So, I weighed doing a lot of things this afternoon. There's a big book fair in the city for New York is Book Country. I still need to get to the Cooper-Hewitt. Oktoberfest is going on today. In the end, the choice was easy.

Since so many of the people here are Michiganders at heart, I probably don't have to explain the warmth that listening to Ernie Harwell provides. For generations of Tiger fans Ernie is baseball. I remember sitting on my grandfather's lap as a tiny tike listening to Ernie with him. First hearing Ernie's voice each early spring from Lakeland (the Tiger's spring training home) would literally make me giddy. Meeting Ernie a couple of years ago at Lakeland and getting to hear him tell stories for the better part of an hour is something I'll always treasure. Today's Ernie's last call and listening to a game will literally never be the same.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I've been able to tune into a few Tiger games this year. Yes, I'm a glutton that way. So this afternoon I'll be doing that one last time.

For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.