Tulip mania

At the peak of "Tulip Mania" in March of 1637, a single bulb in the Netherlands sold for nearly 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.

Tulips aren't worth that much today, but in my hometown of Holland, Michigan, they are still worth quite a lot. During our annual spring Tulip Time festival, the fine for picking a tulip (or even taking a petal) can be as high as $100. Now that's a valuable bloom.

Our high school mascot was a wooden shoe. The sign coming into our town reads, "Welkom," and a real windmill still grinds wheat down by the water's edge.

It's neat to be from such a unique place. I'm proud of it.

I'm also proud to call these darling brunettes my mom and aunt. I wish I could have been there when they took this picture last week.

If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much, so they say. Not a true statement, but a statement of heritage, nonetheless.