Autumn is the best. Autumn is also the shortest, especially in the upper Midwest. We never know when the humidity of summer will break, or when the last wonderfully crisp, sunny day will fade. For me, autumn has typically been a season of refocusing and renewal. This year, however, without the usual schedule of client shoots, concerts, and fundraising events that occur in September and October, I decided to take myself for an artist retreat into autumn. Other than driving north, I had no direction and no expectations. Just a cabin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a couple days exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore at the edge of Lake Superior. The late-fall days were already shortening, and the heavy cloud cover barely allowed the sun through. Still, I wandered trails covered in golden maple leaves, gazed at the that incredible turquoise of Lake Superior, and drove through the pine forests of the north woods. By the time I started back to Chicago, the rain and early snow had shaken most of the trees bare, and the grayness of winter was rolling in.
