Continuation of Stories for Miekes class

5. “Sprinkler Problems”

So I packed up all the stuff early in the morning.  I was sort of worried that if the local authority saw me doing this they would stop me before I even got started.  But now I am on my way.  I did take a look back at the school as I turned the corner.  I must admit that as I did so a tear came to my eye.  I felt the weight of my pack and I sensed the the huge enormity of my journey and  turned back to see for the last time the safe (haven) of the life I was leaving.  I was on a 15 mile journey to the GR Ford Museum.  

I sort of wanted to see this because somebody had told me that Ford was was the only president our country that came from our state.  So I walked up Baldwin,down to Chicago drive and then on to Market St. and the next thing I knew I was standing at the staircase of the the GR Ford museum.  

I climbed the stairs,  24 steps in all, A security guard saw me doing this. He had this mustache of which the end curled up somewhat and he and I sat at the top of the stairs for a moment,  He could sort or see that I was on the start of large journey.  He gazed down on me from the corner of his eye.  He sort of had feel for the the fact that not every day would he have a visitor like this and he offered to my a personal tour of the facility. It was is this tour that that he showed me the works of a fine man. Gerald R Ford.  The only man from our State to ever be a president.  

After the tour he allowed me to put up my tent in the back of the museum on the yard.  It was sort of behind the place but the lawn was soft.  Nobody could see.  One thing he forgot to tell me is that in 4 AM in the morning the sprinkler system went off so here I was in the middle of the night and my tent felt like it was being hit by the rain.  Nothing bad here because the tent does keep the water out.  But still a little bit of a shocker. It was the next morning that I packed my stuff up again and climbed the same same steps.  My friend the security guard held out a couple of tickets. He offered them to me.  He said that as long as I was traveling the whole country I should stay some in Grand Rapids.  He told me I would not do better.  They were tickets to the GR Symphony which was to perform the following evening.  He told me that If I was to travel I should hear this group. One of the very finest in the land.  I decided to stay one more day.

Is it OK if I tell you what happened next on the following correspondence.  It is pretty interesting.  For now Ms M this is What I have for this day.  My feet are kind of sore but you know something.  This is all starting to be a really fun trip.  People are nice and God is good.

-Blarry

6. “Music and a Ride”

So with this ticket this guy gave to me I had to find some stuff to do In Grand Rapids for another day.  I was sort of hungry and I found the place called the B.O.B. and it looked like they had a lot of places to eat.  B.O.B. stands for big old building.  And that is what it is. I big old building with lots of choices of thing to eat.  I bought I steak and some fries.  They charge me about $12 for everything.  

You know something Mrs. M  I am starting to think a little more about how much money this is all going to take.  I am getting a few breaks along the way. People are seeing me travel and when they see me I think they cut me a little bit of a deal.  It was really a nice day here so I sat downtown and just enjoyed the day.  This city is busy though, something called "Art Prize" is being talked about and I think it might even start today.  Staying out of the way of all the traffic is a problem.  The fact is that a smushed Blarry would  not be a good deal.  I did think of one interesting idea.  After seeing the Ford museum I have been thinking some about if I might ever be the president of something.  So I formed this club.  It is called the YMTA  (young mens traveling association.)  And since I am the only member so far I elected myself the president.  I am sort of proud of this.

I did have one thing interesting happen when it was time to go the the symphony. My ticket was on the ( mezzanine)  and all of the players in the orchestra played like a team.  The music  was just perfect.  I looked in the program and they played something that this guy Beethoven wrote.  And you know what was interesting.  He wrote it when he was deaf.  Now how do you do something like that.  The music was just perfect and even the new president of the YMTA really enjoyed it.

I was not sure what I would do next so I was sitting in the lobby after the concert and this guy walked by. He saw me there contemplating my next move.  He sat next to me for a moment and inquired if I might be lost.  I told him what I was doing and I must tell you something amazing now.  When I told him who my teacher was, Mrs. M, he told me he was your brother.  He played a trumpet I think.  I told him where I was going and he said that he was going the same way.  Plus if I wanted he could give me a ride.  I asked him if he was really the brother of Mrs. M  and in short order he proved to me he was.  He told me all about you and what you did.  I threw my stuff in his car and we were on our way to Lansing.  He bought me a hamburger on the way.  

I offered to set up my tent in his back yard.  But he had me stay in the guest room.  We got in there late at night but one interesting thing I saw on the way to his home was a huge building with a lit up round dome on the top.  He told me it was the capitol building of our State.  So I knew what I was going to do the next day.  I was going to see that building up close and personal.

Your brother Ross a is nice guy.  When you have the chance please be sure to thank him for the ride.

Your Friend, Blarry  President of the YMTA

7. “Some Bad Neighborhoods”

The next morning I was opened my eyes and I heard the sounds of music ring up the staircase.  I descended the staircase of their somewhat old home and in their living room was a piano and it was being played by a lady who was still wearing her pajamas.  She looked at me and invited me to sit on the seat next to her.  It seemed to me that this business of music was complicated.  Notes were on the page and she took a little time to explain a few things.  She talked with a (accent) and her fingers just flew on the keys of the piano.  She was around 30 years old and she had taken 20 of those years to learn to play.  She plays the piano about 4 hours each day but she explained that she needed to do this and it was her job. She teaches 16 students.  Sure enough at the top of the music page was the name Beethoven.  So now two days in row I had heard this name.  She did explain to me some of the notes.  She plays on a baby grand piano.  Do you know what that is? Turns our she is the wife of your brother.  She got up from the piano and prepared for a me a large breakfast during which I explained that I would be walking the 4 miles from her home to the capitol building.  She called up the stairs and told your brother to come down and they had some real concern that to reach the capitol I would have to walk trough some bad neighborhoods and very frankly I had never heard of such a thing.  After further questioning they explained to me what a bad neighborhood was.  It had crime and it had problems that we do not see as much back home and as it turns out pretty much every big city in the USA has some bad neighborhoods.   Places that people do not have jobs and they steal stuff to make ends meet. Places where people sleep on the streets because they do not have a home to be in..

Your brother asked how I was taking care of my money. I told him proudly  I still had over $9,000 with me.  A frightened look came over his face.  He carefully explained that it was just not safe to carry with me that much money.  If I encountered one person that would robe me all my money would be gone and I would have to stop the trip.  Here is what he did. He took me to a bank and I put the money in an account with my name on it and then the bank person gave me a plastic card with my name and number.  She also explained very carefully that they would give me a password and I could stick the card in bank machines anyplace in the country and take some money.  My password is Beethoven and it is safe for me to tell only you this because you cannot get money out of my account unless you have both the card and the password.  I still had some money in cash left but I felt safer this way.  So Mrs. M, I was really glad to meet your brother.  I had about $400 bucks on me now and a plastic card.  Now all I had to do is get through this bad neighborhood and I would get to see the capitol. Your brother offered to ride his bike alongside as I walked. As we walked I could see what he meant when he said bad neighborhood.  Some of the buildings on the way had broken windows.  Trash littered the streets.  People hung around and as we walked by they had sort of a mean stare at us.  Many of the people smoked and in a few cases you could see people drinking out of whiskey bottles right on the sidewalks.  It was pretty sad.  I was so glad he was along because it was scary.  In fact Blarry had never seen something so scary.  Hey, that rhymes.

All this way we could see the capitol building but as we got closer things started to get nicer and then the huge building started getting bigger.  I climbed the stairs.  When I reached to top step I looked down at Ross on his bike and he gave me a wave and a salute and I watched his bike disappear as he went back home down Michigan Avenue.  I was on my own now.  People with briefcases were walking up and down the stairs.  For some reason when they built this place somebody had the idea of looking straight up at the inside of this thing.  If you ever come here you gotta see this.  It is really big and it looks really important.  Well enough for now.  I want to see the rest of this place.  Somehow wish you could come here someday.  But that probably will not be possible with so many kids.  One of the advantages of traveling and being the president of YMTA.

Your friend and missing student Blarry.

8. “Capitol”

The next morning I was opened my eyes and I heard the sounds of music ring up the staircase.  I descended the staircase of their somewhat old home and in their living room was a piano and it was being played by a lady who was still wearing her pajamas.  She looked at me and invited me to sit on the seat next to her.  It seemed to me that this business of music was complicated.  Notes were on the page and she took a little time to explain a few things.  She talked with a (accent) and her fingers just flew on the keys of the piano.  She was around 30 years old and she had taken 20 of those years to learn to play.  She plays the piano about 4 hours each day but she explained that she needed to do this and it was her job. She teaches 16 students.  Sure enough at the top of the music page was the name Beethoven.  So now two days in row I had heard this name.  She did explain to me some of the notes.  She plays on a baby grand piano.  Do you know what that is? Turns our she is the wife of your brother.  She got up from the piano and prepared for a me a large breakfast during which I explained that I would be walking the 4 miles from her home to the capitol building.  She called up the stairs and told your brother to come down and they had some real concern that to reach the capitol I would have to walk through some bad neighborhoods and very frankly I had never heard of such a thing.  After further questioning they explained to me what a bad neighborhood was.  It had crime and it had problems that we do not see as much back home and as it turns out pretty much every big city in the USA has some bad neighborhoods.   Places that people do not have jobs and they steal stuff to make ends meet. Places where people sleep on the streets because they do not have a home to go too.

Your brother asked how I was taking care of my money. I told him proudly  I still had over $9,000 with me.  A frightened look came over his face.  He carefully explained that it was just not safe to carry with me that much money.  If I encountered one person that would robe me all my money would be gone and I would have to stop the trip.  Here is what he did. He took me to a bank and I put the money in an account with my name on it and then the bank person gave me a plastic card with my name and number.  She also explained very carefully that they would give me a password and I could stick the card in bank machines anyplace in the country and take some money.  My password is Beethoven and it is safe for me to tell only you this because you cannot get money out of my account unless you have both the card and the password.  I still had some money in cash left but I felt safer this way.  So Mrs. M, I was really glad to meet your brother.  I had about $400 bucks on me now and a plastic card.  Now all I had to do is get through this bad neighborhood and I would get to see the capitol. Your brother offered to ride his bike alongside as I walked. As we walked I could see what he meant when he said bad neighborhood.  Some of the buildings on the way had broken windows.  Trash littered the streets.  People hung around and as we walked by they had sort of a mean stare at us.  Many of the people smoked and in a few cases you could see people drinking out of whiskey bottles right on the sidewalks.  It was pretty sad.  I was so glad he was along because it was scary.  In fact Blarry had never seen something so scary.  Hey, that rhymes.

All this way we could see the capitol building but as we got closer things started to get nicer and then the huge building started getting bigger.  I climbed the stairs.  When I reached to top step I looked down at Ross on his bike and he gave me a wave and a salute and I watched his bike disappear as he went back home down Michigan Avenue.  I was on my own now.  People with briefcases were walking up and down the stairs.  For some reason when they built this place somebody had decided it needed a huge dome on the top. The doors were so heavy I could not open them so I waited for a guy to get the door open and I slid in before it closed.  In a moment I was standing looking straight up at the inside of this thing.  If you ever come here you gotta see this.  It is really big and it looks really important.  Well enough for now.  I want to see the rest of this place.  Somehow wish you could come here someday.  But that probably will not be possible with so many kids.  One of the advantages of traveling and being the president of YMTA.

Your friend and missing student Blarry.  President of the YMTA

9. “Homes and Domes”

After looking up at the dome for a while I went in to see some of the the rooms in this big building. On room is where the legislators meet. It has neatly arranged table desk and chairs and in the front it has a place for the boss, but I am not sure who that is.  I am not sure why all the capitol building need to have a dome but whoever built this thing did kind of a nice job.  If it where my guess I would say these domes have somewhat of a (symbolic) nature.  But is it is my guess that you and your class might be better at figuring this out than I.  It was not very long though that I got a little bored with this so I sat out on the front steps for a while and I just sort of stared down Michigan Avenue not really sure of my next move.  I was pretty anxious to get going some more on my trip.

And then Mrs. M some thing amazing happened.  At around 5PM a guy with grey hair walked out  of the building and he passed by me descending the stairs.  He had a big briefcase. He got about 10 steps down and he turned around. He turned around and he came back and sat by me on the top step.  He stuck out his hand and introduced himself.  He said "my name is Rick Snyder who are you?"  I told him my name was Blarry.  Mr. Snyder told me he was the governor of our state but he seemed more interested in what I was doing.  I explained the whole thing.  Told him about my trip and everything.  Told him I was an orphan.  His head seemed to be whirling in thought.  I was not sure if he did not have the power to stop the whole trip right now.  But after he gave it some thought he kind of winked at me out of the corner of one eye and he told me this, he said "you know Blarry this is the most incredible thing I have ever heard".  A young man who endeavors to see our land.  But he said. "before you go further allow me to just help you a little."  "Come down this stairs with me and with your permission let me allow you to pitch your tent in my yard this night and in the morning let you and I take a ride out to our state police post. I have heard we have something out there that might be of help to you!!"

The next thing I knew I was going down the steps with Mr. Snyder and we both got in to the back of long car with a driver with a cap.  We approached a large house and the driver reached up and hit a button. The gates opened. The house had a huge yard and when the governor got out of the car he pointed to a spot in the yard that might be good for my tent.  I set the whole thing up. Got the light working. Kind of admired the surrounding a little.  The next thing I knew I sort of heard someone making noise as though they were knocking on the door of my tent.  I looked out and I saw this guy with a white vest and a white cap.  He had a plate of with some mashed potatoes,  2 pork chops, some beans. and a little gravy on the side.  It had been a while since I had even seen a meal like this.  It was served on a plate, and by the way not a paper plate.  Nice silver wear and everything. I was pretty hungry so nothing on the plate lasted very long.  I was not sure what to do with it when I was done but just as I was finishing the guy in white hat came back.  He told me that the governor would pick me up at 8 in the morning.

I spent the night wondering what jail they were going to take me to. I mean a guy my age out in the big world by himself..  So I did not sleep all that well that night.  I did notice before I went to bed that several State police roamed the grounds of the governors house.  They carried guns and they looked pretty serious.  One of them stopped by the tent.  He told me that the governor just wanted to help me and that he was a pretty good guy.  With that I went to sleep.  It was the best night of rest I had ever had.  On the grounds was a garden of roses and before I went to bed I could sense the (fragrance.) If nothing else happened on this trip I can at least tell you I slept in the yard of our governor.  The sweet smell of roses, the soft lawn, just everything. But still I wish I had a home.  How lucky can a guy named Blarry get though.  I do wonder however where the governor wants to take me in the morning.  What do you think?

Your Friend Blarry. President of the YMTA, and friend of the governor of the State of Michigan

10. “Browser”

The next morning, I awoke suddenly at 6:30 in the morning.  I saw the guy the white hat emerge from the back door of the expansive governors house and he carried another plate.  On it were neatly arranged eggs, 2 sticks of bacon, and a little pile of hashbrowns. Plus a little ketchup in a small dish.  I thought for a moment that I must be in the land of kings.  But I gotta tell you Mrs. M this stuff was good. Kind of makes me want to run for governor some day.  

In short order I saw the big limo warming up in the drive and one of the assistants told me to pack my stuff up.  By 8 I had this done and once again I was sitting in this long car. Mr, Snyder was busy doing paperwork in the back and I crawled in with my backpack.  We drove out about six miles and we entered a complex with all State police cars.  The governor got out of the car and the officers all saluted.  I could tell that they sort of respected him.  There uniforms were really sharp.  

In short order Mr. Snyder took me to the place where they taught all the State police dogs. He explained to me that dogs have a sense of smell that is 7 times stronger the humans.  These dogs all stood neatly at the side of the officer that was training them.  It was quite a show.  20 sharply dressed officers and 20 really strong looking German Shepherds. All trained to protect, pursue, and follow the scent of anybody who broke the law.  Except for the one on the very end.  This dog was just a little different.  He was only 3/4 the size of the others and when he walked he had a very slight limp in his left front leg.  

The governor explained to me that the dog on the end could not really be used for State Police work.  He further explained that it was important to him that if I were to go on this trip that I have some protection.  It was in a matter of no time that the officer who had this dog on the leash walked forward to me and presented me with this dog.  Even though this dog was a little smaller that the others it walked over to me and I put my arms around it.  Yep it is true that even though I had only gone a short ways on my journey it would sure be nice to have somebody along.  The road is sort of lonely you know. Plus even I thought it might be safer this way.  I asked the officer the name of the dog and he told me that this was dog 479.  

The governor explained to me that he wanted for me to have this dog.  So dog 479 and I and the governor got back in the car.  479 I think kind of liked me.  At least he sat closer to me than the governor.  I was told I could spend one more night in the "yard" before I started my trip again.  So I set the tent up again.  That night 479 wandered all over the yard and only once in while came back to the tent.  He seemed to browse around just about everything.  Finally he came back and sat at the front door of the tent.  I opened the  front flap  and he came in. First he sat up in a police dog position inside of the tent but then as he seemed to get to know me and trust me a little more he just laid down and just lay there looking at me. I talked to him.  I told him that he was just to fine of looking dog to be called dog 479.  So he and I agreed on something. I recalled how he had browsed around the yard.  And we agreed on his name.  Dog 479 would be named Browser.  So Blarry and Browser would set out walking in the morning.  We had the governor and the State Troopers on our side.  So far a good start to a long trip.

The Pres of the YMTA

11. Appleseeds

In the morning I looked out of the tent and the governors limo was gone. Browser sat out side of the tent in the police dog position and watched me pack everything up.  He seemed to observe this with lots of attention. One little problem though. the gate was closed.  I walked up to the front door of the mansion.  No doorbell or anything.  I knocked softly and then a little harder and the door opened.  I guy I had not seen yet answered the door and he had a suit and tie on.  He had a stern gaze. But he looked me over and asked "You must be Blarry?"  He reached over to a stand in the front entrance way and he handed to me a neatly wrapped square box.  I opened it there on the front steps.  It had two things in it.  It had a book called "Johnny Appleseed" and it had a little cloth bag about the size of an apple.  The book looked old.  The man in the suit told me to look inside of the front cover.  It had a note from the governor. It said "To Blarry from the Governor,  When I was your age this was my favorite books and now I want to give it to you.  In the cloth bag are some appleseeds. I like apple pies and and I had my cooks take the appleseeds out of the apples.  Please do this for me.  Each time you camp out would you please plant one of these seeds.  Each one will grow in to a tree and create a memory of your trip, plus some nice apples in a few years.  I hope dog 479 takes good care of you and please take good care of him.  Send me a note sometimes on how you are doing, be safe!! Rick Snyder"

The governor did not know that dog 479 was now Browser.  I looked behind me and the gate was open.  Browser had been trained to walk very nicely at my side and so it was just a short time before we left the property and were on our way.  We walked back down Michigan Avenue back through the bad neighborhood and I just have to tell you Mrs. M it felt pretty good to have Browser right along side of me.  After about 4 miles Michigan Avenue turned in to Grand River Ave.  It went right through the campus of Michigan State University. One of the biggest schools I have ever seen.

But about 4 miles later I started to think about and notice a problem. Browser would sometimes stop and look at me sort of a longing look.  I thought about a few things.  You know I really did not know how to take care of dog and I started to become worried that Browser was thirsty and hungry.  

I solved this problem for right now and I found a Burger King.  So I bought a whopper.  I got one of those little plastic knives and cut the thing in two.  Plus I filled a plastic cup with water and I sat at this table they had outside.  While I (relished) my half of the whopper Browser ate his in about two bites. He lapped up the water in a pretty good hurry as well.  I did go back inside and buy another whopper and Browser made short work of this as well.  My head kind of spun with how I as going to feed us both.  By the time I was finished this all cost me about $14 so I thought I am never going to make it at this financial pace.

It was further down Grand River that I saw the sign for a pet store.  I went in and in these type of stores they let your dog come in as well.  I walked with Browser up and down the isles and at one point he stopped and sort of sniffed one of the many varieties of dog food bags that they had displayed.  And right behind me was something I had never seen before. It was sort of a saddle bag that you would put over the back of a animal.  On each side was a carrying poach.  This thing was $30 bucks.  I also bought a little dog dish  to put the food in.  I did not want Browser eating off of the ground.  By the time I was out of there $45 was gone.  But I figured it was worth it just for the safe feeling I had with Browser by my side.  I was going to go busted by whoppers.   I had heard this expression one time though that a whopper a day would keep the doctor away but I am really not sure if that is quite right.  

Outside of the store I gently put the saddlebags on the back of Browser.  I placed the dog food on one side.  Then I put the governors book and the appleseeds in the one on the other side just to balance the load.  All in all it was a good solution.  I could not really carry much more,  I could not afford many more whoppers and Browser seemed to carry the load quite well.  

I looked at the map and thought we could maybe set camp that night in Williamston.  I saw a sign Williamston One Mile.  Lucky for us right outside of town was this sort of nice little roadside park.  It had a stream running through it. Nobody was really around so we set up camp sort of in the back of the park.  It was around 7PM.  Browser seems to be a really smart dog.  When you set up a tent like mine you need some tension on the other side to get everything tight and Browser was smart enough to hold the other side tight while I pulled everything tight. He did this gently so as not to (perforate) the canvas of the tent.

It was not long before it got dark.  I turned the lantern on and got my new book out of the back pack.  I opened .the bag of dog food and poured some in the dish.  I am not sure Browser liked it as much as the whoppers but he consumed it at a steady pace.  He then went down to the stream and lapped up some water, came back to the tent and laid at my side as a read the book.  In a short time his eyes fell shut.  It had been a long day.  My eyes did the same. We came about 25 miles today.  But it was a good day.  I like my new buddy Browser.  He feels like part of the family.

Blarry zzzzzzz.

12. “Apples”

You know something Mrs, M. A few things never do cease to amaze me. Right outside of the park that we camped in last night i heard the rumble of freight trains.  Browser would wake up every time they came by.  One other thing that I noticed.  The nights are starting to get a little colder.  So I am pretty glad to have Browser along. It seems that the body heat of both of us keeps the tent warm.  Browser took a walk this morning and he drank out of the creek that flows in back of this place.  When he goes to sleep each night he senses the noises. Each night he seems to be aware of everything that is going on around us.  

In the morning he helped me pack up the tent. He had seen me do this in the governors yard but now he knew exactly how to be of help.  He would watch a little but then he would go in to action.  With his teeth he would pull up the tent stakes on the left side.  We were sort of partners in this, I could tell.  May I say this?  It sure was good to have a partner in this adventure. A helper!!!

We prepared a breakfast.  I few rolls. A little dog food. And then one of these trains stopped behind the area we were camping and came to a total stop.  I am not sure why.  I was ready to start walking but Browser did not seem all that anxious to get going. Browser was down by the creek and he pointed his nose in the direction of that train. We jumped over the creek and the next thing I knew we were standing next to that train.  Some of the cars said Cleveland on them. I knew from the map that we needed to go to Cleveland and I noticed that for the most part the cars were empty.  I lifted Browser up into a car.  The planks on the bottom were made of wood.   .  It was long thing and it had a whole bunch of empty cars.  I unlatched one  of the cars. I saw it was not the most comfortable place I had ever seen but it somehow seemed that it would be better than walking.  I think the term term might be "jumping a freight". Sso here we were in this freight car.  We sat there for about one hour.  Every once in a while Browser would get up and look out the door.  But then this thing with a jolt would move forward. We were moving.  Just because the signs on the door said Cleveland I was not sure where it was really going.  But in any event Browser and I were on the move.  We settled in a corner of the (expansive) car.  The rumble of the tracks and the (cadence)  of the tracks somehow had a rhythm that could sort of put one to sleep. I was sort of hoping that we were heading in the right direction but I really had no good idea.  I figured it this way. If you are going to go on an adventure you might as well let it flow.  

By the way, before we departed the camp we had last night I took a spoon and dug a three inch hole in the ground and planted one of the governors apple seeds. I think when this tree grows the people that stop there will be able to reach up and get a good apple.  Is it a whopper a day or is it a apple a day.  If it is a apple I think I did good.

I wonder where this train is going.  Will let you know next time.

Your student and friend Blarry.