"Acres of Diamonds" in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and Minnesota!
Everyday as I turn on my computer Microsoft Windows is kind enough to gift me a beautiful nature or cultural site from some exotic, or nearby land from around the world.
I love these scenes and always check the info box to see where each brilliant photo is coming from.
So many of these come from very exotic lands like Southeast Asia where we see huge rock formations with vibrant and ancient growths of trees and other vegetation clinging to every surface.
Some locations from around the world show beautiful mountains, including one referred to as the Southern Alps, a scene from New Zealand featured in today’s flash screen.
Sometimes it is a lush and beautiful Boreal Forest like we see so much of in the Midwest, Northeast, and Canadian regions.
Often, I make a mental, or written, note to find an opportunity to go visit many of these locations and I am sure that someday I will visit most of them.
In my business, I have been blessed with the opportunity to actually visit many of these places, mostly for business.
Not just visiting, but spending some quality time, doing a project, tramping through the forests, finding the hidden gems that most will never see.
I have always told my son to appreciate the moments when we get to these places, take a break from your project to notice the beauty around you, and realize that thousands of tourists spend big bucks to come to these places, and most do not get as spectacular view as you do when you get into the inner forests as we do.
Sometimes I will have a camera with me to get a shot to share, most times I have not, since most of my serious woods work was before we had digital cameras on every phone.
Yet, the enjoyment was there, thinking about how this was just like the most amazing postcard in the local tourist store. Which often led to me wondering why tourists did not just same some money and look at these scenes from a postcard or from a magazine like National Geographic.
Of course, there are other senses besides the visual that are stimulated, we feel the heat, the extreme cold, the mosquitoes, the wet, the dry.
We smell the clean air, the dry air, the moist air, the pollens, the fungal spores, the smell that fresh water gives off, and the many other smells of nature.
Yet so many times I will sit by some amazing waterfall, some amazing mountain view, or other spectacular view and wonder if this was worth the trip or if I could have saved some time and looked at photos from home.
Other times I have looked at this amazing scene and thought, this looks so close to a particular scene I have witnessed back in Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota.
So close that if I did not know better I would have thought I was back home in my Northwoods stomping grounds.
Kind of reminds me of Russell Cornwell’s story about “Acres of Diamonds”, where the young man sells his inheritance and goes around the world searching for his fortune only to return home broke and discouraged, to find that the person who bought his lands had discovered a diamond mine in his fields.
So many treasures so close to home, something that I see every time I travel across the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
So many spectacular views, millions of lakes, rivers, forests, wildlife, and so many more views that people pay money for, yet we can see so close to home.
Of course, this does not stop me from seeking out far off projects that will yield more exotic and breathtaking experiences, but it does help me to appreciate those diamonds that populate our Northwoods of Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and Minnesota.
Tonight, as I write this, I challenge you to plan a trip to Wisconsin to witness our beauty and take a little time to get out and look for the diamonds that God has placed in the land near you.
Btw, if you find you really love this land, and who wouldn’t, and you want to move here, please give me a call.
I know where the diamonds are hidden and can help you find your Northwoods Paradise!
Disclaimer: We don't actually have diamonds in this part of the country. Our Forests, Lakes, Rivers, and Natural Beauty are our actual Gems, give me a call, I will be delighted to show you a few of these.
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