I'm so proud of you!

Much better to disable the car than hide the keys. Can't be so easily traced to you. Another thing we did with my MIL, after she not once but twice got lost driving on random Illinois highways a hundred miles from home, was find some sympathetic person who really needed a car and persuade her to sell the car to that person. Of course I also know someone who after his car was taken away walked to a dealer and bought a new one. None of this is easy.

Bad light, bifocals, not paying close enough attention. Was sure 1 down said "images to be." When I finally got PUPAS on the crosses I looked at the clue again and realized my mistake. I liked SPACECADETS.

No way. Fortunately usually rebuses show up with clues that are fairly straightforward. If you find a number of clues where you really think the answer should be something but it just won't fit, consider a rebus. Fortunately, nearly always it's the same rebus multiple times in the puzzle, so if you get it once it's a lot easier to see it later in the puzzle.

In the Wordplay column the constructor said he got stuck on the southwest corner. Me too. I had RN in there way too long before I finally got TROOPER and realized my mistake. Until then, I was doing great.

Just the opposite. I knew it was a pseudonym and automatically put Doe. Dumb.

Lon's books are great. Look for books by Russ Magnaghi, especially his History of the Upper Peninsula. . Upper Peninsula of Michigan: A History https://a.co/d/gTTH6QI

Grew up here. Ten years in Detroit and forty in Chicago but always had a camp up here. First full year back was 2018.

My standard line is that it's perfectly possible to love the U.P. and love the big city both. Are there things I miss about Chicago? You bet--access to transportation and good medical care at the top of the list but also food and culture and friends, etc, etc. But I don't miss the expressways or the noise or how it always takes 45 minutes to get to a friend's house or the theater or whatever. On the other hand, millions of people have seeing the Northern Lights on their bucket list and, if they can afford it, plan expensive trips to Norway or Alaska in hopes of seeing them. Me? I can see a note on FB that they're out and drive 10 minutes to a park and stand in awe with my neighbors or, most recently, walk down to the dock at my camp and look north. I can get involved in a volunteer project and pretty quickly see that I can make changes for the better without having to go through a hundred layers of bureaucracy. It's a fine place to live.

Same. When I was going through to find my mistake, that's one I looked up to be sure what I'd gotten on the crosses was correct. Of course my mistake was in the spelling of that silly game with the shuttlecock.

Came here to say that. There's no mitt in badminton.

It's a cliche, but our kids got us an Aura digital photo frame for Christmas and we love it, especially since any of us can add photos to it.

I got my own mother a weekly fresh flower subscription from a local florist (way cheaper than if I'd done one of the big on-line services). Not something she would have ever bought for herself but really appreciated.

My daughter is coming to visit next month and I'm going to make her go through the big box of stuff we ended up with after my MIL died so she can help me get rid of a lot of it.

My sister helped my mom go through the stuff she'd written over the years and helped her figure out a collection she'd want to put together in something they called "pieces of a memoir." If they didn't have those writings to work with, I think Storyworth would have been an excellent alternative.

Oh, and I used to take my MIL on dates. We'd have lunch in a restaurant and then go to a movie together.

Did it for decades. Basic street smarts apply. Go for a corner seat where you can see what's happening in the car and if anyone is moving from car to car. Keep your phone tucked away. Try not to be the only one in the car. You'll find you make friends with people who are getting on at your same stop at the same time. You'll be so glad you're passing by all those cars stuck on the Eisenhower.

My rule was that if I was coming home after 8 I took a cab.

Michigan Advance. https://michiganadvance.com/

I agree that it was hard for a Tuesday. Stupid mistake had Vac instead of VAX. Took a while to find it.

I love this small campground in the Garden Peninsula. Portage Bay State Forest Campground . Right near Fayette which is also pretty cool (and also has a campground).

This is hard for me to answer because I LOVE my hearing aids and only wish I'd gotten them sooner. The precipitating event for me was not hearing a funny remark my daughter made. That and the dementia. The modern ones are so great. I control mine with a cellphone app. One thing my audiologist said is that it's important to wear them every day so your ears get trained to using them. Any chance he'd do a 30 day trial?

Marquette has a public Montessori school. Because NMU has the Center for Native American Studies there are usually a variety of Native events in town. Marquette is also the lone blue dot in the area, with plenty of people committed to diversity. We also have an excellent co-op and a strong network of local small farmers who have CSAs, sell at our local farmers markets, and are a valued part of the community.

I agree that Munising has it tough. I recently learned something that really appalled me. All those visitors are paying hotel and lodging taxes. You might think that would help the town out--maybe go to the police force for all the additional work they do, or to repave some roads, or even, imagine this, to build some affordable housing. But no, by law every penny of that lodging tax goes strictly to promote more tourism. It's crazy and maddening. More here.

Suez Canal crisis. I was 8

Took me forever to catch on to the theme, but they were a lot of fun. TIL that Charlie Chaplin started off CLOGDANCING. I had a hard time with the "valents" at both ends of the puzzle. I got the TRI first but couldn't figure out the other one until I had it on the crosses and then realized I'd been putting the accent on the wrong syllable.

A brat with mustard and onions. It turns out I'm addicted to them.

Or switch to the ukulele!

This is great. The idea isn't so much to feed him contrary stuff as to keep him distracted from the swamp. Is there music or musicians he likes? Favorite places he's visited or would like to visit? Try to find some things that he would enjoy so the algorithm keeps getting fed.

Yes!