Once again my northern Michigan summer has ended. It
seems only moments ago, I was breathing in the scents of lilacs and lilies of
the valley. Special this summer, were
memories formed during paddles in our 1914 wooden canoe. My husband and I
decided to venture onto nine gems in the Chain of Lakes, sidestepping the lake
outside the front door of the cottage.
We pulled our wooden blades through Ellsworth,
Wilson, Ben-way, Hanley, and Intermediate Lakes, the North Arm of Lake
Bellaire; through Grass River, Clam Lake, Torch River, and around the stumpy
shores of Lake Skegemog.
The element of our paddles that soothed our souls,
refreshed our spirits, and inspired our imaginations, was viewing the
undeveloped lands along the shore. Often
if the shoreline off our port was developed with housing and pampered lawns,
the starboard shore was filled with cedars, beech, birch, poplar or pine trees
manicured by the wind and ice. Along
these wild shores, kingfishers would act as escorts calling out and swooping
down from one branch to another leading us downstream.
I am beyond grateful, more like indebted to the
landowners who guard these shoreline forests. For this is the REAL treasure of the Chain of
Lakes.
Additionally, there are lands above the waters that
I enjoy each summer for their agricultural scenes. Every drive to Bellaire is made ever more
pleasant by the Kalchik family and their neighbors who generously share the
beauty of their farmed lands with every driver who looks up from County Road
620. Heading north out of Alden, I am
grateful to the Dewey family of farmers and their neighbors for those pastoral
views as well.
These places where we can still view water and land
intersecting naturally and we can still view acres of farmland and orchards are
simply enchanting. And it is this that
pulls me Up North. May these shoreline
forests, pastures and fields remain in perpetuity!
