Are you tired of “Mackinac in the Fall” photos yet? Geez, I hope not, ’cause they just keep pouring in, and they’re just TOO beautiful not to post. The ones I’m putting up today show the wind and rain are slowly removing the leaves from the trees and depositing them on the ground. But the island is a long way from being “over” Fall. So, here we go again!
From the front yard of the Windermere to get this angle. That tree at the corner never fails to deliver all the glories of fall! (Photo: Jill Sawatzki)
The photo above and the next two are from “someone” at the Chippewa Hotel (sure wish I knew who)! Taken from Fort Holmes, we’re looking straight down Rifle Range Trail to Fort Mackinac.
It’s hard to recognize which road this is. My guess is Garrison, but it could be Custer. Or it could be several others. Garrison and Custer are my two best guesses.
Whatever the road name, add a buggy, and it just becomes more magically Mackinac.
A surreal view of the harbor from the folks at the Chuck Wagon Restaurant.
The Post Cemetery – beautifully wearing its Fall tapestry. (Photo: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau)
Rainy streets and parked bikes . . . a cold and wet day on the island. (Photo: Doud’s Market)
A glorious sunrise from Fort Mackinac. (Photo: Clark Bloswick)
Hmmmm . . . looks like this group did some happy shopping at Original Murdick’s Fudge and The Big Store! (Photo: Jill Sawatzki)
These last three photos are from Bruce LaPine, who captured as many leaves on the ground as on the trees.
The Turtle Park turtle!
Ted and I and the furbabies spent many a day at Turtle Park – either crossing it on the way to somewhere else, or plopping down on the grass to watch Maddie and Bear chase each other around the large open spaces. It is here that Winter Festival will be held February 7-8, 2015.
BEVERLY BEACH/SUNSET INLET – FLORIDA
Our rep in Florida sent us some photos this week as the sun was setting.
It seems as though we’re going to have some great sunsets from both our balconies . . .
. . . AND our kitchen!
FRAMING RAINBOWS
From: Elizabeth Allen (Hartford, WI): “This is a picture of mine and my husband’s first grandchild. Yesterday, 10/15/2014, my beautiful stepdaughter Stephanie gave birth to Abigail Rose. Our son-in-law Zachary is in the Air Force and is currently stationed overseas – so we have not as yet gotten to hold our precious Abbie. We pray we get to meet her soon. I personally think she is the most beautiful thing ever created, but I may be biased. :)” That’s not bias at all, Elizabeth – she is BEAUTIFUL! We all pray you get to hold her very soon!
From: Karen Synder (Niles, MI): “While on vacation in Suttons Bay, I came across this make shift phone booth – remind you of anything? I took a picture of my husband Darrell in it. We sure missed our fall trip to the island.” Yep, I do believe I know where there’s another one of those red phone booths!
From: Lori Kittinger (Jackson, MI) – “As a family we are all proud of Josh playing middle school football. The kids started with a week long camp, weight-lifting, then after school practice – this has been a constant since July. Josh did great, and after school started, he got into shape by working out 10 hours a week. I was VERY nervous for him to play, but he REALLY wanted to. He only had a few minor injuries, so I am learning to just relax. Anyway, here is our family photo (sister Brittany, me, Josh, and husband Craig) after the last game. Josh had 9 tackles for the year, and they had a winning season 3-2.” WooHoo! Way to go Josh – go Panthers!
Two years ago – almost to the day – Jill and I jumped in her car and traveled down to Olivet, MI to meet Lowell and Faye Greene for the first time face to face! Oh my gosh, what a wonderful time we had listerning to Lowell’s Mackinac stories and eating the delicious lunch he prepared! This week Lowell sent me some pics from their house, and the fall colors are just as vivid this year as they were when we visited. This is their front yard . . .
. . . and the woods behind their house. Thanks so much for sharing, Lowell! Still hoping to one day get up there for some of your potato soup!
Two weeks from today – good Lord willing – we will pull out of the driveway of our little rental cottage, drive south, and officially become citizens of Florida. When I was young, I couldn’t imagine anything more exciting that owning a home on the coast of the Sunshine State – ocean breezes, soft sand under my feet, collecting shells and driftwood, the call of seagulls, the smell of salt in the air . . . skin continually bronzed. With age and experience – and the unexpected joy of finding my heart’s home somewhere much, much further north – has come the realization that the dreams of my younger self were just that – dreams of a child/teenager/young woman who had very few magical venues to choose from, based just on what my short life had given me.
I now find it fascinating to be given a rare gift . . . the opportunity to live in what was – so many years ago – the place of my dreams. Although I look toward the future in our new home with excited anticipation, I know those “life on the beach” dreams I once so craved will now be tempered by all the places, people, experiences, joys, and sorrows that make me who I am today. Instead of settling on the sun-drenched coast full of the vigor and strength of a young woman, I will arrive as a retiree, well past middle age, and with a body which will soak up the sun’s warmth for the good it will do my bones, instead of the glow it will give my complexion.
Do I sound a little frightened? I am, you know. But I’m also filled with eagerness to begin this new adventure. Even now, with a wealth of living behind me and hopefully years and years of living before me, I look forward to all those same things – ocean breezes, soft sand, shell collections, the flight of birds, and air filled with the scent of the sea. I will experience them all as the woman I am now, instead of with the naivete of an unformed mind and personality.
Perhaps that is why God chose to give me the dream of my youth well past the years of my youth. Perhaps He knew that only now would I appreciate what the years ahead – my years by the sea – will come to mean.
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Personal Note: We’ll be in Florida on Thursday for our first walk-thru on the house, so I won’t post again until next Sunday, Oct. 26. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here then!
God bless.
Bree's Connecting the Dots 