Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. ~ Lillian Dickson

 

 

My Dear Hubby and I recently returned from a glorious 5-day trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a much-needed vacation. Since moving here 19 months ago our lives have been running full speed ahead. Non-stop. New home, new job, lots of travelling, an entirely new region to live in. Not only were we running on empty, we were running on fumes. And a few days prior to leaving for our trip Dear Hubby suffered a "health hiccup". After spending a nite in the hospital it was decided he'd had a mini-stroke tho they couldn't find any evidence of it. We like to think it was the multitude of prayers that went up on his behalf that healed any bleed on the brain he might have suffered. He left the hospital good as new and the doctor gave us her blessing to leave on our vacation as scheduled. So we did, much to our children's chagrin. And we had the absolute time of our lives. I don't think there's any spot on earth more beautiful than the Upper Peninsula at the peak of Autumn.

Lower Taquamenon Falls

A freighter taking refuge in Whitefish Bay as a big storm was brewing out on Lake Superior.

 

Beautiful variety of Autumn colors

A blaze of fire along the highway

 

 A peaceful park lane

 

Along a country road

 

The locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.  The locks are only around 1000 feet long and all 'naturally' operated.  As a ship pulls into the lower lock and the gates are closed, the weight of the ship causes the water to rise up to lake level.  The gates open, and the ship goes on its way.

I also had the opportunity to meet two wonderful long-time blog friends.

That was one of the highlights of our trip.

LOVE these ladies!

 

Since arriving home I'm no longer doing the daily care for my two grandsons.  Their other grandma is here for an extended visit thru the holidays, possibly permanently.  So...with Dear Hubby's blessing and encouragement...I have begun seriously working on a novel.  It's been my lifelong dream to be a writer and Dear Hubby has the confidence in me to believe I can achieve that.

 

Time will tell.

 

In the meantime, I don't know how often I'll stop here to catch up.  I'm writing for hours every day and it's sucking me emotionally dry.  So much of it is fiction...but there's a good dose of reality thrown in and it's not easy to dredge up and rehash old things.  I've been asked by a lot of people for years to write my life story and I'm attempting that in a roundabout way.  I don't know where it's headed.  I don't know where it will end up. But I do believe I'm letting go of a lot of ghosts who have haunted me for way too many years.