Haserot Beach



Haserot Beach 4064 Swaney Road, Traverse City, MI 49686




Friday July 11, 2025 2pm-4pm


We drove down the peninsula past barns and flower stands to the only developed public beach on Old Mission peninsula. The drive both up and down this stretch of land in between the two Grand Traverse bays offers my favorite vistas in all of northern Michigan. We do this drive several times a year just to talk, smoke, see changing leaves and views of the turquoise water and generally just feel better about ourselves and our lives. I remember who the hell I am and where I live and how lucky my life is when I drive this route.


A road off the beaten path past private residences and a replica log cabin brought us to our destination. We took the last spot in the small parking lot located next to the beach. I immediately noticed a nice mix of sand and rocks. Two seagull friends greeted us when we arrived and we were able to lay down our blanket and towel a nice distance away from everyone else. There were families swimming, golden retrievers swimming with sticks in their mouths and sailboats anchored beyond the buoys.


Today I was looking for a change in mood and perspective and hoping this beach can save the day. It’s 74 degrees and sunny and feels much warmer in the unblocked sun. There is a very light intermittent breeze. A gull tosses a fish prize around and brings it out for a swim in deeper water. I think he’s showing off in the hopes that a mate will come by to share a snack. I wish him well and I wish him luck. When lying on my stomach, I'm reading a booked titled “The Cat I Never Named”, which is a memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive in the midst of the Bosnian genocide-and the stray cat who protected her family through it all. When lying on my back, I talk to Eddie as we discuss business plans, talk about dreams and goals and (shockingly) put an offer in on a house next door that would give us more space and the ability to rent out the house we live in now. It was giving summer 2021 vibes in the sense that we were sitting on the beach in the middle of a work day and thanking God that we own a business that allows us to make our own hours and be at the beach in the middle of a weekday. I was getting the feeling that anything could happen and that’s exactly what I needed to feel on a day like today.


Sometimes the summer can make you feel like you aren’t doing enough with your time. You worry you are not spending enough time outside, that you aren’t exercising enough amid the hotdogs and ice cream or your hobbies are being abandoned by the constant need to sit outside just for the sake of nice weather. So then are you spending TOO much time outside? I can understand how some people get seasonal depression during the summer as opposed to the winter which is what most people think of when SAD is brought up. This year my major goal and theme was to “do more with less”. Making this beach bucket list is the perfect way to encapsulate this idea. I want to celebrate more frugally. Do more with what I already have. Do less spending and more luxuriating in what’s already here for the taking and free. My job at the library is an excellent way to highlight the use of this “third space” that is becoming increasingly rare in our society. We are expected to spend money everywhere we go and everything we view online is telling us to spend more and buy more. The library is free in the sense that you aren’t expected to buy anything in order to spend time there. Same thing with my local beaches. Other free things I’m doing this summer is riding our bikes through town, attempting to become someone who runs by doing very slow jogs through our favorite neighborhoods, watching movies outside (we moved our garage tv to our cabana), having bonfires, people watching and firework admiring during cherry festival, walking in our festival’s Cherry Royal parade with our local American Legion and handing out flags to kids (ok the legion paid for the flags). but seeing the look on a baby’s face when you hand them their first American flag? That’s free! So although I am highlighting what I’ve done for free so far this summer, the truth is that we still did a 9 day road trip and ate too much and spent probably too much and my gym membership has been getting neglected the past 3 weeks. After reviewing all of my goals and baking in the sun and sweating out all of the “should haves” and “could haves” of the past week, it was time to get in the water.


The water was refreshing! Chilly because we had such a late spring and long winter this year. I can’t believe it’s almost half way through July and I’m just now getting to my first beach on the list. I have only done some beach walks this year. I certainly haven’t been swimming. Only if you count my little pink pool. I have about 5 weeks before grad school starts and so I need to average about 2 -3 beaches a week to make my goal. We’ll see if I get there! It helps that some of the beaches on my list are designated dinner/lunch picnic trips, long walks, rock hunting, and star gazing. This way not all of my visits are destined for the later morning early afternoon like most beach visits. I dunked my body so quickly that you probably wouldn’t have even noticed that I got in at all. It was exhilarating and gave me what I needed to do a few more flip flops of my body in the hot sun. There are some private residences next door and I watched as people ran to the end of the dock at their lake house and jumped into the water. It looked so fun. At one point someone came to the dock to tell the kids “foods here” and I watched two people bring boxes of what I imagined were locally made sandwiches- which is perfect for a lake day. Then the whole family got into their boat and motored away and I ran out of people to watch.


Once we left I was sufficiently hugged by the sun. My skin was pink and my eyes were red thanks to my pen Penelope Puff. She’s also pink. We listened to music on loud and drove with the moonroof open and a/c on high. After we got home we rinsed off in our rock shower, walked to the local market to get some cherries, and then grilled dinner outside. Our night’s entertainment was the movie “Bring Her Back”. A horror film (summerween is here!) and we watched it in our backyard. It was actually scary so I was satisfied with my pick! Eddie had a cigar and cocktails. All's right with the world when I go to bed at 9:30. Nice and early only feeling a bit hungry and sober to prepare me for an early Saturday morning for a shift at the library.










That I've been dying
For something real

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