Leelanau Up North

Empire  Beach - Looking  North  From  The  Bluffs As I walk along the Lakeshore from Empire Beach, whether heading north or south, it appears that I'm traveling a fairly straight path. But about twenty minutes into the hike, when I look back to see where I've been, it's clear that my path was anything but straight. In fact, I see that I've followed the curve of a large bay, bordered on each side by towering dunes jutting into the big lake. I can only appreciate the curvature of my path by the perspective gained from a distance. "And so it is in living," (I say with the highly respected authority of a new grandfather.) How often it is that we see things differently, and perhaps more clearly, in the rear view mirror of life. And what is more, the perspective gained from the passage of time can make all the difference in the way forward. AKA ... wisdom? Another life lesson from the Land of Delight. See You Up North, Chris              

Empire  Bluffs  In  January On my first hike of the new year .... Frigid, gray blue water ahead.  Crusty, frozen sand beneath my feet.  Snow capped dunes towering above the jack pines. All ... just ... being. The waves do not race to be first to the shore.  The trees do not compete to be at the top of the bluff. No.  Nature is content simply to be - not to become something more than it is. Not so with us.   Especially in our younger years, we strive to become ... professional, expert, well-off, accomplished, whatever. Perhaps that is how it should be, in our younger years.  Always striving to become, to make our mark upon the world.   But now, on my first hike of the new year, in perhaps the last third of my life, ... Like the waves and the trees, ... I'm happy just to be. See You Up North, Chris                           Visit A Leelanau Landmark:  Well, ... not quite Leelanau, but                           it's on the  way!  Oliver T's is