I took this photo on Lubbers Farm in the early spring. It won’t be too long before it starts warming up. This is a great place to go for locally grown food, plus, I the Lubbers’ are great to know.
Month: January 2009
Okay, it’s official. I’m tired of winter. I think I smelled spring in the air two days ago too. I took this photo last summer on White Lake, which, by the way is a great place to go boating. It’s a nice sized lake with a great boat launch and then if you want some REAL excitement, you can blast on over to Lake Michigan through the channel.
So here’s why I stay here in spite of a too long winter:
1. Perfect summer days like the one here.
2. No matter where you live in Michigan, you’re minutes away from an outdoor adventure. Even in the city.
3. Low cost of living so you can have a much nicer home here than most places, and get one on the water.
4. My family, which is close by.
5. Great friends.
6. Great job.
7. Great neighbors.
8. LOVE Grand Rapids, not too big, not too small, big city venues, small city convenience.
9. All the beautiful beaches.
10. Great seaside towns with art galleries galore.
So, how about some other Michigander feedback? What keeps you here?
The day I took this photo, the weather was HORRIBLE. There was a blizzard warning, drifting snow, and on top of that, it was soooo cold salt wasn’t melting anything, so the roads that were plowed still had packed ice on them.
My wild/crazy friend and I decided to go out in her SUV and take pics. As we were driving down this road, there was an elegant wrought iron gate leading into what she thought was a “farm.” “Oh, Annie, let’s drive back into that farm so you can take some pictures,” she said as she pulled into this long, winding, hilly, one lane drive to nowhere. I had a feeling that this was no farm because as I recall, farms don’t usually have gates that are normally locked, as was the case for this place.
We drove waaay down the drive, at least 3/4 of a mile, and noticed a snowplow blasting toward us full speed ahead and there was nowhere to go. So she starts backing up, expecting this guy to slow down. Instead he sped up and just glared at us, practically daring us to stop. She literally drove in reverse the entire length of the windy, snow packed, hilly driveway going at least 30 MPH, without stopping or slowing down. It was the most amazing ride I’ve ever had. By the time we got to the end of the drive, we were laughing so hard we were practically crying.
I took this photo about a block down from the drive where we were unwanted guests. Later, I heard that we had been on the property of one of Ada’s more well known and prominent citizens.
Does it look cold? Well, it certainly was! I took this photo when I was driving back from Lansing and the sky was so beautiful I had to get off the highway and find a place to take a quick shot before the sun went down.
If you try real hard, I’ll bet you can feel the sand between your toes, smell the fresh air blowing off the water and hear the surf pounding the shore. It’s no wonder Oval Beach was voted as one of the best beaches in the world.
Supposedly, we’re going to get blasted with arctic air and a snowstorm tomorrow… I hope not, but just in case, I’ll be thinking of summer, sun and sugar sand Michigan beaches.
By the way, I saw Clint Eastwood’s new movie, Gran Torino this weekend. It was shot in a decaying urban Detroit area. I loved the movie, in fact it’s one of my all time favorites. But after seeing it, I wished that there were more positive images of the Detroit area represented in the media. Yes there are parts of Detroit that are like this, but the majority of Detroit is an interesting, unique city with tremendous talent and people with a survivor spirit. I go there a lot on business and love the diversity and openness of the businesses and people there. Nothing ever stays the same and that goes for a depressed economy, I truly believe that our state is on its way back.
For those of you who live in Michigan… I thought you might need a reminder right about now of why we live here. And for those who don’t live in Michigan, here’s just one of the reasons why you might want to take a vacation here. I took this in the Leelanau Peninsula last summer just before it rained. There are beautiful winding dirt roads and paths everywhere up there that make it possible to get lost in the beauty of the land. If you’ve never been to Northern Michigan, I hope you’ll do yourself a favor and make 2009 the year you check it out.
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