I’m officially giving up on regular posting for the rest of the summer. I’m having too much fun and I’m not willing to stop, so don’t expect much between now and Labor Day.

I spent a long weekend in Detroit where my lovely and talented daughter resides and, as always, returned to Warren energized. Detroit’s problems are to Warren’s problem what Lou Gehrig’s disease is to shin splints; it’s not even close. But I just love the energy and the creativity in that city. They are not giving up and you see (sometimes whacky) manifestations of their resolve everywhere.

One of the most interesting is the Heidelberg Project, the 26-year-old art project in which one man rebels against the deterioration of his once solidly middle class neighborhood. It is now two city blocks filled with the delightful, the bizarre and the insightful. It’s beyond my powers of description to explain it here, but the web site has a couple short, interesting videos. I’ll post some more photos from my crappy phone camera on the WE Facebook page in addition to those here.

Another wonderful thing about Detroit is the Eastern Market – an indoor/outdoor place for vegetables, fruits, baked goods, plants, flowers, crafts, crepes, music, antiques, books, sweets, ribs, and much, much more. It’s a true happening that attracts city dwellers, suburbanites, whites, blacks, Arabs, Asians – even Ohioans.

It’s been around a while and Detroit is a much bigger place than Warren but couldn’t the whole of Trumbull County support a regular market? If I was 20 years younger I might try to start one.

I’ll close with a confession: I had a lot of fun this weekend but I also broke the Woody Hayes rule and was forced to buy gas before leaving town yesterday. I’ll fill up in Toledo on my way in next time – I promise.