Side Benefits of Doing Presentations

Doing presentations often results in benefits that have nothing to do with selling books.  Yesterday I had a presentation at a senior living facility (one of my favorite places to do presentations) on the other side of the state.  Now, if you are familiar with Michigan, you know that there isn't all that much distance between lakes.  Yet, though I grew up here and returned six years ago, I had never seen Lake Huron.  Mention of Lake Huron didn't even make me think of Michigan.  After all, I live in Traverse City, on Grand Traverse Bay, off Lake Michigan.  Isn't that the garden spot of the state?

This is April, a month in Michigan when, if you don't like the weather, you often only have to wait five minutes.  Even though we have had an unusual number of pleasant days in March and April, this one dawned especially bright and beautiful.  I crossed the state praising God for the sun, the fresh air, the rolling hills and pine forests, for His whole creation.

I stopped at a city park on Tawas Bay, off Lake Huron, before going to the signing.  When I mentioned this, the activities director there suggested I stop at the local state park, directly on the lake, before heading home.  Another lady said I might want to drive home a different way, north along the lake before heading west.  I did both.  It made the trip a little longer (about two and a half hours going, almost four hours returning) but I enjoyed every minute of it.  Even if I never get across the state again, I'll remember there is another side, and that beauty hugs Michigan between two awesome bodies of water.

I did sell a few books at this presentation, but even if I hadn't sold a single one the trip would have been well worth my time.