Spring Has Sprung

Just not here. Somewhere though, it is spring – full of birdsong and pleasantly crisp air. Here in northern Michigan, we will have to content ourselves with a bit more winter. Since the sun is spending increasing amounts of her time with us, it no longer feels so dreary, and so even though it was only in the twenties today, this weekend somehow managed to feel like spring.

Hearty, Hardy Folks

Dear Regular Readers, I apologize for my absence. I’ve discussed our tendency to run a pseudo-bed-n-breakfast in the summer, but things are generally calmer outside of the warm season. With our random gallivanting, we don’t have trouble keeping ourselves busy, but it can get lonely up here in the tundra. Lately, though, we’ve had trouble keeping ourselves still, which means I’ve not had the right combination of time and motivation to fill you in on my northern Michigan shenanigans.

Old Mission Outings

More than two weeks ago, Jess and I took a photography field trip up the Old Mission Peninsula. It was a dramatic kind of day. The temperature was in the single digits, and the wind chill was well south of zero. Parts of the sky were clear with bright sun spilling through, and other parts were heavily clouded with snow pouring down. Since it was so cold out, our field trip consisted of multiple brief stops where we’d hop out of the car, frame a few shots, then run back to the car to warm up.

I intended to share the photos sooner, but with one thing and then five, it didn’t happen. And then I accumulated more. Chances are, since the weekend is ahead of me, that I will be accumulating even more photos, so while Tony and I are out skiing this morning, I’m going to share. This way we can all move on with our lives 😉 In addition to this morning’s outing, we’re going to check out a chocolate festival in Boyne City and then maybe go for a hike tomorrow. What plans do you have?

Happy Weekend!

Those Winter Blues

In northern Michigan, we don’t often have clear views of the sun in the winter. We have days when the sun makes breathtaking appearances in between lake effect bursts, and days when the sun coyly peaks out through foggy cloud drapes but never quite showing herself. And we seem to have countless days of gray skies, which are thankfully mitigated by a reflective carpet of snow on the ground.

Torch Lake gets eaten by lake effect snow:

Keweenaw Harbors and Other UP Sweet Spots

Since I’ve already posted nearly 2,000 words about our UP trip, I’m going to wrap it up here, mostly in pictures.

Saturday we made our best attempts to see the lighthouses at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. We had decided that we would not be adventuring, but would take photos from the car. We shoulda known better. Our very first stop we decided it would be a great idea to scramble out on the massive mountains/shelf of ice on Lake Superior. We were in no danger of falling into the lake. Which is not to say we were in no danger of falling.