A few Sundays ago Cynthia and I went for a long walk around Pickerel Lake, near Cannonsburg Ski Area in West Michigan.

We picked a beautiful day — clear skies, light breeze, with an invigorating chill in the air. This shot is facing North from the walkway.

I didn’t know there were beavers in this part of the state. This one appears to have been busy.

The trees the beavers knock over are quickly turned into sustenance for all sorts of strange things.

On the north side of the lake is a large pine grove, thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers circa the 1920s.

Earlier this fall the grove was turned into a labyrinth. Cynthia and I wandered into it, and decided to obey the rules and find our way through to the other side. It took us about half an hour. Though we could see the whole maze from any point in it, the rope which defined the boundaries was difficult to see clearly. A path which appeared promising from one angle often tapered down to a point with no way through.

At one point a single thin sunbeam made its way into the maze at the perfect angle to illuminate a single strip of bark on one of the trees. From a distance it looked like a flame.

Another shot of the lake from the East end, facing into the breeze.