#whymichigan
After an unusually warm summer here in Michigan, which happened to correspond to lots of upheaval and several unusual activities for me, the weather broke with a minor thunderstorm a few nights ago; in came the cool fall weather that characterizes the change of season, and it looks like it plans to stay for a while.
As much as I love hot days, especially those that others sometimes find unbearable, I think that I really enjoy the early autumn in East Lansing the most. It is still warm enough that everybody is outside, yet cool enough to sleep in the evenings (and that damn air conditioning can stay off). We get some rainshowers and occasional thunderstorms as the different air masses interact. Soon, the maple trees will start turning beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow, and the smell of falling leaves will permeate the fresh air.
This is fall.
(Yes, I know that technically the autumnal equinox is not until the 22nd of this month, but the change of seasons is not only about one astronomical event on a particular day.)
Another aspect of this time of year here is that East Lansing (Go Trojans!) is a big college town, home to Michigan State University (Go Spartans!), which has more than 50,000 students; that is more students than permanent residents of the city. From late August into September, the influx of students, including some 10,000 incoming freshman, provides so much energy it is almost palpable. (The increase is traffic is also unmistakable, but still nothing like larger cities.) There is really nothing like a home football Saturday when all of the above combine into a uniquely exciting experience.
With the university and so many students, there is a lot of diversity of interest, many resources, and loads of young people who are here for the express intent of learning, which makes for a primarily uplifting environment. Whether one is into science, the arts, sports and games, public service, natural recreation, business, or almost anything else, chances are good that you can find (or make) an opportunity here. In just my field, there is the Game Design and Development Program at MSU, a student organization, Spartasoft, a top academic conference, Meaningful Play, and Digital Gamecraft is not nearly the only game developer to be based in East Lansing (though we are, by far, the oldest).
Whether coincidental or not, this impending change in season has corresponded to a noticeable uptick in productivity on the most important end of my personal task list. In particular, I have been really able to dig into development recently, with two iOS projects getting ready for release, one product update very soon (i.e., already submitted to the App Store) and a second one (for a client) making great progress toward completion. I have also been able to get back on the bike, literally, and pick up where I left off on my exercise program. The scenery is just lovely, and the weather is perfect.
That is just one reason why Michigan.
[Note: The following just happened to come up randomly from my music collection while I was writing this post. It seems appropriate, so enjoy.]