You know you’re a Michigander when …
By Tim Mulherin
Sun contributor
Nearly four decades have passed since I first set foot in northern Michigan. In that span of time, I’ve advanced from agog newbie to repeat tourist to seasonal visitor and property owner.
Now, after several failed attempts at working in and relocating to the Great Lakes State, having to fold my tent and return to Indianapolis due to unyielding circumstances (like becoming grandparents and my wife’s absolute delight in being one — please note: my wife’s absolute delight), I’m finally enjoying a six-month stay at our cabin in Cedar. However, I can’t call myself a Michigander just yet. According to natives, that special status is rather hard to come by if you weren’t born and raised here.
Nonetheless, throughout my time Up North, I’ve noticed there are certain common traits in being a card-carrying, fully certified northern Michigander, and they have nothing to do with possessing a driver’s license issued by the Michigan Department of Motor Vehicles. So, I’d like to run some of these observations by you forever residents of the region and see what you think.
You know you’re a northern Michigander when you…
- Inexplicably start to get edgy just before Memorial Day weekend, then realize that tourist season is about to start. (Then recover nicely to host the swarm of visitors who come to the region to enjoy a small slice of the paradise you know so well.)
- Need at least a two-car garage: one bay for stuff that just happens to accumulate, and one – or more – for the fishing boat, jet skis, paddleboards, canoes, and/or kayaks. The cars, trucks, and SUVs are perfectly fine outside.
- Need a pole barn when the garage is overflowing.
- Back down steep driveways as if second nature – because it is.
- Wave at pedestrians out walking, running, or biking as you drive through the countryside, giving them a courteous wide berth as you zoom by beyond the “suggested” speed limit.
- Like to shoot the breeze with complete strangers, wherever you may be.
- Are obsessed with talking about the weather and tend to do a decent job forecasting without a meteorological degree.
- Find any excuse to be near, in, or on the water.
- Dread Cherry Festival and maintain that you always avoid Traverse City during the week of July 4, but will take the grandkids from out of town there without having to be asked – and have a darn good time in the process.
- Totally get why people would want to relocate here, but you’re not too crazy about the company.
Native northern Michiganders are truly a proud bunch. As a longtime wannabe, I so admire you. Although I realize I’ll never quite make the cut of being a full-fledged local, just being here now to appreciate this incredible place with you is a close second. And that will do just fine.
Tim Mulherin is the author of Sand, Stars, Wind, & Water: Field Notes from Up North, a nonfiction collection of stories and essays about his outdoor adventures in northern Michigan over the past 36 years. He’s now researching a new book on the impact of the pandemic and climate change on the region, as well as the increasing pressure of tourism, and how growth can best be balanced with environmental protection. He can be reached at timmulherin@sbcglobal.net.
