Tag: sunshine

great day for a hike

We moved to our current home in Illinois from Michigan back in 2004, but it’s not the first time we have lived in Illinois. We first arrived in Chicago-land back in 1988. However, it wasn’t until we came back in 2004 that we discovered Matthiessen State Park.

The day started out with the typical refrain of cold, low, gray clouds, but Mr. I-Can’t-Seem-To-Get-The-Weather-Report-Right promised clearing skies and it came to pass that a beautiful, mostly sunny afternoon emerged.

One of the things I love about each of the it-feels-like-hundreds-of-times that I have visited this park is that it is always new. It’s like discovering and exploring for the first time, each time.

And I love the quiet… the sense of calm…

I am glad I made time to reflect… walk… listen to a waterfall, or the water gurgling over rocks and a stubborn oak leaf…

Thanks for stopping by.

the sea

the sea

I know I am biased, but new York does have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Not that I have been to many, but enough to know that my bias is true. This was taken at Jones Beach, New York. I grew up 15 minutes from this beach on the southern shore of Long Island. I have long since tried to stop understanding it, but I know that I am never more at rest, and at peace, when I am at the shore. The ocean has a way of making you feel small, and that’s a good thing. I have many wonderful memories of family and fun at this beach, and each time I go home to NY to visit my folks I go to Jones Beach, be it Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall. I also dedicate this image to a dear friend who has taken some of the most beautiful shore pictures that I have ever seen.