Last March Entry

I thought I'd post one more time for this month with the article I wrote for the paper down South. Hopefully, it will be in next week's edition.


For the first time in a long time, I’m writing to you from the land of milk and honey, or rather, the land of SunDrop and Bar-B-Q. I’m down in Kannapolis visiting family this past week and thought I would just check in with the rest of you.

Compared to the Northern climes, Kannapolis is almost tropical. It hasn’t been this warm up North since last August, and I’m not expecting to see your current temperatures until late May, maybe June!

Coming back is difficult. It’s wonderful to see family and friends again, and familiar places, but it’s sad, too. I don’t yet have the familiarity with the Yanks that is as comfortable as Kannapolis is to me.

Just being back here for this short time reminds me of the one major thing, besides my family, that I miss about not being in Kannapolis. When I go out and about up North, I never see people that I know. It’s such a sprawling place, and I don’t feel the interconnectedness that I feel in Kannapolis. I like being able to see people I know, and have quick chats and catch up.

I like knowing that no matter where I go around Kannapolis, the chances of running into someone I know are great, whereas in Buffalo, they’re next to nil. When you get used to something like that, it is very unsettling when you don’t have it anymore.

Now that I’m home again, albeit briefly, I feel a little better plugged in to the pulse of Kannapolis. Since this is intended to be more editorial ramblings than sentimental claptrap, I do have a couple of observations I’d like to share.

The congregation at Kimball Lutheran Church, like many congregations across the country, is reading “The Purpose Driven Life.” They are meeting weekly to discuss what they’ve read, and using the discussions to reflect on their lives. When I attended last Sunday, Pastor Rhoades discussed the reading of the book and its real life application during the tragedy in Atlanta several weeks ago.

As a teacher, I love seeing that the community is participating in inquiry level discussion and critically exploring the real world through textual analysis and personal application. What a great role model for the level of involvement that we want kids to participate in during their own academic endeavors! Kudos!

I would also like to quickly address the issue of the lottery. It’s been all over the news since I came into town. (And I’ve written about it before…) I won’t mention any names, but suffice to say that high horses are harder to saddle and ride for any length of time. The question of the poor getting poorer should be dead in the water. The people in this state that want a lottery are already participating in neighboring states, much to the delight of those state’s governments and lottery beneficiaries.

It is not up to those in office to legislate morality, but rather to be a voice for the people. Let’s stop all of the “for and against,” “pro and con” debates, and put the vote to the people…I think we’ll all be surprised at the outcome. Why should North Carolinians continue to support Virginia’s Highway department or South Carolina’s educational initiatives? Let’s adapt to the times by keeping the money in North Carolina, and letting it make a difference here!

It was good to see you, Kannapolis. I miss you, and it’s always nice to come back and visit friends and family. I do my best to keep up with you through the Independent Tribune website, and I enjoy seeing all the good things that are happening in Kannapolis.

See you again in the summer!

Christmas Is Finally Over, Just In Time For Easter!

It has finally thawed out enough to remove the Christmas decorations from the front of the house and the lawn. I had no idea in November that Christmas decorations were going to be a five month commitment because the ground freezes, and the snow ice-glues everything down.

But now that its Easter, everything is finally down, and I enjoyed my mother's Easter present this morning: home-made pickles from the south. This is not the first Easter I've had pickles, they were regularly delivered by the Easter Bunny when I was younger. While everyone else had cute little candies and colored eggs, I had a big jar of Vlasic Dills.

Happy Easter!

Conner, the Lipscomb's new dog, smiles for the camera. 

Corbin and Jacob in a very quick moment of good behavior. 

Two things to note in this picture: 1) Corbin is a Viking. 2) If you look closely, you can see the quarter that is stuck to his forehead. I had to pay him the quarter as a bribe to let me take the picture. 

Jacob's Spiderman PJ's come complete with wings. 

Toss the cup relay race. It was kind of like field day at Kelly and Jim's party, except there were no kids, and the rules kept changing. 

The brand new, one week married...Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Lawrence. 

I threatened Lauren with a full on body slam if she dropped anyone else's child while distracted by the television. 

My brother, champion of Pong, and curiously intelligent when inebriated...who knew? 

Here's Carrie - CLOSE UP! (At Kelly and Jim's party...) 

This is Conner, the Lipscomb's new puppy. They should probably go ahead and buy the drywall repair kit...they're gonna need it, trust me! 

Back To Buffalo...

I'm back.

What a quick trip! My whirlwind tour of Kannapolis is complete, and I'm home, speeding ticket in hand. I've got a lot of pictures to put on here, and a little more info on the ticket tragedy to relay:

I came home to letters from 4 different lawyers asking if I'd like for one of them to represent me in court over the ticket. The ticket is just a fine, with no points or anything, but for $300 more dollars, I can get these guys to go in to court and "fix" it. Or, I could just pay the $100 I owe, and never have to think about the ticket again. I thought ambulance chasing was something you saw only on TV. Maybe some things shouldn't be a part of the public record. One of the letters had some words not spelled correctly. Maybe I should write them back and offer my editing services for, say, $300 per letter. Or better, for $1000, I could just teach them how to spell properly.

Land of Milk and Honey, I mean Bar-B-Q and Cheerwine!

I'm writing from North Carolina! I came down for a quick visit while I've got some time off from school. It's been very exciting so far, as the Kannapolis Police Department was waiting for me when I got here. They sat in wait, capturing me five minutes from my parents house, and giving me a ticket. What a lovely way to start my vacation...though it didn't dampen my excitement. Apparently, Liz went to the casino to cure her seperation anxiety since she couldn't come with me. (Our vacations were different.) She won enough to cover my minor infraction, and hopefully has enough left over to fund all of the Cheerwine and Neese's Sausage I'm taking back with me.

I've already seen quite a few friends, and am going to school on Tuesday to see everyone else. I've taken loads of pictures that I'll put on the blog when I get back to NY on Friday.

Obviously...not much going on...

It's mid-March, and just completely bland. Nothing is going on. There are exciting things coming up, like my vacation starting this Friday and heading South, but until then...routine, routine, routine.

I've not been updating because nothing has been happening. The most exciting thing this week has been the animals fighting like, well, cats and dogs. They instigate each other, and then pounce, but with American Idol on, it's difficult to get motivated to get off the couch and seperate them.

Speaking of AI, last night was horrid. I hope the season picks up, or I'll just have to go to bed earlier.

More later...

-Mike

The teachers at school got tired of me complaining about there not being enough snow...SO, they took it upon themselves to redecorate my room. Little did they know that I LOVED it and will be leaving it up until June! 

More of the inside blizzard... 

Haiku

I saw grass today
It hurt me with its presence
Where did the snow go?

March...In Like A Lion!

Well, we're celebrating the beginning of March with over a foot of new snow. Of course, I love it--but the locals are whining and moaning. Everyone wants a snow day, including me, but I'm satisfied with just seeing the white stuff.