The morning light ...

I've never been to Grand Haven in the early morning ~ probably because I've never spent the night there! But I've always wanted to see what it looks like in the morning light, so I set my alarm for 5:00 this morning ... and when it rang, I JUMPED out of bed, cleaned up a bit, ate a quick breakfast, and drove out of our driveway at 5:45 ... except it was already kind of light outside at our house! I got to Grand Haven at 6:30, and it was such a pretty sight ~ even though I probably should have been there an hour earlier if I really wanted to catch the sun coming up. Don't worry, I KNOW the sun does not rise over Lake Michigan ... but it can still make the skies very pretty colors and the shadows are so enchanting first thing in the morning, aren't they?

"Satisfy us in the morning with your
unfailing LOVE
so that we may sing for JOY
to the end of our days!"
PSALM 90.14

Perhaps if I had gotten here earlier, it would have been too dark for me to get any decent pictures. I took about 240 photographs this morning. I'm very happy with about two dozen of them!
Some day, I'm going to spend the night here. I don't mean on the pier! I mean at a Bed & Breakfast ... some quaint little place ... perhaps I can convince Mr. Jones to do this on one of our anniversaries ~ and then we can stay up late and watch the sunset ~ and get up way before the sun does and walk this beautiful beach. It really is a little bit of a paradise here.
I wasn't the only person here this morning. There were joggers and people riding bikes, and quite a few fishermen and fisherwomen! I walked to the end of the south pier, and then I drove over to the north shore and walked that pier to the very end as well!
I love the north shore. Except it really is NOT a public beach. There are all kinds of cottages and homes lining the north shore, but significantly far enough from the lake shore to allow me to walk the edge without feeling terribly conspicuous. If I lived here, I wouldn't get a single thing accomplished in my life!

"Blessed are those who have learned
to acclaim You,
who walk in the LIGHT of Your presence,
O LORD."
PSALM 89.15

I left the beach at 10:00 to return to Grand Rapids. I had a bunch of errands to run, but was home by noon. What a refreshing start to a beautiful day!