Summer Days: Week 4 and Paradise

It’s Day 29 of summer break and it’s July. If July were a color, I think it would be yellow. July is the caution light of summer for me. It’s the reminder that school is closer than it was in June, but there are plenty of days remaining to keep making count.

This past two weeks we have entertained guests at the lake, two separate guests – this first guests were O’s classmates who celebrated the transition from high school to college – all three are heading off to school in August in Michigan. This past week we entertained friends from wife’s hometown – her buddy and high school classmate and his wife. They’ve joined us before, and we always have a great time together.

This year we took a road trip to the Upper Peninsula and had a blast. We were there the entire day and well into the night. We passed through Paradise three times on our journey!

photo taken at Whitefish Point with camera pointed due North, coordinates 46 46’21″N and 84 57’33” W – the waves from the lake were crashing ashore weathering the rocks. It was an amazing day.

It was my first time to visit Lake Superior and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point where we spent most of our time walking the beach looking for agates – rocks formed inside volcanic and metamorphic rocks. We visited on July 1st and Canada Day, and we could see Canadian hills in the distance. We decided to forego the museum for lunch at Tahquamenon State Park which I had learned about from my blogging friend Dawn at Change is Hard. The falls did not disappoint we visited the lower falls first, enjoyed lunch, and took in the upper falls before we left. We finished our day with a trip to an International Dark Sky Park at Wilderness State Park before heading home. It was a fun trip, but we pulled into the lake house drive well after midnight.

“Summer is for surrendering; winter is for wondering.” ― Debasish Mridha

We spent the remainder of their visit on the lake – we enjoyed eating dinner together on the deck and I practiced my Poultry Days Chicken recipe with them. Poultry Days is B’s town festival – I wrote about it ten summers ago. Saturday night’s dinner was my third attempt to BBQ the chicken and according to H and B, our friends, I am getting close, but I’ll keep working on it.

We had a great time during their visit, but all goods things (like summer) come to an end and H and B left for home and for them reality.

I have lots of photos of from the falls and Whitefish Point and I plan to process them into a future post, so watch this space.

I believe that one of the best parts of writing this blog is that it works as a record of that I’ve done for the past eleven years. It was wonderful going back to June of 2011 and read my mother’s words. I was sorting through my phone’s voice messages this morning deleting messages that I no longer needed and found several of hers, it was good to know I can always hear her voice.

So much has changed since that post in 2011 – our family and the architecture of my blog. But the true purpose hasn’t. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day.

This could possibility be the best day ever!
(This could possibility be the best day ever,)
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better.
So, make every minute count, jump up, jump in, and seize the day,
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way,
Today is gonna be a great day!

Making the Days Count, one day at a time, especially in the summer.

 How are you spending your summer days?

2 thoughts on “Summer Days: Week 4 and Paradise

  1. Wow! You did a LOT in one day in the UP!!! I used to have my mother’s voice recorded on my voice mail at work. And then one day they changed the phone system and she was gone. I can still hear that message in my head because I stayed the last week of the phone system after work and played it over and over. I think I even recorded it on something. But it was sad when she wasn’t at my desk any longer.

    1. Thank you for stopping in and giving me the idea to travel north! We had a good time and probably could have done more if we had left earlier in the morning. The weather cooperated for us – temps in the mid 60s with bright sunny skies it was a great day. Re-reading that post brought back more than a few memories. My wife lost her voice mails a few years ago when we switched phones. but we have plenty of pictures and lots of memories. have a wonderful day and Peace.

Thanks for visiting MtDC. How are YOU Making YOUR Days Count?