birdseye view

Can you guess what this is?


It's the big lake, viewed from a 300 foot tall sand dune, Grand Sable Dunes. This time of year, Grand Sable could be considered back country as the only way in is 5 miles via snowmobile. That's exactly what we did yesterday, was take a ride in to the dunes, with temps topping out at about zero.


LOG SLIDE: This caution sign states that the dunes are 300ft in elevation at this spot, very steep, and at this time of year, frozen solid, with a 500 foot hike from bottom to top.

Grand Sable Dunes with the sun low in the sky-to see it covered in white was a refreshingly beautiful view. Tommorrow, I will be sharing an account and slideshow of what I consider an extreme backcountry "adventure" that few would care to attempt.

below zero

One thing about living in an area that is relatively sparsely populated, is that you can go to places where you might not see another human all day. To get out in the woods and just take in the sights and sounds around you is an experience of peace and solitude. In the middle of winter, it's even more quiet. Seeing everything in a blanket of snow can be breathtakingly beautiful.
shadows of trees in freshly fallen snow

Today, I don't think it got above zero all day, if so, it wasn't there for long. These clouds and steam off the lake are generate by the temperature differential between the water and air at it's most extreme.

Wind n Waves

One thing I never get tired of in the winter is the sights of lake effect squalls moving across Lake Superior.

Shore ice is really starting to build now, so as long as it stays cold, the ice mountains are really going to pile up on the shore line. We'll have to wait until a big thaw to see waves like this:

Presque Isle, Marquette MI shoreline, "black rocks"

Resolutions?

So here it is. 2009.

What better way to kick off the new year than to eat right, exercise more and START A BLOG...! (I hear chuckles already...)
I thought a blog might be a nice way to share current sights of the Upper Peninsula, Lake Superior, and our travels, as well as provide some impetus to getting my website updated and overhauled.
Should be interesting to see how this blog develops, or see IF it develops, lol.
This is going to be my attempt at doing something daily, and sticking to it, in attempt to do something in a disciplined manner!

Finally, our art show "off" season is here. Time to relax a little? We'll try to squeeze that in as well before the madness starts up again in earnest in May, 2009. However, now is when all the deadlines start coming up for juries and applications, lots of work.

Big news in these parts is we've had 24 straight days of snow.










This is the view out our patio door- it's piling up!
Yep that's right, it's been snowing every day for almost a month straight. We are forecast to get a good dumping tonight and tommorrow too, so the streak will continue at least a couple more days.
My Christmas gift this year was a 15mm fisheye lens. I'm busy testing this baby out to see how creative it can be. It offers some really cool perspectives-










Presque Isle, Marquette, MI. Winter 2009 Now that's a wide angle view.