My Town Archives - Page 3 of 9 - Ann Arbor Observer

Dumpster Dive

Apr 15, 2021 | Community, My Town |

Last August, my friend Tom arrived late to our weekly socially distant gathering (My Town,...

A Final Resting Place

Mar 15, 2021 | Community, My Town |

St. Thomas Cemetery, often referred to as “the Old Catholic Cemetery,” sits at the...

Outdoor Education

Jan 15, 2021 | Community, My Town |

During the warm months of the pandemic, my husband and I took walks in different neighborhoods,...

Confessions of the Rock Fairy

Dec 14, 2020 | Community, My Town |

It was early April, in the first days of Covid, when I came upon the small stone on top of an...

Ladies, Start Your Engines

Nov 14, 2020 | Community, My Town |

“I come from a car family,” says Holly Fischer. “I got the bug from my...

Home Again

Sep 7, 2020 | Community, My Town |

I lived in Ann Arbor for twenty-three years, then semi-retired to Florida in Mickey Mouse’s...

Ode to The Treasure Mart

Aug 8, 2020 | Community, Marketplace, My Town |

In 1973, I was a senior at U-M, heading off to grad school at UCLA. My dorm room at Baits Housing, high on a hill overlooking North Campus, was filled with mementos and metaphysical charms: tissue paper flowers, stuffed animals,...

Reaching Out

Jun 21, 2020 | Community, My Town |

After forwarding a variety of news stories to a friend in Las Vegas on January 21, as an afterthought I texted, “Watch this Wuhan, China event, they’ve shut down a city of over 50 million people. Imagine if that...

My Frontline

Jun 6, 2020 | Community, My Town |

As an employee in a grocery store during the pandemic, I have seen numerous changes in how we work...

Puzzles in the Time of Coronavirus

May 6, 2020 | Community, My Town |

Forget toilet paper shortages. One of the earliest items to sell out during this siege was jigsaw puzzles. Finally, I am ahead of the trend! I didn’t need to worry about procuring any, because I try to keep a few...

Almost Legal Preserving America’s First Cannabis Decriminalization Law

Mar 31, 2020 | Community, My Town |

With the passage of the 2018 Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, adults may legally...

Alex and Me

Mar 16, 2020 | Community, My Town |

Channeling Alex Trebek: This little muddle-class, middle-aged Michigander recently turned from...

Phone Calls from Prison

Feb 14, 2020 | Community, My Town |

I gave him $50 to pay his final probation fee, helped him write a resume, and worked with him to...

Gifts of Knowledge

Jan 16, 2020 | Community, My Town |

“I didn’t know Michigan had a football team,” I told my boyfriend when I first moved to Ann Arbor. It was new-person swagger and a little bit of truth. Coming from the land of dawgs and gators, I needed to...