Memory Lane - A New(ish) Groove (January to April 1983)

The '82 holidays over, our little family settled into a new routine. It was not that dissimilar from our old routine. But as I remember it, slower. We were closing in on two years in our new house, and had overcome the excitement and surprises that usually accompany such a risky undertaking. Here's a pic of our tidy little abode known as a Baby Ford, built in the '20s. 

It was old, but sturdy. It's best feature was the great concrete front porch. Spent many an hour observing and tracking neighborhood goings-on from this pleasant perch. It is winter in this shot, so not much porch sitting was occurring. But there was activity. Like this.

And this.

In this shot Ted and Christy took time out from racing around the snowless sidewalks of Francis Street to catch their (foggy) breath and pose for the old man on their trusty mounts. The little riding truck Ted is straddling disappeared over the years. But Christy's Volkswagon is still hanging in our garage and is a favorite of our grandchildren. 

Outdoor playtime was often followed by scenes like this.

Hobnobbing around the neighborhood in a snowsuit is hard work. A girl needs her recovery time. Upon occasion, Christy's mostly attentive parents were able to wrestle her out of her winter armor before she crashed. But this situation was not uncommon.

Son Ted has another sister, Jamie, daughter of Ted's mom and her second husband. Occasionally Jamie, who is six months older than Christy, would accompany Ted on his weekend visits to Dearborn. Here's a pic of the happy threesome after an outdoor play session. 

Similar scenes defined most of that mild winter of '83. Like this.

The outfits changed, but not the weather. There was another favorite indoor activity during that winter which we caught on camera a few times. That was curiosity about the  little girl in the mirror. Christy's active imagination, which blossomed fully in her early school years, was showing itself already.

I relate to this picture very well as, according to my mother, I spent a fair amount of time at that age talking to my little friend in the mirror. I can't remember his name, but he looked a lot like me. 

In late March as winter was winding down, Nancy took a two-week instructor assignment in Atlanta. In what was a forerunner of times to come, I decided to take time off and join her for the second week with the kids. Sort of a low-budget vacation.

Still developing our schtick as vacation travelers, we took it slow. By we I mean Ted, Christy, my sister Cindy and me. We took two days to make the 700 mile drive to Atlanta, staying one night somewhere in the hills of Kentucky. A far cry from our prime years of driving a 1000 miles in one day with a van full of kids. Or even - in the crazy days - driving straight through the night to central Florida. About 1200 miles.

I should add here that Nancy and I are now on the down side of the driving bell curve, as we finally had our fill of double digit hours in the car. With all the time in the world (retirement), why were we killing ourselves? Those true crime podcasts (our new guilty pleasure) would still be there the next day. So our new practice is to drive eight hours or less a day, completing our travel for the day before dinner. Then lounging in a somewhat upscale hotel room for a few hours with comfort food and something to wash away the road dust. Despite the fact that this means an extra day (or two) to reach our final destinations, we've taken to the new routine with relative ease.

Back to 1983. We arrived in Atlanta on a Sunday and checked into a not-too-fancy high-rise condo. Nancy moved over from her hotel of the previous week to join us. The week unfolded pretty much as planned. While Nancy went to the office each day, the rest of us saw the sights. Here are a few pics. First our accommodations. Modest, but our kids first experience in a high-rise.

The kids loved pressing themselves against the glass on the enclosed balcony of our 14th floor condo, and gazing out over the city. My parental paranoia was in overdrive. I don't even like ladders. Those glass panes looked a little shaky to me. But most of our time was spent outside in the inviting Georgia weather. Here we're walking around checking out the neighborhood.

One day, for a little excitement, we got dressed up and went to the zoo.

There we met several new friends, both foreign

And domestic.

All in all, it was an exhausting day.

Note the lo-tech child transport device we employed. No shoulder harness, no bumpers, no sun shield and no hard-shell protective seat. Called an "umbroller". But, it was great for the parents. Easy to carry and store. The child safety people policed these all up a few years ago I think. We fell under the grandparent amnesty clause, so no charges were brought.

On another day we took the 30-minute trip out to Stone Mountain east of the city. According to the tourist brochure, Stone mountain is really the tip of one gigantic rock that formed 350 million years ago. Within the last 100 years the rock has become controversial because of the Confederate monument carved into its north side. But it had a good run before that (349,999,900 years). So I give it the benefit of the doubt. Just for the record, here's a shot of the monument, the largest carving of its kind in the world. It will likely be "uncarved" in our lifetime, I think, due to its racist origins. But the incredible mountain will still be there.

Here are some less controversial shots from that day. First one of the happy travelers, with Christy practicing her "wheeee" position for those wild umbroller moments.

The non-controversial face of the mountain, impressively large and sheer.

A shot as we board the train to the top of the mountain.

And one final shot from that day of Ted, taking a break from his umbroller chauffeur duties, hoping I would soon run out of film. 

Our wild week in Atlanta ended without incident. Nobody fell through the condo glass nor off the mountain, and Nancy completed her teaching gig. So there was nothing to do but head home. I think the kids were ready, too. They were and still are excellent travelers. But judging by their expressions as we headed back up through Georgia carpet country and though the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky, they were happy.    

On our way home we stopped in Covington, Kentucky, for a visit with two old friends, Dick and Mary. These two spent several years in Detroit before their move to the regional office in Cincinnati, Dick as Nancy's and my division chief. We had partied hardy with Dick and Mary during their Detroit days. 

As with most senior leaders, Dick could be controversial at times. But he was always supportive of Nancy and me in our careers and taught us a lot about navigating a large organization. He also introduced me to country music, for which I am still very thankful. I have many fond memories of our time together.

As we prepared to take to the road for the last leg of our trip, we took this family shot. 

All but one of us seem to be having a good time. But even Christy cheered up once we got on the road, as documented in this rearview mirror shot. 

We arrived home safe and sound, and happy to be there. As March passed into April, we returned to our slow but steady "new groove" - work, managing child care, home fix-ups and Friday night with a "Monroe Street Special" for dinner (the best pizza I've ever had). Occasionally, there was some excitement. Like a trip to Grandma Burk's to play with "the castle" (introduced in an early post).

A visit to Ann Arbor to see the cousins (Matt in the middle, Brian on the right) and Aunt Barb.

And finally, a trip up way up north (Indian River area) with my parents to visit some of their oldest friends Tag and Irene. Here's Tag "riffling the tickets" as we used to say (dorm-speak for dealing cards).

And Irene with my mother drinking happy juice from plastic cups.

So who are Tag and Irene? A little background. Remember this pic?

Yes, this is me in my M&M Marching Accordion Band outfit. The band was sponsored by a Bay City studio that majored in accordion lessons. The band would then appear around the state of Michigan (and in grander places occasionally - a story for a later post) to march in parades and perform at festivals. If you grew up in Michigan you already know that the purpose of most of these annual small town events was (and in some places still is) to celebrated a local vegetable or fruit. Admirable.

Now about Tag and Irene. To get to these festivals the band members, mostly early to late teens with a smattering of twenty-somethings, spent anywhere from two to five hours on a '50s style, diesel burning bus with threadbare upholstery and little tiny sliding windows. It was great. 

As would be expected, the parents of band members would often journey to these festivals in support of their budding musicians (and to see how their investment in music lessons was paying off). But they drove in their own comfortable cars. Enter Tag and Irene who also had kids in the band. They and my parents got to know each other as they would carpool on these trips.

As mentioned earlier, these trips to tote a 23-pound musical instrument up and down the main streets of rural Michigan, often behind horse-drawn wagons of potatoes or sugar beets or pickles, could take several hours. So here's how that worked. 

The bus full of kids would leave early in the morning and average about 50-55 miles each hour on the bus. My parents with Tag and Irene in tow, would leave about a half hour later, traveling more like 65-70 miles an hour in their car. They would soon catch and pass the bus, then continue onward for another half hour or so to a well-situated tavern. There they would enjoy a beer or two until they saw the bus go by. They then called for the tab, hopped back in the car and resumed the chase. Typically, we would see their car cruise by our bus two or three times before we disembarked at our festival destination. The parents, in surprisingly good humor, would be standing there waiting for us. 

With such a solid foundation, it's no surprise that Tag and Irene's friendship with my parents lasted much longer than the band. There'll be more Tag and Irene stories later in this timeline, and many will include beer (or other happy juice) in plastic cups. 

Now back to the end of April 1983, and to the end of this post. I'll resume with the exciting May of '83 next time. Talk to you soon.

Grosse Pointe Charles

Memory Lane - Holiday Doings (November and December 1982)

Time to head back to Memory Lane. With Christmas 2021 days away, I thought it would be fun to complete my sharing of 1982 memories with that holiday season 39 years ago. Life was simpler then.

When we left off on this saga, the Rise of the Magic Kingdom had been accentuated by a pretty fine Halloween party. That's where we'll pick things up.

As November unfolds, the specter of "The Holidays" usually looms large. 1982 was no exception (for a reminder of my warped view of the holidays you might review my three previous posts on the subject starting with The Holidays Part 1 - The Launch). 

However, one doesn't just saunter into major happenings like Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are preliminary activities. Aside from shopping and decorating, that usually includes visits to extended family to catch up and celebrate the year's memories. Our first such sojourn that November was a visit to Linwood to visit my parents. 

While there are no pics of that visit, I found this series of odd images taken during our trip up. They are of a phenomenon that residents of mid-Michigan should remember.

These are shots of the Zilwaukee bridge during troubled times. Note that in the second pic the bridge, then under construction, seems to be sagging a bit in the middle. Here's the story.

In the 70s and prior the I-75 bridge across the Saginaw river at Zilwaukee was a drawbridge which opened several times a day to allow passage of cargo ships to the automobile and other plants upriver in Saginaw. This caused traffic backups on the freeway that sometimes extended for miles.  

In 1982 the State of Michigan, mostly with federal money, began construction of the elevated bridge with which we are so familiar today. Well into the work a mishap involving the construction boom shown in the picture above resulted in one of the pillars cracking under the load. Ergo the sag.

While many people in high places pondered what to do about the dilemma, this monument to cost overruns became a tourist attraction. People would pull over at a viewing site close to the bridge and gape. Here are some familiar faces doing just that.

It was like having your picture taken in front of the Statue of Liberty, Michigan style. A real crowd pleaser. The State even put up a message board on the site for curious citizens to keep abreast of developments. Thoughtful.

Every time I cross this bridge - which is often as it's halfway between our home and the cottage - I remember its colorful past. And accelerate just a bit to get to the other side.

Later that month our little family took a trip to Toronto to visit the Canadian cousins. On the way we stopped off at Avon Rae, the LeRoy family cottage on Lake Huron just a few miles north of Sarnia. We wanted to check in on some renovations Nancy's dad Rae was overseeing. They involved expanding the kitchen and replacing the old wooden porch with one of concrete. Looking at these pictures of a household turned on its ear in the name of improvement brought me back to more recent memories of our projects at Wiser Times.

And one last shot of one of the younger members of the crew.

Our inspection of the job site complete, we headed on to Toronto. A main purpose of the trip was to meet the newest member of our extended family, Heather Bath. Here's a shot of the little cutie, still a little wary of all the attention it would appear.

And some pics of Aunt Ann and first-cousin-once-removed Nancy enjoying the visit.

Of course, I had to get in on the action. Heather was charmed, as you can see. Who is this guy?

There were also happy grandparents on the scene. Here's Nancy with her Uncle Ken, sporting some of the supplies he had laid in for his new role.

And Aunt Evelyn, caught here in one of her favorite venues - the kitchen. 

Back in Dearborn, we were getting excited about the holidays and trying our best to explain it all to our two charges. The first one of these didn't pay much attention. That would be our dog Heidi. The only thing that ever excited her was something she could eat or chew.

So we concentrated our efforts on Christine. She seemed interested from the get-go and always willing to hear more. 

She even took an interest in photos of past family holidays.

Okay. I know what you're thinking. What's with the hat? Was the child undergoing some kind of therapy or were we just clueless parents? Well, your guess is as good as ours. For some reason Christine glommed on to this old winter hat of Nancy's and wouldn't be parted from it. So, not wanting to stifle the child's development and self-confidence, we went with the flow. It obviously made her happy.

Sometimes I think it may have been like Linus and his blanket. Other times I think she was testing us. It may have just been that her head was cold. It remains a family mystery.

One particular event that holiday day season was a party we held in the basement rec room of our Dearborn home. Remember the Magic Kingdom? Well, it was going strong in December of '82. The managers and coaches had been working hard, and the revenue officers in training were starting to earn their keep. So, we thought it was time to party - again.

The following pix are excerpted from a larger library of photos from that night, many of which are classified. You've heard legends about the "office Christmas party"? It's sort of like that. But these shots have been cleared for publication. Just a few.

This first pic is innocent enough. I've included it to establish the fact that the menus at Burk family gatherings have always been top drawer - for nearly 40 years now. This early offering set the tone. 

Here we have a group shot of some of the attendees early in the evening.  

Notables in this pic that you might recognize are Tony C. on the extreme left (our host at the infamous Halloween party), Richie Hannum hiding behind a cluster of beer bottles, and George Kent on the extreme right (Papa Smurf at the Halloween Party). 

These next three shots are of friends that would remain close for many years into the future, bowling together for a couple of decades and founding the golf institution known as the Spinners, still going strong to this day. The first is of Bruce C., or Sledge as he was known due to his habit of smashing large vegetables at public gatherings. You could always tell when Bruce was having a good time - he had shed his eye glasses.

In this shot we have Al M., known as the bear for the gruff façade he often wore to conceal his big heart. Tripping the light fantastic with Al is Jackie Z., another of our coaches.

And finally Ralph S., another by-the-book coach letting his lighter side show.

This final shot from the evening is captioned "The Taxations", with yours truly joining Bruce, Al and fellow coach Dick M. for some intense - if not fancy - footwork. It was a memorable evening and a harbinger of good times to come.

With the prep and parties behind us, the family moved on to the main event. We were first back up in Linwood with my family. This time there were pictures. Somewhat deteriorated, but memorable. This first shot is of the tree at my parents' on Christmas morning.  

My parents were always "big Christmas" people as far back as I remember. Our family seldom took vacations when I was growing up (something I have way overcompensated for in adulthood). And generally celebrated birthdays and other gifting events with moderation. But Christmas - that was the time we loosened up and went for broke. And that tradition still stands.

In this next shot we have son Ted on the right sharing the awe with cousin Tristan. They knew they had to suffer through a couple of poses before being allowed to dive into the gifts. They're doing their best to look like kids on the "nice" list.

This pic is of cousin Jennifer, the oldest of sister Wendy's kids, helping Christine with a present. At 16 months, Christine was still trying to figure out what the fuss was all about. 

As the morning unfolded, the occasional controversy cropped up. Judging from the look on Tristan's face, cousin Dee Dee (my brother Jeff's daughter) had invoked seniority with respect to control over the castle set in the foreground. That castle set was one of a few toys that remained at my parents' home. It was always a kid favorite whenever any of the grandchildren visited Grandma and Grandpa. 

 

Here we have Melanie, sister Wendy's second eldest, thrilled with her new mighty big stuffed Mighty Mouse. Almost as big as she.

Finally a shot of sister Cindy enjoying the fun, especially the antics of her several nieces and nephews. 

A few days later we returned to our Dearborn home to relax and enjoy the booty. Our immediate family was small then. And what I remember most about Christmas 1982 was Christine. Observing everything, slowly putting the pieces together, and developing her still evident appreciation of this favorite of holidays and all of its parts. In this shot, here with a new hat, she is learning to ride her little Volkswagon.

This popular toy has survived the test of time. It still hangs in our garage and is ridden up and down our driveway with glee when our grandchildren visit.

Here Christine is exploring the ornaments and the intricate nature of a decorated Christmas tree. Over time she has become quite the enthusiast, often "assisting" Nancy and me with proper light and ornament placement on our own trees. She has also instituted the concept of decorated trees for all holidays and seasons in her own household. She has morphed from a curious newbie to a true decorating pioneer.

And one last shot to wrap up the Christmas of 1982. Christine, kneeling in her new mini-rocker amongst her other newfound possessions, taking it all in - and making mental notes for the future. Even at this early age she was making the old man proud by embracing one of my most firmly held beliefs - pondering makes perfect.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Christmas past as much as I have. Have a joyous and safe holiday season. See you in 2022!

Grosse Pointe Charles