My Favorite Place

I'm not a particularly disciplined person. This is more plain fact than confession. Posting on my own blog every Sunday sometimes feels like work. Being here every third Tuesday is not always easy to remember. Trying to come up with something interesting and engaging to say is even harder. I know, I'm a writer, I should be able to produce a blog post six times a month, right? Not so much.

Liz taught me that when I can't think of something to write about, I should turn to questions I'd ask another author in an interview or lists. Today, you get the answer to a question I'd ask another author. 

Tell me about your favorite place, Nan. 

Thanks for asking, Nan. My very favorite place in the whole world is not Paris--I know y'all were expecting me to say Paris, but Paris is missing one vital element for me--water. Oh, yeah, I know, the River Seine, but it's kinda dirty and stinky, so no. Although I will say if you ask me my second favorite place, it might be Paris because the River Seine notwithstanding, Paris is a wonderful place to visit. So are the mountains of North Carolina as I just discovered during the Word Wranglers retreat a couple of weeks ago.

But I think favorite places should be places you'd move to in a heartbeat if the only person you had to consider in your life was you. For me, that place is Michigan, specifically, well, not so specifically, any little town along the west coast of Michigan. I'll grant you that my politics would probably be just as uncomfortable in Michigan as they are Indiana, but I'm not political enough for that to keep me from finding a cozy lake town and settling in.

The house would be a cottage overlooking the lake, so that every morning, the sun would come in my bedroom window and every evening I could sit on my deck and watch it drop into the lake. Western Michigan sunsets are spectacular and are as much a reason to live there as the lake itself. I love walking on the beach at sunset, feeling the sand sink under my feet as the icy cold tide washes up over my them. 

I love everything about the beach towns in Michigan--towns like Grand Haven, South Haven, Saugatuck, and Frankfort. Yeah, they're touristy in the summer, but that's part of what makes them warm and friendly. How perfect would it be writing in stta bookstore/coffeeshop in Saugatuck? I love lighthouses and boating and climbing the dunes, and swimming in the lake, even though it is chilly! If I couldn't live right on the beach, I'd want to live in town, above a shop or in a little cottage a block or two off Main Street and only a few steps from the water. Being walking distance to everything--restaurants, the beach, the library, the shops...that sounds pretty close to perfect to me.

Lake Michigan is a part of my childhood, a part of my soul--it is where I find inspiration, peace, and happiness, although I'm pretty happy wherever I am, so it's not vital to my happiness. Michigan just adds an extra bonus layer of happy when I'm there. 

So tell me your favorite place in the world. I'd really like to know.

Stay well, stay safe, wear your mask, and always, mes amies, stay grateful!