Hold on to your hats!

Three months after we moved to Michigan I got my shoulder-length hair cut to chin-length. ‘Twas an odd move considering I’d determined (yet again) to grow it out and had been more patient than in my previous attempts. But after months of my hair being whipped about my face and getting stuck on my lipstick as a result of the incredible windy conditions up here I got it chopped off.

When I told my family what I’d done they couldn’t believe it was that windy; I’m sure they thought I was going through yet another grow-hair-cut-hair cycle. But one by one, as they’ve come to visit, they’ve realized how windy it is here.

Now, dear native Michiganders, I’m sure you’ll think I’m crazy. I’m sure you’ll say, “Oh, Christy! It’s just a little wind!” Let me remind you that if you’re from here you’re used to it. You’re used to ignoring the wind that blows so hard that a certain newcomer to your lovely state would hustle her children to the basement with great regularity her first year here. Just as I think nothing of calling every bubbling soft drink Coke, you think nothing of the crazy, wild winds that whip through this state on a very regular basis.

So when I saw this news story this morning I felt great vindication:

Blown-away Chihuahua reunited with owners
Tue Apr 28

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Tinker Bell has been reunited with her owners after a 70-mph gust of wind picked up the six-pound Chihuahua and tossed her out of sight.

Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen. The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK.

The Utleys, of Rochester, had set up an outdoor display Saturday at a flea market in Waterford Township, 25 miles northwest of Detroit. Tinker Bell was standing on their platform trailer when she was swept away.

Dorothy Utley tells The Detroit News that her cherished pet "just went wild" upon seeing her.

I told y’all it's windy up here!