Month: July 2016

• Oh my, I am wowed by Mother Nature’s creativity and art. The 2 1/2 hour ferry ride from/return Munising MI to Pictured Rocks was worth far more than the fare; but, don’t tell them!  The  formations and mineral colored staining are amazing! I love seeing show caves like Carlsbad and Luray Caverns, and the pictured rocks rank at the top of my list! The pictures are amazing, but you can’t feel the wind or smell the air and hear the water! I am greatly blessed to have experienced It and give a shoutout to Lisa and Goffy whom added in to the pleasure. 

Lake Superior is, well, SUPERior! A swim at the end of yesterday provided proof positive, even though a bit chilly at the start. Great day yesterday but no cell coverage for a good portion of the day. Started with a stop at Hiawatha Natl Forest where anyone can pick and eat berries. Stopped at numerous roadside parks
and Seney
Natl Wildlife Refugewith a 7-mile marshland scenic drive and Video/museum at VisitorCtr. Then a beautiful drive north to Munising with trees/forests on my left and Lake Superior on my right! To Pictured Rocks around 11 with a trail walk to Munising Falls. Campgrounds are full; another way was provided. Hike to Miner’s Falls, and then around Miner’s Area to see Miner’s Castle pictured rock formation-stunning creation! I head to the ferry around 3 pm, but all trips canceled because wind was too strong. So tried the glass bottom boat which shows shipwrecks-it was also canceled. So with the help of the nice woman at Glass Bottom Boat Tours I navigate to the USPO to mail items, a pizza place with wifi,  then to the local beach where I changed and swam in Lake SUPERior, much to my delight. Chatting with a nice woman from Marquette, I floated about in the cool water with sand at my feet-hooray! I’ll get into Lake Ontario at some point, so I’ll then have been in all 5 of the Great Lakes. Slept in car at Grand Island boat launch managed by Hiawatha Natl Forest and woke up to see a beautiful sunrise. Now entering this outside the pizza place-bless them for their wifi, and great pizza. And, blessings on you in reading this!​

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On my way to pictured rocks national Park site, I realized as I was recharging my phone that perhaps others could realize something from that example. How do we recharge our batteries? I believe we recharge our batteries by staying still yet awake letting nothing else come in, no TV, no music, no texts or calls, no reading, no input at all!  And, no allowing our own minds to chatter as they often do. Shut down all input! Try to get at least 5 minutes in the morning and another 5 at night. Over time, build up the duration and perhaps add some deep breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. It is in the stillness that our personal “batteries” get recharged! Try it for a week and let me know how it works for you, okay?

Where did this phenomenon of hurt feelings start? It is not beneficial to anyone! When anyone is unkind in words to another, the difficulty lies in the person perpetrating the unkindness. The target need not convert the perpetrators action into “hurt feelings”. If you have been trained to respond with hurt feelings by example or other means, choose to lose that response by replacing it with an assessment  of their behavior (if you must) And end it there! For example, if someone calls me fat and I am fat, I should have no reaction as the other person is stating that which I believe to be fact. If I am not fat, I can say nothing or tell this person that they are entitled to their opinion.  Let it go! Neither pass judgment on the other person’s comment nor take it in as an insult-let it go!

In Chautauqua County NY visiting with Traynor second cousins – God bless them! And, visited with Eileen Benson Martin, the step granddaughter of my Great Aunt Adeline Barnes Ball Robillard Benson. What wonderful people, these relatives of mine; I am so grateful!! Shared adventures and visiting Chautauqua Lake, Chautauqua Institution, Panama Rocks, the old Traynor/Winter Restaurant, ferry ride and sunset watching, touring ancestral gravesites, cabins on Stowe side, and shared memories of our departed loved ones. Prior to this, I visited with my first cousin Val and we visited with the Sitterlies in Spartansburg, sharing photos, memories, and fun!  Gratefully blessed to share my ancestral background with such lovely people!