All Blog Posts Tagged 'family' (5)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - Nationwide housing production fell 10.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units in October as builders awaited word on whether an important home buyer incentive would be extended, according to data released today by the U.S. Commerce Department. "As of October, the deadline for starting a home that could be completed in time for purchasers to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit had come and gone, and builders had no clear sig… Continue

Strength and courage overrides The privileged and weary eyes Of river poet search naivete. Pick up here and chase the ride. The river empties to the tide. All of this is coming your way - The River, R.E.M. Funny. The songs that come to me after some down time on lakes and rivers and playing music with a friend. But it occurred to me kayaking the other day, this song came into my head, how this time Up North has highlighted crossroads for our family. Our oldest is of the age we can no lon… Continue

Michigan Consumers Cannot Take Advantage of First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit Until Bureaucratic Roadblocks Are Removed LANSING AND FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – June 4, 2009 – US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced this week that the agency has implemented rules that will allow first-time homebuyers to use an $8,000 tax credit to help cover closing costs on an FHA-insured home. That’s great news for homebuyers across the country but may be just one mo… Continue

As children, my brother and I lived with our parents in a suburb of metro-Detroit. But really, we grew up on the lakes and rivers of northern Michigan. There, our father gave to us the values that come from experiencing first-hand, nature and wildlife. Hiking for hours through the Porcupine Mountains seeing black bears, camping along Grand Traverse Bay, fishing the flood-waters of the Au Sable River. We always stopped for lunch on a sandbar and the evening always ended with a roaring campfire, w… Continue

Max is squatting behind a tower of squash, giggling the way only a three year old can, which is loud and lofty and floats through the fall breeze. “Can you see me?” he asks. “I’m camoflagged.” Camoflagged? I pretend, for a moment, to search for Max at the bottom of a nearby stack of pumpkins. He jumps out and tumbles past me with loud footsteps, laughing as he follows the scent of cider downhill. Ah, the fantastic s… Continue