The Ghost of Minnie Quay is calling

Posted on by farlane
Sticks and Stones by Jeff Gaydash

Sticks and Stones by Jeff Gaydash

Back in the day, Linda Godfrey would regularly share stories with me from her classic book Weird Michigan and her other works. Linda has regrettably passed on and her Weird Michigan website is lost, but here’s a seasonally appropriate tale of shipwrecks & lost love from my archives…

In the mid-1800s, the Lake Huron port and lumber town of Forester was a far cry from the sleepy, near ghost town it is today. The remains of huge pilings just off the scanty beach now stand as crumbling reminders of the great pier that once bustled with Great Lakes ships and sailors.

One of those sailors unwittingly started the legend that would be Forester’s main claim to fame after the lumber ran out and the ships stopped coming.On shore leave one day, the unnamed young man took up with a local girl named Minnie Quay, whose folks, James and Mary Ann Quay, owned the town tavern.

The Quays forbid Minnie to see her beloved, but the order proved tragically unnecessary after his ship became one of many that succumbed to Great Lakes gales. Minnie made one more visit to the forbidden pier after learning that news, and on April 26, 1876, at the age of 16, she threw herself into the water in hope of joining him in the afterlife. She lies in a waterfront cemetery now, next to the bodies of her father, mother and brother.

Legend says that she still wanders the beaches, moaning for her lost sailor, and that some have seen her standing waist deep in the water, beckoning others to join her. The former Quay home and bar still stands, giving Minnie’s ghost even more reason to linger.

Jeff is a fine art photographer & printmaker. Explore his work in the Great Lakes gallery on his website.

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Talon Tuesday

Posted on by farlane
Talons by Kevin Povenz

Talons by Kevin Povenz

Kevin came across a Great Horned Owlet sitting on a tree branch right over the trail. He shares that Great horned owl talons are incredibly strong, with some individuals capable of exerting a gripping pressure of 200 to 500 pounds per square inch. This powerful grip, along with their size, allows them to capture and subdue prey, including those much larger than themselves.

See more in Kevin’s Birds of Prey gallery on Flickr and for sure follow him on Facebook!

More owls including a Great Horned owlet at the owl tag on Michigan in Pictures!

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From Dark Hollow Quarry to Michigan Central Station

Posted on by farlane
Removing a Limestone block from the quarry

Quarrying limestone for Michigan Central Station

A post on the Historic Detroit Facebook reminded me of this great post the Christman Company shared last year about the care for detail in the renovation of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station that extended even to getting limestone from the original quarry:

At Michigan Central Station, much of the building’s limestone — 600 tons of it — had deteriorated from three decades of uncontrolled water into the building. Research and good teamwork led to finding the original, uniquely banded limestone source, the Dark Hollow Quarry in Bedford, Indiana. The only problem: it had closed in 1988, the same year as Michigan Central Station.

Luckily, quarried blocks had been left on site, but were now surrounded by 30-year-old trees! A new access road was installed, trees removed, and truckloads of raw blocks — the largest single piece over 20 tons — were sent to Bridgeport, Michigan for fabrication. Skillfully sequenced for reinstallation, the restored limestone facade, from the front to the back of Michigan Central Station, matches perfectly with the skill of marvelous teamwork.

Marvelous indeed. We’ll continue to share more about this iconic Detroit structure that officially reopened June 6, 2024. Head over to the Christman Company’s post on Facebook for more pics as well as info about the process and all the contractors involved. For sure check out much more Michigan Central on Michigan in Pictures & for sure follow Historic Detroit for all kinds of cool Detroit content!

Here’s a couple more shots along with a few of mine from last July soon after the station re-opened.

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Lake Superior Shoreline Ice: Hasselblad Edition

Posted on by farlane
Hasselblad 501CM w: 180CF-Lake Superior Shoreline (Little Girl's Point) by Kirt E Carter

Hasselblad 501CM w: 180CF-Lake Superior Shoreline (Little Girl’s Point) by Kirt E Carter

One of my favorite things about Michigan in Pictures is seeing some of the incredible cameras people are using.

One man who has some sweet gear is Kirt E. Carter and he has been bringing some incredible Hasselblad pics to the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr for the better part of a decade. I figured today was a good day to bring attention to his amazing work. The large one below of icicles on the Eagle Harbor shoreline – see more in the Hasselblad search in the Absolute Michigan group & for sure head over to his website to view & purchase his work!

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Hungry for Power

Posted on by farlane
power | time traveler series | by brian day

power | time traveler series | by brian day

You may have heard that the owners of Pallisades Nuclear Plant plan to restart 70s-era facility in 2025, but did you hear that they also plan to fire up two smaller reactors on the site?

Holtec International, the company that owns and wants to restart the closed Palisades nuclear plant, is already working on preliminary site plans for a pair of 300-megawatt SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) previously announced for the industrial site along Lake Michigan in Covert Township.

…Advanced nuclear technology expert Staffan Qvist, Swedish engineer and scientist, said SMRs come with “inherent safety” measures using the basic physics of the plant’s design and engineering. He said SMRs will generate smaller loads of electricity than classic nuclear plants but will cost much less to build. Qvist said the Holtec SMR-300 is a primarily water-cooled design, and he likened it to a shrunken down version of a conventional pressurized water reactor (but)… Nuclear critic Kevin Kamps, of watchdog group Beyond Nuclear, said trying to restart the old nuclear plant and co-locate new modular units was setting up the site for “Fukushima-like domino-effect meltdowns.”

You can read more in mLive, but I think the thing that may be of most interest is WHY these plants are being restarted in the first place. Scientific American has a great look at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) uses a ridiculous amount of power & is on track to use a whole lot more.

I featured this photo of the Fermi plant in southeast Michigan from Brian’s amazing series called The Time Traveller way back in 2011. Check out his latest work on Instagram & for sure dig into some of his other photo series on his website.

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Peppers

Posted on by farlane

Peppers by Joel Dinda

MSU shares that Michigan has over 1500 commercial farms growing peppers, which are packed with Vitamins A & C! Head over to MSU Extension for tips on storing & cooking peppers and down to your local farm market to buy them!

See more in Joel’s 366 gallery of mostly monochrome shots.

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Fishing against the Light (and rain)

Posted on by farlane
Contre Jour by Luther Roseman Dease

Some fish for fun while others fish for food by Luther Roseman Dease II

This photo I shared eight years ago is a great example of contre-jour, the term for shooting directly into the light source. Luther explains that the light creates a form of the subject without releasing its precious and cluttered details unto photography’s artistry. See many more examples in his Contre-Jour gallery on Flickr and for sure view & purchase his work on his website.

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The mouth of the Montreal

Posted on by farlane

Mouth of Montreal River at Lake Superior by Kirt E Carter

Mouth of Montreal River at Lake Superior by Kirt E Carter

The Montreal River forms the western border separating Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Wisconsin.

Kirt took this photo with a Harman Titan 4×5 Pinhole camera. View & purchase his work at Kirt E. Carter Fine Art Photography.

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#TBT Looking Down from Fort Mackinac

Posted on by farlane

Looking Down from Old Fort Mackinac

Looking down from old fort, Mackinac Island, Mich by Detroit Publishing Co

This cool old photo from the Library of Congress shows ships at dock on Mackinac Island, including the black hulled steamer Juniata. Head over to the LOC for a lot more from Mackinac. 

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Geared up for the photo

Posted on by farlane

Intrepid MK2 8x10 at Lake Superior by Kirt E Carter

Intrepid MK2 8×10 at Lake Superior by Kirt E Carter

Here’s a sweet shot large-format, black & white shot of Kirt’s rig for a recent photo shoot at Little Girl’s Point on Lake Superior near the Michigan/Wisconsin border. You can see more on Flickr & for sure check out his website to view & purchase his work! 

More black & white photography on Michigan in Pictures & you can click to read more about the Intrepid MK2 8×10 camera.

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