…Which Way is North?

Lake Michigan. My guide. My compass. My friend.

I didn’t realize it was so much more than just a lake, until today, when I was driving along wondering which way was north. I automatically thought where’s Lake Michigan? It was that moment that I remembered how I drove around Muskegon using the lake as a north-south guide {except that one time when I was trying to get home from Grandville thinking ‘if I just keep heading west, I’ll run into the lake and be able to find my way home’….I somehow ended up in Southhaven!}.

Right after family and friends, I think I miss the lake most. I miss the beach sand and the smell. I miss the sound of the waves and the beauty of the setting sun. I miss those lazy, boring days when I’d drive down to Pere Marquette to people watch. I miss reading while sitting on the boulders along the channel, and having lunch at the park.

But…I’ve traded one natural wonder for another. Here, I have the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Rolling green hills. An amazing blue sky. Greers Ferry Lake and its mysterious bottom. I’ve got fawns that graze on the sides of the road every morning on my way to work, birds that chirp a happy greeting each new day, and even some not-so-desirable creatures that really haven’t been such a nuisance.

So whileI’m down here becoming one with a new kind of nature, I can be sure that my good friend, Lake Michigan, waits for me back home.