Just a little Northern Michigan to share with you today….

Just before we went into Stay Home mode here, I drove up Straits Highway, through Topinabee along Mullett Lake and on up to Mackinaw City in the sunshine. By the time I reached this shore, clouds had rolled in but enough sun and sky was out to sparkle the ice blue. I wondered as I took this series of photos if we were next on lockdown. I wished it wasn’t happening, but then I looked through the viewfinder on my phone and took this picture.

I am compelled to write, to capture this unique part of the world in words and in photography. Nothing makes me feel more comforted, inspired, motivated and free than being outside in Northern Michigan and I’m convinced it’s a feeling that is shared by many many others. I can’t send you a pine cone right now or a waft of pine trees dense with spring rain, but I can remind you of them, of drifts of snow, of summer sunsets and blue waters.

The stars were so brilliant the other night, I was mildly surprised at them for looking so beautiful at such a horrible time, but they gave me hope for another day.

I am grateful to our independent bookstores and hope you’ll visit their websites, order a book, sign up for libro.com subscriptions, buy gift certificates for upcoming graduates, a copy of Walloon Writers Review or a pack of magazines to pass the time. Were it not for independent bookstores, I would not have become a writer. Our small indie stores throughout Michigan preserve the inspiration for young writers, embolden others to begin putting down their stories to share. In these books, and on their covers, interesting photography and art is there to inspire or bring you to a place in time.

I hope you’ll stand outside and catch a ray of sunshine, a flock of birds noisily announcing their arrival, a squirrel running across your path or a handful of stars sparkling at you and find a moment of peace.

-Jennifer Huder, editor