Thursday

Today I found a hulahoop while I was walking the dog in the dark this morning. We haven't walked in the morning in several days but it was a toasty 23 degrees! so we braved the the snow. The dark and the snow.

 I haven't had a hulahoop in a while. Unless I've had one and I'm forgetting it. I might have had one for the dog? Maybe I do have one for the dog? I had him jump through something thing. But I've certainly never found one abandoned by the side of the road. That's a first, I mean, I would have had to bring it home if I had a hulahoop farm.

Well, now I have a new one. It felt kind of weird plodding through the snow in my boots and coat in with the dog in one hand clutching a hula hoopin the other in the dark. If I had seen me, I would have taken my picture, fortunately, there wasn't a me to take my picture. There were cars though, so I knew I could make it to work. Snow but no ice!

The snow is gone now but the schools remain closed, because its cold? I don't know.

Here is the store, front page story, about my family friend who died yesterday. I stole it from the Mining Journal Phil Pearce Dies After Cancer Battle

MARQUETTE — The tributes are already flowing on the Facebook page of Phil’s 550 Store, and it’s easy to understand why.

Its owner, Phil Pearce, died Wednesday at his home in Marquette.

The general store, located along Marquette County Road 550 in Marquette Township, was a popular local fixture, not necessarily for what was sold there but for the sign with funny quotes outside the business — and the man behind the operation.

According to the crowd-funding site YouCaring, Pearce, 64, had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

A post dated today read: “Phil passed away yesterday — peacefully, at home. Many, many thanks for the outpouring of care and support shown in so many ways throughout the past year.”

 His reign as the proprietor of Phil’s 550 Store made him a well-known figure locally and around the globe, read his obituary from the Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home.

“He was a very giving person — always ready to provide assistance to anyone in need,” it read. “Much of Phil’s charm stemmed from his honest outlook on life and his unique candor. Phil was naturally kind without ulterior motives.”

Even if people didn’t stop in the store, they probably got a chuckle or two from what was put on the “Philville” sign throughout the years.

That sign carried quips like “Ever imagine a world without hypotheticals,” “Never do anything you dont (sic) want to explain to paramedics” and “There once was a man from here famous for T-shirts & beer.”

Pearce was the subject of a lengthy Detroit Free Press article published in February.

“He could be welding something, someplace, since he’s a lifelong welder,” wrote John Carlisle. “He could be notarizing documents for someone, since he’s a notary public. He could be performing a wedding, since he’s an ordained minister. He could be draining the chemicals from a junked refrigerator, another side job. He could be plowing snow, because he does that, too.

“Like a lot of Yoopers, he works several jobs to get by. But Phil’s main job is simply being Phil.”

A story on the website Only In Your State called his store “The Quirky Store In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula That You Simply Must Visit.”

Decades ago, the story said, Pearce’s face was printed on a T-shirt. The shirt’s popularity spread among Northern Michigan University students and eventually Phil fans across the world.

There were plenty of photos accompanying the article of Pearce, his employees and the unique store.

“The store’s rustic yet welcoming style makes visitors feel as though they’ve stepped back in time, and there’s something truly timeless about Phil’s 550,” the story read.

Pearce, who was born in Marquette on Sept. 28, 1953