48 Hour trip...

It has been well over four years since the last trip up North. My wife and I drove up to Brethren, close to Manistee National Forest to visit her Aunts who live there. Her Aunt Monica was just released from the hospital the day before, after a month long battle with her health, that she almost lost.

The weather was great, and so was the time spent. It was a great relief for me to see my wife so happy, and to see her Aunts. Mary and Monica are both well into their seventy's now, and have lived on the same land for about forty five years. It was Aunt Mary who bought the fifteen acres, years ago for $750, and got another five acres after that. I had to laugh at the cost of the land, about 50 dollars an acre when Aunt Mary told me the story of how they came to live in such a remote place.

The land backs up against the border of the State Forest, so you walk out the back door, keep going for a bit and behold you are in the State Park!

I am sure that I can not come close to describing the beauty of the place they live, or the land they own. The barn, and the various other buildings that were built on this working farm, are in need of some repair. Livestock was mostly raised here, horses, chickens, and the lot. The last thing raised on this land was Fallow Deer, and of course some "barn cats", which were here in the hundreds, before the coyotes moved through the area. This place is every persons dream of what some land "Up North" should look like.

At night the stars were overhead waiting to greet my sight, with the awe and splendor that can only be seen in far away places. The thousand trees rustled in the soft breeze, singing out the wonderful song playing in my mind. For a few moments I was one with the land, the sky, and myself. All three united in a dance of boundless beauty, transcending time and space.