Home is where my water is

I've been thinking a lot lately about that place, that mind-set really, that makes you feel at ease. That allows you to breathe a little easier and gives you a sense that all is right with the world.

"You know when you close your eyes and think about where you want to be? That's the place I'm talking about."

These are the words that stayed with me following a conversation I had not too long ago with Rod Call, a person clearly passionate about striving for the best life possible and working hard to achieve it. For him, it's building a company -- Snoloha -- that's as much about comfortable, laid-back clothing and accessories as it is about finding that place, that personal truth, and living it out each day -- no matter where you are.

Curious name for a business, right? When you hear the story, it makes perfect sense. Awhile back, upon returning to frigid Michigan from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Rod found himself amazed at the stark difference between the two climates. And how within just a short time he'd gone from one extreme to another.

Just so happened he was driving by the 45th Parallel -- the sign that lets you know you're "Halfway Between the Equator and the North Pole" -- as he reminisced about his travels, and that's when this phrase came to mind: "Somewhere between the islands and the arctic."

I love that he reached across his seat and scribbled the words on a Rolling Stone magazine.

"Snoloha is a way of life," Rod tells me. "Snoloha is a reflection of how we live, work, play, vacation and simply enjoy life somewhere between the islands and the arctic. It is a lifestyle people live everyday, a couple times a year, once in a lifetime, or in their minds all the time. It's carrying a vacation mentality through everyday life, celebrating and enjoying all the seasons that get thrown at us."

Sure, it's not easy to maintain this mind-set. I definitely struggle. It takes effort to keep it all in perspective and go a step further even and actually embrace where you're at at any given moment. It helps to surround yourself with loving family and great friends, to find work that's satisfying, to get out of your own way and look beyond yourself.

I don't mind winter in northern Michigan (well, except when it lasts until May...), but I also can't get enough of summer here. Maybe it's because we have definite seasons here that I savor summer so much when it finally arrives. The older I get, the more appreciative I am of the lazy days spent at the beach, the gorgeously cool runs through the trails and the nights of grilled cheeseburgers and watching the kids play in the yard well into the summer evening.

When I ask myself when it is I feel most at home, an image of the Lake Michigan shoreline immediately comes to mind. It's my place, my spot "somewhere between the islands and the tropic." How about you?

Go to Rod's web site to learn many more cool things about Snoloha. He's got a great blog, an online store (check out how he donates shirts, a "pay it forward" kind of thing), and he's just an all-around good guy.

**Since some people have asked about it, here's the scoop on the photo with this post: It was one of those amazing summer afternoons in northern Michigan. We were at Young State Park, a beautiful state park along Lake Charlevoix, not far from Boyne City. Lake Charlevoix flows into Lake Michigan.**