June 28 Mission Point Light

Saturday:  We went back to Margaret where some of the girls were playing a card game, the name of which escapes me--but it looked very fun! I mentioned (!!) that I would love to go up the road and visit the lighthouse and walk the beach there for a short time before leaving to go back to Grand Rapids.

A few of us did just that! It is beautiful here out at the end of the peninsula--although this is not the very tip and I don't think I have ever been out to the end of it. THIS, however, is where the little lighthouse is and it is far enough for me. My sister, Ruthanne, and I have been in the light tower of this little light years ago when we used to take a sisters' retreat together.

It always reminds me of a little country church ...

Here are Christy and Tamela posing for a quick picture. This is not at all a good picture of Tamela. Christy is so beautiful it isn't possible to take a "bad" picture of her. They are two very sweet friends who love the Lord, their families, people, and are always doing kind things for other people. They amaze me.

The waterfront here has scattered and some rather large rocks in the shallows. If it were not for the fact that the smell of dead fish permeated the air, and the fact that I was already rather badly sunburned, I would have ventured out and walked in the lake as far as I could go without getting too wet. It was shallow very very far out. Many folk were out there looking around for interesting things.

I took quite a few pictures behind the lighthouse, trying to get a few angles that I don't have in my stash of lighthouse pictures ...

I was taking quite a few nice photos when my flip flop ... flipped but didn't flop (I almost did!) ... it completely broke and I could not repair it; so that ended any further exploration I might have done.

We drove back to Margaret's condo, loaded up the cars, and headed back to Grand Rapids. We stopped in Cadillac and ate dinner at Culver's. Everyone talked about the very nice 36 hours we had just enjoyed together.

I am thankful I went on this overnight with the ladies. I am far too prone to stay home in my little beach house where I am safe and happy, not having to intermingle with anyone whatsoever. But that's not what the Lord wants me to do with the rest of my life, however short or long it may be. I need to be stretched and challenged. I need to love people that I don't immediately LIKE for one reason or another. I got better acquainted with two of the ladies that I usually shy away from, simply because they are not "my type." Shame on me. I found that they are very interesting people! 

Please grow me, Lord. Give me Your love for people. Stretch me out of my tiny comfort zone and teach me Your ways.

June 28 The Air Show

Saturday:  SO ... Margaret let us know about a scheduled air show with free viewing at a small beach about 2 miles from her house. She was a bit concerned that it would be very crowded and not have any available parking, etc., so she dropped two of us off at 10:30 (the air show was scheduled to begin at 1:30) to stake out a place for us to have a good view. Cindy and I volunteered to do this--because--who wouldn't enjoy three extra hours at the beach?

I forget the name of the beach--I'll have to look it up--ah, it was Bryant Park Beach! Having arrived very early, Cindy and I set up chairs around a picnic table under a huge shade tree. Cindy had some email and messaging to catchup on, so I took a walk to see what I could see at this very small beach ...

This four-masted sailboat caught my attention immediately. What a beautiful sight!

I have only posted just a few pictures of this boat (I took so many more) ... but I have always loved sailboats ... I find them so majestic and lovely, don't you?

The other women arrived early enough for us to enjoy our picnic lunch before the show began. We had each made our own sandwiches and chose what else to put into Margaret's huge cooler before we left that morning. So we sat around the table and ate together. The huge tree we were sitting under had an added bonus of these little (thank goodness) spiders swinging off the tree branches and landing everywhere on our table, in our hair, on our laps, etc. We finally pulled our chairs away from the tree and enjoyed a more peaceful meal thereafter.

The air show was rather S L O W and many the women were disappointed. Come to find out it was a LOCAL show, not sponsored by "The Blue Angels" or "The Thunderbirds" ... but after the initial disappointment, the show proved to be a lot of fun and very interesting.

I liked the acrobatics the best ...

And the SOUND ... which almost shook the ground!

I cannot identify these "flying objects" because I am a dunce at anything to do with flight ... but I find it very thrilling ... and I still love to fly commercially, even though it has become a major pain in the neck to do so.

The picture below is one of about 100 identical shots where I totally MISSED the airplane that came zooming through the trees at about 600mph!

I would much rather (truly) photograph a beautiful sea gull ... but only a few times in my life have a gotten an excellent shot of one (this is not one of those examples).

After the air show was finished, we went back to Margaret's condo to decide what to do next ...

June 27 At Margaret's Condo

Friday: Eight of us Twelve ladies met at Margaret's house here in Grand Rapids to carpool up to her condominium in Traverse City (on Mission Point Peninsula) for an overnight of fun and fellowship. Margaret absolutely outdid herself with preparation and food--she is an amazing woman.

This is the outside of her condo. It is not lakeside ... it's not the view that grabs you ... it's the welcome Margaret gives you.

This is Margaret (on the L) reading a portion of a story to us that has been precious to her. That's Bethany who is listening (on the R). Margaret is a very spontaneous person--watch out if she has had caffeine--her mind races and she never stops talking ... she can be quite bizarre at times (although always interesting).!

This is Pamela, Lynda, and Christy. We are all playing a game called "the Bible is Funny" which is similar to "Apples to Apples" and really a blast to play. We laughed ourselves silly--nothing disrespectful or anything about the Lord or His Word--just word association types of things.

Meanwhile, Margaret and Cindy were busy in her kitchen preparing a feast for our dinner.

Bethany and Tamela playing the game ... 

Each of us brought a contribution to the "feast" we ate Friday night. It was an amazing meal. We had STEAK and mashed potatoes and a bean casserole from Margaret (plus a thousand other little treats thrown in for good measure), homemade goods from others ... I brought a broccoli, cauliflower salad that I hadn't made in years (with golden raisins, real bacon, pecans, and a wonderful dressing) that was a real hit with everyone. Margaret asked that I double the recipe--so we had enough for dinner Friday night and lunch Saturday as well.

This is some of the backyard at Margaret's condo. It's not a deep wood, but it is very lovely.

There were EIGHT of us ladies who could come: Tamela, Cindy, Bethany, Lynda, Christy, Pam, and then me and Margaret. We all enjoyed ourselves hugely. We did miss Eva, Helen, Ming, and Jen and wished so much they could come. Saturday was another full day ... I'll tell you more in following posts.