A Series of Michigan Things

Sure, you can nitpick and nitpick, and sure the state has, like, a third-world economy at this point, and, sure, it has its share of godawful stripmalls, and the world's largest cross in the woods, or some such, but, look, every state has godawful stripmalls, every state's economy is going to collapse at some point, and there are some great, great things about this state. Here's what I've run into thus far in my visit:

1. Bell's. Everywhere.

2. Trees. Everywhere. (Except along 96 between Lansing and Grand Rapids. That's a terrible stretch of roadside nastiness).

3. Lakes and rivers. Everywhere.

4. Lake Michigan. Obviously.

5. I had to travel on a highway at ten in the morning, about 20 miles of road, and it took less than twenty minutes. And the cars in the left lane passed the cars in the right lane. And no one slowed down to 35 mph for inexplicable reasons.

6. People can merge into highway traffic. This is a seriously underrated driving skill and one that, apparently, not all states emphasize in their DMV-sponsored licensure exams.

7. Sand.

Clearly, there's a whole lot more, but those were the first seven that I thought of.

Meanwhile, here's the messed-up thing about Michigan: the state done gave me a problem with my teeth. Is it really the state? One temporary filling, one permanent filling, and half a root canal later (all on the same tooth, with the second half of the procedure scheduled for Wednesday), I'm ready to put the blame right here. Right here.