geography lesson

On the back of his Christmas card to me, my ‘burg buddy Jim wrote “P.S. Learn to spell Harbaugh (It ain’t Harbal)”. I figured he needed a little lesson, and wrote him thusly:

“From your admonition on the back of the envelope, I knew I had to set you straight.  Bear with me here.  Our little neighborhood on this cul-de-sac – Fair Acres – was carved out of an apple orchard in the late 50s.  All 13 houses went up in 1958.  The developer, one Harry Baldwin, decided to offer his name to the new street, contracting his two names.  Har-Bal.  Get it?  Jimmy wouldn’t be born for 5 years yet.  Harbal is a very unique street name.  If you GoogleMaps it, the only place you’ll find that’s close is somewhere over in India.  The residents have gotten restless over the name at least once.  In the late 60s early 70s, there was a movement to change the street name to “Defiance Moraine”.  That’s the geographic structure atop which we sit, crap the glacier threw up extending all the way down to Defiance Ohio.  As the petitioning began, some relatives of Harry Baldwin came out of the woodwork and said such a change would defile his memory, so Harbal stood.  When Jimmy came home in 2014 to save Michigan football, I proposed the same change you suggested.  I thought it would be cool to have Coach come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.  My proposal was roundly rejected by my neighbors.  They were very fond of our unique street name, and knew more of the history behind it than I did at the time.  Some had doubts about the longevity of coach’s tenure.  If he leaves, where would that leave us?  So I’ve joined my neighbors as a proud and staunch supporter of the unique Harbal name.  Kathy and I enjoy spelling out the difference between Harry Baldwin’s contraction and our beloved football coach’s name whenever asked for our address.  Given Jimmy’s long rumored flirtation with the NFL, I hope all the rumors prove false and Jim lives up to his stated life plan “Play till I can’t, then coach till I die.”  Go Blue!!