lonely beaches are the best

This past October we visited relatives who live further north and further west... When I get that close I cannot resist the call of Lake Michigan.

Despite the bitter cold wind we bundled up and marched bravely to the shoreline to breathe deep the fresh air and contemplate the power of the waves. The late afternoon sun of autumn draped the churning, greenish waves with a golden glow. The trees were mostly bare, a few rust colored leaves lingering. The tidy snow fences were already bent and twisted by the wind, gathering drifts of dry powdery sand. Long shadows followed us as we dashed across the deserted beach, reveling in wide open space and the loud, overwhelming and powerful presence of nature.