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A damn fine vacation
Aug. 5th, 2023 10:27 amI spent last week at a B&B on the shore of Lake Michigan. Like, ACTUALLY on the shore, like walk out the back door and down the stairs and SAND. It was lovely.
We've been going there for seven or eight years, and absolutely love it. This time our oldest kid and their partner joined us, and it was the first Family Vacation we've had with him. It was good! He was very pleased at how happy our kid was to be back there. I got the impression that a lakefront cabin would not be his first pick of vacations, but he was happy to be a part of it.
When he arrived, I gave him the lecture about how to survive riptides, since Lake Michigan claims 20-40 swimmers every year. He did not go in the water, as it happens, but I was glad I had given the lecture -- two days later, shoreline property owners were asked by the Coast Guard to check their beaches for signs of a missing woman. The next day she was presumed dead. The Lake claims it's toll every year.
I had a couple major victories, health-wise. I went down the steps to the beach for the first time since 2019. In fact, I went down to the beach every day at least once, if not more times! I walked on the sand, working hard to keep my balance. I walked in the surf, too! It was a major sign of how my health has been improving, and I was very pleased.
We meandered on the way back, driving back roads through small-town Wisconsin. I would urge everyone to remember that there are a lot of different sorts of people in the rural Midwest. We passed MAGA yard signs, sure, but we also passed an all-organic greenhouse with signs urging people to prevent further climate change, we passed houses with rainbow signaling in their yard decor, we saw lots of hybrid and electric vehicles (and charging stations in the smaller cities!) Don't write off rural America just because that's the media narrative, is what I am saying. Small towns are comprised of individuals, and individuals each have stories of their own.
Anyway, the weather was fantastic -- hot enough for swimming, not too much surf. There was a storm one of the nights. I tried to get pictures of it coming in from the north down the lake, but I am not photographer enough for that.
Now I am home, and I must catch up on the things at home that need tending. Like weeding the garden...
We've been going there for seven or eight years, and absolutely love it. This time our oldest kid and their partner joined us, and it was the first Family Vacation we've had with him. It was good! He was very pleased at how happy our kid was to be back there. I got the impression that a lakefront cabin would not be his first pick of vacations, but he was happy to be a part of it.
When he arrived, I gave him the lecture about how to survive riptides, since Lake Michigan claims 20-40 swimmers every year. He did not go in the water, as it happens, but I was glad I had given the lecture -- two days later, shoreline property owners were asked by the Coast Guard to check their beaches for signs of a missing woman. The next day she was presumed dead. The Lake claims it's toll every year.
I had a couple major victories, health-wise. I went down the steps to the beach for the first time since 2019. In fact, I went down to the beach every day at least once, if not more times! I walked on the sand, working hard to keep my balance. I walked in the surf, too! It was a major sign of how my health has been improving, and I was very pleased.
We meandered on the way back, driving back roads through small-town Wisconsin. I would urge everyone to remember that there are a lot of different sorts of people in the rural Midwest. We passed MAGA yard signs, sure, but we also passed an all-organic greenhouse with signs urging people to prevent further climate change, we passed houses with rainbow signaling in their yard decor, we saw lots of hybrid and electric vehicles (and charging stations in the smaller cities!) Don't write off rural America just because that's the media narrative, is what I am saying. Small towns are comprised of individuals, and individuals each have stories of their own.
Anyway, the weather was fantastic -- hot enough for swimming, not too much surf. There was a storm one of the nights. I tried to get pictures of it coming in from the north down the lake, but I am not photographer enough for that.
Now I am home, and I must catch up on the things at home that need tending. Like weeding the garden...