Pure Michigan - Douglas and Saugatuck

Sleeping in, then lounging over breakfast, I was content and in no rush to leave Chicago. Following a night of impressive electrical storms, the morning was pleasant, although muggier than it should be after a night like that. The innkeeper careened through the small parlor in which I was pleasantly enjoying my morning, on a quick step in from outside. He said we were in for some wild weather.

Well that was news to me! He said the storm approaching Chicago, had winds clocked overnight in Iowa, in excess of 100 miles per hour. Like a small hurricane except strangely, rotating the opposite way, with the leading edge only an hour away, confirmed by the red, flashing blotches on the weather radar he pulled up on his computer. I thought, "What the heck am I doing lallygagging here when I needed to drive?" And, I was heading in the same direction as the storm! If I didn't go now, I could be driving for hours in a real mess.

So, with the urgency of Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds, I scrambled to get everything in the car and get going, which I managed to do just as a few rain drops started to fall. I got on the highway, and thanked the driving gods that I wasn't in Indianapolis. If I had been, then the storm would have swallowed me whole by now. And the dingbat drivers in Indiana would have thwarted me at every turn, foiling any opportunity to make good time.

Traffic was light, and with some expert moves to gain good road positioning, I was moving East and North around Lake Michigan at an excellent pace. Good thing too, the dark clouds in the rear view mirror were angry, and seemed to rise higher each time I tried to gauge their distance. So, without looking back, and driven by an impressive tail wind, I broke free into sunshine after an hour or so, and sailed up the east coast of the Lake Michigan. I was no longer picturing a house landing on my car, and had stopped my singing repeatedly, "What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?!"

I found my way to Douglas & Saugatuck Michigan, artist communities on the lake, with hip shops, bobbing boats, and people who were enjoying the afternoon ahead of the storms. I stayed at The Blue Star Motel. It was nice. The rooms there are cute, with private patios and a hot tub! The manager was friendly and helpful, as were the room attendants who serviced the room. After getting a quick bite, I battened down the hatches in the room to ride out another wild night of wind and rain.

I emerged the next morning and found crisp Canadian summer air, brilliant sunshine, and a dew point significantly lower. Now that is how air is supposed to feel after a night of crazy storms. It was a perfect day, really. One that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was beautiful. We get perfect days occassionally, back home in New England. September 11th, 2001, a day that few who were old enough to remember, will never forget, was an amazingly beautiful day too. It was a clear day in Massachusetts, where I lived at the time. It was sunny and warm, without being hot, with brilliant blue skies.

I keep the memory of that dreadful day, although seared onto my soul, buried deep inside me. Unfortunately, it returns painfully and with a vengeance when triggered by any day which dawns as beautifully as it did that day, so many years ago. But, for the first time in 14 years, a day with absolutely beautiful, perfect weather, didn't make me sad. I drank it in, and was completely rejuvenated.

Thank you, Michigan!!