Pictured Rocks and A Lot of Good Men

My husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this weekend and stayed on Mackinaw Island and then took a boat tour of the magnificent Pictured Rocks in Munising Michigan.

On the Island, everyone has the most stunning gardens. The flowers are bigger and more colorful than I’ve ever seen; like you see in Mexico or another tropical climate. The flowers amazed me and I couldn’t help but stare.  I know my pics can’t possibly capture all the beauty.

  
I apologize for the blurry photo to the right. I was racing by in a horse drawn carriage. No cars are allowed on the island. You can walk, ride a bike, or take a horse-drawn carriage to get around. There are about 500 horses on the island during the summer season, so you can imagine how much horse manure there is, which brings me to my next point.

Horse manure is the secret to their spectacular gardens. One of the shop owners who lives on the island explained that when she first moved there 25 years ago, she was told she needed horse manure to keep her garden looking good. She had a tiny space for her garden and assumed a “yard” of manure was like a yard of fabric, so she ordered 5 yards of horse pucky.  She said when she got home that afternoon, “I had the biggest pile of horse shit in my lawn I couldn’t see my front window!”  She laughed and added, “Be sure to get the older horse poo. Don’t get it while it’s still steamy.”

The next day, my husband and I took a 2-hour cruise to see Pictured Rocks, 15 miles of sandstone rock cliffs along Lake Superior, which my husband said reminded him of the Grand Canyon.  Over millions (billions?) of years, water, wind, and weather have etched caves, blowholes, arches and other amazing features along this shoreline, and with the creative eye, one can see faces and headdresses carved into the rock, and paintings and other artwork from the water that drips down carrying with it minerals like copper, iron and manganese.  Here are just a few photos I took that I think speak for themselves.

I’m understating it to say that we had a great time. I was full of joy and love and inspiration and excitement and life. I am blessed and I know it and I want to tell the world all about it because if all these good things can happen for me, they can happen for everyone.  Joy and love are gifts ready to be opened at any time, by anyone.

I didn’t intend to write a travel blog about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (you have to visit!) or gardens and rock formations, even though they’re pretty awesome. Here’s a pic of what I really wanted to write about:

 

 

 

My husband:  I think he’s the most amazing man in the entire world. He’s loving and kind and generous and protects me and provides for me and our children and grandchildren.  He laughs most of the time at my silly jokes, and he doesn’t mind cleaning the kitchen. He accepts me and loves me for who I am and that includes my flaws and weirdnesses. And he’ll tell you that I love him and accept him too, and that is true.  We love each other and care for each other and we know we’re blessed to have one another. Every day is a treasure…but not necessarily every moment, like when I have to point out that he might be driving a bit faster than I feel comfortable with, or when he suggests to me again that I could do something (anything!) differently.  Yeah, we have those moments, sometimes a lot.  But we both take deep breaths and know that we wouldn’t want to take another step in this life without the other.

Do I sometimes have to watch another episode of Live PD? Yes.  Does he sometimes choose to unexpectedly stop in a cute little boutique shop with me just because the window display was adorable? No, I mean yes.  When you’re married to your best friend, you do things for them to make them happy and they do things for you to make you happy. It’s an awesome win-win.

I married a really good man, and there are many other good men in the world. It seems like the media would have us believe that all men are just unredeemable pigs. Sure, there are some scoundrels out there. I would know, but I also know that there are more good men than there are bad. I believe that with all my heart. They’re in my family, they’re my friends, I work with them, I see them being kind to their spouses and children. Let’s not let a few bad apples spoil our view of all men. Men, we need you! And life without good men would be awful, think about it ladies. Who’d lift all the heavy stuff?  I’m kidding.  But seriously, who would?

I just want to give a shout out to all the good men, to those guys, like my husband who love well and work hard to make this world a better place. And to those who use their strength and their gifts for good while respecting others. Yeah, you guys rock and I just want to say thank you!

Especially to you, honey, thank you for 17 years of growing together and becoming my life partner and my best friend forever.