Still There

In spite of the Buddhist notion of impermanence that I’ve tried to embrace, I’m a big fan of continuity. It warms my heart when I return to a place I’ve been away from and see the same places that I’ve developed an affection for. Like here in our little summer paradise in northern Michigan. Most importantly, the embrace of the constant Lake Michigan. There are small changes—some years the beach is narrow, sometimes wide, sometimes there are lots of stones, others few, sometimes the waters cold, sometimes warm, but the changes are small and predictable in their own way. There is that happy feeling of something we can count on to welcome us back. And thanks to the Nature Conservancy, it is all protected from further human invasion and development. 

 

In the surrounding area, we have our favorite spots we look forward to re-visiting. In the nearby town of Frankfort, there’s the lovely library, the Cool Spot Ice Cream Parlor, the Garden Movie Theater, the Cabbage Shed Restaurant. The cornfields still wave to us as we bike by, Mystery Hill still astonishes us as we seem to coast uphill, the Sugar Bowl sand dune remains constant as our ability to climb it is tested year after year— almost 50 years now that we’ve been doing it! Of course, the ebb and flow of businesses happens here as it does everywhere. No more Brookside Restaurant or Conundrum Café or Trick Dog Gallery. But the Gwen Frostig store lives on, the Miniature Golf place is holding steady and joy of all joys, the Cherry Bowl Drive-In continues its 50’s nostalgia family-fare movie showings.

 

That’s where we went last night to see Inside Out 2 and it was especially fun as granddaughter Zadie is here with her friend Zulia who had never been to a Drive-In. But there’s trouble in paradise as I talked to the ticket-taker about the fact that the Drive-in is up for sale and while they’re hoping to find a buyer who will keep it open, there’s a chance that they won’t be able to and it will meet its demise. Fingers crossed that last night was not my last hurrah at the Drive-In, but it’s possible. Any buyers out there?

 

Meanwhile, life goes on, things ebb and flow and come and go like the tide and we mortal humans would do well to remember to savor everything we love while we can.