Summer Delight
Posted December 5, 2024Both Steve and I both like exploring new places.

In July, Steve and I took a road trip to Minnesota. Our first stop was outside Lucknow ON, where Steve and I conducted a ceremony to energetically connect two amazing people.
With gratitude to Candace Marie Photography for the photos and videos. And to Cait Fair for editing this video compliation.

The impetus for this trip was provided by Steve as he was awarded a scholarship to the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar at St. Olaf College in Northfield MN. His scholarship from ABE Books covered his room, board, and tuition. Steve loved learning more about vintage and rare book collecting and selling with other literary enthusiasts. One of his revenue streams comes from selling books on-line. One of Steve’s teachers was Rebecca Romney, who appeared in Pawn Stars. Steve was grinning ear to ear when Rebecca inscribed his copy of her book, Printer’s Error.

After three post-secondary degrees, I have spent enough time on campuses so I went camping. Nerstrand Big Woods State Forest was a quiet and restful location. For the first two evenings, I was the only human for approximately 0.5 mile. Every day I was there, I went for a hike on portions of the eleven miles of hiking trails. I had two adventures down to Hidden Falls as it is the signature feature of this state forest and some of the other trails were closed due to excessive spring rain, flooding, and bridges over Prairie Creek washing out.

Having spent part of my life (ages of 5 to 21) in Manitoba, the Tall Grass Prairie Restoration at the south end of the park had a familiar feel. The prairie is regrowing in a river valley carved out by glacial melt water. It was wonderful to see so many prairie grassland species, some of which were taller than me. The vibrant blue wide-open prairie skies filled my soul.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has created a snap shot virtual tour and a panoramic virtual tour. Watch these, if you want to know more about this location.

On the drive there and home, we crossed over the Mississippi River multiple times to savour the many faces of this magnificent river. Steve took a break to examine some stooked grain that Amish in the area were still harvesting and drying in a way similar to what his grandfather did.

We both loved the high speed ferry ride on the Lake Express Ferry across Lake Michigan from Milwakee WI to Muskegon MI.

Part of the fun of the ferry ride for me was laying on the deck feeling all five elements (earth, air, fire, water, and metal) in action.
Steve loved being back aboard a ship since it has been awhile since his Navy days. From the middle of the lake, we could see from horizon to horizon. The Lake Express Ferry whisks along at 40 mph.
After we landed in Muskegon MI, Steve and I drove north along Lake Michigan and stopped at Claybanks Township Park for a walk. We were both in awe of the squeaking sand. When I asked a local walker, she was surprised that sand doesn’t make sound everywhere. Since our return, I have researched and found other locations with rounded quartz grains, including Singing Sands in PEI and Squeaky Beach in Australia.

Spend some time in nature listening to the audible sounds and the sound of silence.