Beach Goers

It seems every year, right after Labor Day, everything takes on a different look. The clouds and sky seem more vivid, the sun all of a sudden moves to a drastically different angle, and the days seem cooler and windy. I'm sure it has a lot to do with Fall approaching, and perhaps Labor Day simply provides a point of reference where we begin to notice these changes that have taken place for weeks prior. With early morning temperatures in the low 60's, and winds howling across Lake Michigan, we still set out in shorts and short sleeves to explore the beaches of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Nothing unusual there - we visit in January too! After a walk along the shore, the sun warmed things up, and we took to the water. The winds were whipping up the lake, creating some high waves, and pushing the water onto the beach, up to the dunes in some places. We witnessed the collapse of small portions of the dunes as the waves hit - something natural, and not due to people walking on them as the park service might seem to indicate with the closing of the paths on most every dune in Indiana. Due to man? Maybe; the construction of the Michigan City pier generations ago has starved these beaches of sand. Many people have closed up their summer cabins, taken their boats out of the water, and no longer think about visiting the beach, but we're still in summer mode, enjoying the sun, sand, and surf.