Dark Nest Travels : 1994 - A Conclusion, Not the End

The Upper had a lot to offer, the Fall colors cascading over a beautiful landscape, the upper and lower Tahquamenon Falls and their beauty. It's breathtaking, really. My grandparent's home was wooded in the back. Behind those woods was a lake, a lake that from the eye went on forever, but in reality it didn't, it was just a body of water that formed in the middle of a vast mini-forest.

In my late teens I spent some time at their place and my grandmother took me and my cousin on a small hike through the woods. This had all started because a prior owner of the house left a hand drawn map, and what young man, boy, child, anyone, really, could resist exploring a map and have a quest? None that I know. We went back and looked at the lake that was dubbed, "Mitten Lake" scrawled simply on paper, I think it may have been a name made up by some local hunters of the area, only because of the title's cliche nature.

We saw a beaver dam. My Grandma found a log, it was about twelve inches long, the bark had been peeled from it, and both ends were gnawed to sharp points, it was similar to a pencil with tips on both ends. The work that was put into this by the tiny creature had been fascinating. It was the first time I'd ever seen anything like it. We never did see the beavers. What stood out to me was the way my Grandma looked out into the water, her demeanor was calm, as if the decision she and my Grandpa had made to move to this place was a crucial part of their life. It was that glint, that sparkle in her eye that what she was doing was right and pertinent in her own life's story.

Back to the present journey of 1994, Maria and I had a great rest in the Class C. We visited with my grandparents and I caught up with conversation since it had been awhile since I had visited with them. My grandpa, sitting at the table, his usual calm, cool and collected look, a cup of coffee, a pack of cigarettes and a book in his hand and Barney had instantly attached to him, often laying by his feet. They grew a bond in the short while we spent at the house.

Maria and I did some exploring ourselves, leashing Barney and took a walk in the woods and to "Mitten Lake". The lake hadn't lost the beauty that I remembered, the sun glowed over us, casting bright rays over the small waves of lapping water. A woodpecker could be heard off in the distance.  Birds were scattering and flitting from tree to tree. Squirrels were foraging through the fresh fallen leaves. We felt that peace, the same peace that consumed my Grandma when she took me out to the lake years prior. I wondered if I would ever achieve some of that in my lifetime.

While we ambled quietly through the wooded fire trails I pondered just where our lives were going to take us, how were we going to get there, and what lay ahead in our own future together? We were happy, in love, had the beginning of our future together, and I settled for just that, because the future can sometimes be muddied by events that attempt to cloud it, to tear it apart, and I knew deep down inside that the team we made together, there was nothing in the world that could separate what we had going. The journeys we made together, our blank canvas of life before us, were going to hold us together, to keep us alive, and to keep us who we are.

We were refreshed and ready to hit the road again back home, back to the slice of reality waiting for us, i.e. jobs, mortgage, etc, etc. Maria loved my grandparents, just as I thought she would. Barney, well, he didn't hate a thing in life, except for taking a bath, and my grandparents, they accepted many into their lives and grew to know and love Maria through the years. My Grandparents are both gone today, I like to think that they left us to continue somewhere else together, the loss of my Grandma just recently, and I miss them so much, but realize deep in my heart that they made their moments in life, they lived, loved, and inspired me to do the same. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for the love of life that you showed me when you were here with us.

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