And then I was home.

Home, to my beach, my lake, my dunes, my woods. Yes, I was home again.

The water welcomed me back by showing itself in an extraordinary green hue and the waves tumbled over themselves in an effort to get to me first, to welcome me home with their soothing, rhythmic music. A blast of wind rushed over the water and blew my hair every which way, half blinding me with it's exuberant greeting after my long absence. Sand filled my shoes in an attempt to weigh me down, to prevent my leaving again.

There was a bit of housekeeping to do. Footprints needed to be laid down so I could find my way up and down the beach and rocks needed to be placed upon their pedestals again. They must have fallen during the winter storms.

A father and his young daughter needed to explore the shore again, you know, to make sure no rocks had gone missing. (That would be my oldest son and my granddaughter.)

Sir K was eager to do some reverse river tracing. This is one of our favorite rivers as it's only 2 miles down the beach from our campground and we can easily spend a entire afternoon playing in the water, climbing the dunes, hiking up to the falls, lazing on the beach as we inspect rocks...there is always something to do here.

The ascent. Daddy and Sir S have scrabbled their way up the river to the falls. Now what?

Ah yes, Daddy shows the little one how to pick his way amoung the rocks and place his feet sturdily in the stream, picking their way higher and higher.

Conquest. They've made it to the top. They'll continue moving upstream and I'll lose sight of them for the next few hours as they explore deep into the woods, and they couldn't be happier. They will eventually show up back at camp long after the rest of us have returned and begun the process of preparing dinner. Boys...

Youngest son also picks his way carefully. He's familiar with the nooks and crannies of the ascent - he's been doing this since he was a boy.

He knows from experience that these rocks are slippery. All fours is truly the best way to scale the face.

To the victor!

The beautiful Sable (Sah-ble)Falls. We've been climbing these falls for 20 years and getting to them always brings us joy. I never tire of watching and listening to the water tumble over the rocks.

And here we have Taiwan son who is so not used to the cold Lake Superior shore. It is good to have him back with me for a while.

Stay tuned, there is more to come...