A Return to Kalamazoo

World's Greatest Neighbors -- Kalamazoo

(left to right) Dean, Karen, Janet, Anita, Bonnie, Michigan

A stop in Kalamazoo would not be complete without a stop in my old neighborhood, Parkview Hills, home of the best neighbors on earth. We are all around the same age, and we like each other, visit each other, have parties and cook-outs together, and help each other out. Many of us have (or had) pets who were integrated into the fabric and culture of the neighborhood as well. 

Anita started out these activities and frequently organizes them--or at least inspires others to organize them. (She also helps me with my mail while I'm in France.) She is a gem! 

Dean is my confidant on business matters, politics, and Tiger baseball. I helped take care of her cat, Dante, and her groceries a couple years ago when she was layed up. She owns the Michigan News in downtown Kalamazoo and was able to conduct business in remote. We became great friends as a result of spending time together almost every day for two months.

Michael and Karen have emerged as leaders in the neighborhood association and now on the Parkview Hills board. They care deeply about the environment and do what they can to beautify the neighborhood. Recently, they have been bringing goats to the neighborhood to "cut" the grass.

Janet is a Francophile, a traveler, and an amateur genealogist. We share our interest in French language and culture and travel. She has been all over the world as a traveler, student, and volunteer. I once wrote a Gazette article about her travels. She had a particular fondness for my cat, Tucker, who was a handsome dude who liked to tantalize Jacquot, her small, white, poodle.

Bonnie was new to the neighborhood before I left. She is a joiner and a cat lover. She has become a key person who keeps the neighborhood going.  

Jan graciously offered to host a homecoming pizza party at her condo. You might say it was a kind of "oo-la-la" evening.

My favorite dog friend, Darby, joined the party, too. When I whistle a certain tune, he looks for my cat, Tucker. (Tucker responded to various whistle signals.) Darby also sings his own songs. His favorite is "Home on the Range." Here we are (below) singing before I left for France. I sure miss the little guy!

Down from the Farm with the Kleins

Busy farmers like Ron and Soo Klein of Windshadow Cheese Farm in Bangor have a difficult time leaving the farm to go into the city, yet my friends took some time for me. We had a delicious lunch at Food Dance Café and talked for three hours about the farm, our memories, and France. I have known the Kleins since 2009 when I first took up gardening and goat herding at their hobby farm called Dancing Turtle. It was a profound experience that allowed me to get in touch with Nature in a more personal and hands-on way. Ron spent a lot of time teaching me how to drive a tractor; clean a barn; and tend to the goats with milking, grooming, pasture walking pregnant does, "catching" newborns, and training young goats. In 2011 they moved from their hobby farm outside of Kalamazoo to Bangor where they built a goat dairy and cheese farm that now is home to 130 goats.

My grilled salmon salad was both beautiful and delicious.

Jesus & Elsa in Battle Creek



Jesus and Elsa from Mexico were both my English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Twice a week I would meet with them individually to help them improve their English. Jesus and I focused on his work while Elsa and I talked about everything under the sun. We developed a friendship that was to last over the years and over the miles. Elsa knows French, which she learned in school and as an associate for the Mexican embassy in France.  

We had authentic Mexican food--made by Elsa--that included paella (right), "sopes" (little corn flour tortillas with beans, cheese, and hot sauce), and "tinga" (beef with onions, tomato sauce, pork sausage, and chipotle pepper). For dessert (left) we had delicate tastes of peach jello, ice cream, and cheese cake.

They recently bought a beautiful house in Battle Creek and proudly showed it to me. Elsa also gave me a book titled Sor Juana by Octavio Paz. I saw a Netflix movie about Juana Inés de la Cruz and asked Elsa if she had ever studied her. "Yes, of course," she said excitedly. Sor Juana was a nun and the first great Latin American poet who wrote about the intellectual life of the viceroyalty of New Spain in the 17th century.



Beth and Dave

I've known Beth and Dave since 1990. Beth was in marketing and communications and Dave was with AT&T. Now they are both retired and living the good life. I was always struck by their avocations that included sailing, music (Dave plays in a band), cats, travel, and cooking. They are environmentalists and foodies who live in a beautiful Carver home in the woods. Beth edited my first book (Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq). She is a writer as well as a book publisher and magazine editor and writer. They are now celebrating their retirement with a trip to Australia. They may even come to France to visit me someday. I hope so!



Holland -- Monny

Monny and me

A trip to Michigan wouldn't be complete without a trip to see my in-laws. Rich and my sister-in-law, Tracy, took me to see Tracy's mom in Holland. We spent the day with Monny by lunching at Peredie's, watching a short demonstration on ice cream making (which included samples), and visiting together.

Monny is 94 and as healthy as can be. That comes from years and years of yoga and good, clean food. She can still do a four-minute plank. For several years she led a small group of women in yoga exercises once a week. Before we left her, Tracy hauled out a jigsaw puzzle and separated the pieces of the border. Monny is a whiz at puzzles, too. 

Rich

Tracy

Elmo used to guard the lakehouse deck from the birds.

Making ice cream

Andy, Mary Katherine and Grace

My nine years as a professor at Kalamazoo College (2002-11) were the pinnacle of my career. Having students like Andy and Mary Katherine was a supreme pleasure: they are smart, motivated, oriented toward service, and humble people that work to get a job done well. That we still have a relationship with each other is the essence of what I think a small college can uniquely offer its students. Andy and MK invited me to an enchilada dinner at their house. Grace, their three-year-old daughter, provided the entertainment. She is a bundle of joy for them and their opus magnum, as you can see from the following cute photos. 

     

 

Kalamazoo

There have been a few changes in Kalamazoo like the construction of a new condo building at a former parking lot on Michigan and Rose. The city has been trying to provide more downtown condo living and this is the first building that is newly constructed instead of renovated. Congratulations to the developers!!

Red electric buses have also appeared on the streets of the city. Kalamazoo Metro Transit is in the process of replacing the blue and white buses of the 1980s.