nkcmike wins the packaging prize!

A mere 1,373 miles of polar vortex weren't enough to overcome the packaging prowess of nkcmike. He might have been helped along by the naturally high concentration of glucose that keeps the innards of a frog from freezing all winter long, but his feat is no less impressive for that help.

Three layers of tightly-taped bubble wrap, with the bubbles growing ever smaller the further I cut into the treasure nestled in a box of packing peanuts eventually yielded an enormous jar of FROG preserves. While I knew the glass jar couldn't have possibly broken through harsh handling given how securely it was nestled in its box, the closer I got to the jar, the stronger the aroma of figs became. Surely that polar vortex plaguing the nation would have pierced every layer, freezing the preserves and breaking the glass from within?

Not a chance. And that's how I came to enjoy a thick spread of FROG preserves* spread on toast made from the last of my DeCamillo Italian bread for breakfast this morning.

YUM. Thank you, Mike!

* These particular FROG (Fig, Raspberry, Orange, & Ginger) preserves came from Spring Valley Farms in Holland, KY. It's probably a good thing they aren't available in Holland, MA as that Holland is a mere 5 miles from Toad Woods. The last thing I need is this kind of tasty temptation that near at hand!

Hey, Lydy! What'cha doin' in July?

July is an iconic month to take a summer vacation. Come to Detcon1 in Detroit. You can hang out in the fanzine lounge I'm running as we celebrate the presence of keen Detcon1 GoHs such as our Fan GoHs Bernadette Bosky, Arthur D. Hlavaty, and Kevin J. Maroney.

We can go to Comerica Park on Moon Day. It's where the Detroit Tigers play. But in this particular case, the baseball game is all but an afterthought. In an ideal world, we'd stay over and go on Monday to celebrate my 60th birthday, but the Tigers will be in Arizona that night. Still to be confirmed, but I think that means the park is closed the 21st. So Moon Day it most likely needs to be.

I've never been to a Tigers game in Detroit. To me, the Detroit Tigers exist on the radio while I'm hanging around as my brother and Daddy work on the car, whatever car they happen to be working on that summer afternoon. Earnie Harwell provides the play-by-play -- he started in 1960 and did it for 32 years, long after I'd moved away from Battle Creek, and from Michigan, too. Often I'd just wander by Daddy and Barry from time to time, doing whatever it was I did on those long summer afternoons. Other times, I'd watch and listen, fetching and handing tools or doing whatever was useful as Daddy explained how pistons worked, what the rings did, re-packed bearings, showed me a destroyed u-joint, re-gapped the spark plugs with the feeler gauges, and all sorts of other Car Guy stuff he was always doing. My favorite was the summer they welded together the A-frame and pulled the entire engine out of the 1963 Chevy Impala 9-passenger station wagon after Mom ran it out of oil and destroyed 3 pistons. Or maybe it was 5. Barry was in college by then. To this day, there's something about seeing an engine completely out of a car, held high by chains dangling from an A-frame that speaks both comfort and reassurance to me. Few people get that far into the process without having at least something of a decent idea of what they're doing. If they didn't, the engine would have slipped its chains and crushed their arms while they were removing it. Still best not to walk directly underneath it, though.

Okay, digression there, albeit a digression that leaves me thinking I may well go for the game, too. But the reason to go with YOU, lydy is to ride the carousel behind the first base area. The All Tiger Carousel! (Okay, 30 tigers and 2 chariots. Close enough.)

Yes. Really. Tigers. Tigers! An entire carousel of TIGERS ON STICKS!

There are apparently tigers all over the park, not just on the carousel.

Here's Detcon1 PR1. Please come. Because Tigers! And lots of other mighty fine times.

While the above is written to lure lydy, the sentiment applies to all. Detcon1. July 17-20, 2014. Complete with optional Tigers...on sticks!