up north

(views of lake michigan off the deck of my parent's house)











i am home now. got home late last night. i really didn't want to come home, not because of russ, (i'm actually looking forward to seeing him tomorrow), but because it is just so darn beautiful and peaceful up in door county. bob and i really hope someday to retire up there. there is a part of me that is a real loner and i can see myself going for days without having to worry about anyone else. i don't know, maybe that makes me more selfish than a loner but... before i got married i would go up there for an occasional weekend when my parents were gone and not see or talk to a single soul and just loved it. i thought i would share a poem my mom bought me several years ago. she had a print of it and the first time i saw it i told her i wanted one. it took her about a year to find one but it is just so meaningful to me. it's how i feel about life in door county, wi.


"Up North"

There's a lot of talk about "up north."
It's the place everyone seems to want to go to escape the pressures and frantic pace of everyday life. But where is "up north?" For "up north" is not so much a location as it is a state of mind.
So how do you know when you've arrived "up north?" When you feel the cares of the world begin to slip away... When you find yourself breathing a little deeper because the air seems purer somehow... When you notice that the sky is bluer, the pines are taller and the people smile a lot more...
It's then you know you're "up north!"

Arlet Steel