The final entry from my "where do you go to renew?" contest comes from Bev Kraker. Bev included some cool family photos of her favorite spot.
I've had numerous Lake Michigan refuges over the years...each of them a favorite at that time of my life. One of my earliest memories of one brings me back to a time of refreshment, relaxation and closeness with my family of origin.
I grew up on a farm about an hour away from Little Sable Point lighthouse. My parents would pile all six of us kids into the station wagon after the chores were done on what always seemed to be the hottest day of the summer. We'd fly down dusty dirt roads past our relative's asparagus farm and over the rolling countryside for what seemed to be an eternity. When the car stopped we'd pile out and race barefoot over the hot sand past the lighthouse to throw ourselves into the cool waves of Lake Michigan. Mom and Dad would choose a spot close to the water and lay a large old cotton blanket down. They would keep a watchful eye on us since none of us were accomplished swimmers. (We were certain that the giant tractor inner tube that we brought along and inflated in the parking lot and clung to in the waves would sufficiently ensure our safety.)
Hours later we would eat a picnic supper under a shade tree and dutifully wait one hour before we took one last dip in the water. We would see how far out we could go and still touch the bottom before we saw our parent's motioning us to shore. Reluctantly we would heed our parent's call and let the waves carry us in. We all helped to shake out the blanket and pack up the assorted beach toys and then raced back thru the hot sand to the car where we would help deflate the innertube by standing on it until it let out it's final breath. We would then brush the sand from our feet, dry off as best we could and pile back into the sweltering station wagon. The wind whipping thru the open windows as we retraced our path home evaporated the last of the lake's cool wetness from our hair and bodies. We sat shoulder to shoulder, quietly absorbed in our own thoughts as we watched the setting sun slide behind the horizon.The silhouettes of the pine trees and farms we floated past slowly faded as the night sky pulled its dark blanket around us leaving only the headlights' beam to point the way home.
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