{"id":7366,"date":"2022-07-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/?p=7366"},"modified":"2022-06-22T09:45:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T13:45:07","slug":"thomas-wolfe-was-only-partially-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/thomas-wolfe-was-only-partially-right\/","title":{"rendered":"THOMAS WOLFE WAS ONLY PARTIALLY RIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few entries ago in this space, I wrote about my annual trip to The Pin Shoot<\/a> in Central Lake, Michigan. I\u2019ve spent a bit over 29 June weeks there since 1976, which may qualify me as one of The Summer People.\u00a0\u00a0The place is classic small-town America. The one butt-wipe I\u2019ve ever had to physically fight in Central Lake had come from out of town, and that was back in the \u201880s. Accustomed to visitors and tourists, the locals have always been pleasant and welcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WiFi and cell phone reception aren\u2019t the best, so when the Evil Princess and I need to get some work done there, we often go to the local library. Well stocked and well kept for its size, it has a whole separate building, a large cottage, where they sell used books. There\u2019s always an excellent selection of history and biography, and occasionally shooting and other outdoor sports titles; the prices are right and the volunteers who work the place are always friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember \u201cfive and ten cent stores\u201d? Central Lake has one: Bachmann\u2019s is an institution there. It\u2019s your classic general store. Candy and books. Clothing. Shoes. Tools. Lubricants. About whatever you need can be found there: maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but something that will do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, some things change. You used to have to buy beer or liquor at what is known in Michigan \u2013 this part at least \u2013 as a \u201cparty store.\u201d Things have changed. One little convenience store is now about 50% liquor store\u2026but they have the right brands, at least for us.  On the other hand, the party store where we used to buy beer is now a pot shop.  Time moves on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey \u2013 it\u2019s vacationland, it\u2019s the year 2022, and different people have different definitions of \u201cparty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The library emphasizes its children\u2019s section. There\u2019s a church sponsored recreation center for kids.  Even at the range, there was a sponsored and carefully supervised shooting event for the young teens from the community who come out to serve every year as timers at the Pin Shoot, and the sub-teens (dubbed \u201cbrass rats\u201d ?) who police up spent casings.  A community that cares about its kids is the kind of community you want to live in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be the same every year, but Central Lake, Michigan is a town to which I\u2019m always happy to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Thomas Wolfe wrote \u201cYou can\u2019t go home again,\u201d he wasn\u2019t entirely correct. Things will inevitably change over time\u2026but the soul, the essence of a community like this, seems to remain constant, and to always beckon you back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Central Lake has a neat little library; cottage on left houses a great little used book store.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The old party store is now a pot shop. Well, still sort of a party store, I guess…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
They raise good kids in Central Lake. These are working the Pin Shoot, under adult supervision of course.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One citizen of Central Lake is Al Burnett, now 86, former national police shooting champion. I want to grow up to be just like him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few entries ago in this space, I wrote about my annual trip to The Pin Shoot in Central Lake, Michigan. I\u2019ve spent a bit over 29 June weeks there since 1976, which may qualify me as one of The Summer People.\u00a0\u00a0The place is classic small-town America. The one butt-wipe I\u2019ve ever had to physically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7368,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7366\/revisions\/7368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}