November 13, 2018
…Let me begin by saying that I love Beech trees. This is most likely due to the love that my dad has for them which he developed when he was a young boy. I have heard tales of a small forgotten corner of Cherokee, Alabama that once was home to some of the most beautiful Beech trees in that part of the world and coincidentally some of the best squirrel hunting as well. That stand of smooth gray barked Beech trees have been all but erased from memory by younger generations of owners who cut them for timber but there was still a young boy who remembered them and grew up to pass on his love and respect for them to his own son. My dad will have to tell his story another day.
I have never been to Michigan except for once while passing through the Detroit airport on the way to another destination. I have always had an interest in history and had recently listened to Donald Rumsfeld’s book “When the Center Held” about the 38th President of the United States Gerald R. Ford. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and The Gerald R. Ford Museum is also located in Grand Rapids and so is Ford’s resting place. Naturally when I had the opportunity to join my dad on one of his regular trips to Grand Rapids I jumped at the chance.
Obviously my main interest in going was to visit the Ford Presidential Museum but I am always open to other adventures. On our first day in town only minutes after getting to our hotel room inside the Prince Conference Center on the Calvin College campus we were deciding how to spend our afternoon and my dad looks out the window of the hotel room, overlooking a green lawn despite the fact that the afternoon was gray and windswept with snow flakes beginning to fall and be carried away with the piercing cold wind of the afternoon, and points to a trail leading into the woods behind the property. He said that the trail circles through the woods and back to the same entrance and we decide to take a stroll. He had been there before and explained that there were some beautiful Beech trees that he had photographed during a past trip at a different time of year when the leaves were a tender green compared to the stark site of this winter afternoon which left the trees looking gray except for the few leaves that hang onto Beech trees just a little longer than most other trees and are a brilliant orange in a sea of gray. The photos below capture what I find most captivating about Beech Trees.
After our afternoon of exploration in the woods behind the Prince Conference Center we ventured into town via my first Lyft ride and had dinner at The Green Well where we spent too much money on some very enjoyable food.