When I was a kid, the lady next door would always make a pot of beans. I remember the smell and taste of those beans. As a kid, I did not like them. As an adult, it takes me to a warm memory.

This year I stopped at the barbecue place in East Texas. Those beans took me back to the memory of the lady next door who made a pot of beans.

Travel in teams. Groups. With someone else.

It may seem like you are all alone. You are not. This is a view of Lake Michigan.

It is during the times of dark clouds and choppy water that we realize how resilient we are. If it were always sunshine and blue skies we would never know what we could do.

Lake Michigan is one of five great lakes and about 12 million people get water from it. This is the calm.