Shades of Green

On Friday, the boy, the cello and I headed north through the
torrential downpour.

Eventually the boy and his cello were dropped into the
middle of heaven.

That left me with time to myself. That sound that you heard
on Saturday morning was a giant “Ahhhhhhh”.

I began by getting my bearings in this quaint little town on
the lakeshore.

And then I asked a townie to suggest some good walking
trails. She gave me good advice. Pristine wooded trails surrounding a former
(?) landfill (!) What exactly makes a landfill former?

A few times during the
walk I was detoured by gigantic puddles of standing water.
Eventually I approached a couple on a leisurely walk. It was about this time
that we realized that all the paths leading back to civilization were under water.

Rather than turn back, we attempted to make bridges from downed
trees. Finally we made our way to the adjacent road and took the less scenic
route back to our cars. On the way, we talked about commonalities: love of
nature, challenges of parenting teenagers, etc. They offered suggestions of
other places of interest, restaurants, walking trails. The Mr. offered an
invitation to a church nearby where he pastored.

I smiled in appreciation and gestured to the
trees surrounding us. “Thank you. This
is my church.” They nodded in genuine understanding.

Welcome to my our sanctuary. All are welcome.

The following day, I headed due north. See that blue mass to the right of me? That be Lake Michigan. I can't actually see it at this point because of the very expensive property value in between me and the lake.

Today's excursion is into a bit of a different ecosystem.

Life goes on, even when it is cloaked by a glacier-sized sand box. Life finds a way.

Waiting and listening. Will it fall?

I just missed this one:

It fell from here:

We're going down there:

Come with me.

Sidenote Alert: I've decided there's something very Kubrick about these glasses. And I like it.

If I was an animal, I would want to sleep here:

Rather than bow my head in this sanctuary, I like to... :

Shades of green.

Amen.