UP NORTH 2010 – Saturday, July 31st

The silence is truly golden. After a seven hour trip, one hour longer than usual due to a traffic jam right out of the gate on 294, we caught up with the Ohio Danahers and friends in Sutton's Bay, northwest of Traverse City. We had dinner and continued the pilgrimage to the Cathead Bay peninsula for our annual vacation courtesy of the Hass family whose cabin is our destination. Tonight for the first time in thirteen or so years, we were serenaded by a pack of coyotes at bedtime. They have finally quieted down. It wasn't quite as creepy as the pack I once heard a few blocks from my suburban home. The north woods are a more natural habitat for a pack of coyotes and the three bobcats just spotted by one of our house guests.

Northern Michigan offers my family and me the honest to goodness break from the daily grind that is truly a time of rest and relaxation. I don't like to do much on vacation. I appreciate the opportunity to do absolutely nothing. The stillness of the north woods has a healing effect that I could not have at Disney World or even a beach in Mexico. We are secluded here. No phones, no computer access, no congestion. Just woods and dunes and a sky full of stars. The only thing missing tonight as I prepare for bed is the sound of Lake Michigan waves lapping the shore. It is very still.

I love this place and fantasize about being snowed in here during the winter. When I say that, John objects that the snow could get so deep, we might not be able to get in or out for a spell. My point exactly. Of course now that I have grandchildren I don't really want to be separated from them for any extended period of time. I miss them so much already. But, I hate the city these days. The traffic, the noise, and the crazy pace of life are fatiguing to me. I will have to be content with one week to heal and slow my heart rate…unless I run into the three bobcats that just emerged from the woods at the end of the road.