Mushing Up Winter Tourism

Northern Michigan is working hard on bringing more of the silent sports to the area. The latest news is there are some new sled dog racing events in the pipeline.

See MLive: Sled-dog races go from dream to reality; three new events in Michigan for 2010

A related activity is Skijoring, and it has been becoming much more popular in Michigan since the 1990's. See OYB: Skijoring in Michigan!

The wonderful little town of Steamboat Springs is the western capital of skijoring; there is not a skijoring capital in the eastern U.S., which town in northern Michigan will embrace the title?

If you want to get started I have been happy with Black Ice Dog Sledding Equipment

How ADU's Can Help In Difficult Economic Times

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) can serve as an economic refuge in that it gives families a low-rent way to consolidate living space; and for those people who have an ADU, it represents another income stream when all others dry up.

TheAtlantic: Young Adults Moving In With Parents, Roommates

USNews: Baby Boomers Moving In With Adult Children

These Are Related

R-E: County won't pay for Boardman trail studies

TheAtlantic: The Geography of Obesity

25% of Michiganders are obese and some Grand Traverse County Commissioners voted against studying an expansion of the Boardman Lake trail because "Many of my constituents have never seen this trail and probably never will in their lifetime".

Well, Commissioner, maybe if they did see the trail they wouldn't be so fat.

This reminds me of a comment overheard this past weekend while taking the shuttle from the Detroit airport to the parking lot across the street "My feet are killing me. That [the walk from the terminal to luggage claim] was the farthest I have walked since the last time we were at the airport".

The Napa Valley Of Hard Ciders

Northern Michigan is seeing more production of delicious hard ciders. See MyNorth: Four Hard Ciders to Try and Leelanau Cider-Maker Dan Young Creates Artisan Hard Ciders.

Yet although Michigan wine country gets promoted, and the brewers are becoming well known, it appears northern Michigan may have missed the opportunity to brand itself as a hard cider capital. See NPR: In New England, Hard Cider Stages A Comeback

Wood envisions New England becoming the Napa Valley of fine cider production. It wouldn't be unprecedented. It was the drink of choice of American colonists, and John Adams was said to consume a tankard a day. In that sense, Wood is like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed. Who, by the way, also planted cider apple trees.

How A Place Looks Is As Important As Schools And Social Opportunities

Via Martin Prosperity Research: Beautiful Places: The Role of Perceived Aesthetic Beauty in Community Satisfaction

A community that satisfies its residents, according to our findings,
appears to be one that provides a solid economic foundation, provides abundant opportunities for social interaction, offers good schools, and is also perceived as beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. While a number of other community characteristics were found to be positive and significant, they were not nearly as strongly related to community satisfaction as these key factors.

New Sidewalks

Traverse City has been replacing sidewalks in some of the core neighborhoods this fall. And I have seen where existing trees have been given wide cutouts so they'll have room to grow.

As an alternative to cutours, I recently read about another option at Homegrown Evolution: Rubber Sidewalks Rescue Trees

Green Sheds Are So Hot In Toronto Right Now

Story at TH: Triple Treat: Prefab Garden Shed With a Green Roof



Official site: GreenGarage.ca

I would love a chicken coop built in this style.