Northport | Change Is Hard

October 19, 2025
by dawnkinster 33 Comments

Cats in Northport and other tales

I spent a week at the beginning of October in Northport Michigan. It was an idyllic week, filled with brilliant blue skies, warm temperatures, aqua water and cats.

*On the way, this was the most color I saw all week.*

I was there to hang out with a couple of mischievous cats that belong to friends of mine who were taking some time to travel. They were off having fun and I was having fun in their space and with their cats.

The cats, a boy and a girl, were adorable and I have more pictures of them than the beautiful place I was living.

I can tell you that cats are as hard to photograph as birds. You see a great image, grab your phone and by then they have moved. Multiple times.

The best and easiest time to photograph cats is when they’re asleep.

Which, if I’m honest, they did almost as much as they caused mischief.

Aside from the cats I also got to enjoy the beautiful area.

Though I didn’t go on long nature walks this trip, I did wander around the village of Northport, looking for color.

*Above the road on the way into downtown.*

After all, this could be my Walktober, showing you the cute little town of Northport is, right?

There were plenty of flowers still blooming. I was particularly smitten with these California poppies, blooming away on a corner.

And the asters were beautiful as well. Purple and pink, blooming in front of storefronts.

Though the downtown itself is only a few blocks long I found plenty of interesting stuff to photograph.

*Unsure why a skunk, but he demanded to be photographed.*

It’s a tiny town, but it’s also a close knit community.

*If I liked beer I would have stopped in.*

I think it’s probably a town where everybody pretty much knows everybody else. I didn’t talk to anyone during my visit, I just wandered and took pictures.

*Not open the day I was wandering or I definitely would have stopped in.*

It was so warm it felt like a lovely summer afternoon. There were lots of people out and about, waiting in line for pizza, sitting at outdoor dining areas of restaurants.

*Come sit for a minute and enjoy the October sun.*

While I got images of most of the village, I know that I missed at least an entire block, as well as the marina. Of course that just gives me an excuse to go back up for another visit soon!

I hope you enjoyed our short walk through Northport.

When I left, very early on a Tuesday morning (in order to get home in time to attend band rehearsal) it was still dark.

I was taken by the glowing orbs in the trees as I entered town.

*I loved the reflections in the puddle.*

And then I walked around the darkened streets and caught a few more images of Northport asleep.

*Resting before the next round of customers.*

I liked doing that as much as I had enjoyed my daylight walk.

*Only the witch, the full moon and I were out and about that morning.*

I hope you did too.

So..was this my Walktober? I don’t know. There’s another one to show you, but I don’t have the photos ready to go yet. We’ll see.

Meanwhile you still have a couple weeks to do your very own Walktober. Take a walk, a drive, a ride, a hop, skip or jog. Take a photo or two or three, write a post and link it to the official Walktober post (see link above) and I’ll put them all together in one place in early November.

Let’s see what you’ve been up to!

The cats want to know.

October 5, 2025
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

The moon, the stars, and a freighter

I’m still in northern Michigan, cat sitting a couple of cuties who happen to get hungry and whine loudly very early each morning. Last night that turned into a good thing for me.

Though it wasn’t a full moon yesterday, it was pretty darn close. I noticed it come up earlier in the evening, but hadn’t planned to photograph it setting, because that was supposed to be around 5:00 a.m. and I didn’t want to be awake at 5:00 a.m.

*At first the sky was pretty much black and white.*

But kitties didn’t consult with me and started complaining about breakfast being late around 4. I gave in and fed them and was going back to bed when I saw the moonlight on the water of Lake Michigan.

I lay there, in bed for a long time, watching that light, arguing with myself. Did I want to put the camera on the tripod and lug it down the 44 stairs into the sand and see what I could do?

No I did not.

But when would I ever be in this position again? An almost full moon. A warm night. The sound of the lake moving beneath the moon. So I got my sorry self up and out and down the stairs and I’m so glad I did.

*As the moon lowered, the light from it lessened. Time to adjust the settings.*

I had this vision in my head of a perfectly focused, perfectly lit moon, sitting above a beautiful light path across the water. That’s what I was going for.

*The moon began to turn red is it got closer to the water.*

Of course that’s not what happened.

*There was just one thin layer of cloud for the moon to move through.*

As I sat in the sand, focusing on the moon I realized I couldn’t see the light on the water. And if I focused on the water then the light of the moon was totally blown out.

Of course it was. The setting necessary to see the details of the moon are entirely different than the settings needed to see the light dancing across the small waves on the lake. So you’re going to see this in pieces, some moon, some water.

And on top of it all, when I started there was a small light way off to the south. A freighter was chugging north up the lake. At one point it passed through the light path from the moon.

*That light over on the right is a freighter moving right along.*

The gentle sound of the waves in conjunction with the chug of the freighter and the lowering, redding moon under the bright starts was just magical.

I’m sharing it with you so that you can imagine the magic too.

July 21, 2025
by dawnkinster 19 Comments

Relevant reading

I’ve known Karen Mulvahill, author of The Lost Woman for more than 40 years as a friend, a coworker, a fellow outdoor loving camper, hiker, cross country skier, as a writer of poetry. But I haven’t known her as a literary author.

Sometimes she’d mention working on her book, or the frustration of finding an editor, or the writing group she belonged to and where she found support for her work or the struggle to find a publisher.

And then….just this spring….her book came out! After years of research and work and rewriting the book is here.

It was hard, but I waited until I could purchase the book from my favorite Independent Bookseller, Dog Ears Books, owned by Pamela Grath in Northport. The wait was worth it.

I read this book slowly, in small sips like a dessert drink, not wanting it to end. Which is saying a lot given the story revolves around German occupied Paris in World War II, and I am so not a fan of WWII books. But much of the story of the occupation and the treatment of the Jewish population is feeling familiar today, and that drew me in.

From the book; “The Nazi leardership were generally paunchy middle-aged men.” I have often, lately, voiced that I was tired of middle-aged white guys making decisions about our world that benefit themselves and rarely anyone else.

And then, one sentence I stopped and reread, from a description of a Jewish family rounded up from the streets of Paris, shoved into a car, and gone in an instant: “Well, they must have done something.” said the people wittnessing this disappearing.

I thought about how easy it has always been to believe people not like ourselves must have done something to warrant their experiences. Experiences we hope won’t come our way because we’re not like them.

I began to underline little bits, words strung together that made me smile or stop to consider:

“The river shuddered under a light breeze that churned the intermittent sunlight into the depths.”

“I bounded up the stairs as if I weren’t contained by my own skin.”

“Did my armor ward off as much joy as grief?”

“As they turned up a gravel driveway, dust curled behind the truck, erasing the places he had been.”

You, reading this book, will have different bits underlined, maybe different places that call you to pause and consider. By the end you’ll have your own interpretation of what Paris and the art world was like during the occupation, and perhaps a better understanding of what resistance looked like then and what it might look like today.

I have to thank my friend, the author, for writing this book. Because I know her I read it. Because I read it I am more aware. And being aware is infinitely more desirable than assuming “they must have done something.”

July 11, 2025
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

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.

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!

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.

July 6, 2025
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

Looking for stars – part 2

Camping in the woods is fun, but it’s more fun if it doesn’t rain every single day and night. I guess I should count myself lucky that it didn’t rain all day every day.

I had plenty of time to get out in between rain showers and explore. Since it became obvious I wasn’t going to have any cloudless nights I deicded to use my time to find good Milky Way shoot posibilities. After all it’s a Bortle 2 up near Sleeping Bear (meaning really dark with less light pollution.) and you really don’t want to waste all that night sky by not being prepared.

*Just imagine the Milky Way shining above the trees!*

But by Wednesday I was tired of battling the incessant mosquitoes and I was happy to head an hour further north to meet a couple friends in the little town of Northport. That’s at the tip of Michigan’s little finger. Really. Look at the map of the lower portion of Michigan and notice the mitten shape…and at the far upper left of the mitten is the little finger! Then imagine how wonderful it would be to live there!

Northport, way up there north of Traverse City, is beautiful and always fun to visit. I’m lucky I know a few people there so I have lots of excuses to go. This time I was going up specifically to buy a book at my favorite Independent bookstore.

I love to stop at Dog Ears Books when I’m in Northport, browse the books and chat with store owner Pamela Grath. And this trip was even more special because I was buying my friend, Karen’s, debut novel The Lost Woman. I’ve known Karen for a long time, and I’m so excited that her book has been published!

I’m ony on page 48, though I should find the time to sit down and just read. It’s so good. It’s almost like a very rich desert that you don’t want to gobble down too fast. You want it to last. But if I don’t find a bit of quiet to sit and enjoy the read it will likely be fall before I can tell you more about it!

*Author Karen and bookstore owner Pamela.*

Penny, like her sister Katie, is an anti-reading dog. No reading allowed mom!

Anyway…I meant for this post to show you all the pretty stuff I found up near Northport that day. But it’s really about good friends and good books…and that will have to suffice for now.

Because Penny is also an anti-typing dog.

And it’s time to go off on another adventure with her. More later, I suppose.

June 25, 2023
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

But wait! There’s more!

Here it is the end of June and I still haven’t shown you everything we did while camping in northern Michigan in early May. I showed you the stars, and the hiking and camping.

But did I tell you about the barns?

On one of the five days I spent near Sleeping Bear my friend and I drove around the very tip of Michigan’s little finger, taking pictures of the barns and orchards.

It was so much fun. The cherry orchards were just finishing up their blooms and the apple orchard’s blossoms were in their prime.

I haven’t been lucky enough to be there in the spring very often, and each time I round a corner and see a hillside in full bloom I’m stunned.

And of course all those orchards require barns, and there are so many beautiful barns in this part of our state, it’s hard to choose just a few to share with you.

I’ve been to visit Northport many times, and every time I’m there I find another barn that I just have to stop and shoot.

Sometimes it’s a barn I’ve taken pictures of every time I’m there. It doesn’t matter, the light or the trees or the angle or even my mood will be different.

The combination of orchards in bloom and barns is always irresistible.

And while we were there we went in search of trillium, which was also in full bloom that week. The famous Trillium Hill was a must stop.

We laughed about how many pictures of trillium a person needed. I am pretty sure the number is higher than I can count.

And of course there were marsh marigolds galore too.

Northport is a place that’s always hard for me to leave.

And though I never want to leave this special part of our state, I know I’m lucky I get to visit it often.

To think I almost didn’t get these images shared! The summer is marching on and soon I’ll be off on other adventures. But I’ll always love my time in Northport!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this abbreviated version too.

May 14, 2021
by dawnkinster 30 Comments

The next day

When I left you last, we had just spent the late afternoon exploring Trillium Hill and some of the backroads around Leelanau County. The next morning I lounged around in bed for a bit, enjoying the view from my window. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

After we spent some time tickling orange tummies, we headed back out to see what we would find.

Since we had seen Trillium Hill with the sun going down behind it, we wondered what it would look like with the morning light on it’s face. We were not disappointed.

*Happy flowers with the morning sun warming them.*

At first I thought I’d just take a general shot from the road. After all, I had all those images from the day before. And who, really, needs more than a few dozen pictures of white flowers?

*The cowslips (or marsh marigolds) liked the morning light too.*

Well. I just couldn’t resist, because the light was different in the morning, and everything looked fresh and happy.

We probably stayed way too long there, but after all, we’re both retired. What better way to spend a morning than among acres of flowers?

*Another little pretty, hiding among all that white.*

Eventually we left the magic hillside to see what else was out there. Turns out there was a lot. But first we stopped at a winery to pick up a few bottles and enjoy the view.

*I loved the layers, from the dandelions to the grape vines to the two colors of orchards and the tall trees behind.*

Then we wandered, on conservatory trails, through woods just waking up to spring.

*How could you resist following this trail?*

Spring was enjoying a resurgence, but sometimes you had to look carefully.

We spent a lot of time in the woods. But we also drove on a lot of roads, looking for pretty stuff. It wasn’t hard to find things to stop for.

*Roads meander through such beauty that I can’t believe people don’t drive off the road just looking at everything.*

But mostly we kept our eyes open while we traipsed through the woods. We saw bleeding heart…

…and more Jack in the pulpit…

…and lots of regular stuff just bursting open in joy.

It was my last full day in the north, in the morning I’d be heading home, sad to be leaving but so very glad I’d been able to see spring in my favorite part of the state.

Usually my visit here is all about the lake. Or the stars. But this time it was more about the land. And what glorious land it is! I saw lots of good stuff on my drive home too, but it’s hard to top cherry blossoms and trillium.

They sure made me smile.

May 13, 2021
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Trillum, cherry blossoms and a barn or two

There’s no better place to spend a weekend then in Michigan’s little finger, and I was lucky enough to spend last weekend there at the home of a friend. This trip had a specific purpose, to see Trillium Hill and cherry orchards in bloom.

*What’s that over there? Could it be a barn??*

But first I had a several hour drive up and across the middle of the lower peninsualia of Michigan. Right through farm country.

Plus I was lucky enough to have some pretty interesting skies which kept taking me off the freeway and on to back roads looking for that perfect combination of barn and sky. I kept promising myself that I’d get back on the road and stop stopping. But it was hard.

*This was my favorite barn on the trip north.*

When I eventually made it to Traverse City, still half an hour from my destination, the storm front I’d had so much fun photographing had gone through, the temperatures had dropped into the mid 30s, (-1.11F), and the wind had picked up. On the 7th of May sleet was hitting my windshield.

*Traverse Bay didn’t look very inviting.*

Things didn’t look promising for a photoshoot of flowers or orchards! But by late afternoon the sun was beginning to peek through clouds and temperatures, though not balmy, at least weren’t freezing. Still, we put on our winter coats, hats and gloves as we headed out to Trillium Hill.

*Waves and waves of trillum lit by a sinking sun.*

The hill is covered in acres of white blossoms and the lowering sun softened the light, making them glow.

*Trillums, the state flower in Michigan, as far as you could see.*

It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. And though you’d think there were only so many pictures to take of trilliums, you’d be wrong. There were infinite ways to try to capture the moment, and I tried to get them all.

I didn’t want to miss the cowslips along a small creek at the base of the hill…

…or the jack in the pulpit that gleamed in the evening light.

*I loved the light shining through the leaves.*

And of course, the stars of the show, the hundreds and hundreds, the thousands of trillum as far as the eye could see. There was simply no way to encompass the entirity, it was almost hard for me to believe it was real, and I was standing in the middle of it all.

Eventually we tore ourselves away from the hill and went looking for cherry orchards in bloom. Luckily there were still some puffy white clouds just begging to be used as a backdrop.

*Rows of beautiful trees covered hillsides, shining against a bright blue sky.*

Not everything was in bloom yet, but the trees that were, were stunning.

*It felt like spring had finally arrived.*

It was a treat to drive the backroads looking for something special. And look what we found.

So the very first day of my weekend up north we managed to find both our objectives, trilliums and cherry trees. What was left to do the next day?

Guess you’ll have to wait and see.

*We liked the shadows on this barn. The end of a good day.*

August 17, 2018
by dawnkinster 14 Comments

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Mirror images or reflections

Many years ago I was visiting a friend up in Northport, Michigan. We were out taking pictures, mostly in the woods and along the lake shore. But we also stopped in town where I noticed this interesting shop window and grabbed a shot without even leaving the car.

Can you find the reflection?

March 29, 2018
by dawnkinster 31 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Sunset

When I saw this week’s prompt I knew immediately the sunset I wanted to show you.

Fire to the south of me.

I was in northern Michigan in December of 2015 when one evening the sky just exploded. To the south it was burning in orange and reds, and to the north the sky was sighing in shades of pink and purple.

Cotton candy to the north of me.

The air was pinkish gold. I couldn’t shoot fast enough, and I never felt the cold.

The waves were tipped in light.

Though I usually limit myself to one photo for a photo challenge, this time I just couldn’t decide. So since the sunset itself was divided between fire and sweet I decided to go with full disclosure.

The islands out at the horizon were crowned by gold and purple.

Picture me turning from south to north and back again, trying not to miss any detail.

It just kept getting better.

It was amazing and I’m so glad to be able to relive it through these shots.

What a place to sit and enjoy the show!

And, as always, I’m glad to share them with you.

A firestorm in the sky.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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