Traverse City Record-Eagle

Foodie With Family: Fighting holiday crowds
I spend a good portion of the holiday season (and ready or not, we're in it now!) trying to avoid crowds. Although it seems a contradiction, I eagerly anticipate Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and everything in between for most of the year. Just not the crowds.
Loraine Anderson: Berlin Wall a reminder
Berlin is a defining part of my life, something I realized last week as I watched the jubilant celebration at Brandenburg Gate. This city has drawn me to it 10 times since childhood. Part of it is a family connection. In recent years, it is increasingly the city itself. I've come to love it for its spirit, diversity, courage and its willingness to be honest and make visible its past.
Amish Cook: Fall leaves, future venison
On Friday evening and Saturday we took advantage of the warm weather by raking up a lot of leaves in our yard. We have around 14 big trees in our front yard so the falling leaves add up fast.
Deer camp is a yearly homage to childhood
As a kid, we never went on vacations to Florida or anywhere very far away. Aside from a week each summer at our family cottage on Lake Michigan, yearly deer and trout season expeditions to the Manton area were our get-aways. Those were the days.
Northern Notes: Teens fill bus
The "Give It Away Now" food drive, spearheaded by the Life Teen Underground Youth Group, provided an opportunity for two local parishes to work together as one Catholic family to feed the hungry in the community. (Plus more good news from around the region.)
View From Sunnybank: Final NYC thoughts
I noticed stuff -- little things, really -- during our early October New York adventure that are worth mentioning. Jenny and I had flown there when she was 10, to learn French. I'd noticed her aptitude for picking up languages, and felt the time was right.
Ed Hungness: Enjoying being out there
The wind is blowing from the right direction this morning. I sit with my back against a white oak tree and watch as first light begins to show on the horizon. It is a cold, damp and a cloud-covered November morning.
Adapted in TC: Groups within groups
I've learned that in every group, including people with disabilities, there are cliques, agendas and stratifications. If we're on the inside of a group, we see these subgroups clearly. If we're on the outside looking in, we often don't.
Ask Evelyn: Son won't clean up
Q: My son goes from one thing to another without cleaning up after himself. I frequently have to remind him to clean up something, throw something away, put something away, turn something off or close something. I'm tired of nagging. How can I help him change and reduce my frustration?