I spent the weekend in Northern Michigan where the fall colors were peaking, the sun was shining, the air was warm and sweet and Lake Michigan was gorgeous. And to top it off, I got to stay with a good friend in her wonderful home complete with a loving dog-cat. Well. A cat that sort of acts like a dog, you know what I mean. We wandered quaint little towns, poking our heads into art galleries and book stores and hiked through beautiful sun drenched forests listening to woodpeckers and the silence. We walked the beach and waded into the gentle waves, kayaked the turquoise still waters of Lake Michigan, and sat in warm sand drinking wine and drawing with pastels. We contemplated in silence the wide, ever changing lake, and talked incessantly; stories about the past and hopes for the future. We read and napped and laughed a lot.

It would have been easier to leave, both the lake as well as the friend and her cat if the day had been dreary, cold, misty or rainy. But it was perfect; in the 70’s, sunshine, the lake a cobalt blue. The trees glowed against the sky. I drove away with the car windows rolled down, listening to the crunch of brilliant leaves beneath the tires, memorizing the sights, sounds and smells of lake living in the fall, trying to impress the image onto my eyelids so that later, when I closed my eyes, I could bring it all back. Listening to the radio on my drive through the brilliant colors of mid-Michigan I heard “True colors shining through…I see your true colors shining through and that’s why I love you, that’s why I love you…” (Fredro Starr) It seemed appropriate and I hummed along with the music.

We took a last walk on the beach before I left, me dressed in jeans and running shoes, intent on keeping my feet dry given the long drive ahead. As we returned to the house I became less vigilant about avoiding the gently swelling water, and a rogue wave quickly slapped me in the ankle, pouring into my shoe. I laughed; it was as if Lake Michigan was grabbing for my foot, trying to keep me from leaving. In my heart I told the lake that it didn’t have to try so hard…it had me at hello. When I saw it again this trip I knew I was falling in love all over again.

PS: The images actually look better if you click on each of them v.s. making them into a slide show…