Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the last dozen miles or so through open fields in a pelting downpour and bolted straight
for the Best Western.
Riding in wet weather can be discomforting—usually is, in fact—partly because with
slippery terrain and limited visibility (especially if you wear glasses, as I do) it can be
dangerous, and partly because being soggy and cold is an added physical tax to an
already taxing enterprise. But there is something rewarding about it, too—namely, the
ruggedness you feel while you're doing it, the damn-the-torpedoes attitude that accom-
panies forward movement through a cloudburst.
The views over Lake Michigan from the eastern shore, the angry clouds, and the for-
bidding water meeting way out on the horizon are pretty thrilling in the rain, I have to
say. Just south of Douglas, I took a little detour of the main road and found a two-lane
path in front of some Victorian-style mansions on a high bluff along the water. As I rode
by, I noticed a woman to my right standing quietly with her back to me, looking out
over the water and holding an umbrella, leaning it on one shoulder so that it sheltered
her from the rain and hid her head and shoulders from me. It was a painting in real life,
and I stopped and looked closely at the scene—the misty air over the eerily calm wa-
ter, the steely sky, the bushes like clumps of long grass growing on top of the bluff, the
umbrella woman standing on a wooden deck and gazing out at the vast empty space, I
supposed, like the French lieutenant's woman. It was really lovely.
After a few seconds, the woman moved, turning away from the water. I think she was
startled to see me there watching her, but I asked her, before she went back into the
house she'd obviously come from, Would she return to her place with the umbrella over
her shoulder so I could take a picture? And she did.
She left after a little while, abruptly pivoting on her heel, and never said a word to
me as she crossed the road into her front yard, opened the door to the house, and was
gone.
