking for over 250 miles and this is the very first structure for campers that I have found. 

I noticed the little sign that you built this on Father’s Day this past April. I don’t know how many customers you have had yet but I wanted to let you know that you have a very happy camper!

I hope you all get the chance to enjoy the North Country Trail as well. Thank you for making my time here special!

-Michele

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Day 18: Pine to Naomikong Creek Shelter

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7-23_nctAnother day of total solitude. I think most women in my situation might fear the possibility of encountering someone, might fear being taken advantage of. But in the safety of my imagination, I absolutely hope for it. Once again I‘ve been comparing myself to a soldier (I’m such a cocky asshole). This time though, the stereotype I identify with isn’t a water-logged Vietnam Vet, but a love-sick WWII trenchman who gazes longingly at the picture of his sweetheart back home. In other words, I’m horny like a soldier.

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