Holden-Corbett.com

Halloween Fun

leah — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:27:08 +0000

Trick-or-treating is always an adventure. I remember the times when it was so cold (and sometimes snowing) that we had to wear our snow pants when wandering around the neighborhood. This year, the weather was great, and Sylvie was able to go out and have fun with her older cousins. Walter and I failed to don costumes because we figured out that it would be cool to be characters from BSG ( Battlestar Galactica) the day before Halloween, so we didn’t have time to get our act together. I’ll post some fun pics of our little bumble bee soon (apparently the server won’t let me post pics right now). Sylvie couldn’t quite get the sound ‘buzzbuzz,’ but she did say “beebee” a couple of times.

Lake Michigan Lot for Sale!

bill — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:06:08 +0000

Sunset from the top of the bluff

Lake Michigan sunsets, sandy beach with glacial boulders, gulls squawking, and the shadow of a hawk’s wing breaking the sunlight can be experienced with this beautiful 100′ lot near the tip of Leelanau’s peninsula! Sitting atop a fifteen foot bluff, ready for your rustic retreat, this lot provides commanding views of Lake Michigan from Cathead Bay to North Fox Island, and beyond. If you have an interest in acquiring this beautiful lot, contact me at wacorbett@gmail.com

View from the building site

This lot is only a half-mile from Leelanau Conservancy’s Lighthouse West Trail, a great spot for birdwatching. One local birder logged 120 species on that parcel!

Our lot is located on the private N. Cathead Bay Road, which ends in a turnaround a mile south. Homeowner association members can park in the turnaround (some have electric golf carts) and walk nearly a mile of gorgeous sugar sand state shoreline, part of the 1600 acre Leelanau State Park. In summer and early fall, you can swim in crystal clear water.

State beach at Cathead Bay

Our lot is partially “wetland.” We have an active and transferrable permit from the MDEQ and constructed a driveway and cleared trees for the building site. The only drawback to this rustic setting is that holding tanks are required for sewage. Otherwise, it is an ideal spot for a secluded vacation retreat.

If you can be a good steward of this property, and have the resources to acquire it, let’s talk! Call Bill at 231-342-7600.

Sunset from the beach on Lot 12, Lighthouse Cove

View of South Fox Island from Lot 12

Looking into Lot 12 from N. Cathead Bay Road

Farewell to T.C. for the summer

Walter — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:38:45 +0000

That’s all, folks! After our last vacation in Traverse City for the summer of 2010, Leah and I feel rested but, as always, more than a little sad to leave it behind. This past trip was especially memorable, since we celebrated Sylvie’s first birthday while we were there! We were blessed enough to have family and friends around us, although of course we missed a few of you . Sylvie had a ton of fun playing on the beach at Cathead (we’ll never forget how she made up her own sign for swimming ), and Leah and Walter enjoyed letting Momma-D, Grandma Lu, Grandad and Da keep an eye on Sylvie while they took a breather! Now we won’t be back until Christmas, and we’ll be facing a lot between now and then: a new semester for Walter, a new job for Leah and a new year of life for Sylvie! We look forward to sharing all of it with you as well as we can until we can be with family again in a few months.

IAA College of Creative Arts

bill — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:50:45 +0000

Just finished attending the fiction workshop portion of this year’s Interlochen writer’s conference, with eleven other students. The four-day workshop was taught by Keith Taylor, writer and poet, and head of U of M’s creative writing program. He is also the co-ordinator of the annual Bear River Writers’ Conference, held at Camp Michigania on Walloon Lake.

In the evening there were readings and gatherings with other writers. Attendees are from all walks of life, but the one thing they share in common: the need to write, whether it be fiction, poetry, or memoir.

Left: Instructors Patty McNair and Anne-Marie Oomen.

Right: Instructor Dr. Terry Blackhawk talking with students.

Keith Taylor grilling brats, burgers, and veggie burgers and brats for attendees of the annual cookout night at IAA Writer’s Conference.

A new do

leah — Sun, 23 May 2010 04:10:50 +0000

I now have very short hair.

So, after almost 2 years of growing my hair, I finally had enough to cut off and donate. This is the second time I’ve grown my hair over 10 inches long, and I’m not sure if I’ll do it again for a while.

I like how I feel like I’m standing up straighter since I don’t have a pound of hair pulling on my head.

Mein iphone ist kaput…

Charlie — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:19:03 +0000

…so don’t be offended if I don’t answer your calls or texts right away. And would it be mein iphone or meine? I think “mein” sounds good to me. I haven’t studied German in several years

This is the second time I’ve had this problem. Every now and then, usually when I really need to use it, the phone decides to go all matrixy on me and blink on and off with strange white lines and a white screen. It happened with my last iphone 3G, but at that point I was under warranty and they replaced it for free. So now I have an almost new phone (less than a year old), but it isn’t covered because my warranty began when I purchased my first phone three years ago. Boo apple. The best they could do was offer to sell me a new one for $299, which doesn’t sound like such a good deal when everyone knows the 4th gen iphone is probably only a month or two a way.

So for now I’ll deal with a phone that only works half the time. It actually does pretty well if i keep it permanently plugged in. Maybe I’ll just pretend it’s an old school land line phone. When was the last time I used one of those? Oh technology–we love it, but we hate it…

A lazy afternoon at Grandfather’s

Walter — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:01:14 +0000

Done with the paper, done with grades – done! Now, before we drive back to Madison, I’m going to spend a long, lazy afternoon at Grandfather’s. We already moved and watered some geraniums, so there’s not much left but to kick back and enjoy the beautiful weather. If I had a useful book to read, I would. But you know what? I don’t care that much. This is a much-needed break.

It’s the same old story.

Walter — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:49:50 +0000

Here I am again. 10 p.m. and faced with loads of work. I unsuccessfully asked for an extension on a paper, so now it’s going to take several late nights in a row to finish it. Throw in the task of compiling final grades, and things start to look really grim. One last push, though, and I’ll be free to start reading material for my proposal, which is what I’ve been looking forward to ever since I passed prelims back in January. So here we go.

Walter vs. IRS

Walter — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:45:17 +0000

That’s right. I confronted the IRS – and won. Alright, so the changes they made to my tax return were based on user error (we put in Sylvie’s SSN wrong). But still. I called the dreaded IRS, boldly told them they were wrong, and got our money back! Ha!

My virtual presence takes on yet another form…

Walter — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:32:22 +0000

Well, here it is. I guess I have to thank Charlie for creating yet another place for me to express myself in a virtual setting. Another place for me to spend time not spent on my dissertation proposal or class work. Another place to ramble without meaning. So, thank you.

That said, I really should be reading. Maybe I’ll just look around here for just a minute more…just a minute more…