I guess it's becoming pretty obvious that this city girl couldn't get enough views of barns and fields during my week in northern Michigan. While most vacationers either stay in resort towns close to Lake Michigan or rent cabins beside one of the countless smaller lakes nearby, I was fortunate to be with friends who live out in the country. I was also fortunate to be there when the long-awaited rains came.

After five weeks without a drop of rain, the land was looking pretty sad on my drive up north on Sunday. And it didn't help that the temperatures that day were in the mid-90s F (35 C). But as you'll see if you go to my Northern Michigan photo gallery, the weather turned my first night there and precious rains soaked the earth until midday on Monday. Then more showers came through on Tuesday, so that everything became lush and green with that marvelous earthy smell that, for me, always brings back sweet memories of childhood.

By the way, I'm continuing to add photos to that gallery, and I'm not done yet...