The Journey
Welcome to The Journey, a space where Mary McKSchmidt shares her transition from business executive to advocate, photographer, poet, and storyteller. Here, she invites you to walk alongside her as she explores life in the Great Lakes region, its beauty and fragility, and the bonds that connect us all.
A Thought from Wasson Peak
When the exuberance of springupstages the desert’s preferencefor dusty grays, browns and milky greens,know I will be late for...
Split Pea Soup
The man approached the microphone in a jam-packed public hearing of the International Joint Commission (IJC) last September holding a jar of what looked like grungy split pea soup. “This is the water that came out of my faucet last week just before the city shut...
A Storyteller’s Gift Box
What is the greatest gift a storyteller can offer? A story, of course. And for me, one who delights in telling stories about celebrating and protecting nature, particularly the Great Lakes, the more stories I have in my box, the better! As one who has...
Embracing Technology to Share One’s Passion
On Saturday, February 8th at 7:00 p.m. at the Gillette Nature Center at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Norton Shores, Michigan, I will be introducing the second edition of Tiny Treasures: Discoveries Made Along the Lake Michigan Coast. In this artistic...
Dropping Stones
Feet buried in the hot sand, the sun’s intense heat stinging my shoulders, I feel a slight breeze stirring Lake Michigan. It sends ripples of cool water rolling quietly towards my feet. Closing my eyes, I feel the heaviness of my heart. I asked my mother once how...
“What is Your Deepest Dream?”
The question on the page stops me and I place the book on my lap, reflecting on a prayer whispered earlier as dawn etched the clouds hovering over the jagged peaks of the Catalina Mountains. The question, posed to author BettyClare Moffatt in her...
A Gift From My Mother
Her posture defies the fragility of glass defining her structure. One hand stretches to the skies, the other she plants firmly on her hip. The fire red of passion bleeds with the sunshine of hope, a current of energy flowing through the solid base of her body. Six...
Terror in the Straits
My heart was pounding beneath a rain coat crushed against my body by a stiff lifejacket zipped firmly from waist to neck. Sheets of rain engulfed me as I attempted to keep the sailboat pointed into the wind, to keep gale force winds from grabbing the giant mainsail...
Protecting the Saugatuck Dunes
If you are a Michigan resident, would you take a moment to consider signing a petition you will find at www.tinyurl.com/SaugatuckDunes ? The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is currently considering a wetlands fill permit needed to...
Flyers
Several years ago I spoke with my Congressman about the need to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He told me I was the only one who ever contacted him about the Great Lakes. “Jobs,” he said. “All I hear about is the need for jobs.” To him I was a flyer....
A Cry for Help
I stand before Lake Michigan listening to the roar of waves crashing wildly against the sand. It has been days since she was calm, as if she knows of the recent recommendation made by the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee to slash the funding for the Great...
The Meaning of Family
It was my grandmother, a woman known as “Mom,” who first taught me the meaning of family. A widower since her youngest twins were just shy of eleven, she asked her seven children to gather after World War II to celebrate the safe return of her sons. It became...