For the second year in a row, Stephen and I went back to Douglas, a small town in West Michigan.
I had forgotten how beautiful the lake was.
Every night, people come to the beach to watch the sunset.
I was fixated on the birds.
And the reflection of the sun on the rippling water.
One day, the wind picked up and the surf was rough.
We went on walks up and down the beach.
It was good to reflect on where we had been, and where we were going.
I thought about what it might be like to live here as a bird.
They did not seem happy or unhappy.
The shore is marked by rocks that I’m guessing were deposited here at some point during the ice ages.
I went into the sand dunes, which are as magnificent as the lake.
The beach is never crowded.
I’m slightly worried because my friend Liana told me that there was an ad for Saugatuck and Douglas in the New York Times.
It seemed important to document the ‘before’ picture.
I climbed to the top of the hill.
I thought about life as a tree in the pine forest.
I took a selfie with my friends.
As in the desert, there’s a stark beauty to the dunes.
The sky was immense.
There was one path forward.
The beach was littered with remains.
Except for the lapping water, the night was quiet.
