Drainage is gorgeous--No, really!

Walking back from sheer incredulity, there's beauty everywhere...especially in the drainage.

I dare you to tell me this isn't beautiful.

(go ahead and tell me my photography skills are crap, though. I don't mind. )

the patterns in the sand....

drainage detour

the paterns! *artist in me dies of sensory overload* 

y'all think I'm nuts now...but still.... the motion of the water captured in sand....

I should paint my floor like this

can you see the beauty yet? this would make another gorgeous painting with a tweak or two

there's beauty in old steel fences and rocks. look for it

wow. major blur. bad photography indeed.  but pshaw. look at the lovely composition....

I might be obsessed with rocks. just a bit.

obligatory unedited selfie....what? that's what girls of a certain age do

I'm such a mess. but I kinda like this one.
cleared up a bit, I can see a reasonable self portrait based off this...

More lake pictures

I'm a horrible blogger. Nothing for ages, then Flash Flood of pictures, guys!! Bear with me. Getting over this'll take quite a while......

climbing up another ice dune

but the view is so worth it

the expanse of ice is unbelievable

just. oh. despite the blurry

I'm so awed, even looking at my bad pictures of this

the sky

go west! 

this is gonna be painted someday... 

The lake.

After hiking over "sand dunes," avoiding fissures and white patches of snow as we went, we finally got up to a place where we could see the rest of the lake. My God is so awesome.That's all there really is say about these. They are stunning.

lake view peeking through

I promised  lake, I know. It's coming....but look at this ICE. It's so incredible

same as caption above. I'm not getting over this anytime soon

Fissure in the ice. I can only marvel. and try not to get my foot caught.

more fissures. pictures cannot adequately express the sheer exquisiteness of this view.

standing on the lake, looking over the lake.

standing on ice covered in sand, looking down on more ice. which I did not step on, too far down, and it looked none too safe

the watercolor artist in me says "paint this, now."

I've gone on vacation to another world---the sheer beauty of this is captivating

ice. standing on it, behind you, as far as you can see

I love the shape of the ice cliff....

Instant Arctic photoshoot, anyone?

I'm seriously in awe....

the beauty is simply non-capturable...it was so vivid

ice

 ice

more ice

you can see where water rushed in during thaws and carved the ice away.

needless to say, the better part of wisdom involved not walking there....

Wait, aren't those sand dunes?

The answer is no.

 No, that's the frozen waters of Lake Michigan, dusted in sand. I went to Lake Michigan with Dad yesterday.....and promptly slid into another planet. Wild and gorgeous, untouchable and crystalline. And treacherous. Without further ado, the "sand dunes". (and I apologize for any blurriness, I was walking and snapping.)

see where the white starts? that's the lake. those "sand dunes" my dad is walking on? icebergs.

Pebbles are on the beach, that jutting crag? ice. I think the water line's visible here...

double row of sand covered ice to cross before getting to see the expanse of white lake ice

this is all ice.....I'm walking on water. Also, the white stuff? don't walk there, you might go in up to your knees in slush--or worse.

all lake. all of that. incredible

I get this icy desert feel...like Sahara and the Arctic all mixed up.

view of the ground, all pockmarks and fissures, again, actually on the lake. I can't really get over that.

closer ground view...blurry, but definitely a feel for what the ground looked like

Finally catching up to Dad, after dallying with picture after picture after picture after....well, you get the point.

the actual lake bit in sight, look at the curves of the "land". sheer beauty.

paris