When i was was a boy
I spent summers along the northern shoreline of
Michigan
on a point of land wrapped around a fresh water bay …
where I had the freedom to
roam the sandy beaches
camp out among the dunes
explore the pine woods
or
search through cat tails in tannin colored ponds
for …
all sorts of life … !
…..
I fished for perch and small mouth bass
off the end of the Coast Guard dock
stretched 100 yards into bay waters ..
at the same spot where my Dad learned to fish
when he was a boy .. !
…..
I swam in the cool fresh water of the Great Lake
whenever and wherever I chose to …
diving into the waves, rising and falling,
my hands skimming the ridged sandy bottom
mimicking waves above me …
…..
During summer storms
when
countless fingers sent giant white caps
crashing against the shore
the northern wind would lift me up into the trees
where I was absorbed into pine scent,
yellow pollen, poplar leaves and
curling birch paper …
…..
At night when soft waves lapped against the shoreline
I became the sounds of the lake
in concert with the trees
and lake’s whispered words,
a chorus of unspoken thought
wrapped in glacial water and
ancient life
the hush of night secrets …
…..
When I melted into summer sand …
joined with the grains,
the rush of waves,
the blue black night with stars
the
orange moon on the horizon,
the lights on the distant shore,
the unseen green of another reality ..
the great lake came alive within me
and my
spirit
filled the
sky …
Advertisements
For anyone that has enjoyed Lake Michigan, your words would bring back fond memories! Very moving post 😀
LikeLike
thank you so much … jeeze … you make me feel good … i’m glad i did the same for you … hearing these words is the most wonderful thing about blogging … thanks again … i nave a question for you … i’ll write later … its about my leaves … ks
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem! If it’s a horticultural question and I need to see photos, the best is to email me. 😃 I’d be glad to help!
LikeLike
Beautiful – This really evokes memories (and makes me anxious for summer to arrive).
LikeLike
thank you so much sarah! we great lakes people share special feelings don’t we? so beautiful .. that fresh water . so clean and refreshing with a sound like no other … and sad that makes that scuffing noise when you kick your toe through it … don’t know where you spend your time … maybe this is a strange idiosyncrasy of the sand on Tawas point … thank you so much … it warms my heart … ks
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I even loved it so much I went to undergrad on the shores of Lake Michigan – many a day at Northwestern was spent walking out on the lakefill. Not quite as tranquil as Wisconsin, but beautiful in its own way (and a welcome respite from the city).
LikeLike
i have more to tell you and to say … i’ll let you know … oh … i wanted to tell you … i’m a little embarrassed … i wrote about the shoreline of the great lakes in Michigan …but NOT LAKE Michigan … my lake is Lake Huron … I don’t think it matters … the great lakes are what we are in love with … all of them, aren’t we? the are one body of water each lake part of the whole. there’s no competition … they all have the same characteristics … the sand, the pure water, the sound of the waves that is so
distinctive … Lake superor is like the monster big brother or sister .. to me …. a great lake but … few sandy shores and water too cold to swim in except for people born and raised up there … harsher because it’s further north. but it doesn’t matter. it’s still part of the system … part of the body. but the scenery up there! wow! have you ever been to Picture Rocks? personally … Erie and Ontario i don’t feel that attached to … whey are shallower and warmer … not part of the ‘grand body’ of water … . i want to know specifically where you spent your time on the lake so i can look on a map. were there dunes? was the sand tan colored? did it make that little sound when you skuff your toe through it? more … i’m entering two pieces to a poetry contest that is open to great lakes people … any state bordering the great lakes … you might be interested in … are you an english major? google greatlakesreview if you want more information. the deadline is march 31st. i’ll write more … i spent my time growing up in a little town called Tawas, michigan. there’s a point of land where we had a cottage. pretty much like the poem i posted but … so many beautiful experiences … the purpose of my blog was/is to put those stories out there … most of what i write is about the lake but i don’t refer to it specifically … anything referring to nature is lake inspired … they were the golden years and formed the foundation for the person i am … unbelievably, we were fortunate to have found a cottage up here … so, i/we are able to come up quite often … i come up to write then i’m joined by my wife … the point of land where the cottage was, hasn’t changed that much … i go out there all the time …. it’s like magic … the sound of the waves .. ! anyway … gotta go … i’m pleased that you read me before i made this post … thanks … ks
LikeLiked by 1 person
The great lakes really are the best – I tend to think of them as Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, because those are the lakes I grew up with (north shore of Lake Superior, mostly, some random places on Lake Michigan over the years).
Unfortunately, I don’t have a place of my own on any lake right now – I have to make do with living in Milwaukee and getting my time on the lake with many other people. I am jealous of your cottage!
Here’s one that seems odd to me – I think of the other side of Lake Michigan (i.e., the Michigan side) as an entirely different lake. Don’t know why, but it has always seemed that way to me. Obviously, I know it’s not true. Maybe it’s the distance? Another great lakes mystery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful! Wish I had the courage to swim in those cold lake waters … even in July!
LikeLike
wull … we ought to try it sometime wife .. 65 ain’t so bad once you get used to it … feels so cool and nice on your skin … not like the 80 water temps way down in FLA (isn’t that now freddy boom boom cannon described it?) ks
LikeLike
Kurt… you just described my summers as a kid to a tee. I spent every summer playing on the shores of Lake Huron, walking around Tawas Point, fishing for hours on the coast guard dock and Jerry’s Marina and getting lost in the woods. Nothing was better than catching a bunch of perch off the break wall and eating them for dinner that night! Falling asleep to the sounds of the waves was your reward. Well done Kurt. I miss those days.
LikeLike
we can commiserate more about this but for now, when were you there? it must have been before they turned it into a state park, wasn’t it? i spent three maybe four summers out there from 1955-1958 (9) … the third cottage from the end of a little road that dead ended at a knoll that dropped down onto the beach. our cottage faced a field. from the front yard of our cottage you looked across the field at the north side of the coast guard station. there was a 50 foot observation tower and a platform for landing a helicopter. the beach was wide, you could walk the entire length of the point from the coast guard all the way almost to the end where the “fog horn” was … and still is …
the boy scout camp was out back of our cottage further into the brush where there was a wide opening with two rail road cars … .
that was called the ‘boy scout camp.’
our best friends were rich and tom peters whose father was the captan at the coast guard station. i don’t want to get started … ks
LikeLike
We (my parents) bought a cabin on the lake about a mile north of the park in 1974 where we still spend summers as a family over 40 years later. We still walk the point every 4th of July and look for snakes and other wildlife with kids and grand kids. Its a special place to me and my family. I can still hear the fog horn in my head!
I have since moved to Chicago so I don’t get up there as frequently as I would like.
LikeLike