–  Thomas C. Brooks, Toledo, OH

This photo was shot this June while I was staying at Falling Waters. I spent all my summers in Leland two doors down from the Elders on Whaleback when the cottage was owned by the Blackledge family. Mr. Hall bought it for a steal and we continued renting it until the late 70's when my grandmother decided she was too old, and since my dad had a sailboat down here in Toledo I guess that was enough for him. But I still visit every year. Being one who remembers the Merc with a screen door that slammed shut on a spring behind you (now that is going back a ways) I have a different memory of Leland than what it is now. Back then Jim's soda shop was the place to hang, and walking home down the Indiana Woods road in the pitch black was always thrilling.

– Tom Brooks, Toledo, OH

It's documented in the family journals; I have been a Leelanau lover since I was 6 months old. Elouise would get the Sharpie out and mark mine and my sisters' annual growth every time we stopped into Leland's cheese shanty as kids. 22+ years later, faint height measurements can still be seen, written on the frame of the beverage cooler. Leelanau county is an incredibly special place for many, and will always be one of my personal "must visit"s.

– Sarah Councilor, Southgate, MI

Picture credit: Keith Burnham, Leland (see the Leland Report)

Ode to the Fishing Boat 

When I was a young boy,
I met a girl,
along a nameless green canal.

(Read on …)

Text from previous posting, click here.

– Grant Cone, Occoquan, VA & Northport, MI