Capitol in the capital

We had the 96th annual state delegate meeting for MMPA yesterday - that's Michigan Milk Producers Association, the co-op where we sell our milk.  It was in downtown Lansing, so when I left the meeting, I was greeted with this view:

Doesn't it look like a postcard? Meetings are usually in the crummy season when you don't want to be outside ... not true right now.

Some interesting things I jotted down during the meeting:

- When there's a surplus of milk, the co-op has to find something to do with it. There's no long-term storage for it like a lot of other foods, since it has a short shelf life.

- Due to the mild winter and spring, cows in the US have been giving a lot of milk.

- One of the speakers made a joke that "It's like picking up rocks. It's a never ending job." This made me laugh, because a joke about picking rocks out of a field can only work for select audiences.

- Kris' uncle was also there, from his part of the state. A farmer at our table said that his 9-year-old left open a gate and the cows got out. Kris' uncle said, "I have a 30-year-old that does that." We all laughed. That joke would work for any audience.

I spent the afternoon outside (hooray!) and happened to go back to the same city block at night to see some friends. This was my evening view:

Much easier to be inside this way.