Perfect fall weekend (minus a few key characters)

The past six days have been a haze of sleeping, eating, and wandering around in a fog. My health is getting undeniably better, so we're moving in the right direction. The dog has even forgiven me for leaving her to suffer two long months with my doting parents and their happy two dogs. She's slowly recovering from the horrors of having to cuddle with them every morning and play ball on the grass field across the street every day. She's also off the Prozac!

I went up to Michigan with my dad this past weekend. I'd like to tell you how wonderful it was, but the truth is I don't remember half of it. The flight up was pretty- we flew by a full rainbow and over the beautiful fall colors of Manistee National Forest.

Once we got to Beaver Island, we enjoyed a really good lunch at the meeting hall where the local restaurants were selling their best meals. Mmm- ribs, enchiladas, red cabbage, and pumpkin cake washed down with freshly pressed apple cider! Leaving the hall overlooking St. James Bay, we walked down to the old dusty truck in the parking lot. Most of the roads on B.I. appear to be unpaved, so dust is everywhere and nobody seems to mind.

The road to the cabin is bumpy and littered with apples. Apple trees grow wild up there, and it's apparently peak season. We collected a huge tub of fresh red apples (Mom made them into apple sauce and apple crisps). The whole trip was a quintessentially American fall scene.

As we pulled up to the cabin, I was struck by the utter silence and crisp, fresh air. I could have stood there for hours letting the nothingness soak into my bones. Instead, we checked everything out and headed inside. I promptly fell asleep on the couch with the fire going and music quietly playing. When Dad got back from fishing, we both went out for a quick evening trip around our end of the lake, complete with moonrise!

We pulled up to the cabin at dusk and tied up the dingy before heading inside. As Dad studied, I fell asleep again reading on the couch. Do you notice a pattern here?

Have no fear- I also slept soundly all night. Aside from a bird flying into a window at some point, the night was dark and silent. Perfect. We got up early to go fishing, small rain showers keeping us company. I got a couple nibbles (I even saw one of them- a large mouth bass!), but didn't actually catch any of them. Next time.

We sat through two small rain episodes, but as the third one began we agreed that it was here to stay. We motored quietly back and then secured everything outside. Dad checked the weather while I tried to photograph the state forest across the lake through the binoculars:

Sadly we had to go back home that morning. I could stay up there for months, if not years! Good medicine.