summer

Edge of Creation

Living in Michigan, no matter where you are in the state, you’re never more than an hour or two away from one of the Great Lakes.

Our proximity to these bodies of water inspires so many of our summer family vacations. This year, we went north to the Traverse City and Leelanau Peninsula region. We love our Door County, Wisconsin vacations so much that we wanted a similar experience this summer. With its apple and cherry orchards, numerous lakes, and varied landscape, the peninsula provided everything we look for in a holiday. 

Despite the rain, we had a great vacation – a great mix of playing outdoors, relaxing by the lake, and exploring M-22 and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

A funny thing happened at the world-renowned dunes: we visited during a particularly foggy day, where all of Lake Michigan was enshrouded in a heavy vapor. From the top of the dunes, you couldn’t see the lake at all.

We all looked on in amazement. It’s like we were staring at the edge of creation – down the dunes, you would fall off the end of the world.

Luckily, further north along the dunes, we did find a place to sit on the beach and swim in Lake Michigan.

Our state is fairly average in almost every way – except the scenery. If this is the edge of the world, we’re happy to be here. 

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Things I Miss

Set Adrift On Memory Bliss

  • Missed the county fair this year. That’s an annual tradition we look forward to every year.
  • I miss not feeling anxious every time one of the kids gets a cough or the sniffles.
  • I miss eating out at restaurants.
  • I miss a time when medical advice wasn’t automatically political.
  • I miss movie theaters.
  • I miss the kids not knowing the name of a particular virus, and begging for it to be over.
  • I miss a time when large wars killed this many people, not a pandemic, recklessness, and stupidity. 
  • I miss jumping on a plane and going somewhere.
  • I miss not feeling anxious when I see people not wearing a mask in public places.
  • I miss in-person work conferences and connecting with people in my industry.
  • I miss concerts and live music.
  • I miss a time when America was a leader in the world for something good.

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Door County, Wisconsin

Back to Door County

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We had to get away. We just had to.

So we went back to the spot we loved two years ago: Door County, Wisconsin. Same cabin property, same bay on Lake Michigan, same rustic charm and isolation that we needed so badly then and now.

And socially isolate we did. We rarely left the property, opting instead to hang out by the lake, eat Wisconsin cheese, drink Wisconsin cider and beer, and let the kids play in the water. The few times we did go out to explore the peninsula, we stuck to state parks and little shops. We ate out twice. We played it safe.

It was nice to not think about what was happening elsewhere in the country, or work, or anything else. We made new family memories, enjoyed our solitude, and drove back rested and refreshed.

The weather was perfect: lovely Great Lakes sunsets, never getting hotter than 80 degrees during the day, no rain. We stayed in a new cabin (next door to the one we stayed in last time) so I could explore the summer light. 

Just what we all needed. 

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Pictured Rocks

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Even in a state filled with natural wonders, it’s still easy to be impressed by Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

During our holiday, we spent time inside and outside the park, exploring the wooded paths down sandstone bluffs as well as cruising past the cliffs along Lake Superior. Both were scenic and humbling.

It’s a long drive, and a long boat ride, from one end of the park to the other. Along the way, we tried to take in as much as we could. 

On the cruise, we sat next to a German couple, the guy had one of those big Nikon rigs with a couple of the big zoom lenses. I did the best I could with my aging (but still handy) Canon EOS M with a 22mm (35mm equiv.) lens. 

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God’s Country

Cross the bridge into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and you come into a different world.

Vast stretches of nothing. Straight, empty highways for as far as you can see. Water and forests and wetlands surrounded by three Great Lakes. Quiet and old and wild.

After our trip to Door County, Wisconsin, last year, we wanted a similar upper Midwest experience. We picked Munising as our home base, with a little cabin out in the middle of the Hiawatha National Forest, and ventured out into God’s Country to see all of that different world stuff.

We started the trip halfway there, in St. Ignace, right across the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw City. Like its neighbor across Lake Michigan, St. Ignace is a tourist town, but much quieter, and much less gaudy. After one night, the sun came up over Lake Michigan and we made the long trek through the U.P. to see Whitefish Point, sticking out into Lake Superior, and then on to our cabin in the woods.

Each day was an adventure – and a drive, since nothing was close by up here. That meant a lot of time in the car, and a lot of entertaining little kids, but once we got out and into the fresh air, we did our best to tire them out.

We were all tired. That was the point.

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Glass City Sharing

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It’s hot here in the Glass City. My pal Neff and I get here right at high noon, when the pavement is radiating late June, and walk around downtown grabbing photos of this very quiet midwestern city.

Quiet, except for the speed boat races out on the Maumee River. That was a new one, and it drew a decent crowd.

By sundown, the heat had subsided enough for us to take in a Mud Hens game – a rare summer treat, with our combined kids and jobs and lives, that we haven’t been able to enjoy since our college days.

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Pent Up Water

This pilgrimage to Pentwater, Michigan, is a nearly annual tradition for us. Unlike many Lake Michigan towns on the western side of the state, Pentwater isn’t touristy like cities like South Haven. It’s quieter and smaller here.

We have our usual spots: the fish market, with some of best fish and chips around; the go kart track; the quiet little beach on Lake Michigan; the farmers market; and the Methodist family camp where my wife spent her summers.

This is our Michigan holiday, in a nutshell – along Lake Michigan, enjoying the sunshine and the food and summer before it leaves us again.

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Goodbye, Door County

As with any vacation, getting back home feels like you never left. Even with a week and a modest agenda, time flies on holiday.

But we certainly made the best of it. One or two things per day, venturing out and about this peninsula, we felt like we went on enough adventures while still managing three kiddos.

For my photographic eyes, it was plenty. Those red cherries, that blue Great Lake, those violet lavender blossoms, the golden sunsets, and – just like Michigan – plenty of green everywhere we went.

Two out of the three kids would probably never remember this family vacation. For me, it was memorable enough to consider creating a photo book of our summer trip – a reminder of where we went and what we saw. And perhaps a reminder for if and when we consider this place again.

Thanks, Door County. We’re heading back home now.

(Check out part one, “Hello, Wisconsin,” and part two, “On Wisconsin.”)

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On Wisconsin

Taking photos is how I get to know a place. With any new home, or job, or vacation destination, my camera becomes a sixth sense – another way to feel the vibes of a location.

To our family, this little corner of Door County, Wisconsin was completely new, yet spiritually familiar. We knew this lake, we knew these trees, we understood this climate. What was different was the little touches of Scandinavian culture (Lutheran Churches everywhere!), and the supper clubs, and fish boils – those little touches of Wisconsin that made us feel we were really somewhere new.

This cabin, too, reminded me so much of my grandparents’ farm house. The slanted room, the crawl spaces, the outdated furniture – it was like stepping back into my own past.

Here on the other side of the Niagara Escarpment, we felt with our eyes and tasted with our sight.

(View part one, “Hello, Wisconsin,” and part three, “Goodbye, Door County.”)

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Hello, Wisconsin

We pretty much ended up here by accident.

I knew I wanted to go to Wisconsin, that upper midwest state on the other side of Lake Michigan. My dad stayed at the Wisconsin Dells, in a rustic cabin, and I figured we could do some fun family things while trying to avoid too much of the touristy parts.

But we love Lake Michigan. What if we could spend a whole week in one spot, by the big lake, and keep it quiet?

I did a bit of research, and found Door County – the little peninsula that sticks out into Lake Michigan, north of Green Bay. In essence, it’s a more westerly version of northern Michigan: cherry orchards, lakeside towns, fishing charters, and a bit of that stepping-back-in-time feeling when you visit our Upper Peninsula.

And boy did we step back in time. The cabin we found, near Sturgeon Bay, barely had cell coverage. It was barely updated since the early 1970s. It was perfect.

We had a little beach down by the lake, we could cook a random meal right there at the cabin, and it served as a launching point for plenty of fun family activities.

The light wasn’t bad, either.

(Check out part two, “On Wisconsin,” and part three, “Goodbye, Door County.”)

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Lost Time

Lost Time

Look there – the whole month of July, gone.

It’s been a busy month. We had our family vacation (more on that soon), and I did some traveling for work. Along the way, I had big plans for my musicians project, even paying for studio space for the month.

Last night, I had my first subject join me in the space for a portrait session. It took the whole month of July for me to get one musician in the studio. That left 29 other unproductive days.

Finally, after things settled down, I hit a day last week when I got fed up with my lack of progress and jumped back into the project. I sent some emails, confirmed some dates, and boom – photo making.

It’s easy to feel guilty over all that lost time. I’ve beaten myself up all month long, but enough is enough. All it takes is pushing one pebble down the hill, and pretty soon you have an avalanche. For me, the pebble was sending an email invitation to a stranger.

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Summer Vacation

This was it – the last big adventure of the summer, saved until the end.

The trick was lining up our northern Michigan vacation with the grandparents’ schedules. One pair in Mackinaw City for a few days, and the other in Petoskey for the second half. Help with adventures, babysitting, and overnights. With three kids, taking one to spend time with the grandparents relieves a bit of the strain.

Not that this was stressful. No, northern Michigan moves at a vacation pace. Water, and sky, and enough green and blue to make both of our major state university fans happy.

(It’s Go Blue season, just to be clear.)

This close to Lake Michigan, and this close to all those forests – it’s a proper goodbye to nice weather, and water, and wilderness for a while. We even said goodbye to the trout sunning themselves at an honest-to-goodness fish hatchery, complete with a bald eagle waiting, and watching, in the canopy above.

It’s what’s so great about living in our state. A few hours in every direction and you’re next to a giant freshwater lake and enough nature to forget that it’ll all be buried in snow and ice in a few months.

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Summer’s End

 

Stand in the Disenchanted Field

August in Michigan means hot days, cooler mornings, and a slow dive into autumn.

For me, it’s always the seasonal transitions that are the most fun to photograph. Summer is nice, sure, but the end of summer always holds something special.

Same for when spring (my favorite) comes, and the fog rolls in as the snow melts. Or when winter starts frosting the yet-to-fall leaves.

This time of year is always hard for me emotionally, for some reason. I don’t know if it’s because Winter Is Coming™, or the days are shortening, or what. But I get to feeling down. The last few years, I’ve tried to work my way out of the funk with a few photo projects and writing more.

For this season, I hope to do the same.

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