Touring, traveling, observing, Nothing being, no conflicting, Moving, simply watching, A stranger within a dream, No agreements, I don’t Want to hear, misdirection, Talk about you, manipulation, Or your loved ones, sentimentality, Excessive display, ostentatious, No characters, no nice guys, No bad guys, nobody, coalescing into Sublime, ridiculous inquisitions, Instantaneously accepting defeat, I can be nobody, No need to be aware, nor Disturbed by ionized air, Passing, silently shifting through, I don’t know what.
Exhausting day. Good Morning Bedlam proved to be a charm, a small venue producing an intimate experience–conversation and fellowship throughout. Three hours kayaking on the Au Sable River in the morning–ten and a half miles of river, and now I am spent. I relate the matter to the ending of the Upper Mississippi River adventure. My quest for fulfilling personal time, including all driving time dedicated to ‘The Enlightenment; The Pursuit of Happiness 1680-1790’ by Ritchie Robertson–a challenging engagement I feel driven to conclude–all amounts to depletion. It is time for sleep, hopefully enriching rejuvenation. Tomorrow is a day with an academic advisor–the beginning of my quest to complete my bachelor’s degree in order to retire into teaching high school literature/history, aiming for inner-city schools. I ended the day with a Rosary at the Our Lady of the Woods Shrine. The La Salette statue drew me in for prayer. I find the statue unique, insightful, fitting the moment.
God is truly blessing my vacation experiences. Less than two weeks ago the Upper Mississippi adventure and now this birthday weekend the surprises keep coming. I decided to drive to northern Michigan to see the band of highly talented young adults Good Morning Bedlam whom I saw in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The unique musicians/singers are led by a husband/wife powerhouse. The youngsters I knew nothing about fascinated me. I have been listening to them ever since. Investigating online I saw they put together a northern Michigan tour. Instantly, I knew it would be a perfect birthday gift to myself. With very little effort, I threw together a weekend road trip. In experience, it so far has proved stunning.
When I was visiting the Upper Peninsula, participating in a guided tour of Grand Island, the tour guide praised an ‘Old Growth Forest’ park in Grayling, Michigan: Hartwick Pines State Park. The state park is close to the Sunday afternoon concert, so I added it to the itinerary. Now the visit is complete. The park proved majestic as the gentleman mentioned, yet I found something unexpected. There is an impressive logging museum on the site. The historic museum was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a depression era federal government project providing jobless impoverished men jobs.
The museum does a thorough job of detailing and providing relics from the lumber industry that swept through Michigan. The intensive lumberjacking effort by a young United States is something marvelous to wrap one’s mind around. Beyond the lumber industry, the museum does an excellent job of allowing visitors to empathize and understand the lives of individuals. Sleeping quarters are on display as well as items of entertainment, the words to lumberjacking songs, details of the hazards, and the various jobs men worked. More than lumberjacks, there were teamsters, land surveyors—plotting and mapping territories, railroad men, river jockeys, blacksmiths, doctors and more. It was western Christian civilization advancing into the wilderness. There could be accusations of exploitation and other critical views, yet I do not like to judge history. It is what it is. We learn from it and grow. We don’t judge and cast dispersion upon those trying to survive, even if some were prospering dramatically beyond others. The lumberjack song pokes fun at the fact the company owners were the only ones getting rich. Hartwick Pines State Park was a thrill.
Then my second surprise enroute to the Good Morning Bedlam concert occurred as I search for a place to attend Mass. I found an intriguing shrine in Mio, Michigan I pursued. I rented a room at the Mio Motel—in fact I am typing right now on its charming balcony. Suffice to say, the Our Lady of the Woods Shrine turned out to be a blessing. Another gem built in previous times—the 1950s. I was able to attend an outdoor vigil Mass, while planning a morning Rosary tomorrow. Humble, friendly, small-town people. God is good. I am exhausted and going to try to organize photo galleries. I am still not pleased, though acknowledging improvement, with my website image offerings.
Thanks to modern technology, I am able to exchange with my mother’s family in Spain. Through Facebook, I was introduced to a Spanish photographer, Jose Ortiz-Echague (1886-1980). Echague embraced the photographic camera during a time he was positive traditional ways of life in Spain were disappearing. He made it his mission to capture the Spain he saw vanishing. His images of the religious life-Carthusians especially—are mesmerizing. I did smile at one commenter who expressed the fact that Echague dramatized everything. Histrionic, his fisherman or mariners appeared to be marching off to some epic battle, the crossing of the River Styx, or some other confrontation with evil. To me it seemed so Spanish. Who else but the Spanish could be accused of over acting in still photographers?
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