Tuesday, August 14, 2007

To Hell and Back

A discussion on the Beliefnet Lutheran forum about hell -- a trollish correspondent is having a fit because, in his perception, not enough Lutherans have a sufficient appreciation for the horrors of hell and all the people that, presumably unlike said correspondent, are headed there -- reminded me that I took a trip to Hell last week.

Hell, Michigan , that is.

We made a side trip to Hell, a village in Livingston County, on the way home from Ann Arbor. Hell is pretty empty most of the time, although it's a popular tourist destination at Halloween. There's a party store in Hell, and a tavern called the Dam Site (there really is a dam), and a tourist-kitsch/ice cream place. The residents of Hell we encountered were unfailingly nice, and also articulate and enthusiastic promoters of their hometown.

We'd intended to have an ice cream cone in Hell, but thought the better of it. I did find it interesting, though, that the kitsch portion of the store seemed to be hedging its bets, because in addition to the hellish merchandise it also carried a buff Jesus action figure.

I had my semi-sister-in-law snap a photo of my dog Cody peering out from a signboard proclaiming "I'm a Little Devil From Hell"; unfortunately it's still in her camera.

Anyway...now I can say I've been to Hell and back.

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