#sleeping bear dunes

[shutterandsentence]

What would happen if we embraced change instead of fearing it?

Photo: Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

[cheaprv]

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. Photo by Nicole Geri

[davidnajewiczphotography]

Made it to the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes near Glen Arbor Michigan - some seriously steep hills to get to the top, but great views up the lake.

[allmichigan]

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore turns 54

54 years ago today the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore became the third US National Lakeshore.

Sleeping Bear Bay by Mark Smith via Leelanau.com… Every time I see this view of the Sleeping Bear shoreline, I think about what might have happened if Senator Phillip Hart & countless others hadn’t fought as hard and as long to protect this globally unique treasure. Almost anywhere else in Michigan or America with this mix of clear water & sandy shoreline is lined with the homes of the wealthy.…

[ursine-sister]

[stealth-science]

Some fossils and rocks from Glen Harbor, Michigan.

[wandering-jana]

What I like to call “the Dune of Death.” You can’t even see the bottom of the dune from the top. There are signs telling people to climb down at their own risk. I've never have gone down very far.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. 2013

Explore:

[kazimortem]

An art project I did this year based on an Ojibwe legend I was told as a child

[wildflowers-at-midnight]

Michigan was so good to me this weekend. 🩵

Can I go back?

[fleetingfutures]

on the shore of lake michigan // march 25th, 2023

[choking-on-dandelions]

Good morning, dearest friends! I'm delighted to say we're back from up north and it was a BLAST!!!

So first of all, whoo. what a drive. From the heart of the city to the softspoken winds of the water it was erm, give or take about 5-6 hour car trip. Ya girl got pockets of car sickness but I managed not to throw up so yay!

The four of us traveled through Traverse City and omg THE CROWDS BRO I COULDN'T. We did weave through the people to catch the air show, that was so cool! All you heard was the planes ripping through the sound barrier as you watch them do their tricks and spins and barrel rolls through that bright blue sky. They looked so close that you could reach out and touch them! So many cool tricks! The people were a little less than stellar, only because I get panicky in big gatherings, but the cherry pie was worth it. Soo worth it.

Okay, now, off to the Sleeping Bear Dunes! We arrive in fair time and pull up to the BIGGEST piles of sand I've ever seen with my own two eyes! I get nervous, a little dizzy just looking at this beastly climb, and immediately predict this is going to be the funnest nightmare ever. (I was right btw!) We all take a whiz then start climbing, each of us donning our breeziest most death-proof clothing we packed, and right away I resort to scaling the FIRST dune on my hands and feet, growling and howling like a monster and chasing after my boyfriend while other tourist watched and laughed. It was all fun and games until about the 11th pole marker on our never-ending hike. How long did it take, you may ask, to get through these sand hills? I will tell you, dear friend:

It took us, in grand total, a whopping 6.5 hours to get from the car, down to the beach, back to the car, all without the relief of adequate shade from any trees, and running dangerously low on water after we saw for ourselves that there were no facilities on the shore. No bathroom, no water fountains, just sand and lake and lots of cool rocks. We rationed the water we had for about the last 3 miles of our hike, only sipping enough to wet our mouths. When I tell you we got burned bad. My back is just now starting to peel. Turns out, after all was said and done, we had mistakenly taken the longest and steepest path there was coming and going. But we did it! And we didn't even need to call the rescue team (good thing too, hello $2,000 rescue bill, no thanks)! But watching some of these other people hike our way WITHOUT ANY WATER OR ANYTHING, I was like '???' So we went out of our way coming back to warn others that they might want to turn back and prepare for the worst. They were grateful to say the least lol.

From there we carried on towards Cadillac and meandered around the country roads until we found a cozy little hole-in-the-wall bar and grill and stopped off for dinner. The food there was excellent! My friends Cassie and Annette got a giant ceaser salad and mac n cheese with a side of fried cheese curds, my boyfriend David got a burger with fries and a side of mac n cheese, and I nibbled on a plate of veggies with a few fries on the side. I got something super light because I suspected I'd doze off in the car right after eating; sure enough, I was right lol.

From there we drove about an hour to our hotel room and packed it in for the night. Super nice little place, we lucked out and got one of the best rooms with lakeside view and a backroom door leading straight to the heated pool room. Everyone else stayed up for a bit, I was knocked out lol. We slept a few hours, got up the next morning and showered and whatnot, then took off for the local beaches for some serious rock and shell hunting. We found some neat stuff: David found some cool Petoskey stones and me and Cassie and Annette were chasing shells around the shore. We found a bunch of big snail shells and a few clamshells, I was hoping to dig up some gemstones somewhere like how I did out in North Carolina, but sadly no such luck this time. But that's okay. We beach hopped for a few hours, had a few seltzers in the sun, then began our journey home, saw a haunted-ass barn and belted out some car karaoke for a while.

Y'all, it. Was. The. BEST!!! It was the getaway we all needed and some amazing bonding time, even though we all nearly died out on the dunes lol totally worth it! We're already planning another vacation for next year, we wanna go gem hunting up in the mountains. Gonna be bomb!

I'm so glad to be home though. It's good to be back!

[pabitelphotography]

a little bit of cottage-core

✨ j u l y ✨

With every month's spotlight this year, I'm going to paint a little word picture of a comfy fairytale cottage. I'll set the stage, adding more detail to this picturesque lifestyle cottage through each photo. My hope is that you'll imagine right alongside me. And, in the comments, I would LOVE for you to play along! Tell me what your cottage looks like, what the property looks like, what you'd change about mine, ANYTHING!! I think this cottage will be so fun to build together. 🤍

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

(7/12) I mentioned before that I spend a lot of time admiring the reflections that shimmer across my peaceful pond, but I didn’t go into further detail. It just so happens though, that my peaceful pond with tall tufts of golden grasses poking out of its water has a round beach of soft sand on the side of the pond closest to my little white cottage. Between the pond and this beach is a thin strip of relatively long, green grass. Sometimes, I sit on a blanket with a book and a picnic basket in the sand while I’m relaxing by the water. Other times, I sit on a wooden bench that I’ve placed where the sand meets my white clover lawn. Every time though, the soft wind catches the blades of grass much like the way that it manages to turn the pages of my open books.

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

A Little Bit of Cottage-Core is available as a 12-month calendar or build-your-own notecard set. Now through October, I am accepting pre-orders. All other orders for calendars will be accepted through December. Message with any questions and don’t forget to paint your word picture in the comments. See you soon for August's spotlight! 🤍

Pre-order: https://forms.gle/b43HuuppWcD6WTHUA

Or just order on Etsy using the links below: Calendar Notecards

[ftxfagula]

Thinking about HER and crying. She introduced me to tragedy.

She is waiting for her cubs to meet her on the shore. They drowned in Lake Michigan. She will fall asleep waiting for them, she will die calling for them. The sand will bury her, her grave will tower over the lake. Her cubs graves will do the same, forming small islands just a few miles from the coast, deaf to their mother’s cries.

I’m not thinking about the tragedy she caused in trying to save her sons from a raging fire. I’m not thinking about how sad it makes me that if they’d just been able to hold up a little longer, they would’ve all made it. I do not think about her once a week. I’m not crying over misfortune of her babies slipping beneath the waves, heavy with exhaustion. What if she had just looked back once? If she knew, what would she have done differently? Could she have saved them?

(Painting of the Mother Bear from The Legend of Sleeping Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen)

[shutterandsentence]

It's October First and still pool weather! Looking forward to those fall leaves though!

Photo: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore, Michigan

[allmichigan]

Flipping into the future

Michigan in Pictures keeps my mind happily roaming this state that I love even when I can't get there in real life.

Wheel in the Sky by Andrew McFarlane Seven years ago I stepped away from Michigan in Pictures to give myself more time to focus on paying the bills and also getting out & enjoying Michigan. The pandemic lockdown drew me back, and now that I live in Detroit I find that my daily Michigan in Pictures keeps my mind happily roaming this state that I love even when I can’t get there in real life! I’m…

[sandalstrapchronicles]

Sleeping Bear Dunes, near Traverse City, Michigan