summer

Hale

It’s been a year of new homes, with our family’s, and my dad purchasing a cabin in Hale, Michigan – in the northeast, close to Lake Huron.

We took Independence Day weekend and traveled there for the first time. It was our chance to get out of town, spend some summer days outside, and see a new place. 

We found everything we were looking for in the pastoral scenery, the cool and clear lakes, and the natural beauty you find in northern Michigan. 

I almost brought a film camera to fit the setting. After all, every 50 miles you go north you travel back in time 10 years. But that will have to wait. I didn’t want to fuss with film and settings and remembering how to use my Canon AE-1. I wanted to keep it simple.

Simple is good. That’s why we’re here. 

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Return of the County Fair

Some things are coming back, and it feels good.

Even though our local county fair has a new layout, and even if I was a bit nervous being around so many people, I used the return of our fair as a photo walk.

Over the years, the county fair has been one of my favorite photography subjects: the bright colors, the summer haze, the motion, and the prime people watching. For one night, we did the family outing, and for the other night, I went by myself to concentrate on photography.

I took my trusty Canon 5D and three lenses – 20mm, 50mm, and 100mm – to add some variety. In the end, I wound up mostly using the reliable 50mm, but the 100mm allowed me to get some people shots from a (social) distance.

It was a hot, sweaty night, as it usually is in August, full of fried smells and flashing lights. 

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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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