Cricket at Ford Field...

We celebrated a friend's birthday at a nearby park earlier this month. I was amazed to see a large group of people playing a quite competitive game of cricket on the field below us. I had a chat to them and told them that I was from South Africa. It turns out that they're all from Afghanistan and Pakistan and play cricket each week as the weather allows. 

Upon hearing I was from South Africa, they told me that they always support SA in the World Cup and other cricket tournaments, because "the South African cricket team usually doesn't do very well in big competitions." It gave me a chuckle. I'm glad that people support SA, even if it is occasionally out of pity!

An intense game of cricket underway!

Morning in Detroit...

Earlier this month, on a bright Saturday morning, we drove into Detroit and visited the Awake Cafe. Run by a ministry, this coffee shop serves both breakfast and lunch. From there, we swung by a tiny park nearby, and then headed to John King Books, a massive four-storey used bookstore near downtown Detroit. We found some interesting finds, including some of the Hardy Boys series, books about the Titanic, and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. It was a great morning!

The storefront of Awake Cafe.

Each cup holder has an encouraging handwritten note!

Avo on toast for a yummy snack!

The cool park just a stone's throw away.

The huge building dwarfs us!

The main entrance.

Riaan explores the second level.

Painted sign on the wall in the stairway.

Pretty view of Detroit.

Faint Northern Lights

We caught a very faint glimpse of the Northern Lights earlier this month. We drove to a state park a short distance away, but we actually didn't see the red hue in the night sky until we were back home in Metro Detroit. 

A slight green tinge as viewed from Maybury State Park.

Reddish-purple colour in the night sky!

Clearer in this image looking north-west.

The city's light pollution didn't help.

Long Family Orchard and a Hike with Friends...

We visited our Mercy Ships friends on a lovely sunny day on Saturday, 5th October. We met up at Long Family Orchard, where we previously visited back in 2016, and munched apple doughnuts paired with cider. We then drove to a nearby state recreation area, where we hiked around the lake and enjoyed seeing the colours of trees changing as autumn nears.

A pensive-looking Anya with her apple doughnut.

Our three pose on the giant rocking chair.

Changing colours of autumn.

Beautiful leaf.

Great egret wading in the lake...

And catching a frog for a late lunch!

Two kayakers enjoying the serene Huron River.

Autumn Sunsets...

There have been some beautiful sunsets over the past few weeks. Here are a few of our favourite ones. :)

Flowering Asters...

Candace's asters that she planted last year have finally flowered. They have really taken over around our mailbox and have attracted so many bees this autumn. They also add a dash of colour to the front of our house. :)

Eliza's First Tooth Loss...

Our middle child lost her first tooth late last month. Unlike when Riaan lost his first tooth and we never knew what happened to it, Eliza knew that it was the time to pull it out - she had, after all, been wiggling it for quite a while!