Summer Time

The essence of good living is the feeling you get that life is good in the summer. Windows open on a cool summer evening lets sounds of the neighborhood enter your life. You catch partial conversations as people walk by. The conversations vary but one can tell by tone and inflection which ones are happy, sad, or real upset. 

Dogs communicate by whining, barking and persistent pestering of owners. I know my dog Tinkerbelle asks to go outside more times than she needs to eliminate. I know she just likes play the game called control the door.  She really prefers summer as there are more birds, squirrels, people and flowers to smell and dig up. I feel dogs dig up flowers because the ground is still softer where flowers and plants are transplanted to. Some dogs are obsessive about digging. Some dogs dig a hole or a cave because the dirt is cool and they are just trying to cool off.

Thunderstorms, wow they can be magnificent. Boomers, wind, lightning, the smell of high ozone levels after they go through are byproducts of heat and humidity. There is an awesome power unleashed during these weather cell storms. It makes me appreciate the ability to feel the focal point of all that energy. I realize the people that survived the tornado that devastated much of Dundee June 6 would have wished less expression of God's might and destructive side. Luckily there was no loss of human life from that storm. The team work of volunteer and utility crews put a town in physical turmoil back together again. They did a marvelous job in a very short time to get power and phone lines back in working order. There certainly were a lot of volunteer hours logged after the tornado. Thanks to those that gave of their time and talents.

Another favorite summer time event for me is all the fireworks shows that are available in this area in Michigan.  Living in Milan on West Main Street I get to see a sky full of flash, bright lights and thunderous noises as the show unfolds.   One thing you get pending the strength of prevailing winds is burning embers. These may be landing in the water or on top of you. After some years fireworks shows our driveway has remnants from large explosions. Luckily there have to my knowledge never been any fires started from fireworks aerial fallout. I can smell the cordite saturating the air and see the mini puffball clouds from previous explosions that are exposed by the next salvo of explosions. The concussive sound and pressure wave generated from fire works is something you have to experience in person to appreciate.  The double visual image and double explosion echo off of Milan's Ford Lake is a sensual impact that almost defies description. It is a moment of unbelievable sensations and stimulus that feels like you are in a war zone. 

When Doug Gilson and the Milan Fair Board brought the fire works to Ford Lake about 1985 or so I underestimated how close we lived to the ignition site. We had to get up early to leave for a USA Diving meet our daughter Julie was in. I thought we could sleep through the show. Boy was I surprised when the ten o'clock show lit off. We ended up opening a window and crawled out on our porch roof and watched from our private vantage point. We then went to bed and still had to get up early and depart. It was worth it fireworks are special. We have since watched fireworks from across the street and have seen them from the Willis Boyer in Toledo.

Hot weather makes you think of Detroit Tiger baseball.  A trip to old Tiger Stadium was a real treat as a kid. I think it was Briggs Stadium back then. Comerica Park is a great place to watch a game. It is an extra nice feeling hearing the vendors hustling sales and the smell of Ballpark Franks lingering in the humid air. Hearing the umpires scream "Play ball" and bellowing out the strikes and outs is exciting. The Tigers would go out and play what ever was their version of baseball that year. They have improved some  since the years of my youth. Since moving to Milan I have learned to appreciate the Toledo Mud Hens. They play pretty respectable baseball. The Hens have players trying to get up to the big show and they have players trying to get back to the Major league level.
The Fifth Third Ball Field is a great place to watch a baseball game.

The best thing to watch in spring and summer are our children or their children play baseball, soccer, dancing and now ice skating is big with our granddaughters. Watching them learn the skill sets they need to use in a sport or activity allows you to share in their enthusiasm, pride and development. To keep things in perspective professional sports are usually played by other people's children. I have a cousin's daughter, Becky Hammon, that plays in the WNBA. We try to watch her games and have followed her career through her parents and her grandmother.  My aunt Dee is her grandmother. Becky is a good Christian woman. She is a great role model for young ladies. When you know a person in a game or position it really opens up your interest and ability to relate to them.

Today was Father's Day. We had the opportunity to go to the Toledo Zoo with the Southern Michigan Veterinary Medicine Association. There was a general public hotdog and buffet lunch. After eating we visited the zoo veterinary hospital with Chief Veterinarian, Chris Hanley, DVM, and Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine. Dr Hanley went over the challenges and intriguing points of being a zoo veterinarian.  The tour was very interesting even to family members that understand the family living aspect of private practice. We veterinarians understood his dream of a new hospital, adequate staffing issues and the need to have current diagnostic equipment available. Some items are almost universal. What we private veterinarians do share is a very dedicated caring set of people we interact with as team players daily. Our staff allows us to be a veterinarian, that's what we love to do.

For more information about a specific case, consult your veterinarian.
The outside of a pet is good for the inside of a human.