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Monday, September 1, 2008

Magic and wonderment

I just got back from a weekend up north in Ludington. What can I say? The weather was perfect (I mean it - perfect!), I was with great people, the food was divine, and the location was the best. When we'd get in the car to go on one of our adventures, Emily would say, "magic and wonderment, here we come!" And she was right! I went up with Katherine and Emily but my parents, brother, and nephew joined us for a day which was fun.

I love northern Michigan. It might be partly nostalgia that makes me love it so much. I remember going up north with my family every summer as a kid- sometimes several times per summer. We'd go up to Mackinac City and Mackinac Island, Ludington, Traverse City, and other places along the way. The smell of pine needles and suntan lotion are some of my favorite smells because of these trips.

This weekend was full of many of my favorite "up north" things. I suppose you can do these things anywhere, but I usually only do them up north, so for me that's what they are. We kayaked, had (many) campfires, told ghost stories (I told Leo's and it scared my nephew to death!), swam, hiked, and enjoyed the aforementioned gorgeous weather.

I'm sure you don't want to hear all the little details of my weekend, but I'll share one little story with you. While we were out swimming in Lake Michigan and beating up waves (a new "end of summer tradition") Emily noticed a man dancing on the shore. The beach was absolutely packed that day, and this man was breaking. it. down. His moves are unparalleled. I've rarely seen anyone so uninhibited. I almost drowned twice because waves were crashing into me while I was watching him. (But what a way to go.) I'm not saying he was good, in the traditional sense, by the way. In fact, he was...well, he was a free spirit so I won't make fun. He was listening to head phones and took a deep bow at the end of every song. No one clapped; people were either ignoring him or watching with confused looks on their faces. A man in the water near me told me he'd been dancing for over an hour. It was awesome, I'll leave it at that. Katherine took a video and I'm going to try to get her to post it on her blog.

Anyway, the weekend was great and I think that maybe after having had one last fling with summer, I'm ready to let it slip into fall. Or at least, I have no choice. But after this weekend I'm more ready than I was. Summer's been good to me so hopefully fall will be too.

10 comments:

Katherine said...

Man, summer's been good to me, too! I heart summer! Like Emily said, I'd also like to marry Ludington. It'd be a polygamist relationship, but for Ludington, MI, I'd put up with a lot. I'll also work on posting that video of Dancing Queen Man. :)

Anonymous said...

It was definitely magic and wonderment. I love, love, love Ludington. Northern Michigan in general is pretty fantastic. And Dancing Queen Man still has me laughing.

Anonymous said...

What would we do without our special retreats from the mundane world that we live in? Ludington is truly a magical place to rest and unwind.
(then why am i always tired at the end of a ludington trip?)
-Brian

Priscilla said...

Wow! It looks so pretty there. In all the time I lived in Michigan, I never ventured up north to that area, not even Mackinac, kind of sad, really. Anyway, still always love reading your blogs, and thanks for all the nice comments on ours!

Angela said...

so i guess gloria estefan was right - eventually the rhythm IS gonna get ya!

Kelly said...

That is a classic Emmy catchphrase. Some others would be "ho-bag", "shut it down", "talk about" and "my peeps". She really likes catchphrases.

Isn't she the cutest ever? She's my favorite person of all time.

I'm glad you all had lots of fun. I love Michigan too. I'm going to refer you to my blog for a Mackinac post:)

Elizabeth Downie said...

I checked out your Mackinac post and it looked like so much fun! Do you mind if I put a link to your blog on mine?

She really is super fun. We missed her the day after the trip! She's a really fun person to travel with. "Shut it down" - that's hilarious! She cracks me up.

Kelly said...

Yeah! Link me, Miss Celebrity Blogger! I feel so special.

Anonymous said...

Kelly is indeed special (if you know what I mean).

Elizabeth Downie said...

Haha, sisters. ;)(that sounded like something I would say to Katherine)