Thomas Moore, who wrote Care of the Soul, said that each of us has a place on the earth where our souls reside. If this is true, my soul is firmly tethered along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The photographs on this page are of various places along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The lighthouse is the Big Sauble Light. I had the pleasure of touring it several years ago -- before it opened to the public. The phenomenal vista from the top of this lighthouse is a 360 degree panorama of water, forest, and sand. Two of the three children playing on the dunes in the photograph below are my own children. While we were out on a hike, a photographer stopped to capture them scrambling up the side of a dune. Imagine our surprise when, years later, we discovered it published on the web. The shoreline of Lake Michigan is nothing less than spectacular. I've filled this page with some links that will take you to various people, places, and information showcasing Michigan. Moodling at the beach is a special joy. Scavenging for bits of glass and shards of pottery that have been shaped and changed by the waves, and for quartz, petosky, and other stones is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon in early spring or late in the autumn. As I'm not a sun-worshiper, I seldom go to the beach in mid-summer until late in the afternoon - and even then, I head for the shade. Many of my favorite memories revolve around the Big Lake. Late-night beach parties at the dunes with my friends, outings to the public beach and our state park with my kids and their friends, and watching the sunset anywhere along the lakeshore are among those cherished lucky enough to see a green flash. Seeing one is rare and something that I have only experienced once before.

The contents of this page doesn't cover all the people, places, and things that matter to me...but it does make a huge dent in the pile. I first made this homepage when I was 45, almost seven years ago. My husband, Bob, and I have been married for twenty-seven years. We have two children, an elderly cocker spaniel named Ribbons and a two cats. One is a calico with an attitude named Jude and the latest addition is Chuckie, who decided to stay after following Mairead home a few weeks ago. Bob is an electronics teacher and comsumer electronics technician who frequently sings and plays his guitar at a local coffee shop. Our 20 year old son is a sophomore in college and is a wonderfully talented singer, guitarist, and actor. Our soon-to-be 16 year old daughter sings in her high school choir, is active with Girl Scouts, and loves being with her friends. She is also a new driver, as she started driver's training about a month ago. I'm confident that I can get through it without too many more grey hairs. :) Mairead is a published poet, as one of her poems was selected as a semi-finalist for a poetry.com contest. She was thrilled when her poem was selected, even though we both knew this contest is 90% a marketing endeavor. Despite that, it's given her an interest and excitement in creating poetry -- which is wonderful thing. Some of my other interests include reading, writing, listening to my husband and son make music, playing with my kids, and sifting my toes in the sand. Another strong interest is genealogy. I've been working off and on tracing my dad's family for the last several years. I also am a pack-rat, and have accumulated a lot of "stuff" over the years. Among the things that I collect are antique postcards of Michigan -especially our carferries, antique juicers, and glass, mother-of-pearl, and abalone buttons. I also enjoy collecting quotations and poetry, and ecumenical prayers and blessings some of which I have published in this web site. Another more recent interest is protecting the Great Lake Region's most valuable natural resource - our water. I am boycotting Perrier and Ice Mountain bottled water. Hopefully, so will everyone else. For the last four months, I've been active with our community peace group. More information about that group can be found at Americans Speaking Our Peace.

~More Moodlings ~ I have a wonderful family which include 3 sisters, one brother, a baker's dozen of nieces and nephews, five greats ---which include four nephews and a niece-- plus an assortment of in-laws. All of us, and most of our children, either live in the little town where we grew up or within about 150 miles of it. My mother lives on the family farm that was homesteaded by my Dad's grandfather in the late 1860s, and my mother-in-law's home is just down the street from us. My father-in-law died four years ago, my sister-in-law two years ago, and my dad died this past November. It's been a time of intense and mixed emotions for both sides of my family. Very simply, grief hurts. It has been said that the "remedies for grief are time, healing, and love applied with tenderness" (Gale Massey). In a way, this web page is a way that I've found to be tender with myself as I heal. I work at a community college coordinating and providing special services for students who are either having difficulty in their courses or who have disabilities. If I have a passion for anything besides my family, it's discovering what makes me, as well as other people, tick. That interest, I'm sure, is what makes cyberspace and the people here so appealing to me. Please feel free to e-mail me. I'll even provide the Regards,

Moodlings About Me|   |Alphabet Soup|  Literary License|  Favorite Poems|  Moodlings|   Cyber Highways & Byways
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