Memory Lane - LDLR The Rest of the Story (2011-2019)

In my previous post I shared the background and early history (through 2010) of a recurring social gathering I and my friends refer to as the Labor Day Listening Room or LDLR. As often mentioned these get-togethers took place at Wiser Times, our family cottage in Greenbush. In this post I'll cover the ongoing story of the LDLR through its prime to its unwelcome conclusion in 2019 due to COVID. For some, this should trigger a few memories.

From 2011 through 2013 things came off rather routinely. We had most of the usual players from the previous years. Here's a group shot from 2012.

From left to right are Tommy and his mother Linda C, Jeff R with son Justin, I and my bride Nancy, Mary W, our daughter Christine, Jim W, Deandra R and daughter Miranda. 

Activities included the usual music marathon, fabulous cuisine and relaxation. There were a few new wrinkles, like (non) white water canoeing. Here's a shot of Jim and me on our qualifying run for the annual Grayling-to-Oscoda overnight canoe race.

The good news is that we didn't fall out of the boat. The really good news is that we didn't qualify. Something about an improper weight distribution as I recall (for a full accounting of the 2012 event check out my initial LDLR post). 

During our 2013 event, Jim and I wowed the crowd with a demonstration of how to operate a CD duplicating tower, a critical task in the production of our music collections. Heady stuff. We thought the demo went well, despite the lack of follow-up questions.

2014 turned out to be little more interesting. We had our biggest crowd - 14 - and the usual routine. Big dinners.

Happy hours.

Scintillating evening entertainment. 

But we also had this.

In the middle of all the fun I spent a night in the Alpena Regional Medical Facility. On Saturday, during a vigorous game of lake Frisbee, I had a sharp pain my chest. Oops. Never having had such a pain before, I/we weren't sure what to do. It hurt when I breathed deeply, but not at rest. Being of what you might call a cautionary nature, I/we decided to check it out.

On a Saturday of a holiday weekend, available medical services in northern Michigan can be hard to find. The nearest facility was in Alpena, 35 miles north. So Nancy and I piled into the car and headed to Alpena, leaving the 12 house guests to fend for themselves. The group, being well-versed in LDLR management, continued on without losing a step. Eventually, when someone else had to play bartender, they missed me.

At the hospital my fate was sealed when Nancy mentioned the words "chest pain" in the ER waiting room. Within 10 seconds a wide-eyed orderly blew into the room, lashed me to a gurney and whisked me into triage. After a quick once-over, the tending physician determined that I wasn't in distress and things calmed down. But for a while it was exciting.

After examining me, the doctor concluded that I had pulled a small muscle in the area of my sternum. But because of a hospital protocol, I was kept for 24 hours. As the doctor explained, the results of my enzyme test were troublesome. The normal result for this test is a level of 1.045. My level was 1.046. And there is no tolerance allowed. Any level higher than the 1.045 requires 24 hours of observation to make sure the enzyme level doesn't rise (which would indicate possible heart damage). The doctor surmised that 1.046 might be my normal. But without a baseline to establish that, they wouldn't risk releasing me. I had to stay. Having seen me through the crisis, Nancy dumped me and went back to the party.

So while everyone else was enjoying the cottage and the beach and each other, I spent a comfortable 24 hours watching the hospital channel and having my enzyme levels checked every hour. All night. It was the first time I had been in a hospital since 1970 when I had a brief bout with pneumonia during my Army basic training. Forty-four years was a pretty good run, I guess. 

My enzyme levels didn't change overnight, and the next day brought me back to the party where things had rolled along just fine during my absence. I had even returned in time to take my turn in the music rotation. But I laid off the Frisbee for the rest of the weekend.

There was one other special situation at the cottage during our 2014 LDLR. It was this guy.

Kody, our husky-mix shelter dog finally made his appearance at an LDLR. Kody, also known as the Kodeman or Kodalicious or the Kodatola, had missed earlier gatherings because of his affliction - an overdeveloped territorial imperative. He would lose it when strangers entered family spaces. He was fine with the family. He was fine with others outside of the home. He was an excellent walker and a favorite at the kennel (they once selected him as boarder of the month). But in the house or the cottage or even in the big van we drove in those days, he couldn't tolerate strangers.

But early in 2014 at the age of 11, he became ill. There was nothing that could be done for him other than relieve his pain. He was put on phenobarbital to prevent seizures. A side effect of the drug was that Kody became Mr. Mellow. He became passive and friendly. We refer to those last six months of his life as Kody's farewell tour. He finally met all of our friends. He attended the June family picnic at home. He came on weekends with family and friends to the lake all summer. And finally made it to an LDLR.

He seemed to enjoy his new personality, as did we. He had a favorite spot out on the berm overlooking the lake where he spent a lot of time taking in the sights and smells. And he had a favorite toy - a soft miniature basketball that he could have easily ripped to shreds. But he never did. He would play fetch with it, carrying it gently in his jaws. He always kept it close. Here's a shot of Kody that weekend relaxing with his ball. 

We lost Kody in November that year, but he had a great final ride. Here's another shot of Kody. My favorite. The faithful dog looking after his troubled master (I had pulled the leg-lift lever on my easy chair a little too aggressively). He was bringing me another one of his favorite toys, a rubber beetle, to console me.

2015 through 2019 had little in the way of unforeseen events, thankfully, but plenty of the usual pastimes. The beach.

Relaxing on the deck.

Intimate chats.

Even Jeff and Deandra's new puppy Abby and our new puppy Coco got to be pretty good buddies.

There were award presentations.

Sophisticated music programming.

Occasional unexpected guests.

Top-drawer service personnel.

And sneaky photographers.

Most importantly, we had contented clientele. 

 

And last but not least, two very happy hosts.  

We thank all of you who were able to join us in the LDLR adventure. It was a great ride for us. We hope it was for you, too.

Grosse Pointe Charles and the Little Chickadee.

Memory Lane - LDLR The Early Years (2006-2010)

This post is a special edition of Memory Lane - a trip around the cul-de-sac known as the Labor Day Listening Room, or LDLR. A couple of years ago in a Notes from the Lab post I acknowledged that the pandemic and its lingering, potentially dangerous effects had likely spelled the end of our Labor Day music festivals held at Wiser Times, our family cottage. It doesn't seem fitting to let this beloved tradition fade away without its story being told. So here goes.

In the fourth post of this blog (August 6, 2012), I outlined the origin of our Music Night club and how it works. Since then I have provided numerous updates on our activities.

In the seventh post of this blog (September 16, 2012) I introduced the concept of a listening room. Unlike a formal Music Night, there is no theme nor a CD collection created around the music played. 

The listening room concept was essentially created for Music Night nerds who couldn't wait two to three months for their next group music fix. Click on the links above for a full review of just how our random evening listening rooms morphed into the annual multi-day music extravaganza we dubbed Labor Day Listening Room.

The tradition had a great run, from 2006 to 2019. The size of the groups varied over the years, averaging about a dozen. When needed, a pop-up camper and/or tents were set up to expand the Wiser Times overnight accommodations. And the meal plan was sort of a three-day potluck. But the basic structure of fun activities set to personalized music remained the same. 

As a rule, everybody was ready when their one-hour turns to select music came. In between turns we indulged in favorite distractions - chatting, relaxing on the deck or the gazebo (once we had one), swimming or taking a kayak out for a spin on Lake Huron. Long beach walks were popular as were side trips into Harrisville for the annual art show and barbershop quartet competition.  A round of golf occasionally broke out. And yes, there was a fair amount of gluttony and libating. So here are some pics from the early years. 

Nancy and I acquired the cottage in the spring of 2005. We spent that first summer fixing the place up and getting it ready for our intended uses. One of those was to entertain crowds. 

The cottage was big enough for crowds. It had two bedrooms and three common rooms that could double as sleeping areas. Plus a large deck, a generous front yard and 65' of beach. To address the one remaining need, we added a second bathroom. By the spring of 2006 the cottage was fully furnished (mostly with hand-me-downs) and ready for business. 

With trepidation, we sent invitations for interested parties to join us over the Labor Day weekend for what would be our first multi-day listening room. The grand experiment was on. Fortunately, we and our friends had talked about doing this for so long that the energy our guests brought easily overcame the predictable inconveniences of such a gathering. There were 11 attendees that first year. We all played nice, and the weekend was an overwhelming success. And without much reticence, the idea of holding the event annually was embraced.

Fortunately, though most of us were immersed in the fun and novelty of the whole experience, one of us was conscious enough to take a few pictures. She was also considerate enough to gift the pictures to us in a memory book still in residence at the cottage.

The photographic history of this first LDLR captured the spirit of what these weekends would grow into. First the players.   

Around the dinner table seated from left to right are Nancy, Linda C, Linda M, Laura (our thoughtful photographer), yours truly, Jim, Mary, Pat, daughter Christine and Brian. This scene occurred nightly and was always a highlight of the day (missing from the photo is Laura and Brian's son Josh, whom I believe joined us later that weekend).

But we did more than stuff ourselves. There was lounging on the deck.

Beach time, playing and/or exploring.

And my favorite, sitting in the sand just staring out at what seems to be our own personal lake.

There was also some private time, with little screens.

And big screens (at least big for 2006).

And time for sharing private thoughts. 

Even martial arts tips (?)

Another feature of LDLRs was animal husbandry. Our Brittany Spaniel Copper kicked the practice off in our first year. She was a looker.

This last shot from 2006 is of our (overfed) cabana boy. 

While starting out with only bar tending and kitchen cleanup duties, the role of cabana boy expanded greatly over the years as Wiser Times became a full service resort. More on that later.

From 2007 to 2010 the LDLR steadily matured and found its groove. Each year attendees with increasing ease would sort out the logistics issues at hand - meal planning, sleeping arrangements, music priorities, happy hour seating - and move quickly into the music-sharing activities. Everyone knew the drill. 

Group dinners continued during which we would review the day's events and plan for more. In this 2007 shot Jeff and Deandra R. and their kids Miranda and Justin made their first LDLR appearance (seated around the near end of the table).

And the cottage itself, out of necessity in some cases, received upgrades. For example, this baby.

 

When we acquired Wiser Times, one of its downsides was no covered outdoor seating. To fill this void we added this 10x16 screen porch, which we secured to the deck with an ingenious array of wood screws. The inside of the screen porch was roomy, housing a deck table and chairs, the family glider and storage for some beach furniture. It also opened up to one of the sliding glass doors into the house. Very convenient. Although somewhat fragile in high winds and heavy rains, this burgundy beauty gave us a few years of faithful service. We had to pack it away each fall and reinstall it in the spring. But it was worth it.

To handle any overflow, we added a smaller canopy out in the yard. 

It didn't have quite the charm or sturdiness as its deck cousin, but this junior partner served its purpose well. For about three years until the sun literally baked it to shreds. Above also note in the foreground the third (sort of) covered sitting area that came about by relocating the former deck umbrella to the front yard picnic table. And if sitting around wasn't your thing, there was a hammock so you could lie around instead (shown here in the background). 

Copper began hosting her own guests. Here she is with Jeff and Deandra's Brittany Belle. Both dogs reveled in this strange place where there were almost unlimited treats (read food droppings) and people willing to pet them. The girls were always a big hit. 

2008 and 2009 were banner years as judged by this scene in the parking lot (our back yard).

Temporary housing sprang up when needed, like the Reinhart's camping trailer.

The erection of such elaborate guest quarters always drew a crowd looking for entertainment. Here I am narrating the process for dazzled onlookers.

In this shot of the cottage from the beach you can see Big Blue pitched on the north side of the house. Big Blue was our 8x10 canvas wall tent that has been in my family since the early 70s. Refurbed a time or two, this old friend served handsomely as sleeping space for up to four adults or any number of kids. 

Once guests settled in on Friday night, the usual activities began and generally ran to either Sunday night or Monday morning. The primary activity of course was non-stop music from noon each day until 9:00 in the evening. Participants typically had two turns over the weekend during which they would take over the music for an hour. While some of us prepared playlists in advance of the weekend, a major sub-activity for many was scrambling to create their playlists before their turns came up. So as with everything else involving this small community of long-time friends, there was an impressive blend of planning and spontaneity.

Superimposed over the constant music were the many comforts and enjoyments offered by our venue. There was adult time on the beach.

Kid time, more in the beach than on it.

Buffet lunches.

More rock hunting along the water's edge.

Some grill-mastering (and a lot of equally masterful grill-watching).

Not to mention the prime-time evening activities of happy hour.

Group dinner.

And late-evening beach fires and stargazing. 

And every once in a while, sneaking off to re-grip your clubs (a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do).

2010 saw a major upgrade to the Wiser Times facilities. A couple of weeks before our LDLR we asked a local builder to construct an outdoor covered seating facility for us, to replace our aforementioned shredded yard canopy. So he and his son spent a week in the front yard with a pile of lumber and a table saw and came up with this. 

We were thrilled. The builder, Dave P, was quite a find. He built the gazebo with no blueprint. Just his experience and ingenuity. He said he knew the proper angles because he had built his home in the shape of an octagon. Of course. What's the problem?

We were so impressed with Dave's skills we kept him busy for the next 10 years. He completed several major projects for us including the construction of our "barn" and the extensive rebuild of the front of the cottage (much of this work was covered in a series of earlier posts beginning with "The Joys of Home Ownership Part 1).    

From this point on the gazebo played a major role in the life of Wiser Times and in LDLRs. A favorite spot to lunch, play a round of Farkle or Quirkle with the kids, enjoy the view with a glass of wine or something stronger, or relax after dinner and watch the moon rise. 

I think this gives you the basic idea of what the LDLR was all about. So I'll close for now and pick up the rest of the story in my next post. 

Until then, 

Grosse Pointe Charles

NFTL - RDate 147.14

I've spent much of my time this year living in 1987, plowing through old slides and sharing old memories. That's been fun. But it's time to take a pause on time travel and catch up on more recent happenings. In this edition of Notes from the Lab are a few updates to much earlier posts.

Music Night (8/6/2012, Last Update 9/29/21): In my original post I shared the basic idea of our Music Night club, launched in 1991. We get together every few months for an evening of food, friends, fun and music around a pre-selected theme. We then create and package CDs of the evening's music and distribute them to club members as a party favor. 

In my 2021 update I described the impact of the COVID pandemic on Music Night. We had continued but virtually, which meant muted mics, buffering screens, (not so) snazzy venue backgrounds and very little if any live music. I also shared that thanks to the miracle of vaccination, we planned to resume face-to-face gatherings with our 2021 Christmas party. 

I am happy to report that our plan came off without incident, and we have been back to normal since. Want proof? These are our 13 (so far) post-COVID collections. 

Our most recent Music Night was a couple Saturdays ago. The topic was Tributes. We will meet next in December to celebrate Triumphs. That one will be our 164th. Anybody have a good suggestion for me? I'm always looking for fresh perspectives and new artists. 

Labor Day Renewal (9/10/12, Last Update 10/23/18): In my original post I made the argument that it was Labor Day - not January 1st - when the new year, or annual renewal, really takes place. In my 2018 update I confirmed that even after six years of retirement, my sense of renewal was still strongest in the fall. This despite no direct impact on my life of a work routine or school activities. My personal obligations, my travel plans and even my medical cycles were largely intact.  

I've now been retired 12 years, and I have to report things have changed. I no longer consider renewal or anything else in annual cycles. I am aware of seasonal changes but even they present only a minor sense of renewal. I think that's because aside from weather, very little of my daily routine changes throughout the year. 

I would sum up my seasons as drink patio (fall).

Fireside (winter).

Gazebo (spring).

And beach (summer). 

These are the spots I most like to spend time, depending on the season. Of course, it's not all fun and games and sitting around. I do chase leaves in the fall.

Blow snow in the winter. 

Restore/upgrade the yard and garden in the spring.

And cut grass in the summer (at the lake). 

And as you likely know, occasionally my Bride and I gas up the Party Boat -

And go do this.

But other than these exotic activities, my cushy life is pretty consistent year round.

However, periodically I still get that tingly feeling of renewal. It comes over me whenever I insert a new month of day pages into my Franklin planner. With a sense of adventure I pour over the family events, visits with friends, hobby activities and trips to the cottage slated for the upcoming month. It's quite a rush. True, there are usually a few medical appointments mixed in, but I ignore those until the day of. Then take "sick leave" for the rest of that day and pamper myself even more than usual.

I've never been one to obsess over achievement or take unnecessary risks. I have no bucket list. And I've found that a smaller but regular shot of renewal each month is sufficient to keep the batteries charged and the groove smooth. So, yes. I'm living the dream. Or you could say, I don't get out much. Either way, I like it. 

Reading (10/2/12, Last Update 10/23/18): Since my last update on this topic six years ago (is that even possible) I've continued my plod, mainly through the fantasy worlds of Stephen King and the fantastic world of evolving science. Here's a summary of some recent reads that may pique your interest. 

My recent King books included short story collections Everything's Eventual, Full Dark No Stars and If It Bleeds. The first two are okay in my opinion, but for me not as gripping as his earlier short story work. If It Bleeds is better. The main story in the collection, also entitled If It Bleeds, picks up and continues the saga of one Holly Gibney. I'd better back up.

Holly Gibney is an important character in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. The title Mr. Mercedes refers to the story's villain who used a stolen Mercedes to run down a crowd of people. Holly is the niece of one of the victims. She is a painfully shy, insecure young adult woman with at times debilitating OCD. But, Holly is also smart, tech-savvy and in her own unique way courageous when she has to be. 

Bill Hodges, the main character in Mr. Mercedes, is a retired police detective who is still haunted by the horrific mass murder case he never solved. Through twists of fate, Bill and Holly meet and eventually find a measure of solace in each other over their respective losses. They end up partnering to solve the original murders. There is of course much more to the Mr. Mercedes story. But the important thing for my own little short story here is that Holly emerges from the trilogy as a full-fledged detective running her own small-scale agency, carrying on the work of her mentor. And she has now become a recurring Stephen King character.

Holly next appears in King's very spooky novel The Outsider. In this story Holly becomes aware of a bizarre murder in a neighboring state and out of curiosity, and with insights gained from her ordeal in Mr. Mercedes, joins the team working the case. Before it's all over she has an encounter with evil, Stephen King style, and survives.

Now finally back to If It Bleeds. In this short story Holly believes she has discovered another being like the one she dealt with in The Outsider. This time she's pretty much on her own to prove her theory and deal with the monster. Of course, we know she gets through it all because in King's latest novel, Holly, she's at it again. This time chasing down a couple of aging college professors with strange theories on human nutrition. It's been lotsa fun following Holly through her evolution. The Holly Gibney stories are all good reads.

Before leaving Stephen, I can also recommend a few of his other recent works (recent being since 2018). There are The Institute (child telepaths as government hit men), Billy Summers (likeable hit man on the run) and Fairy Tale (enterprising teen doing odd jobs for an odd duck discovers a hole in the ground that leads to a bizarre fantasy world - and lives to tell the story). Of these my favorite is Billy Summers. Very little supernatural. Mostly the tale of a sympathetic character who struggles with a no-win situation. 

Now for the really exciting stuff - non-fiction. A little science, old and new. First the old. Zecharia Sitchin - The Earth Chronicles. A seven-book series written over a 30-year period (1976 to 2007) explaining what Sitchin believes the writings of ancient civilizations record about Earth's (and humans') origins. Sitchen, a Russian-born archeologist and master of ancient languages, presents a unique interpretation of these texts and the history they suggest, including off-world (yes, alien) involvement. 

Sitchen's theories are a radical departure from traditional archeological thinking, but they are not totally without foundation. He has his detractors of course, but also many equally credentialed followers. His ideas are if nothing else intriguing. So, if you have an open mind and an interest in alternative approaches to understanding our world and its distant past, I recommend Book 1 - The Twelfth Planet. It lays out the basics of Sitchen's beliefs including the creation of Earth and the solar system. A real page-turner. The remaining six books go into greater detail on various aspects of ancient history as framed by The Twelfth Planet. I found them interesting. But, I'm a hopeless history nerd. 

Now the new - immortality. Sort of. The book is Ageless by Andrew Steele. The basic idea is that aging is largely due to the death of cells in the body. New cells are generated all the time, but the old non-functioning cells mostly remain and clog up the works. The theory is that if the old cells could be removed, rejuvenated and/or replaced with healthy cells, aging could be retarded. Perhaps indefinitely. 

Steele provides several examples of scientists who have already achieved some rejuvenation in lab experiments with various simpler (than human) life forms. Ageless is a pretty technical read, but lays out pretty exciting possibilities. Steele notes that if each year science learns to extend life by at least another year, those of us wishing to live forever would have a fighting chance. But I'm not cancelling my life insurance yet.

On another biology-related front, I've read two other books by David Quammen (the Song of the Dodo guy) that I recommend. The first is Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. Ring a bell? It outlines the major factors that contribute to the spread of new viruses, like the popularity of exotic animals as food and virtually unlimited global travel. The book was written in 2012. It's a painful read given that having fore knowledge of pandemic processes wasn't enough to head off COVID19.  

The other book is The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, published in 2018. Here Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology have changed our understanding of how evolution works. The writing is hyper-technical but stunning in it's content, discussing discoveries as revolutionary as horizontal gene transfer. Fascinating stuff, but not for people in a hurry.  

And I have a final recommendation - Carol Leonnig's Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service. Have you noticed how often the Secret Service has been in the news in recent years, despite their preference to work behind the scenes out of the public eye? The author has covered the inner workings of the Secret Service as a reporter for years and cultivated numerous inside sources. In this book she lays out the agency's history and challenges, its problems and its efforts to right the ship. It's an eye-opener. If you're a student of government and politics, I think you'll find the book to your liking. It's a pretty quick read.

That should do it for now. I hear my new Stephen King book (You Like It Darker) calling me.   

Until next time.

Grosse Pointe Charles