Ode to Lake Michigan

OK so its not really an ode... I'm not motivated to write poetry today.  But I just returned from a swim in Lake Michigan and I must say, those of us who live along the lakeshore really take it for granted.  Beautiful white sand beaches, warm fresh water lake, the list could go on.  And its right up the road! 

I grew up in a house where we went to Lake Michigan a LOT!  We used to camp a great deal and the campground was located right over a dune.  It seems like I was at the beach more than not.  And then, when I was 9, we put in a pool, and beach time abruptly stopped.  Mind you, I loved that pool too!  I spent every sunny day either in it or laying out along side of it.  That pool figures prominently in many of my best memories.  We swam in that pool until about 5 years ago when my mom sold the house.  (That's another story.) 

Thus began our trips back to the beach.  Yes, its sandy, and its a little inconvenient to pack up everything you think you might need while at the beach:  beverages in a cooler, a book, an ipod, towels, chairs, water toys, etc.  But to have such beauty at our back door really is quite a blessing!