4B - Thursday, October 18, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 48 - Thursday, October18, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES Exploring the Arb for 36 hours Qudditch, birds and fairies populate the A2 getaway By JEFF WARANIAK DailyArts Writer Near the corner of West Ann Street and North Main Street, there's a blue-and-yellow window sign. "Welcome to Ann Arbor, the biggest little city in the middle," it reads. It may not be the city's most popular nickname, but it's accu- rate. Ann Arbor is by no means big, but with its own train sta- tion, helipad, bus system and one very big house, the "little city" of Ann Arbor can occasionally feel big. Luckily, for those occasions, there'sthe Nichols Arboretum. Day1I 7:30 a.m. Sunrise: You may still be sleeping, but Ann Arbor is wide awake. The early morn- ing dog-walkers, joggers and maintenance workers are already halfway through their day by the time you're scrambling to get to your 10 a.m. sociology lecture. For once, for no other reason than to remember what the morning looks like, join the early risers. Take coffee, donuts or cider and stroll throughthe iron gates of the Arb's entrance off Geddes Avenue. Go straight until you reach an overlook with two wooden bench- es, The Deborah Gimbel Memo- rial Overlook. Watch the sky turn from gray to pink to blue over a distant North Campus bell tower. 11:30 a.m. Nature Walk: Con- tinuing your early morning excur- sion,walkdownthroughthe Arb's Main Valley, past the caretaker's cottage and into the thickest sec- tion of the forest. To getthere, fol- low the main road until you reach a path marked only by two trash- cans and a stone bench. From here, hike up a hill and expect to see animals. Look for hawks Nichols Arboretum offers the opportunity for hours of entertainment and is open from sunrise to sunset. spiraling around tree trunks to snatch chipmunks and squirrels. Watch for deer sparring head to head on hillsides, their two-point- ed antlers crackingtogether above their skulls. The Arb is your very own episode of "Planet Earth" - justremembertobrushup onyour David Attenborough impression. 2p.m.Fairy Woods:It shouldn't be a surprise that the first pro- duction of the Shakespeare in the Arb series (ongoing since 2001) was a retelling ofithe Bard's fairy- and-forest-filled play, "A Mid- summer Night's Dream." After all, in addition to the animals that live there, the Arb is home to a sizeable population of fairies. Near the Washington Heights entrance, just past the Peony Gardens, lies a small stand of pine trees known as Fairy Woods and Troll Hollow. Here you can build a home of twigs, leaves and pinecones for the unseen sprites that call the Arb home. If you think you're too old to be doing these types of things, or some- how above it all, that's fine. There are plenty of heartless jerks in the world with no imagination, and you can be one, too. 5 p.m. The Golden Hour Run: The evening hours of the Arb are best reserved for exercise. Miles of trails wind through the forest, along the Huron River and into the Alex Dow Prairie - an enor- mous meadow of tall grasses and plants that stretch to the Arb's eastern border. If you are a long- distance jogger or adventurous traveler, cross the railroad tracks near the end of the prairie. Next, pass through a gap in the fence to hook up with a cement path that leads to Gallup Park and other city parks. 10 p.m. Star Gazing: The Arb is open from sunrise to sunset, but stick around after the sun has gone down and the tree limbs will start looking like something from a Tim Burton movie - and you're likely to experience the Arb at its quietest. Bring a blanket, a flash- light and maybe a little romance with you to the Main Valley, where you can look up at the stars. It may not be the night sky over the Sahara, but. constellations, planets, satellites and shooting stars can still be spotted overhead on a cloudless night. 2 a.m. Late Night: After a long night of partying, particularly for residents of Mary Markley Resi- dence Hall and Oxford Houses, the traditional sunset closure doesn't apply. Return to the Arb to wind down, to savor the glow of a wild night, to have the mid- night college conversations that will never be forgotten. Just keep in mind that the closed at sunset rule actually does apply, regard- less of how much "legal" fun you're having. Day2 8 a.m. Bird Watching: The Arb is a treat for birders. If you've ever felt the urge to put a name to the birds you see and hear around campus, chances are a birder can help. Every Thursday at 8:00 a.m. throughout October, a group of amateur and seasoned birders from the Washtenaw Audubon Society gathers at the eastern end of the Alex Dow Prairie. Here, the group begins its weekly fall migration walk. Take a stroll with these friendly folks for a chance to spot chickadees, wrens, jays, woodpeckers and hawks. Walks typically last until 11:00 a.m., but all are welcome to come and go as they please. 12p.m. Rocks in the River: There are sites in Ann Arbor that have patron saints. The corner of East Liberty Street and Main Street has the Violin Monster; the Sha= piro Undergraduate Library has the Washboard Man; and the Arb has Mike Kelly. For decades, Kelly has been rearranging rocks in the Huron River at the Arb's River- front Landing into what he calls, "the heart of Jesus," according to a previous Daily interview. On . warm afternoons, you might spot Kellywadingthroughthe waterin long pants, tossing rocks aside to create this arching formation. It may not be your place to help con- tribute to Kelly's rock formation, but he's often willing to chat with passersby. 1 p.m. Quidditch Match: Ah, the fall. Colorful leaves,. cider mills, pumpkins and ... Quidditch? Yes. Come autumn, it's time to don your striped scarf, recall your quaffles and bludgers and attend a University Quidditch match at the team's home field in the Arb's Main Valley. The team holds prac- tices on weekdays and faces off against intercollegiate teams on Sundays - the University plays Michigan State University this Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. It's a sure way to get into the competitive spirit and to enjoy yet another autumn afternoon in the Nichols Arboretum. GOLDBERG From Page 38 derella storywhere the non- celeb gets the celeb. For exam- ple, Matt Damon and his wife Luciana. The duo met at a bar in Miami, where Luciana was the bartender and Matt was in town filming his conjoined twin com- edy "Stuck on You." Eight years later and with four kids, Matt said on "Ellen" that they are happy as ever, and fate brought them together that night. Or, take the oldest Jonas Brother, Kevin, and his wife Danielle, who met while the two were on separate vacations in the Bahamas in 2007. On the new E! show "Married to Jonas" - which chronicles their newly- wed life a la Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey - Kevin's normal in-laws from Jersey, including Danielle's Italian father, have even become part of the picture. Let's just hope this relationship turns out better than Jessica and Nick's newlywed reality TV foray. There are more than 300 million people in this country, and, according to an super- credible estimate from math genius DarkRaven on aYahoo! Answers forum, about 2.7 per- cent of the U.S. population is made up of celebrities. Maybe celebs are just mating within the 2 percent because that's how relationships work. Connec- tions might develop between people in the same environment simply because that is fate's way of bringing them together. And maybe that's why a Hollywood star connects with another Hol- lywood star. When it comes to the 2 percent, maybe Kanye and Kim are destined to be together. But just to let us keep our Cinderella story fantasies, Kim should probably consider the next bartender who makes her a drink asa prospective husband. Give the 98 percent a chance to be the love of your life too. Goldberg is holding out for John Mayer. To help plan their wedding, e-mail hsgold@umich.edu. I I I I I 0 I I I I IF