366 Days of Beauty in the Year 2020 by Brad Reed and Rachel Gaudette

We have been on pins and needles waiting for our COVID-19 results. Hoping that we don’t have it, and more importantly, that we didn’t spread it to others before we knew Joshua had been exposed. David’s results have come back negative. Crossing our fingers, the rest of ours do too! David was so excited to hang Christmas lights up all around our dining room, kitchen and living room today.

I think these modern Christmas lights are really cool. This home on West Ludington Avenue, a few blocks from the beach, looks brilliant and festive.

Finally, our results have all come back negative. What a relief! The anxiety of waiting for these results has pulled all my energy. I used what little I had left to make this image of the top of a gift box that is designed like a snow globe..

Pat Shinn took me on a hike on their property along Lake Michigan today. We found all kinds of treasures, including this giant heart-shaped rock. The rock was so shiny it looked like it was spray painted with chrome paint.

We celebrated Kasey’s and David’s birthdays tonight. They will be at their dad’s for their birthdays this coming weekend. One of David’s gifts was a sling shot, the handle was wooden and carved to look like a bear..

As I was wrapping Christmas presents tonight, I realized I still hadn’t shot my photo of the day. I bought this snow globe for Rachel’s parents. Mason County Eastern’s mascot is a cardinal and her parents have been staples at that school for over six decades. Also, cardinals remind them of their late son, Kevin. This photo was technically harder to capture than I thought it would be. After many attempts, I finally got one to work.

My kids love decorating the house full of lights, and Christmas décor. This wreath made its way to the boys’ room this year.

William R. Charette was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts as a Navy Hospital Corpsman while assigned to a Marine Corps rifle company during a Korean War battle that occurred on March 27, 1953. He was born and raised in Ludington. In 2017, a sculpture of Charette was placed in the newly updated Veteran’s Mall in Stearns Park at the Ludington beach.

HOPE. I think everyone needs hope this year. This is another one of my favorite Christmas ornaments. It reminds the kids and me of our friend Jamie Spore. One of her favorite sayings is “Hope Anchors the Soul.” It seems fitting to include a little HOPE in our project.

I stayed up late tonight trying to photograph the Northern Lights out at the Ludington State Park. Unfortunately, the Northern Lights did not appear, but the lights of Wisconsin were visible, along with thousands of stars.

Before work this morning, I took a nice drive around the Ludington State Park. It was great to have a few minutes of peaceful quietness before starting the workday. This interdunal pond matched my peace.

Before the sun rose this morning, I was in position to shoot the sunrise along Old US-31 over the Pere Marquette River Flats. I was excited to see we had great clouds forming as the sun finally rose enough to turn the swamp grass in front of me gold. After I made this image, I headed to the grocery store. When I came out of the store, I was blown away by how awesome the clouds had gotten.

Well, Brad and I did it again. I was making my way into work and knew the clouds were too good to pass up. I turned on old Pere Marquette highway and parked at the river flats. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized Brad had shot there 40 minutes before I did.

As I was grabbing the open flag from outside after work today, I noticed Grandma Reed’s Christmas dolls my dad had arranged recently in our gallery front windows. My grandpa and grandma had over a hundred of these dolls at one point on display in their home.

Happy 9th Birthday, Bubba! It was difficult to say goodbye to the kids tonight. I have always been with them on their birthdays for the entire day. I tried to find a photo that would cheer me up tonight. These trees decorated in Christmas lights in front of Lake Michigan helped.

Rachel and I headed to Crystal Mountain to go downhill skiing today. As we got close to the resort, the snow started falling hard. It was the wet, sticky snow that very quickly can transform a normal scene into a winter wonderland. We pulled over and I shot this photo of the Betsie River.

After a quick trip to Muskegon to say hi and give Kasey a 12th Birthday hug, Brad and I headed north. Finally, Michigan was being graced with a winter wonderland! We had been waiting weeks for a snowfall that clings to the trees. I love when the foliage of the forest bends from the weight of the fallen snow. It makes me want to make a snow angel and look up at the big flakes as they cascade down towards me.

My entire life I have loved the Grinch. After celebrating Kasey’s and David’s birthdays at Rachel’s house tonight, I spotted an entire yard full of Christmas decorations in downtown Scottville. Upon further inspection, I found this giant blow-up Grinch.

This swampy spot was near Hart, Michigan. I drove up and down this road, choosing the best spot to pull over and shoot. The framing around this opening is what helped me decide this was the place to shoot.

God beams were shining bright this afternoon at Stearns Beach in Ludington. One positive of COVID-19 is that it has tuned our 366 Project into a hyper-local book project. Besides my dad’s and my book on the Ludington State Park and his 50 Year Book, this book will have more shots from Mason County than any project we have ever done.