AN AFTERNOON ON THE M-22

 A series of essays....

~~HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!~~
CAN YOU FIND THE ORANGE WITCH?

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

As Michiganders, it’s possible we have, at least, heard about the drive along the M-22 if not taken it several times in our lifetime.....and, plan on taking it as often as possible; it’s just that beautiful! Michigan 22 is striking to the senses all four seasons of the year as it hugs the Lake Michigan coastline and traverses picturesque communities with quaint bed and breakfast establishments of yesterday to sprawling golf courses rising above the lake that could liken the experience of playing eighteen holes on a Scottish course in the Highlands.

 

 

Earlier this year, Dan and I decided to start a journey at the beginning of the M-22 in Manistee County and follow the 116.7-mile stretch of highway from Manistee into Benzie and Leelanau counties before reaching Traverse City, the county seat of Grand Traverse County, at its end. This amazing scenic drive makes up a portion of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour which encompasses portions of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, as well.

BLAUFRANKISCH VINES ON THE RIGHT AND
SLEEPING BEAR DUNES BLUFFS IN THE DISTANCE

This past weekend our focus was picking Chardonnay grapes with old and new friends on a beautifully maintained and much loved vineyard that overlooks Crystal Lake in Beulah, Benzie County, and offers a stunning view of the Sleeping Bear Dunes Bluffs in the distance to the north in Leelanau County.

Heading off to Michael and Nancy’s vineyard early Saturday morning in the dark along with Dan, Leo, Dan’s brother, and his wife, Susie, the goal was to lift the nets off of the fruit before sunrise when the harvesting would begin. Donning an amazing amount of warm clothing and tucking small ‘warmers’ in our footwear and gloves, we secured small, very sharp clippers and began a simple but well choreographed leap-frog routine down each row of vines, gently tossing juicy clusters of ripe grapes into small bins to be picked-up and their contents emptied into large, white bins. 

With more people coming to help harvest as the day progressed, nearly thirty people worked long and hard to fill-up the twenty large bins that were systematically placed in a large truck to be taken to Left Foot Charley in Traverse City and blended into some of the finest wines in the area. Eighteen local growers who do not have wineries themselves produce grapes and sell them exclusively to LFC. These growers help produce wines that are defining terroir in their appellations with their notoriety spanning far beyond their Northern Michigan borders. Our small team of harvesters proudly contributed eight tons of Chardonnay grapes towards this admirable cause last Saturday!!!

1) EDEN HILL VINES

APPELLATION: Benzie County

PLANTED: Chardonnay, Blaufränkisch

ACREAGE: 5

GROWN BY: Michael and Nancy Call

In an effort to help relax and stretch our weary muscles, on Sunday Leo drove Dan, Susie, and me south on the M-22 and introduced us to some very interesting places and sights that lie just beyond the ribbon of concrete that connects the town of Frankfort with the community of Arcadia. 

RELAXING IN THE CLUBHOUSE

A VIEW FROM THE CLUBHOUSE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
FROM ARCADIA BLUFFS

After stopping to sip drinks at the clubhouse of the world famous Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course and admire the scenic views, we stepped outside to find ourselves taken in by the tall grasses, undulating terrain, and European influences of this amazing golf course that overlooks the shimmering beauty of Lake Michigan. 

A FAMILY OF SWANS

SOMEONE'S HOME

Heading north once again, Susie pointed out that the new marsh boardwalk hovering over the Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve had been opened recently and we should check it out. Totally handicap accessible, this boardwalk stretches across the center of Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve that extends over 273 acres. The preserve sits on the doorstep of the village of Arcadia and stretches across to St. Pierre Road where a handicap, portable toilet is located.

BIRD NESTING SANCTUARY

SUSIE ENTERING A MAGICAL PLACE

THE SUN HIGHLIGHTING THE
ARCADIA MARSH NATURE PRESERVE

This walk is easy and a nature lover and birdwatcher’s dream. Walking along, the four of us heard the equivalent of someone taking a large oar and slamming it, repeatedly, against the water. Upon looking closely across the marsh, we could see what we believed to be a Trumpeter Swan in the distance taking flight just above the water, slapping its wings against the surface of the marsh. The sound still echoes in my mind as this large and powerful beauty rose fifteen to twenty feet above the water, circled the area several times, and flew over the boardwalk to a family of swans on the other side of the marsh. Spectacular!

Continuing to follow the M-22 north to Frankfort, Susie explained that a gentleman by the name of Ed Moody has been carving pumpkins there for over thirty years and has a huge display of his carving talent in front of Stormcloud Brewing Company. Driving by Mr. Moody’s home first, we stopped to meet the man and his giant pumpkins. A jolly man, dressed in denim and orange, with a mustached smile all lively and quick, we knew in a moment it must be....”Pumpkin Ed.” What a delightful gentleman he is! 

'PUMPKIN ED'

HUGE PUMPKINS IN FRONT OF
PUMPKIN ED'S HOUSE IN FRANKFORT

ED'S CARVING SITTING IN FRONT
OF STORMCLOUD BREWING COMPANY

Ed Moody’s work has become a local tradition and 'giant pumpkin' farmers come to the Frankfort Fall Festival each year to enter their ‘giants’ for prize money for growing the largest pumpkin. As the ‘giants’ are weighed, Ed watches from the driver’s seat of the tractor and calls out its weight to the crowd. Some might say that the winning pumpkin is not necessarily the star of the giant pumpkin contest, but the man carefully maneuvering the tractor is. These pumpkins are now donated to Ed to carve as they regally sit in his front yard each year. 

With the bold, orange sun (highly appropriate I must say) swiftly sinking over Lake Michigan and our tummies full of good eats and handcrafted beer at Stormcloud Brewing Company, we decided to head back to the house, the final remnants of daylight surrounding us. With one last glass or two of wine in hand and warm conversation filling the room, we joyfully recapped the day’s adventures and Dan and I vowing to return soon to snowshoe along a few of the trails that branch off of one of the most iconic stretches of highway in Michigan...the M-22.

SUNSET OVER LAKE MICHIGAN,
FRANKFORT, MICHIGAN

ICONIC ROAD SIGN

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

WHITE CARS

 A series of essays....

 

NATURE'S BEAUTIFUL WORLD OF WHITE

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

I have never owned a white car. 

What does this say about me? 

I remember deep, white porcelain sinks that aluminum pans would always mark and scar.

I remember borrowing long, white, cotton gloves from my best friend to wear to the prom.

Stuffing white Bobby/Poodle socks into black and white saddle shoes was a daily routine.

Stuffing white tissues into my bra was never necessary, I’m proud to say.

Come to think about it, boyfriends I dated never owned or drove white cars either.

I did drive a cream colored Chrysler Le Baron many years ago. Poor car kept breaking down all of the time and began to rust away little by little, inch by inch. Even the interior was what we called ‘Granny-gold cloth’ that would stain just by looking at it. Nothing about this car was white!

My parents rented several white houses before purchasing one in Three Rivers, Michigan.

This is the home I carried my white wedding dress into the weekend of my marriage.

I accept white toothpaste that tastes like mint.

I accept the consumption of yellow cheese even when I know it began as white cheese.

Dad never purchased a white car during the many years I remember him driving. Pale blue, deep brown, definitely black, there may have been several shades of green, metallic midnight blue, but not a white vehicle that I can recall.   

Car colors tend to be trendy. When times are gay and upbeat with a good economy to show for it, cars can reflect this positive feeling through bright and cheery colors. When times are more difficult, car colors are more neutral and subdued reflecting the vibe of the people purchasing them. The last several years have given us lots of white, gray, silver, and black cars to choose from. 

A DRIVE THROUGH THE
COUNTRYSIDE IN A SHINY, WHITE CAR!

                                                               Courtesy of www.postercorner.com

Are we working on eliminating boring colors moving along our streets, roads, and highways....finally? Are vibrant paint colors making a comeback after several years of worrisome depression? Will splashy car colors help to fill a void and cheer-up the current mood of doom and gloom we seem to be living with today? If so, this could be a trend we can all learn to support and embrace.

White walls were safe walls in every apartment I’ve ever lived in or visited.

 White wall tires....a thing of the past or a retro statement?

It seems we either embrace the color white to its fullest potential or consider it to be ‘old farmhouse’ with black trim and unhinged shutters slanting within midday shadows. White is all or nothing. White is a perfect compliment to a world filled with uncertainty and darkness. Yet, too much of it can be boring and lifeless to the eye’s colorful palette. White is clean, neat, and tidy. White can compliment all other colors. White trim helps to frame bright and colorful walls; so-called unsafe walls that reject the simple, boring, go-with-everything theory of temporary apartment living.

Back and forth...tug and pull...uninspiring for some...a blank canvas to others!

I like the way the ambient light sparkles off of the textured surfaces of large, artisan, white tiles of a kitchen backsplash, creating movement and flow. My mouth waters at the sight of shimmering white meringue swirled high upon a lemon pie or carefully baked and dried awaiting a filling of precious, French cream. I am inspired by a sheet of blank, white paper or an i-Pad screen filling-up with ideas and scenarios far beyond normal comprehension as my imagination runs rampant.

If white fills me with great pleasure and innocent memories, why have I never owned a white car before? 

And yet, so many cars I see every day still tend to be white. Are we continuing to fill a void with trepidation; settling on living in a joyless world of lies and deceit? I believe it's time for this trend to reverse and we begin to fill our lives, once again, with bold colors and vibrant expectations.

THE WHITE HOUSE, SURROUNDED
BY THE BRILLIANT BLUE AND GREENS
OF NATURE'S COLOR PALETTE

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

THE TEARDROP

A series of essays....

NATURE'S GENTLE TEARDROPS NURTURE AND CULTIVATE
OUR CROPS, FLOWERS, AND SPIRITS

....as seen through my eyes!




By: Jacqueline E Hughes

 

A very wise woman once told a group of her poetry students that by revealing their deepest and darkest emotions via their work and calling them Rant Poems was good for the mind and the soul and should be executed at least once a month or whenever the situation requires it. I will admit that I’ve taken this sage advice to heart many times while writing my weekly essays for Moving On...2019. 

Living in a ‘Drumpfster’ world has only elevated the appeal for ranting away at the injustices, hateful strategies, and deadly effects that his desire for obtaining more and more money has had on the entire world! Plastering a name on as many gross and expensive monuments as possible could never create the legacy he is hoping for. Ultimately, his ugliness and hate will go down in the history books and the harmony and love of those he wronged will overshadow his evil.            

Our personal frustration of not being able to instantly purge the furious emotional state we have all been placed in is greatly enhanced by at least two to three (or more) inhumane atrocities he throws out into the ethos each day. Bending our spirit, twisting precious customs, and abusing the attitude and culture of the moral elements of decency most of us live by, we find ourselves ranting at one another trying to figure out why all of this is happening while creating unnecessary chaos and stress. 

I often wonder about the legacy he is leaving for his own grandchildren. Will all of the money in the world protect them from global warming and the imminent path to destruction of our Mother Earth? Nobody can live in a sterile bubble for very long without the breathe of contamination seeping into the cracks and destroying their tiny world.

But, it is the uncontrolled, blatant, and just plain ugly acts of pure hate and lack of concern towards mankind that blows me away...! We, our nation’s citizens, pay for the protection of this horrible man and his family as he not only fails to protect the people he should be serving, but goes out of his way to harm our environment, strike down our hard-earned benefits, and not think twice about separating families, locking-up children, or creating the cause that has brutally murdered our own allies and handed the Kurdish people over to sworn enemies in the hopes of their own survival. 

With skin tone and profit margins being his ultimate guidelines towards the approval or disapproval of human life, he has single-handedly awoken and empowered white supremacy and forced our journey, our progressive movement, backwards in time. Supporting our right to vote him out in 2020 helps to pacify me, but not as much as the possibility of impeachment with a vote to withdraw his presence from office due to his insane, harmful, and destructive judgments while serving in the White House. 

I will continue to rant and rave about the injustice and pain so many people must endure because of his callousness, ‘strategy of total defiance,’ and inability to love anyone but himself.

REPRESENTATIVE ELIJAH CUMMINGS

                                                      Courtesy of the Associated Press

This morning we woke-up hearing about the sad and untimely death of Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland at age 68. As chairman of the Oversight Committee, his hard work  included overseeing investigations ranging from the impeachment inquiry, treatment of migrants at the southern border to the historical grilling of Michael Cohen earlier this year. Tears well in my eyes as I think about the amazing and loving life of this beautiful man. He will be missed, honored, and esteemed forever. Yet another huge loss for democracy and mankind in general.

The poem, The Teardrop, written in late 2018, helps me to cope with the new world that surrounds me as I age, navigate through major changes in my life, and engage in current political fiascoes. My poetic mentor would understand my softer approach to ‘ranting’ and, hopefully, give her approval. 

THE TEARDROP

   by: Jacqueline E Hughes

The tear slides 

down the soft folds 

of aging skin and follows 

the curve of chin 

until, defying gravity, it

dangles there for a moment. Falling,

falling, falling it drops,

plunging through time and space, filling the

gap between pain and sorrow;

offering little hope 

for its creator. It pops 

like a tiny bullet and

explodes in a fury of blue ink

on white paper. Blending, 

blending, blending, its 

singular journey obliterating a 

heartless good-bye.

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photo Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

38 PLACES AND THINGS I LOVE ABOUT WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

A series of essays....

TAKE A SEAT OVERLOOKING THE POND THAT'S
SURROUNDED BY WILDFLOWERS AND MOUNTAINS....

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Seeking the autumn colors of the trees along the mountains was certainly not one of our main purposes for being in Waynesville, North Carolina this past weekend. Our early October visit predetermined this, I’m sorry to say. Although, there was a bit of color to be seen and appreciated. Relaxation, scenic beauty, a stay in an old log cabin, being with friends, and enjoying life in general met our criteria for this particular adventure.

Thank you Messy Nessy and your ‘cabinet of Chic curiosities,’ a website I’ve enjoyed for quite some time. One of their latest contributions, 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today, includes specific pictures they felt were unique or filled them with genuine curiosity, enough to make a mark on Messy Nessy, anyway, as well as on me!

So, with many pictures taken during our latest trip to Western North Carolina, I’ve decided to share some of them with you  in a similar manner adding my personal twist and/or caption along the way. 

1. The best way to travel, ever....with good friends!

ROAD TRIP PICNIC

2.  With the mountains hugging us and deep, dark shadows greeting us upon arrival, it's nice to have the moon and stars saying, "Good night, sleep tight," as we crawl into bed.

3.  As the sun rises over the mountains in the morning, we're greeted by the mist and fog rolling down the hills like a soft blanket of protection and love. So beautiful! 

MORNING COFFEE ON THE PORCH

4. Reflections on the Pond

5. Boyd Mountain Log Cabins and Tree Farm, Waynesville, North Carolina

6. Collections For the Birds 

7. The foggy, wild side of the Blue Ridge Parkway

8. Taking care of some business while we were there. We're selling our 2.3 acres of land in the mountains just outside of Maggie Valley. Sad to say that our 'log cabin dreams' are no more. Someone else is slated to enjoy our spectacular views!

9. Flora and Fauna?

10. More garden delights at Boyd Mountain Log Cabins

It's always so difficult and emotional when leaving this amazing place. We've stayed in several of their eight cabins throughout the years, each as beautiful and steeped in history as the next. We've shared the Long Branch with our oldest daughter and her husband and the Little Cosby together on a romantic getaway. But, our favorite cabin is the Meadow Fork that sits just above the pond. We have shared it with our then three-year-old granddaughter, Brenna, and Chris, Dan's youngest brother. We've now had the pleasure of sharing the Meadow Fork with Janis and Fred, our friends, who now hold this special place in their hearts, as well.

Next time, I will take you into the Meadow Fork cabin and share a bit of its fabulous history as it was built in the late 1790's in the beautiful Meadow Fork community of Madison County, North Carolina.

PEACE AND TRANQUILITY

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved