Gratitude Journal: Up North Edition

Today I am grateful...

~ For the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and its windblown, water-carved beauty.  Each summer, our day trip there feels like a pilgrimage to me.

~ For my mom and dad, who make sure I get to the dunes each summer; who know I couldn't do it without them; who climb the dune with my kids since I can't; who then take us to swim and catch minnows at North Bar Lake; who carry all the beach gear; who every year make our summer vacation fun and memorable for my kids in this way and so many others, and who make it all manageable for me.

~ For my brothers and sisters-in-law who took my kids swimming every single day of our vacation.

~ For the King family, and all the other farmers and growers in and around Torch Lake Township who work all year to grow the most beautiful, fresh, delicious fruit.  Every summer, I almost weep at the sight of pints and quarts of blueberries, cherries, apricots and plums sitting in a row at the roadside stands.  The summer fruit doesn't travel well, but if you want to know what a Real Apple tastes like and you don't happen to live "in the Township," King Orchards does mail order.

~ For a chance to see the nighttime sky sans urban light pollution.  Blue deep enough to drown in.  Stars close enough to touch.

~ For fireflies.

~ For Mr. Sonny's smoked whitefish pate.  For gluten-free beer to wash it down with.

~ For sunrise over Torch Lake, and sunset at Golden Beach.  For family and friends to share these beautiful moments with.

~ For Gerry's blog, which keeps me up to date on what's going on in my favorite little corner of the universe.  Thanks to Torch Lake Views I feel like I always have one foot in the sand, even from 599 miles away.

~ For my favorite blue.

~ For the day I know is coming........ the day this winter when I find remnants of Lake Michigan beach sand in my car, and for the happiness and warmth that moment will give me amidst the cold, frozen days of February.

~ For knowing that, even though I am "from away" now, I will always be home when I'm at Torch.

Wordless Wednesday: First Fish

The Summer I've Been Waiting For

Reader, I'm almost afraid to say it out loud, but I think this is the summer I've been waiting for for nine years.

Nine years ago I was great with child number one.  I was still working feverishly, with all the other Capitol-types, to finish a marathon legislative session.  I was pining for days at home with baby, dreaming of all the fun and wonderful things we'd do as s/he grew up, imagining his or her future siblings, dreaming up my life as Mother.

As so often happens, the dream and reality didn't match up, at least not right away.  Because I couldn't possibly have imagined what days, weeks and years at home with three small ones was really like (for the benefit of those who are considering this or a similar feat, we will now draw the curtains of charity on the gory details of days, weeks, and years at home with three small ones).  And because the dream didn't include the highly inconvenient development of a serious chronic illness.

But now, here we are.  Everyone can walk.  Everyone is out of diapers.  Everyone can get into their own car seats.  Everyone can make their own sandwiches.  Nobody really has to have a nap (well....... except for me, but even I am learning to live with a half-hour timeslot during which no child is allowed to be in my room or speak to me unless they are vomiting or bleeding).

And here I am, feeling stronger, more stable, gaining weight, learning to live well within the limits of my illness.

And watch us go!  We've had so much fun this summer.  A week at camp in the north woods.  Kickball with friends from school.  Trips to the farmer's market for fresh produce.  Trips to the library for fresh books.  Impromptu tennis lessons with our good family friends, the K-woods.  This afternoon, we're going swimming at a friend's house.  These are all things that, between the Baby Factor and my illness, have never been possible before.  I am loving every minute of this summer, and I fully admit to neglecting the housework, the gardens, and what I not-so-lovingly refer to as The Grocery Situation (in which there are, so often, none to be found in the house), in order to run, bike, swim, and play with my kids.

It's true that I am still weighing every day with the one previous and the one coming next, to make sure I don't Overdo It.  It's true that the baby I was pining for nine years ago, my almost-9-yo Bean, has to carry the heavy gear.  And no, I don't really run with them, but I walk along as they run.  It's true that I have sometimes ended up a little more sore than I would've been if we had not gone on a given excursion on a given day.  But I'm so grateful to have the strength and stamina to enjoy this summer, in this way, with my kids.  It's been a long time coming.

I hope you're having a wonderful summer, too.

What I Learned (Or Was Reminded Of) On Our Summer Vacation

1.  Traveling with young ones really does get easier as they get older.

2.  When you are a city dweller you may, at first, mistake the rush of wind through fifty foot pines for traffic noise (I wince to admit it).

3.  Everyone should have regular access to an art cabin.  Seriously, you should've seen the 40-something dads making dolls out of toilet paper rolls.

4.  Fresh air and plenty of relaxation gives me the munchies.

5.  There are not enough sing-alongs or campfires in modern life.

6.  Every home should come equipped with a sauna.

7.  Roofs and walls are really nice to have during torrential rain.

8.  Brand name Ziploc bags (which my mom used to store the homemade graham crackers she baked for our vacation s'mores) are far superior to the store brand available at my friendly neighborhood discount store (BTW, I could write a whole post about this, having suffered multiple repetitive stress injuries from repeated attempts to actually seal the off-brand bags).

9.  Sharing stories, even sad ones, draws folks together and enriches lives.

10.  Never cut down your Sentinels.

This last one probably requires a bit more explanation.  See the trees in the photo?  Well, at least the trunks of the trees in the photo?  Those trees stand at the edge of the Boundary Waters.  They are called the Sentinels, and they must be eighty feet tall (more?  I never have been good at spatial relations).  Way back in the day before this area was a protected wilderness, the lumberjacks left the Sentinels standing, rather than harvesting them, so that they could use the two trees as landmarks.  In today's world it's hard to imagine that someone who could profit from something would leave it be.  But I am grateful to those old lumberjacks, and I think they had it right: some things are too precious to get rid of.  The Sentinels have me thinking about those landmarks (I use the term figuratively) that we all have that keep us from losing our way..... those goals, dreams, ideals, ideas, and beliefs that we can cast our eyes upon when we lose the path for a time.  As The Bean says of the Sentinels, "They're huge! and they're amazing!"  Just as landmarks -- literal and figurative -- ought to be.  What are your sentinels?

Confession Saturday

I confess:

--I bought my own birthday present this year (pictured at right). In my defense, Husband was in India on my birthday. I have a bracelet from my favorite jeweler in the whole wide world, Becky Thatcher, that is designed for interchangeable tops. So, the present was actually a new stone for the bracelet, not the bracelet itself. Becky Thatcher is a northern Michigan jeweler who works with lots of local materials (e.g., petoskey stones), and then also with some not-so-local materials (e.g., gold, diamonds, and pearls). The not-so-local stuff was not-so-much in my price range, but this gorgeous Leland bluestone was. Happy birthday to me!

--I confess, Leland bluestone is an industrial byproduct of iron smelting, but is made beautiful by the waters and waves of Lake Michigan. Being from humble roots myself, I try not to hold the bluestone's humble roots against it. (If you want to know more about Leland bluestones, click here. And if you wonder why anyone would make an 8 minute Youtube video about a stone, it's because we Michiganders are a teensy bit obsessed about hunting for local stones.)

--I gave up on what was to be my vacation book, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, and instead read the much lite-er Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Udolpho is kind of the standard-bearer gothic novel, a classic, a must-read. Udolpho was hard to get into. Udolpho was printed in this tiny, cramped, practically microscopic print (I'm not kidding -- I almost bought a magnifying glass after the first few chapters...... and I'm not that old). I confess, I feel defeated by a mere book! I hope I get back to Udolpho someday. But really, it was a relief to set it aside and pick up something easier. And I would recommend Friday Night Knitting Club for a fun summer read.

--I also gave up on sunscreen this summer. Someday, when one of my kids gets skin cancer, I'm going to say to myself, "It was the summer of 2009, I just know it." But most days, it seemed like a minor miracle to even get them fed, dressed, and out of doors, my voice trailing after them, "Get a hat on your head to keep the sun off!" I vow to do better next summer.

--MP3 players really do make a fourteen hour car trip more bearable for everyone.

--My kids had more hotdogs and popsicles this summer than they have had in their entire lives up to now. So far, they are still alive and kicking. See:



AJ, Sister, and The Bean at Antrim Dunes.

This Is Just To Say

I have abandoned
civilization - where I could connect
to a wireless network -
for The Lake

and if
you were wondering
if I have abandoned this blog,
I have (temporarily)

Forgive me
The Lake is magnificent
so blue
and so deep



(Do you know the poem I am not-so-masterfully parodying here? It is "This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos Williams. He was a New Jersey poet who was also a physician, and he wrote poems on his prescription pads between patients. I think his poem a beautiful love note. You can read the real thing here.

I am borrowing a computer to post this. I will be back to civilization, and to this blog, in late August.)

Summer Vacation...... and some other stuff

We returned from our summer vacation last weekend.  All week I have been planning to post a well-written, creative, edited, polished, and interesting piece on our summer vacation.  In reality, the only thing I've written all week is a grocery list.  I'm giving up on my previous plan, and will just give you the basics.


We spent a week at Camp du Nord and had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful, the water was pretty warm considering it was in northern Minnesota, and I didn't have to cook dinner for the entire week!  (And I think that's really what made it a vacation for me).  

Camp du Nord is a YMCA family camp. There is planned programming for children ages 0-18 in the mornings from ten o'clock until noon (read: free time for moms and dads!). There are also planned activities in the afternoons, or you can pick and choose from the many camp-like options: arts and crafts at the Family Art Center, hiking the trails, paddling in a canoe or a kayak.  Our kids particularly enjoyed fishing this year, and even caught a few. Evenings are for campfires, sing-alongs, and saunas in the authentic Finnish wood-burning sauna. And for lying in bed with the windows open, listening to the call of the loon on the lake.





The images posted to the right are scans of some block prints I made from a favorite photo of the kids (you can see it here). I spent an afternoon working on them at the Family Art Center, and completely lost track of time. First I drew the images based on the photo; then I traced over them in a heavy pencil line; then I transferred the image onto a rubber block; then carved the images with special knives made for creating block prints. I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out, and I can't even remember the last time I lost track of time, but I would recommend that you try it if at all possible.









Summer is zipping right along, and mostly I am just being a mom. It is a fact that I am busier with all three kids at home all day every day, and I am trying to let that fact sink in and remind myself that there will be more time for writing, poetry, blogging, and other such things, after school starts. In fact, most of the writers I know say their work is on hold, too. Summer is for other things: gardens, sprinklers, getting lost in a book, naps, picnics, walks in the woods, earning freckles, doing Nothing.

Happy summering to you.