Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Michigan


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Magical

Almost a week ago now we had clear skies, no moon, and moderate temperatures. It was all perfect for a Milky Way photo shoot. So a photographer friend and I along with her daughter took a run up to the thumb of Michigan to find somewhere to spend the night under the stars.

Best to know where you are.

There’s a special barn up there, and I’ve always thought it might make a good Milky Way foreground.

This barn is “in” the town of Pigion.

We checked it out, both sides. The owner of the barn must have a sense of humor.

Open to interpretation.

But physically it wasn’t really faced in the correct direction for a Milky Way shoot that night. Maybe earlier in the season when the Milky Way will be further to the east. I’m keeping it in mind So we headed up toward Port Austin, near the point of Michigan’s thumb. We found a little roadside park with a small sandy beach.

The last light illuminates the log resting on the beach.

We decided to watch the sunset from there and then decide what to do. While we were watching the sun a small flock of cedar waxwings showed up, sitting in the dead tree near us and then flying out to catch bugs. The light was low and they moved so fast it was hard to get a good image.

A cedar waxwing keeps watch for a tasty bug.

But they sure made me smile.

There seemed to be an unlimited source of very thin rocks, perfect for stone skipping. So my friend and her daughter skipped stones and I took pictures.

So fun!

It was so much fun.

Meanwhile the sun began to set. And, though we didn’t get a great sunset it was pretty enough for us.

A quiet sunset.

We went back to the car to get our real cameras and when we came out to the beach hundeds of lightening bugs rose from the beach grass. I tried so hard to get a picture of them, but it was hard.

See the yellow fireflies? Now multiply that by 100s.

Just imagine standing there with all these glowing lights flitting around you. It was magical.

And then it began to get dark and my friend told me there was an aurora alert and we should take a test shot to the north and see if anything was happening. And guess what.

A pink dome, supported by a green base with a couple pillars in for good measure.

There was!

So we spent a lot of time shooting the aurora. It wasn’t a spectacular show, but there was plenty of pink and green and light pillars.

Crazy beautiful.

Then we turned our cameras south to see if the dark horse was leaving the protection of the trees yet.

Hiding behind the trees.

It was still, unfortunately, partially behind the hill. We weren’t in a prime location for Milky Way, looking to the south it was behind the trees for much of the night. But the aurora made the site worthwhile.

The aurora was moving out further into the bay.

Across the way you can see retangles of golden light. I think, after studying a map, that must be Tawas, a large town on the other side of Saginaw Bay. I also wondered if there’s a bank of foggy mist out there.

We looked back to the south. The dark horse in the Milky Way was moving further out from behind the trees.

The dark horse is headed west.

So that’s how the night went. Shoot a little to the north, shoot a little to the south. There was something spectacular no matter where we looked.

It was hard to believe we’d gotten so lucky!

The whole night was so wonderful. Fireflies, aurora, Milky Way, stars, a slight breeze, warm temperatures, the lapping of a quiet lake. You can’t beat it. And I felt lucky that we were there.

Milky Way AND firefly!

We left the beach a little after 1 a.m. as the mist from the bay started to move over the Milky Way and the aurora had fadded.

Notice all the light pollution from Caseville.

We had a 2.5 hour drive back home. I smiled the whole way.

Nothing but stars and the tail end of the Milky Way overhead.


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Backyard shenanigans

A long time ago I promised to show you the shenanigans going on in my backyard. Or should I call it backyardigans?

Waiter! I need a napkin!

These are self explanatory, but if the participants had anything to say I’ll add that as comentary under the offender’s image.

My morning abdominal workout might be offset by my morning snacking.

You will note there is one pictured here that is not like the others. She knows who she is.

I have to ask the help to fill this feeder every single day.

Sometimes I wonder how I get anything done in the house, given all the entertainment just outside my window.

I emptied out that birdfeeder, now my tummy doesn’t feel so good.

Oh wait. I really don’t get much done inside. Please don’t look at the dust covering everything or the dog fur rolling across the floor.

Somebody come help me with these two hooligans!

But I ask you. Which would you rather do?

I’m just going to sit here and watch the crazy in real time.

I thought so.

Me too.

Me three.

Not me, I’m eating while I can. A mom gets so little time to herself around here!

You are so right! Eat while you can I always say!

I see you lady with the camera! Could you please leave us more peanuts?

She always puts the peanuts at the bottom. Good thing I have short legs.

Seriously, I’m going to go crazy in .2 seconds.


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But what about the pretty stuff up in Northport?

I know. It all seems quite a long time ago when I traveled over to the western side of the state to camp and watch for stars.

This seemed too perfect not to stop.

You all know the star thing didn’t work out. And that it rained a lot. And that my last day there I drove up to Northport to meet with friends about a new book.

One of my favorites, I park up the road on a side street and walk back down busy M-22.

But on the drive back to camp I did wander a bit, looking at pretty stuff. Of course.

On a random backroad that I took to turn around for another barn..

Because why be up there at all if you’re not enjoying all the pretty stuff!

It’s not always about the barns.

Many of these barns you’ve seen before, but I’d have to say it was a long time ago.

I hope to get the Milky Way over this barn someday.

And some of you are newcomers so this will be your first glimpse of the beautiful rural landscape that sits along Lake Michigan in the upper part of our lower peninsula.

I parked over by the house in a bike path access parking lot and walked the bike path to get this image.

I feel like I’m jabbering too much. Maybe I should just show you a few of the pretties and let you decide for yourself if they were worth me stopping to grab the image.

This is a famous barn on M 22. Lots of people have shot the Milky Way over it. Maybe someday I will too.

I kind of think you’ll be in agreement with me that it was worth turning around and even driving around a really big block to capture some of these.

Near the bike path parking lot. I liked the vintage car, the vintage house and the famous barn all together.

Enjoy.


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Music in the night

Sunday evening, the last of the long, hot, 4th of July weekend, a couple friends from our community band and I were lucky enough to attend a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert held outside at Meadowbrook Hall.

A few minutes before I left home to meet them for a quick dinner before the concert, the skies opened up and rain poured down. It was the first rain all weekend. I was discouraged, but figured at least we’d have a nice meal together and we’d see about the music later.

But even as I walked out to the car it began to clear.

So it was with high hopes and a bit of excitement that we arrived at the venue and found a place to sit in the grass high on the hill overlooking the stage. Of course just as we began to settle in the rain began again.

But once again it blew right through, and with a few gusts of wind the sky began to brighten. Then the music began.

What a wonderful evening! The crowd was happy and appreciative. The weather cooperated. The music was, of course, wonderful. Celebrating John Williams, it was filled with the scores of his many works and as the conductor talked about each piece you could hear the audience anticipate which one would be played next.

We were usually right.

As I listened I thought about Shelley, our community band music director who passed away this past February. She would have loved this concert. What’s not to love? The Detroit Symphony, a group she had season tickets for, a beautiful summer night, families enjoying the music, a beautiful sky overhead, and John Williams.

Perfect.

Toward the end of the program a lesser known score was played, the theme from Far and Away. The movie starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and the music starts off similar to a lot of his movie scores, fast and furious. But the last minute of the 3 minute piece, those last moments, those are sweet.

I smiled because in those moments, with fireflies twinkling and the music soaring into the evening sky, I knew somewhere maybe right overhead and not so far and away, Shelley was smiling too.

And I bet, in fact I’m 100% sure, she enjoyed the concert just as much as we did.


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Searching for the stars. Again.

This time last week I was in northern Michigan at one of my favorite places (You may have noticed I have quite a few favorite places in northern Michigan) intent, once again, on getting the perfect Milky Way image.

Esch Beach, near Empire MI

I had a walk-in site at Platt River Campground, reserved weeks ago, and high hopes that at least one of the three nights would be clear.

My perfect camp site.

The site was beautiful. I knew it would be because I’d camped there once before a few years ago. It’s at the end of a trail, about 1/4 mile into the woods. Along the way are three other campsites, but mine was the last one.

This was my first camping trip of the season. It took me forever to get this tent up.

The good thing about a walk-in site is that there are no RVs near you running their air conditioning all night. (Though I wouldn’t have minded having air, it was 98 F inside my tent most of the first night.) The bad thing about a walk-in site is that you have to carry everything in. So I stayed pretty minimal.

Anyway. I had high hopes for Monday night, thinking it should be clear. And it was hot and sunny when I first arrived.

Before I even went to the campsite to set up the tent I drove the Pierce Stocking drive that provides a number of opportunities to stop and explore.

It’s almost mandatory that you take this image while you’re there.

But gradually, by late afternoon, clouds had moved in and that evening there were no stars to be seen. It even rained late Monday night, which brought the temperatures down. I was conflicted, grateful for the temperature relief but disappointed that I wasn’t out under the stars with my camera.

Looking toward Sleeping Bear dunes from Empire Beach on Tuesday.

Tuesday I explored a few beaches looking for possible places to shoot the Milky Way, if the sky ever cleared. But it didn’t clear that day.

Not very promising for star photography.

So I did the next best thing. I hiked a loop through the woods where there was the possibility of lots of birds. You know how I love taking photographs of birds. I had high hopes again of capturing something special.

Because I was covered in bug spray this was a fun hike.

About 2.5 miles, the trail was supposed to be filled with song birds, particularly warblers.

I took a close up picture of the map with my phone, and I’m glad I did. The trail wasn’t always obvious.

I heard lots of birds, none of them identified by my Merlin app as warblers, but I only saw one bird for a slight second, hidden in the trees, and I have no idea what it was.

I don’t suppose any of you know what this brownish bird is, hiding behind leaves and out of focus.

Tuesday night it rained again. I don’t mind a little rain on the tent, but it meant there was no star shooting that night either.

Wednesday was predicted to be overcast as well, so I made plans to drive about an hour north and meet a couple friends in Northport, another of my happy places. It was time to spend a little bit of time in civilization.

Scenic route through Pierce Stocking park.

That was definitely fun and had a lower mosquito to human ratio, but it deserves it’s own post, so stay tuned.

Taken Monday night, while standing in the rain.