Living the Dream in Retirement
I enjoy photography and find it nearly impossible to pass by beautiful flowers without stopping to take photos. These were taken yesterday at my BFF’s home in Traverse City Michigan where I spent a fabulous extended weekend.
I love Michigan and have lived here all my life. Within one to four hours in any direction, you can take an endless number of road trips and discover fun things to do. (Under the “Michigan” category, you can bring up earlier posts – and I hope you will.)
We’ve got countless lakes at every turn, gorgeous weather and amazing vineyards as well as sports, casinos, festivals, concerts, theaters, galleries, universities, zoos, great restaurants, parks and markets….you get it, right?
I’m sharing a couple of slideshows of road trips I’ve made over the last four weeks, from St Clair and Marysville to Traverse City, Lake Leelanau, Cedar and Suttons Bay. If you have a chance to visit Michigan, these are a few of my favorite places.
2. Traverse City, Cedar, Lake Leelanau & Suttons Bay
With the first of our three day Fourth of July weekend, the weather here in Michigan couldn’t be any more perfect. In fact ever since Wednesday this week it has been gorgeous including cooler nights and even a pretty solid and much needed rainfall in the wee hours Friday.
Spence and I choose to stay home on holiday weekends as the majority of the state heads “up north”. The Great Lakes State, Michigan has much to offer the farther north you travel and it’s stunning. However, there’s also traffic, construction and people pulling boats, jetskis and various other toys. We’re retired and can travel anytime plus when everybody else leaves town, it’s quiet and laid back.
With a soft breeze, brilliant blue sky and fluffy white clouds drfting above us we’re enjoying the garden. I picked the first 5 raspberries earlier, eating them right off the bush, like a bite of warm raspberry pie. In a bit, Spence will fire up the grill and I’ll open a bottle of wine and we’ll be chillin’.
Indeed, it’s a perfectly beautiful Saturday.
Forty seventh thing: The next entry in this series of things that make me happy is new experiences. Since retiring, I have had a number of new experiences that have enriched my life, making my new “normal” exciting.
Some experiences, such as taking guitar lessons (a life-long dream) turned out differently than I’d imagined. It was hard – awkward, painful and clearly not for me. Others, blogging, yoga, meditation, writing, culinary knife skills – I truly enjoy.
This past weekend, I attended my first opera, “Orpheus and Eurydice”produced by the Opera Grand Rapids. Loving music, theater and dance, I was intrigued and was sure it would be great. In truth, it was more than I could have imagined, it was magical.
Photos courtesy of Opera Grand Rapids Facebook page
Due to my unfamiliarity with this story I sought out a synopsis via Wikipedia, finding that it is comes from mythology, a subject I’d loved in high school. The story is compelling, a love so great that after his wife Eurydice dies tragically, Orpheus travels into Hell to bring her back.
The staging was set in modern day, simple yet dramatic and very effective. There were three leads, dancers and a chorus, a small cast I learned (compared to grand operas). The orchestra (while not visible from the pit) was amazing as was the haunting music. There was a screen along the top of the stage which supplied translation of the lyrics making the story easier to follow.
“Orpheus and Eurydice” was fascinating and performed beautifully – the singing and acting conveying a deeply moving love story.
I’m so grateful to my dear friend for sharing her love of opera with me. It was the highlight of an absolutely stellar girl’s weekend and a new experience that I’ll never forget.
Photos courtesy of Opera Grand Rapids Facebook page
For more on this series, “59 Candles, 59 Things” just click on 59 Things under categories.
Last Saturday, my sister and I attended Adam Lambert’s concert at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. Having been die-hard fans since his first audition on American Idol (which he should have won!) this is my second (her third) time seeing him perform.
When we saw him last, he was touring with Queen (there’s an earlier post on that concert). He was brilliant – the vocals so beautifully echoing the magnificent, gone-too-young Freddie Mercury. Bliss.
This time, Adam performed his music including a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” which rocked the house. Adam is a natural and gifted performer, singing and dancing, while flashing that gorgeous, mega-watt smile – truly riveting to watch.
Michigan has been my home for all of my 59 years. By November, leaves are off the trees, the variety of fall colors are a sweet but fading memory. And it’s time to break out the jackets – or at least the sweaters.
Not this year. The Autumn of 2015, has to be the most beautiful in my recollection. On Monday it reached 79 degrees at home though I was en route to Traverse City (northwest Michigan) with my lifelong BFF. I think Traverse City easily reached 75 degrees on Monday with Tuesday and Wednesday equally warm. On Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., I was standing in the sand, wearing flipflops and taking photos of the crystal blue water, lighthouse, sunset and amazed at our good fortune.
The color change, which historically would be over by now, was in full glory. It wasn’t just warm, it was sunny and the sky was brilliant, painting the trees with light. Driving the two lane roads throughout the countryside, we marveled at every turn. I love Michigan and this time of year is always something special, though often it’s brief. I’m so grateful to be able to experience it in retirement.
Everyday, this was my view – it was hard to leave such beauty. You can smell the fresh scent of pine in the air.
As we were packing the car for our return trip, I noticed mushrooms sprouting along the forest floor.
What a magical couple of days!
Thirty-second thing: One of the things that makes me happy takes place a mere ten minute drive from our home and is one of the most fun things to do in Michigan. The Michigan Renaissance Festival is held in nearby Holly Michigan and is an experience unlike any other. Each weekend, encompassing seven weeks, thousands of people flock to this festival. Here’s a bit of history, courtesy of http://www.michrenfest.com:
History
For 37 years, the Michigan Renaissance Festival has provided Holly with a unique venue that regularly attracts more than 250,000 visitors from Michigan, surrounding states and Canada. When the Festival first began back in 1979 on the grounds of Columbiere in Clarkston, Michigan, the Renaissance Festival attracted 11,000 patrons during its 5 weekend event. Years later the Festival found a more permanent home where it currently stands, just 12 miles south of Flint on Dixie Highway.
Spence and I have attended this event for nearly thirty years and though at least 65% or more of attendees dress in Renaissance garments, we do not. That doesn’t deter us from the sheer joy of people watching. Yesterday was a perfect autumn day – sunny and in the 60’s with a light breeze as opposed to those weekends we’ve attended when it’s been in the nineties – hot and dusty. We arrived at 10:00 (when the gates open) and departed around 3:00. The festival grows every year with more beautiful landscaping and permanent structures. There are shows, rides (man-powered as in Renaissance times) jousting, a parade (see video at the end of this post), camel rides and petting zoos and endless food choices (I favor the Scotch Egg, others wait in line for grilled turkey drumsticks to name a few) plus beer and wine for the adults. People bring their dogs – often in costumes. If you’re in Michigan from August-early October, I recommend this event!
The parade is something special to see:
I’m a Michigan girl, born and raised, proud of it. Here’s a shout-out for one of our great crops. Looking forward to Autumn, visiting orchards, making apple crisps, pies, apple sauce….🍎
What’s your favorite?
Check out my delicious Apple Crisp recipe by clicking on this link:
https://spencesgirl.com/2014/11/21/apple-crisp/
For more on our day click:
