Apologies, dear readers, for the gap in posting. I was away with my family on vacation. In this post, I'm going to share some stories and pictures from that experience, but also delve into the philosophical and cultural concept of the "vacation."
In short, this vacation was great fun. Not having fun is impossible with a group like this:
This year, as we have for the past two years, we traveled up to the coast of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's about an eight hour drive, which was fairly uneventful until we encountered this storm front in central Wisconsin.
While we were pulled off due to heavy rain and hail, we learned on the radio that the county was under a tornado warning. Given the cloud formations we saw, I think we came pretty close to seeing something.
At any rate, things settled down considerably once we arrived. We had a place in the town of Ontonagon near the beach, with a view of the Porcupine mountains in the distance.
During the day, we had some really fun times playing on the beach and swimming in the water, although the boys did much, much better with the chilly lake temps.
At night we had fires on the beach and truly spectacular sunsets over the lake.
The Porcupine Mountains have some fun hiking trails. One of our favorites is the Lake of the Clouds, where just a little walking takes you above the tree-line to see expanses of forest and the placid lake waters spanning out below. Pictures don't really do it justice.
On this trip we tried kayaking for the first time and really enjoyed it.
Another experience of note was a close encounter with the meditating bear of the Porcupine Mountains (a.k.a., the "Porkies").
On a previous trip, I'd wanted to get a picture of this humorous mile-marker sign.
On a day trip, we traveled to the Chassell Strawberry Festival and stopped off at the Shrine of the Snowshoe priest, which commemorates the first Bishop of the area, who made his way from follower to follower on snowshoes. To me, it looks like he's suspended atop a giant iron spider, but I've been known to misinterpret these things.
On July 8th we spent the day in Ontonagon visiting the town's lighthouse for a tour.
That night before bed, I was reading a book about supernatural events associated with Lake Superior. Imagine my surprise when several pages covered supposed haunting events at that very lighthouse! To take it even further, on one night a year ghost lights are supposed to appear near the Ontonagon Lighthouse. Which night? Why, July 8th, the very night I was reading the book. Creepy!
To match our experience going through Wisconsin, we watched a squall line blow in across the lake, which really puts your own tiny existence into perspective.
That night, during the storm the front above produced, we played Takenoko a new board-game acquired at a really unique toy store in Hancock, MI. As the waves crashed and thunder rumbled, we did what anyone who knows something about Lake Superior storms would do: we played "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on Youtube.
Vacations teach you a lot about yourself. Growing up, I was always very fortunate to have parents who made visiting different parts of the country a priority. At the time, I had almost no appreciation for it - all I knew was that my lazy summertime routine was going to be disrupted and I would have to go hiking in the hot, insect-ridden wilderness. Though some of those hikes were pretty tough for a kid, now as an adult, my perception of those times has changed 180 degrees. They were invaluable experiences and, especially when I became a teenager, crucial times of self-reflection when I could be apart from my everyday circumstances to contemplate life and recharge mentally, physically, and spiritually.
The concept of the "vacation" has been around for a very long time in Western history. Interestingly, as an NPR interview from about ten years ago notes, the purpose of self-discovery has long been part of vacationing. With widening income inequality in America, a shrinking middle class, and the continuous pressure for efficiency and productivity at the expense of leisure, fewer and fewer people in this country are willing and able to take time off from work. According to the subtitle in one article, "Americans are expected to work like robots."
The part of me that is terribly cynical about our culture does not find this surprising: vacations are wonderful opportunities for contemplation, which gives one time to think, and our culture does not like to spend time thinking. American capitalism and consumerism encourage the busier, faster, more distracted lifestyle. We live in fast-forward when we need to hit "pause" far more often in order to get a really good look at ourselves.
Another part of me feels a mix of gratitude and guilt: I am extremely fortunate to be able to have been able to spend this time with my parents when I was younger and now with my wife and children. So many do not have that chance. Humans need space to figure out --- or perhaps more accurately, simply remember -- who they are. Vacations have always served that role for me. I remember one summer (1996, to be exact) when I did not really feel the greatest about life or who I was, looking out at the clear, star-filled Wyoming sky and thinking, "You know, it's not all bad." Hitting the "pause" button gives you a chance to figure out -- no, remember -- what's really important. There is no debate for me.
The Upper Peninsula, Lake Superior, the Porcupines, and Ontonagon have become special places for us. It was tough to say goodbye to them, but hopefully it will only be for a little while, and then we can go back to the spot where we remember ourselves.
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