Out at the (different, smaller, still beautiful) Lake

Getting close to coming home time

A friend asked me if I'd like to spend a couple of days at her family lake house and after an internal battle of five seconds, I said yes. It was only two hours from where I am and we'd transform once again from much in the way of manmade to much in the way of Nature's doing. Yes was a good choice.

We stopped at a store called Horrock's to pick up a few things before we tucked ourselves in for the weekend. I could have wandered in there three times as long; everywhere was full of everything, and a lot of it they produce themselves. Shelves of jams and salsas and pickled veggies, open containers of chili's and teas, bins of fresh veggies, a wine and beer bar, a cold room the size of Genesis with eggs and meats and cheeses. My eyes were stunned and my head was spinning when I finally allowed myself to stagger away.

See the cactus?

If only I could have taken this on the plane without checking a bag...

Turning down the long driveway, the first thing we saw was this flock of wild turkeys. Their gackling gobbles were the backdrop sound all weekend.

This bee/beetle was on a post. First I thought it was dead, but it was sluggishly moving along, just not much. Lucky for me!

The water was almost mirror still. Trees are changing color fast now as well. Beauty.

The angels were playing in the sky at sunset

With food and wine and a beautiful place where peace and quiet gently ruled, there was no place to go and nothing to do except be here now. So we did.

Morning was breaking. It was after 7 here but felt much earlier.

Sun tipped trees

Poor dear deer

A walk down the lane led us to a neighbors garden. The neighbor showed up and invited us to help ourselves to some tomatoes. They were good!

In summer, the lake is busy with jet skis and boats, fishing and swimming, but now, the season of outdoor warmth ending, it was still and quiet. Later on in the day a few boats were out, a couple of men fishing and one motorboat with waterskiers. There is a rule on this lake that there can be no motorized noise before 9:00 in the morning or after 7:30 in the evening. Perfect.

Mackey beside the firepit

Okay, I lied. We did leave once on a 'will I run out of cigarettes, maybe we'd better go to the store' run. I'm glad we did. Except for the fact that we were still in our almost look like regular clothes pajamas. I ventured out alone and figure if there is gossip, she can use the crazy woman from an island excuse.

I've never, ever seen a barn with dormers before. Ever.

 The store was like an invention of a country general store. I asked if I could take photos and was told "Yes, just not with me in them." Thank you!

One counter I didn't get was a display of cookies. Lots and LOTS of cookies. They bake them themselves, of course.

Apparently it was a celebratory weekend of some kind. I was first drawn over by the girl braiding a horse's tail - "I've never done it before," she said.

This Michigan cowboy was friendly and so were his dogs.

Some mules

The goat was pointed out (from a lot farther away than it looks, that's my excuse). I love goats. I took a photo of the goat. Not until I looked at the photo enlarged did I realize this goat is a relative of the deer above. But weirder. Or maybe it's a cow.

These are real cows. They were staring mightily at us, except for Baby, who only had one mission in mind.

 

Another mellow end of day

While eating dinner, inside this time, we heard a popping sound. Randomly, fireworks were being shot into the sky, double pleasure with the reflection.

One photo I'd like to have gotten but didn't, over a four lane highway and ready to get back home instead of turning around, was a farm with white/albino deer. Even in the rainy misty day, their whiteness was blinding. Maybe one day.

We did turn around for these sandhill cranes and geese. They barely shifted when the vehicle pulled in, didn't budge as I snapped away. But once we hit reverse? They flew. Beautifully. Away.

It would be easy to write about her lake house for a long time. Filled with art, both her own and her children, grandchildren and great granddaughter, it wasn't hard to feel there have been years of family fun here, the presence of comfort and laughter hung in the air, a palpable awareness. But that's all I'm going to write about that. At least here and and at least now.

Have a make magic Monday. Do something majestically mellow.