M22

M22 is a stretch of black-top that runs up the Lake Michigan shore from Manistee, all the way to Northport. MDOT has trouble keeping road signs posted come summer as nearly every tourist wants an M22 sign for their college room or the wall at home. The towns on that route are low profile, tucked away from the main line. Nobody goes there by mistake. Glen Arbor is a main street village with one stop light but the summer crowd overflows. No way to tell who’s at the table next to you, maybe blue collars on a long weekend or Big-Wig high-enders from Chicago or Milwaukee. They know exactly where to go to get away. I do too. I’ve been coming here for over 20 years. 

Besides the big lake, there is Glen Lake and the Crystal River is easy floating. Bicycling is popular on the local roads, great shopping, great food and summer temperatures usually stay in the 80’s. Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore is named for a colossal sand dune between Glen Lake and the big lake. Old family farms from the early 20th century have been acquired and restored to period condition, open to the public, no charge. In 1996 I discovered one particular farm and have been hiking and photographing there ever since. The DeChow farm dates back to 1853. Most of its history is framed around dairy and apple orchards. I spent most of the day there; it has a soul centering effect on me, as close to spiritual as I can be. If I were religious I’d say I talk to God but in fact I’m just able to let things go, think out loud and be, just be. 

Native Americans have a universal expression that is appropriate for any respectful exchange; “Mitakuye Oyasin”. If you struggle with pronunciation it doesn’t matter. Translated it means, All My Relations or We Are All Related. In lieu of a prayer I engage the hard maples up by the sugar shack. I acknowledge the pine trees that mark the ridge between the lower and higher meadow. Wild sweet peas and weathered wood on the big barn require my attention. Down by the road there’s an old, half dead apple tree but it still makes apples. I knew and wasn’t disappointed, there would be fresh deer beds there. “Mitakuye Oyasin”. 

The Lake Michigan shore is about a mile away. In the trees at the end of a two-track they built stairs down to the beach. In the old days we had to scramble down the bank, hanging onto tree roots. Not much beach this morning, surf had pushed a lot of sand up on the berm with just a narrow strip of swash. Amazing how water works, in and out, rolling stones against each other until they are smooth and rounded. I bend down to turn one over and the one next to it is a Petosky stone; my lucky day. “Mitakuye Oyasin”. I study it for a few seconds and slip it in my pocket. Before I can move up the beach I find another one. I’ll give it to someone special. I’ve been here so many times you would think it would get commonplace but I never know for sure what it means or when I’ll be back. So I just let it happen, try to be in sync, up here on M22.