I might sound like a broken record but as happy and excited as I was about ten days ago to be going there, I was equally sad & depressed to be going away from it - at least until the next time, whenever that may be… Looking back at these ten days while I awaited the boarding call for my next flight in Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport, I couldn’t help but feel that the trip was pretty eventful and relaxing - with the exclusion of an unforeseen circumstance that prevented me from meeting buddy Kyle’s parents and walking across the Mackinaw Bridge. In a nutshell, I did lot more work than I have in the last six months and if I said I had fun, it’s an understatement - interacted with many a (new) friends, met and hung out with almost all of those that have made a difference in my life in the 66 months that I lived here, worshiped the holy spirits at KBC, cooked B³ at a friend’s house, enjoyed great food served with home-like care, collected GPS coordinates for numerous pictures from my showcase, watched and shot (photographs of) two Huskies football games played on a brand new turf (thanks to the Athletic Department, I got an up close and personal view of a Goal Line Stand, a Safety and a plethora of TDs), tried my hand at water sports (thanks to Liz, Amy [thank you for lending me your tripod], Scotty, Julie, Bucky, Cheryl and Jenna), visited the industrial ruins at Freda (a small township where I had once had the best banana pie ever), took a tour of the Quincy Mine and more. Things that I (re)learnt during my stay here:

• The only way I could be considered to be in shape is if random shapes were also considered to be shapes.
• New found respect for folks who do water sports and shoot pictures of water sports. Although not by much, I would like to think I am slightly better at shooting than participating in them.
• New found respect for ROTC Officers and Cadets who do a cumulative number of push-ups every time Michigan Tech football team scores points. I suck at doing push-ups
• One of my New Year’s Resolution for the last two years was resolved, without my own knowledge, nearly a year ago. In a nutshell, it was to be a Bad A$$ and the way to achieve it (as I had explained to my neighbors in NJ) was to be called that (or Jerk, or something to that effect - you get the idea) by a girl in public (prettier the better). It didn’t take too long - the very first evening, some one I have known for a long time and admired, called me that near the Green House. Thank you, LJW, for stepping up and doing the honors
• There is a difference between being Bad A$$ and plain mean (thank you Robby).
• Practice, Preparation, Planning, Patience and Perseverance are useful tools to have and more the better.

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, the ones in the collage below should provide a bird’s eye view of my stay:

These and other pictures from this trip are here:

NCAA DII Football: Winona State Warriors @ Michigan Tech Huskies :: NCAA DII Football: Hillsdale Chargers @ Michigan Tech Huskies
Water Sports on Portage Canal: Day 1 | Day 2
Covered Road & Industrial Ruins in Freda
Quincy Mine