Spring blooms and so does Mackinac...

So here I am at 8am in the morning (Eastern time) after yesterday's two hour drive, 5 hour red-eye, another 4.5 hour drive, and half hour boat ride... I hit "The Island"... (yah!!) .. but then instead of taking a nap like any normal human being would do.. I hit the streets with my camera...

Man I love this place... every season has its reason... and for spring.. its being fresh and new and ready for what's next, whether it's a fresh coat of paint, a new baby flower popping through the ground, or the good ol' local joint opening up from a winter season of hibernation... even the people (my dear dear Mackinac friends) have a new and fresh energy about them... ready for the new possibilities and faces of the upcoming summer..

Over the past year I have officially been on this magical island all four seasons (from 80 degrees of humidity to freezing 7 degrees and everything in between). It is amazing to see how not only the island changes with each degree of difference but so does the wonderful community that makes up this place. Many people only visit this island on a day pass. They see the pretty sites, take the pretty tour, and eat the fudge... but there is so much more... After coming here for almost ten years and having now experienced the middle of winter and the first of spring I see... it's not just the pretty sites and history that make this place so amazing its the people and their hearts that make Mackinac so magical.

To all my dear friends here on the island and to all the residents who make up this place... thank you...

Mackinac is and always will hold a very special place in my heart that always makes me smile...

May all of you find that special place in your hearts as well...

Have a beautiful weekend!

Love,
A

Here are a few of yesterdays' pics of the island getting ready to bloom...
And of course I brought Mom up here for Mother's Day...