Grass bay

The day out on Grass Bay, small coastal dunes and shallow grassy sand marshes stretching away to the blue horizon of Lake Huron and Canada beyond. Tromping through beech and moose maple forests, over frog filled streams, and pitcher plant infested marshes to the dunes. Driftwood along the beach, saw grass waving in the wind, and red winged blackbirds scolding us from the cattails. Pondering on succession and change, fragile communities of plants and animals that look more at home on the ocean than here in the middle of the continent. The third coast and really like the ocean, a small lighthouse poking above the waters even out in the distance.

Tip-toeing through the muck of the shallows to reach the eyebrow of the waters. A long white sand bar stretching parallel to the marsh on one side and a picture of deep blue on the other. Meandering along the beach, gulls and sand pipers on little peg legs probing the sands and standing stilt legged against the wind. Billowy white clouds and a warm day. Really peaceful.

On the way back we stopped in Cheboygan for ice cream at the 'Big Dipper'. A little slice of Americana. An ice cream diner with every flavor under the stars. Main street shut down for construction and local kids sitting in the middle of the street in small town America licking big double scoops of cherry vanilla ice cream cones.