Midwestern Sojourn Part One: Michigan

I spent a few days between Christmas and New Year’s at my friend J’s farmhouse in Michigan. In addition to getting to spend some much-needed lady time with her and our friend S, being in such a remote location (thirteen miles from the nearest town! For a city girl like me, we might as well have been in Botswana) chilled me out in a way I knew I needed, but couldn’t achieve on my own.

The house itself is fantastic, old and creaking with two staircases and a million secret rooms. It’s always a little cold so you have to wear slippers everywhere and sit on the couch under three blankets when you watch a movie, clutching a mug of tea. 

J drove me around for a couple of hours so I could get a feel for where we were. Every time we turned down a dirt road I asked her if she was taking me someplace to kill me and bury my body, but here I am so I guess her intentions weren’t as malevolent as I thought. 

I don’t think I stopped eating the entire time I was there. Homemade pizza, chocolate-chip cookies made with coconut oil (something I’m definitely going to try), raw milk, hard rolls with butter, an endless supply of clementines, a crock of spinach dip we kept taking out of the fridge and reheating. I’m lucky my jeans still fit. 

It was pretty grey–perfect weather for Scrabble and Rummy and Oh, Hell.

I napped. I never nap.

Most of all, I relaxed. I slept ’til I woke up.  I sat and did nothing. I practiced my yoga breathing, and sat on J’s bed listening to the radio and trying to touch my toes. I laughed. I went with J to the train station in Jackson (right next to the nudie bar!) with a thermos of coffee to get S. I saw parts of the country I’ve never seen before.

I’m trying to figure out how to bring that sense of well-being–that sense tat the universe can take care of itself–into my life here. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it. but I think it might involve more quiet–and maybe more bars with a moose on the wall.