To view or leave comments on this story, click HERE.
(Editor’s Note: Harry Phillips, whose poem, “We Live Here Content,” I recently posted here, shares more thoughts about how fortunate we are to live on this beautiful Old Mission Peninsula we call home. -jb)
Old Mission Gazette is Reader Supported.
Click Here to Keep the Gazette Going.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
In my poem, “We Live Here Content, an Ode to OMP,” I conveyed the importance of this place, Old Mission Peninsula, which we all call home. As a relatively new resident of OMP, I have come to appreciate the natural beauty, clean air, spectacular views and magnificent wildlife we all enjoy here.
There’s so much more, as well, such as the Peninsula Community Library, Mission Point Lighthouse, Old Mission State Park, Bowers Harbor Park, our places of worship, and the award-winning wineries and other gathering places where we can catch up with friends while having a bite and a beverage.
And of course, there are all the happenings in our community, such as Peninsula Insights, the OMP Historical Society, OMPUMC’s annual chicken BBQ dinner, the classic car shows at St. Joseph Catholic Church and taking art classes at Tinker Studio.
Where else can you wake up and watch a motorized paraglider fly past along East Bay? Or how about enjoying a refreshing ice cream cone at Buchan’s Blueberry Hill on a warm summer’s day? We are very fortunate to live in such a wonderful and interesting community.
Recently, my wife Mary and I had dinner with our neighbors Kathy and Bob Coleman at Jolly Pumpkin. We had not seen each other in a while, and it was great to get together with them and share our stories about family and those things we of the more experienced age group contend with.
Kathy and Bob are nice folks, and we are fortunate to have them as neighbors. Imagine my surprise when the Colemans began telling us about their daughter, Julie Coleman, whose work in the international community included Haiti and Kosovo, two places where my military career took me.
Julie is a lawyer doing amazing work helping to create “good governance” structures in places where at first glance there appears to be little. She also has a background in researching methods for preventing radicalization and violent extremism associated with international terrorism. And her background in humanitarian affairs certainly gives her a global perspective on the various inequities, such as food scarcity, lack of quality medical care, and political instability which millions of ordinary people experience around the world.
From what Kathy and Bob conveyed, Julie is as tenacious as she is smart, and well suited for the roles she has been given. Her work in the realm of “rule of law,” is an effort to establish the conditions for ordinary people to go about their lives in a safe and productive manner.
As Bob and Kathy described Julie’s work, I was once again reminded of how truly small our world is. Memories came flooding back of the many times and places where I have worked in conflict and post-conflict regions endeavoring to bring peace to people oppressed by the ravages of war or the cruelty of living in a failed state due to no fault of their own.
It’s daunting work not for the faint of heart. I immediately felt a kinship to Julie, despite never having met her but knowing the challenges she and her colleagues face trying to bring stability to regions where people experience little to none.
The conversation got me thinking about my own military career and bearing witness to the scourge of war and its horrible impact on ordinary people. After reflecting for a bit on the various conflict regions I have been to, I began pondering Mary and my current situation here on Old Mission Peninsula. This place of natural beauty, friendly and hardworking people (especially our farmers), and wide-open skies has become a sanctuary for us. Not only is OMP our home, it is also our refuge.
OMP is a place where one can find calm amidst a world which seems to get crazier with each passing year. And no matter the time of year, there is always something for everyone. The breathtaking views of OMP orchards as pink and white cherry blossoms bloom each spring are exhilarating. Or the marvels of when OMP’s summer greenery transitions to a palette of brilliant fall colors is truly enchanting. And the allure of snow-covered fields and hills in winter always convey a peaceful sense of home and belonging no matter how cold it gets.
For me personally, whether it is having early morning coffee watching the sun rise, eating just-picked apples or cherries, watching bald eagles soar and wild turkeys run, or star-gazing late at night, OMP always puts me in the right frame of mind just when I need it.
The euphoric feeling I get whenever I drive onto “The Peninsula” after a trip running errands downtown or coming home from visiting our kids who live out of state is unlike any feeling I have experienced anywhere else Mary and I have lived. The feeling is always the same. It starts as a mild exhilaration which begins when I first see West Bay from Peninsula Drive. Then seeing the vast expanse of East Bay when I drive over the crest just south of Lauren Drive and McKinley Road enhances the feeling.
There’s an exuberance which continues growing as I pass my friend Wendy Warren’s farm stand and my friend Joan Kroupa’s business Peninsula Cellars, as well as all the orchards and vineyards along Center Road. When I pass the Peninsula Township building and turn onto Blue Water, and then Bluff Road just before getting home, the feeling becomes pure bliss and crescendos once I am home looking over the vast expanse of East Bay and marveling once again at its beauty.
If a bald eagle happens to fly by or some deer stroll through our front yard, it is icing on the cake. The feeling is unlike anything I have ever felt anywhere else in the world. It’s a feeling of jubilation knowing we live in one of the most beautiful places not just in Michigan, but in America and the entire world.
We are all very fortunate to live here on this beautiful peninsula we call home. My reason for sharing this sentiment is simple, I do not want to take OMP’s gifts or her residents for granted. I want to embrace what we have here and acknowledge that only by being good stewards can this place retain its natural beauty, ambience and quality of life.
I am indebted to all the good hardworking people who have endeavored to protect those things as OMP continues to evolve along with the challenging and ever-changing world beyond its boundaries. A world in which many people such as Julie Coleman work diligently to make better for all mankind far from the sanctuary of OMP, the place we are fortunate to call home.
Sincerely,
Harry Vann Phillips
Old Mission Peninsula
Also Read…
SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
Because Old Mission Gazette is a "Reader Supported Newspaper" -- meaning it exists because of your financial support -- I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette
To keep the Gazette going, click here to make a donation.
To view or leave comments on this story, click HERE.
Harry,
Very well-written piece on the feelings we all share living in this special place. Your words captured similar emotions and reactions I experience. Made for an enjoyable read. Thanks for that!
Thank you John.