Remember how I mentioned that one of the privileges of being the driver is having the ability to decide where and how often we pull over for a photo op?  I admit to feeling a little guilty about this one, but how could I just drive by the highway overlook when I can see in my rear view mirror that the moon is rising over Lake Superior, just as the sky is turning pink with the sunset?!  Never mind that I have a car full of hungry people, including my parents visiting for the weekend, after we have spent the day hiking and geocaching at various State Parks up and down the North Shore, already running late for something we had planned that evening, with dinner deteriorating into an option between fast-food drive-through lanes another half-hour down the road . . .

The small wayside was full of folks, many with cameras in hand, all with faces turned toward the big, beautiful moon rising above Split Rock Lighthouse.  I have stood on this same spot many times.  I have plenty of photos of the Lighthouse from this same angle, taken at various times over the years.   Yes, one always has the ability to try to revisit scenes such as this through the lens of one’s memory.  But, to just drive by a scene like this and not try to capture it with the camera lens (even if that lens is only attached to a little Canon PowerShot SX130), seemed to suggest a callous regard for the magic the scene represents.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein

I suppose that is why I have many photos from this spot – different times of day, different times of year.  Each time I view the scene, I cannot help but admire the beauty of that old Lighthouse, standing so proudly on the cliff’s edge, looking out over the vast waters of Lake Superior, a graceful blending of the manmade and the natural.  Add the white light of the full moon, the soft hues of the sky surrounding it, and you have one of those moments where your senses remind you to stop and never lose that sense of wonder.

Ciao! ~ Kat