Mandala Monday ~ Lake Superior Rocks

A mandala I made from some of the rocks I’ve collected along the North Shore of Lake Superior…

Creating this one messed with me a bit because not all of them are uniform in size, shape or color.  But I still like the way it turned out, and it was fun to experiment making a mandala out of rocks.  I love rocks!  This is laid out in the middle of my patio at the moment and will probably stay there until I feel like arranging them into something new.

Here are some of the rocks I collected on my last little trip up along the North Shore…

Quite a haul.  I know… I’m such a thief!  😉

  They may not look like anything special in the photo, but each individual one spoke to me in some way as I explored along the shore in various areas.  The jagged-shaped ones on the upper right side were collected on the cliff I hiked that I wrote about in my Edge of the World post and hold special meaning for me.  But they’re all special.

I feel like most of the rocks I used in the mandala though were from ones I already had from previous trips before.  You may recall my sweet little granddaughter checking out my pile of rocks from an earlier Mandala Monday post…

I know it’s not really ‘right’ to take things from natural areas, but I’m always reverent toward nature.  And trust me, there’s literally gazillions of rocks up there – maybe more!  At any given moment if you look down while walking along the shore, this is what you see…

Unless you’re at Iona’s Beach where almost all of the rocks are a pink/salmon color.  It’s actually kind of a bizarre sight, but also super cool.  And nestled amidst them here and there you can find little dark gray/bluish ones that provide quite the contrast.  When my sis and I visited there this last time, someone had left this…

Looks like they love rocks too – and spreading the love!

❤

 

Happy Mandala Monday!  Here’s to spreading some love in the coming week!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Silent Sunday

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

On the Edge of the World

Feeling triumphant, I catch my breath

and gaze out at the vast expanse

blue, as far as the eye can see

A stunning view, as sky and water coalesce

I’m filled with gratitude and awe 

standing on the edge of the world

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2019

 

I’ve explored along the north shore of Lake Superior so many times throughout my life, but somehow have never noticed this sign tucked off to the side of the road…

In fact, I’d never even heard of Palisade Head.  (I feel like a bad Minnesotan).  But on one of my little adventures this summer, my sister noticed it on the map while we were on our way to a different spot along the lake, so we decided to check it out. And omygosh it was absolutely breathtaking! 😍

There was a beautiful scenic overlook from the parking area, and that sight alone was amazing, but off to the side of the parking area, we found a place where you could climb up onto the rocks.  It was precarious looking and we both felt a slight bit of trepidation, but my sister had recently acquired a couple of sets of trekking poles (totally gonna get me some of those!), so we swallowed our fear and set off.

Some of you know that almost 3 years ago, I underwent a double knee replacement 5 months apart.  I’m so very grateful for my new knees, I never would have been able to do this (and many other things) without them!  But what you probably don’t know is that my sister also underwent a double knee replacement herself a couple of years prior to mine.  So this little hike on the edge of the world was sort of a big deal for both of us.  There were moments when we were both on the verge of tears, feeling deeply grateful for the ability and the gift of being able to explore in this way.

I’m not much of a risk taker or thrill-seeker, but I am adventurous – especially when it comes to exploring nature, so being able to get out and hike on this cliff, to see the views that only those with able bodies get to witness, was very meaningful to me.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy (I’m still not exactly ‘able-bodied’), and I was afraid, but with my sister’s encouragement (and her trekking poles), I did it!  And it really did feel like I was standing on the edge of the world.

I couldn’t really even see my phone screen in the bright sunlight, and these pictures do not do the spectacular view justice, but here are a few photos I snapped…

In this next one,  I was trying to take a picture of my sister, but I couldn’t even see her on my screen, so I was just guessing where she was in the shot haha!  Oops, crooked horizon…

What she was looking at, that you can’t see in the picture, was a guy who was climbing down the face of the cliff.  He was older guy and had Led Zeppelin blaring on some device, which was fun, but it did affect the vibe a bit, so I was glad when I couldn’t hear it anymore and could just listen to nature sounds.

We live on such a beautiful planet…

🌎

 

Wishing you a day filled with beauty, and with…

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

 

Sunrise Sunday

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent from blogland lately, I’ve been off having lots of adventures this summer.  I hope to have the chance to share a little about them with all of you sometime soon.  But for now, here’s a lovely sunrise over Lake Superior that I was fortunate to witness the other day…

My heart is overflowing with gratitude – for so many reasons…

❤

 

 

Hope yours is too!  Wishing you all a beautiful, blessed day!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Silent Sunday

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Capturing a Waterfall

 

Cool refreshing waters flow

traversing land formed long ago

 

A thunderous sound roaring wild and free

nothing can contain its jamboree

 

As it rushes over the steep rock wall

I attempt to capture a waterfall

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

 

My sister snapped the above photo of me as I was attempting to ‘capture’ the Upper Gooseberry Falls during a trip up to Lake Superior for my birthday last month.   I didn’t realize that she was including me in her photograph, I thought she was standing beside me taking a picture of the falls too, but it’s cool to see the perspective she captured with me off to the side like that.

 

Here’s what my perspective looked like.  Although I can’t really tell from the photo above which way I was holding my camera at the time, I know it was one of these two shots that I was taking, because the people are in the same positions as the one my sister took…

 

Speaking of people – there were tons of people all over the place while we were there, so it was hard to get a photo without people in it.  They were especially noticeable when I zoomed in…

 

I also had a hard time getting a shot of the Middle Falls without there being people in it…

But I mostly had a hard time taking this one because I had to climb over to a very precarious spot on the edge of the cliff to capture it at this angle – and I was in flip flops, which are not exactly the safest shoes for rock climbing.  😉

 

Here is a  shot I snapped of the middle falls once we ‘climbed’ down below…

Finally one without any people.

 

Well, except for this strange lady who was creeping behind me…

My seester   ❤

Who was once again taking pictures of me taking pictures.  But this time I was taking one of her too.  She’s not the only one who can be sneaky!

😉

 

Gooseberry Falls State Park is a beautiful place and I had a wonderful time there capturing waterfalls with my sister.

 

Hope you capture something beautiful today…

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Seaside Serenade

 

Refreshing winds blow across a liquid expanse of blue

invigorating my senses

Air and water coalesce in a magnificent duet

serenading my soul

as the waves caress the shore

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

~

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿