COLD-WATER CATCH: Ice fishing is one of Michigan’s most popular winter sports, but one that is fraught with peril. (Photo by Flickr user Corvair Owner; used under Creative Commons license) I must have been 6 or 7 – old enough to go ice fishing with my father, but small enough to fly over four feet […]
John Schneider
John Schneider wrote a daily column for the Lansing State Journal for 24 years, and is the author of “Waiting for Home: the Richard Prangley Story” and the play “Voice Mail.” His favorite part of brunch is the bloody Mary, which doesn’t affect his motivation to blog daily. The views and assertions of guest columnists do not necessarily reflect those of Bridge or The Center for Michigan.
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
We'll thank you, retailers, to leave Thanksgiving alone
TIME TO SHOP: The relaxed postprandial Thanksgiving is slowly yielding to retail madness. (Photo by Flickr user Rene Schwietzke; used under Creative Commons license) The problem with Thanksgiving Day has always boiled down to this: How do you commercially exploit a holiday that celebrates gratitude? What’s the trick for getting people counting their blessings to […]
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Six weeks in the woods that restore the soul
PALACE IN THE POPPLE: Inside sits a man composing poetry. Or maybe just a few raccoons. (Photo by Flickr user Charles Dawley; used under Creative Commons license) I don’t keep an archery hunting journal, but if I did, a typical edition would read like this: Oct. 1: Opening Day. Warm; light south wind. In my […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
What's Michigan deer season for? Trophies or venison?
THROW HIM BACK: Under new DNR hunting regulations, this forkhorn buck would be illegal in some Michigan counties this season. (Photo by Flickr user Steve Burt; used under Creative Commons license) Each year, in late summer, the state Department of Natural Resources issues its “Hunting and Trapping Digest,” a 5-by-8 1/2-inch booklet of 60 pages […]
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Drama in household appliances, or how a dehumidifier united three strangers
SHE LOOKS SO…TIRED: Sometimes, just buying a simple home appliance can be fraught with drama. Will Eduardo get the sale he worked so hard for? And what about the manager’s puppy? (Photo by Flickr user Gerard Stolk; used under Creative Commons license) In need of a dehumidifier, I go to Sears, where there are only […]
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Children’s departure is part of the cycle of life
GOODBYE, FOR NOW: Michigan frets about the departure of young people after college, but it’s important to remember that such leavings are a typical rite, says Brunch with Bridge columnist John Schneider. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) I reared my children to be independent and adventuresome, and look what happened: They became independent and […]
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An elderly mother, the car keys and a conundrum for countless Michigan families
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) My mother’s driving career ended with both a bang and a whimper. From her hospital bed she told me, “I was admiring the beautiful autumn leaves when the truck pulled out in front of me.” As a matter of fact, the truck hadn’t moved. It was parked. The police […]
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Nervously watching Michigan’s beach expansions
CONVERSION: Sand is replacing water as beaches grow along the shores of Lake Huron, a consequence of declining water levels. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) The joke among the people who share the Lake Huron cove on which our summer home sits is that the township may soon try to tax us on the […]
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