Tuesday Nov 3rd, 2009 – 1:53p

It's beautiful here... Strangely beautiful. There's the juxtaposition of the dunes over the beauty of pine , the bright blue of the sky, the greenish blue of Lake Michigan and the tan of the dunes. Yes, there are dunes here. Lots and lots and lots and lots of dunes. There's a heck of a lot of sand around these parts.

When I was packing in last night I thought a lot of the ground outside was stone – turns out it's sand. Dig down an inch or two and you hit sand, a find that's different for this Tennessee boy who expects to find red clay when he digs. Ain't much clay 'round these here parts.
I took a leisurely drive around today – went and checked out the sights. It's a beautiful area and is sparsely populated until you get about 1/4 mile from any significant body of water. Then it makes me think of what the mountainous areas around Gatlinburg will look like in 30 years – only less tacky on the whole. There are cabins scattered everywhere and I even saw one who's roof overhung the roof of the neighbors cabin. The biggest difference is the dirt roads (well, mostly hard-packed sand). They're everywhere. I learned today that a non-maintained road really means non-maintained. I barely squeezed the Suburban through one set of trees.

Today's reading: Mere Christianity and When the Lion Feeds (Wilbur Smith...)