Elberta Beach, “E Beach”, Elberta, Michigan
Saturday, July 12, 2025
73 degrees wind gusting up to 14 miles per hour
Super windy day today with heavy cloud cover and even some smatterings of rain on and off. It’s so windy that the heavy clouds are racing past the sun over and over again and you’ll never know if you’ll be in the sun’s shining light or a tropical depression of shade from minute to minute. Plans to go to a beach with Eddie today fell through. That’s just the way it is. Being a business owner means making your own schedule. It means not making only a dime when your boss makes a dollar. However, it also means having to leave at a moment's notice for 3 or 12 hours at a time. It could be 4am and Eddie will leave our bedroom in the cover of darkness for a trip across state for gift of life. Or it could be a Saturday when I was desperately needing his companionship at the end of a depressing shift at work but he has to leave to pick up a body down state and then embalm it 3 hours away. He won’t be back until after I’m in bed.
I’m just curious- what would you rather have? A 9-5 where there isn’t much room to move up and even when your work is done you are made to stay put, but, your time is off is your time off and your sleep and workout schedule can be rock solid if you choose? Or would you rather be an entrepreneur where your income is never set in stone from day to day but you are also free to grow as big as you want? It’s interesting for me to think about which kind of people chose which kind of life. I myself am on the grad school path to social work so especially my first couple years of my career- I will be a slave to the government working in public health or community mental health. I know my suffering is close at hand but I crave true meaning in what I do with my time.
I had to make the trek out here alone and I enjoyed the solace of an hour’s drive by my lonesome. I am trying to get away from my melancholy. But I feel hopeful, truly, about the future. I am nervous for the many big changes that are yet to come in the 2nd half of this year. It’s going to be tiring. But I’m hoping the Momma big Lake can set my soul at ease. I arrive at 3pm. I first get to a dead end with a fence blocking my view from an adorable lighthouse. I take a picture through the chain-link. Then I reset my course, find the hairpin turn past the “Elberta Beach” sign and drive up a hill on twisty turny road through a shady forest. It’s so pretty. I am in awe. Then I come upon a turn out for a view over the cliff. I decided to save that for after my beach walk. I then take another sharp turn and go down a very steep hill on a narrow road that leads to the beach parking lot. There’s bathrooms and a pavilion. An ADA path leads out to the beach. I turn a corner past dune grass hills and the startling view of dark, dark blue water and white caps plasters itself against my eyes with the wind. I immediately can’t hear anything over the gusts but the view is truly breathtaking. The sun is beaming off the water. It’s so bright and so loud. Almost shocking. There is a pier that leads out to a lighthouse to my right and a very long stretch of beach to my left that eventually leads to distant massive and steep sleeping bear dunes. I set my timer for 15 minutes and start walking. I am feeling a little weak and tired so I stop at only 8 minutes in and find a giant old tree trunk turned driftwood to perch on. I could scream out here and I don’t think the other people could hear me over the sound of the wind and waves.
It’s so windy but it's so beautiful. The rough waves look like slate topped coffee tables from the 1970s that my grandma Judy used to have. I sit in on my driftwood and take some selfies. There are a few people out here. Some are wind surfing. I drove an hour West today after work just to be here. Just to make a promise to myself. I didn't even stop to eat. I'm so hungry and I feel kind of shaky but the views are worth it. I can't believe how incredible this beach is. It’s like a movie set. I feel like I'm on the edge of the world. I feel like I'm at the ocean. The dunes that I see in the distance here are so big that they look like something from Mars.
Walk back to my car and I am pleased to feel sun kissed, wind whipped and happy to be in the warmth and silence of my car that I haven't started yet. I am grateful to God for everything. For my soft and easy life right now. For my hope in the future. For the strength He gave me that gets me through bouts of depression and anxiety. The creativity He gives me that allows me to write about my experiences so that you can read it and feel peace about your own struggles or maybe distraction from your life. I pull back up the steep drive to the turn out to take a few more snapshots. The view is breathtaking all over again.
Now I get to drive home and make dinner. I made myself a vow that I will not stop at A&W to get corn dog bites. No, I will not stop at the roadside cherry stands for cherry tarts and pie. No, I still will not stop at the gas stations for a slushie and candy. I will be frugal and I will eat food tonight that truly only nourishes my body. I make a salmon bowl and put half in the fridge along with a bowl of berries for Eddie to eat when he gets home at 3am. I’m glad I came.
Feeling hazy
In the ballroom of my mind
Across the county line
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