If You Seek A Pleasant Peninsula...

...look around you.

That's the state motto of Michigan. I've always been kind of intrigued by the simplicity of those words, and equally intrigued by the sheer magnitude of beauty of my homeland.
Michael and I took a day trip to Pellston last week, stopping at a beach in Charlevoix on our way. It's beautiful up there, of course. If it weren't, there wouldn't be multimillion dollar developments for the privileged, I suppose.

Here are a few photos of Fisherman's Island State Park:
Lake Michigan


This beauty reminded me why Solomon had his temple built of cedar. What a majestic tree!


The rocky outcropping got more intense as the trail wound on. I found it amazing that so many varying life forms can live on and in amongst the rock.
Especially this tree. Stubbornly clinging to the edge of the rock, it seems to flourish despite circumstances. I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere...


Here's another life form I found in some rock shoal. Genus: husbandus contentus



Miles of rocky shore, conifers reaching to the sky, and scrubby growth. It is so peaceful on a Michigan beach...

The path to the beach was steep, but the sand felt lovely on the toes.


A turtle was swimming out to sea, ostensibly to catch his dinner. We saw a snapping turtle, too, but didn't have the camera on hand for that one. Those things can bite your finger off!