Summer is almost here! In anticipation for lazy beach days and expeditions around the national lakeshore at Lake Michigan, today’s photo is from one such day last summer. In Colorado, the land of tall mountains and roaring rivers, my idea of a day at the beach was usually more accurately a day at the park with detours down to the rocky river bank. We’d hold our breath as we dipped our toes into the cold water that ran through the valley or take turns daring each other to completely submerge ourselves in its frigid embrace. I will always miss bike rides in the canyon along the bike path which paralleled the thundering river but life in Indiana gives an entirely different meaning to the phrase ‘beach day.’

Every time my parents visit, my mom always gets excited when she “can see the ocean.” Of course, the ribbon of blue that she’s squinting at in the distance isn’t an ocean at all, but Lake Michigan. Here folks can lounge in the sun on the sandy shore. The huge expanse of blue stretching as far as the eye can see is just a short distance away if ever they need to be refreshed from the afternoon heat. I can’t wait for more days like this. I intend to take full advantage of all the beauty that Lake Michigan offers when the weather warms up and beach going becomes available again.