The Hour of Homecoming - Part Two

You can read Part One of this post here.

It was easy getting in the car, it was fairly easy to drive now that windows were scraped free of ice, the hard part was deciding where to go. The abandoned, rural farmsteads of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that I always photographed where too far away to reach before the golden hour had come and gone.

I pulled out of the driveway, which way to go? I knew the way to the main road, but where might these other roads, roads that had their own ridge lines to follow, where did they lead? I knew I would be wasting precious golden hour time, but curiosity won out, and it's a peninsula, I wasn't going to get lost. Also, I had a whole week ahead of me, I didn't need to conquer everything in one day. All I needed to do was get one decent shot, and the pressure to create would be lifted.

Just as I suspected, all these random roads still led to the main road, and probably quicker than if I had taken my known way to it. Getting my bearings, I realized I wasn't more than fifteen minutes from the lighthouse that was at the northern tip of the peninsula. I never get to the lighthouse for golden hour, it is too far from where we usually stay, and to leave before dawn creates risk of a car/deer encounter, deer seem to be abundant on the peninsula.

So the lighthouse it was, and since it was still off-season, there wouldn't be any campers at the state park yet, meaning I would have the place to myself.  I had brought my tripod with me, just as I do on every trip north, but this time I was determined to actually take it out of the car. Self-portrait work can only be achieved with a tripod, and I was on a vacation of adventure and discovery.

Family collaborative vacation film - Day 2. Part of this was shot at the lighthouse in the evening...


Day Two - Leelanau Vacation from Sarah Huizenga on Vimeo.

End Note

This vacation has made me dig deeper into this place and my relationship to it. I have decided to take from my bookshelf an old e-course that I took in 2013 - A Sense of Place led by Kat Sloma. I have never completed the course, but I have all the materials. I am going to give it a try once again, maybe now is the right time...

I will be taking a short blog vacation. I need to put some time and energy into my website. Also the kitchen flooring will finally go in the end of this month, and I have some painting to finish before then, and there's fifteen yards of bark to spread outside... 

Adventures of a Wanderer

Last fall, unhindered for the first time in my life, I made the most of my days. I tried to get out at least once a week for an adventure, and at long last did an overnight solo adventure. I revisited all my favorite places; how had a year gone by since I had last seen them. I also discovered some hidden gems.

Then last November happened. My mom collapsed from an aortic dissection, had emergency surgery and spent a month in the hospital and rehab. When I was in the midst of it, I was sure that I would never be able return to my adventurous life.

Eventually though, the fog cleared and everything returned to a new normal.

One good thing that came out of that time was the conversations I had with my dad as I drove him back and forth to the hospital to visit mom. After the initial recounting of details of how it all happened, we settled into conversations about his growing up years, and about his parents and grandparents. I had always known that my great-grandparents had lived a lot of places, but I didn't know that it was all my great-grandpa's idea. He would start a business, run it for a few years and then sell it, move someplace else, and start a new business, repeating the cycle over and over again. He even earned the nickname "the German gypsy". This was a glimpse into my soul.

Spring is here. I am still mostly unhindered, except for the cell phone that is always tucked into a pocket. Let's go explore some of my favorite places...




I hope that everyone has a joy-filled Easter next week. I will see you in a couple of weeks.

Altered

It has been an unusual January here in Michigan. We have had a couple of cold blasts and enough measurable snow to break out the snowblower a time or two. But for the most part the days been a dull gray with temperatures hovering in the 30's and 40's Fahrenheit. There was even a day that it reached into the 50's.

Photo Credit: Glen Huizenga

I have a gym membership for the rainy days, the snowy days and the bitter cold days, but given a choice I prefer to be outside. The need for fresh air, natural light and wide open space is irrepressible. Most of the year I am happy to walk along the beaches near my house, but in the winter, when I am craving creative visual stimulation, I hop in my car and drive to our thriving downtown.

I begin my walk in near darkness, the sidewalks illuminated by street lamps, car headlights and the lights of store window displays. It is the window displays that draw me downtown, so much creativity and imagination goes into each store's presentation of who they are. Following the holidays, my mind seems to be empty of creativity. I walk, I look, I dream, I am inspired.

Photo Credit: Glen Huizenga

There are also office buildings at the east end of our downtown, many of the offices have windows looking out onto the main street. As I walk past and the lights begin to come on, I see the photographs that adorn the desks and walls of these spaces. The smiles of children and spouses often shine bright from the desk or the shelves behind the desk, my favorites are when the family pets have their own framed portraits, this office belongs to someone I would like to know.

The walls though are the most interesting, family photographs tell a part of their story, but what about the artwork on the walls. Did they get to chose their own pieces? Or did the interior designer chose what should adorn their walls? I like to think if you have to look at it all day, you get some say in it. Judging by the variety I have seen, it seems most people get to pick their own, to me that tells another part of their story.

Some have large, matted realistic photographs of the big red lighthouse near our local beach, a much photographed icon in our town. But the pieces that catch my eye are the painted canvases; open fields with rustic barns in the distance, painterly lake shores with iconic lighthouses. I always wanted to learn to paint, lacking the patience for that, I became a photographer instead.

I have many empty walls in my own house. I have talked for years of printing and hanging my own work, and I have done some over the years. What I mostly print is realistic photographs and then frame those 8 X 10's in 11 X 14 matted frames. They have never stirred me. The few canvases I have had printed of creatively altered photographs are the ones that move me, and the bigger the better.

You can guess and assume what your preferences are, but until you actually take action you don't really know. By seeing my small 8 X 10's printed I found out I prefer bigger prints. Realistic photographs don't thrill me, creating painterly images from my photographs in Photoshop and Topaz Labs programs, that makes me happy. Taking that knowledge and the inspiration from those downtown offices, I ordered a 24 X 36 canvas of a digitally altered portion of snow fence I shot in December. For the first time in almost fourteen years in our house, we finally have something on the wall above our bed. I kept waiting to find the right thing, little did I know I just had to create it myself.

Therapy

As I prepared to drive north, I plugged my iPhone into the cassette adapter and tapped on the audible.com app. I knew exactly what I needed to hear on my two hour drive - the words of Brene Brown. I pressed start on her book The Gifts of Imperfection, which I also read a few years ago. As I pulled into the Starbucks drive-thru lane I stopped the book. The book wasn't narrated by Brene, I needed Brene's voice as much as her words. Instead I chose The Power of Vulnerability - Teaching on Authenticity, Connection and Courage. Only four months had passed since I last listened to this, but I am a different person than I was four months ago.

My drive north would bring me to a place filled with memories - Ludington State Park. I had been to the park only the week before with my daughter and her dog, Findley. Before that it had been almost a year and a half since my last visit, and before that at least a couple of years, which seems utterly ridiculous for as close as I live.

Being there had awakened all my old loves of the place. The only problem with last week was that it went too quickly. On my agenda for that day had been the 1-1/2 mile trek out to Big Sable Point Lighthouse, where I hadn't been since 2011. But my daughter, being the stickler for family traditions had insisted we do the walking loop around the dam, followed by our packed picnic lunch. After lunch, when Findley would be slightly tired we could take a leisurely stroll on the Lost Lake Trail. At eight months Findley's two speeds are fast and faster, so there was no leisurely stroll and I barely had time to raise my camera and take a few snapshots. But even with Findley's fast pace it was still four o'clock by the time we returned to the car. The journey to the lighthouse would have to wait for another day.

Only a week later, on a perfect early November day, sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60's, I was suppose to be home doing house projects while my daughter and Findley were gone for a few days and I had the house to myself. It is hard to get big cleaning projects done with a puppy running around. But instead I found myself in my car driving back to Ludington State Park and this time I would get to the lighthouse.

Even though I have been coming here for over thirty years, the drive into the park never fails to take my breath away. The summer homes and trees abruptly end and all that's left is the road, the dunes, and wide open space.

I pulled into the beach parking lot at 9:30, still early enough to catch some good light at the Big Sable River outlet to Lake Michigan.

Satisfied with my photographic captures thus far, I set off down the gravel two-track path to the lighthouse. About a half mile down the road, I came upon a sign that said Historic Shipwreck and the arrow pointed over the dune toward Lake Michigan. Hmmm...I didn't remember this from five years ago. Over the dune I went. As I came over the first dune this is what I saw...

Not a shipwreck, but it did give me that fluttery feeling inside. The bench begged to be photographed but it also beckoned for me to come and sit. I took off my camera backpack laid it on the bench and settled in for a therapy session with nature.

In Brene's sessions that I listened to on the way up she talked about the year she spent in therapy, therapy she needed to deal with her own issues that were arising from her work on shame and vulnerability. Maybe that's what I needed, a year of therapy to figure some of my crap out. But as I sat on that wooden bench surrounded by sand dunes, blue skies, Lake Michigan and lot of open space, I realized that photography is my therapy. I have access to it any time I need it, not just in scheduled fifty minute sessions. It may not talk to me in a physical voice like a therapist would, but it does have its own language, and I can hear it if I am only aware.

A few people commented on my last post about how self-aware I am. I am because I intentionally try to be. I want to figure myself out, where I am, and where I am headed. It is not a straight and narrow path, it is a constantly winding switchback without an end in sight.

One of the questions I asked myself as I sat on that bench. Why am I always anxious to travel and explore new places? Especially when places so close to home are amazing and filled with wonderful memories. Too often when I go to new places I feel rushed, always looking for "the shot" and usually not finding it, leaving me disappointed in the trip. But then I come to a place like this park, one that I know well and I can find all kinds of things to photograph, still not always "the shot" but the memories carry just as much weight here as perfect light.

I need to stop chasing the new and exciting all the time and instead seek the familiar places that I love. I think my photography and my writing will be stronger because of it.

Ludington - A Childhood Destination

Last week I took a day trip to a favorite family destination from my childhood - Ludington, MI. My dad, mom, grandmother, and I use to drive up there every summer. My dad behind the wheel of my grandma's mint green, big as a boat, Chevy Impala. We would have packed a picnic for the day, filling it with homemade goodness or stopped for the fast food alternative, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Fast food was still a novelty back in the early 1970's so a picnic in the park with KFC was a real treat. The destination for our picnic was always the city park.

Very little has changed at this park since my childhood days, which I must confess brings me great comfort. The playground still has almost all the same equipment as when I was a kid.

Although the skate park is new within the last decade.

I arrived at the park about quarter to nine, so a little early for a picnic lunch. My first destination was the lighthouse whose pier is located right off the beach at the park.

I haven't walked out to the lighthouse since our daughter was a toddler, and she is twenty-one now, the walk was long overdue. The walk out there was a little windy and chilly, but worth it for the blue sky, the deep blue water and the stunning white lighthouse.

After the park, I drove to the downtown area to begin my walk down memory lane. I am still loving the "walking to discover" concept. I see so many more things than I would if I was driving around.

Many of the streets that I explored I had never been down before, but by taking the time to walk and explore, I found a treasure trove of photographic delights.

If I can find one empty, abandoned looking building per adventure, the whole trip was more than worth while, even if I don't get any other good shots for the day. I found this abandoned gas station a couple streets south of the main street. I never knew it was here...but now I do.

Around the back of the gas station was this grundy overhead service door. Chippy paint love!

This was the door to the left of the big overhead door in the photo above, more wonderful chippy paint and some worn, rusty lettering, double love!

I am still taking the self-portraiture class, so anywhere I find an opportunity to include myself in the frame, all the better. This window was on the back side of the gas station, lovely, unbroken glass panes in a rusty metal grid work frame.

I finally had to tear myself away from all that chippy paint and decay. I continued on with my walk.

Vintage sign love! This town is full of them.

This use to be the most adorable shop filled with cheap souvenirs, I use to get something every summer. A white leather, beaded drawstring purse with the words Ludington in shiny gold lettering stamped on it. A wooden tomahawk with a leather sheath. One year an Indian Chief's huge, feathery headdress. The quality of cheap souvenirs was so much better back in that era, before the introduction of plastic.

This Barber Shop was down some basement steps right on the main street. I never even knew it was there.

The sign for the Stearns Motor Inn is exactly the same as when I was a kid. This sign always greeted us coming into town and it was the last thing I saw leaving town. The Tiki Lounge intrigued me, it made me think of Hawaii Five O, a television series that was on in the 1970's and always came on after I was suppose to be in bed, but a trip to the bathroom could get me a few minutes of viewing. I would stand in the doorway of the bathroom and I had a perfect view of the television, this lasted until a commercial and my parents would catch me watching.

By this time, the sun was getting high in the sky, making photo taking a challenge, so I sought out a deli where I could get a sandwich or a wrap to take back to the city park with me for a picnic.

It wasn't quite the same as my childhood picnics.

On the way out of town I stopped to get a photo of this sign.

Of course, I had to follow the arrow and see if the motel was as cute as the sign.

If I had been braver, I would have walked up to the manager's office and asked if I could take some photos of the charming outside, but I think my brave had been all used up for the day. Maybe next time I will still have some brave left in me.

5 Random Friday Finds

Find No. 1

I went to the beach to capture the lighthouse in the fog, but my heart was captured by this swing set in the fog. Love the lone tree in the background.

Find No. 2

Even a dandelion can be beautiful when photographed and post processed in a fun and unique way.

Find No. 3

I got these beautiful metal bowls at the outdoor antique market a couple of weeks ago, and I have been dying to photograph them. I found this tea towel at Anthropologie this week. It is the perfect backdrop for my bowls. These bowls are going to get lots of photo time over the next couple of months.

Find No. 4

I found these magazines at the grocery store this week. They go kind of nice with my bowls don't you think. Ever since I started Kim's Start to Finish - Round 2 and now this week starting Be Still 52, I am really looking at my still life work in a new light. I might even be starting to develop a style :)

Find No. 5

I found this tea cup and saucer at Anthropologie. Love it!

College daughter and I are off to Chicago this week I am hoping to have some fun finds for next week.

Joining Kim for Friday Finds.

5 Random Friday Finds

Find No. 1

I found this lovely footbridge when Glen and I went out hiking last weekend. I knew it would be fun to process with the waterlogue app.

Find No. 2

I found this vintage apron at our downtown antique store and the green handled spoon I found at the outdoor antique market. I set up this little scene for homework from Kim Klassen's new class Start to Finish.

Find No. 3

I found this sign in the stall of a rest stop bathroom on my trip to Marquette. I guess they don't expect high usage.

Find No. 4

I stopped in Mackinaw City to get a photo of the Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Lovely processed in Waterlogue.

Find No. 5

Thanks to Amy at Four Corners Design I found this lovely book. You want to digest and savor each beautifully designed page.

Joining Kim for Friday Finds

Taking the Backroads - For Sale

I think there are certain challenges when you take a backroad that you are similar with, yet are looking for new things to discover. You already know all your favorite things, and you think that you know the road like the back of your hand, so you almost challenge it to show you something new.

This was the dilemma I was faced with on Wednesday. I took a road that I am quite familiar with, at least sections of it, so I challenged it (and myself) to show me something new.

Blue Star Highway

The parts I am familiar with are around the Saugatuck/Douglas Michigan area. I haven't been on the whole stretch from Holland to South Haven, since Mallory was working on getting her driving hours, five years ago. I am sure I wasn't paying too close attention to the countryside scenery on that trip. 

This little gem was right in Saugatuck and I have probably driven by it numerous times.

Little worried about the unique themed rooms. Maybe that is why it is for sale.

Blue Star Highway is a very quaint drive, filled with art studios and produce stands. It is the country after all. 

Glenn Shores Golf Course

Once on a more unfamiliar section of Blue Star, I spotted this decaying beauty.

Not being a golfer, I am not familiar with all the golf courses in the area, just the ones that Glen and I have been to. This one is was for sale, and I would say has had been for sale for a while. In doing some research on this place I came across a blog written by one of the former owners, it just sold today. Here is the link to the blog, which he keeps quite up to date, just goes to show you never know what you will find when you start digging around.

As I was taking a photo of this bench outside the ProShop, a dog started barking quite close by. I am a dog lover, but I don't really want to meet one when I am on property I really shouldn't be on. So I skeedaddled quickly back to the car. Which is really too bad because I would have loved to explore some more of that place. 

Morning Coffee

I stopped for my morning Pumpkin Spice Latte at the McDonalds in South Haven. I am sorry McDonalds, but you are no Starbucks. I continued traveling along until I saw the sign for Van Buren State Park. A State Park I had never been to so I decided to pay it a visit with my coffee.

A beautiful beach here, with a few benches to sit on down by the beach. A great place to enjoy the beauty of the day. 

Thunder Mountain Place

This was the day for decaying places for me, which makes me very happy. I love decay.

This looks to be either a former motel, or cabins. Obviously not used in quite a while. This also is For Sale. I couldn't find any information on this place though, so you will just have to enjoy the photographs.

St. Joseph

My end destination for the day was St. Joesph. We come here a few times a year for pizza, Silver Beach Pizza has the best pizza I have ever had, but in the summer come early or you will be waiting 1-2 hours on the weekends.

I was determined to seek out some new places in St. Joe. I found the park with the lighthouse, and I also found that these people are serious about their parking.

I debated about paying for the parking, since it was off-season and the middle of the week, and the main reason I stopped was I had to go to the bathroom. $5 seemed a little steep for parking, but then I figured I would find something for lunch and come back here to eat it, so I would pay the $5. It is a good thing that I did. When I came out of the bathroom there was a Community Service patrol car in the parking lot and they were checking for parking passes. Yes, they did write somebody up that didn't have one. 

I found a great deli in downtown St. Joseph, Broad Street Cafe. I highly recommend. I got a spinach wrapped BLT with Potato Salad to go. I went back to the park where I paid for my day of parking and enjoyed my lunch from here.

It may seem a little strange eating on top of the restrooms, but the view was so worth it.

After lunch I took a wander out to the lighthouse.

An absolutely gorgeous day on Wednesday. I wasn't super happy about switching my Creative Inspiration Day from Friday to Wednesday, but the forecast for Friday said severe thunderstorms and a 70% chance of rain. So I didn't really want to get wet and the most important thing is to get outside. 

Of course Friday came and there was no rain during the day...go figure.

Some Thoughts From the Road

• Seatbelts - I know they are a safety necessity, but they are annoying when you get in and out of the car often.
• Weather Forecast - They never get that right.
• Parking - It pays to pay
• New tires and a front end alignment works wonders to get rid of wheel vibration when having to travel on the highway at a higher rate of speed.

Joining my friend Helen for her Weekend Walks.