i’ll be on the water, photo by todd richter.
…at least in my mind.
Stay warm, have fun.
Check it out bigger and in Todd’s slideshow.
Previewing the Winter Olympics at Otsego Club
SNOWBOARD Training in Gaylord, Michigan, photo by MyWheelsareTurning.
If a trip to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics (February 12-28) isn’t in your budget, consider the shorter jaunt to Gaylord next week.
Many of the world’s finest snowboarders are training for the Winter Games at Otsego Club in Gaylord, Michigan. The New York Times reports:
The Otsego Club, a private ski/golf club and resort founded in 1939, has been a good destination for snowboarders, with a terrain park of 45 trails and jumps to complement its 31 downhill runs. This season, it decided to take a chance and spend more than $100,000 to build the halfpipe…
The grounds were reshaped and prepared over the fall, and the architects of Planet Snow built the 500-foot-long, 22-foot-high halfpipe of ice and snow.
The club hoped adding the halfpipe could attract interest, but the general manager, Kris Klay, said the experiment had far exceeded expectations.
“Every day I am getting calls from coaches and athletes asking if they can come here too — do we have room?” Klay said. “We’re going to make the room. This has been an incredible experience for us to host them and for the community to be able to have exposure to this. We feel like we’re so lucky, we’re getting to see a preview of the Vancouver Olympics every day in our own backyard.”
They also have a nice feature on one of the biggest stars you can see there, Gold Medal hopeful Torah Bright. I’ve been told that even more of the top boarders will be in early next week, and my own resident snowboarding expert returned beaming from ear to ear at how he’d been able to board with Olympians, a chance that few get. I believe that the resort is closed to the public on the weekend, so be sure to call ahead!
You can see this photo of Japanese rider Shiho Nakashima larger in Gary’s Gaylord: Olympic Snowboard slideshow and check out his blog about
Walking, Biking, Getting Around in Northern Michigan & Beyond.
It’s lonely at Big Sable Lighthouse in wintertime
On a bone-chilling morning like today, it’s not too hard to put yourself in the probably none-too-warm shoes of Keeper Hans Hansen of the Big Sable Lighthouse, located at the wrong end of a nine mile walk from Ludington. Here’s his letter to Capt. C.E. Clark, USN, Lighthouse Inspector on September 19, 1887:
Please Sir, I wish to apply to you in regards to a change in location or in other words, if there is any chance for me to be transferred to some small Light. I have now served faithfully at this same Station for five long years lacking eight days, keeping the Light going every night the year around, and in them five years have been absent only three weeks. And this last year has been very hard on me on account I have had so many new men and each one I have to teach to care for the Light, and makes me feel very uneasy all hours of the night. The last man appointed is very quick and wants to learn. He is the best man that has been here for some time. He is a stranger to me. My children I should like very much to get them in school. Here is no school for miles. I prefer a small place where I can be alone with my family. I do not mind loosing [sic] Sixty dollars from my present salary. Would like best a place south from here but prefer best the west shore on Green Bay or would be glad to take some small place north of here. You would make us feel very happy. Please be so kind and do what you can.
You can get more stories from Lighthouses Short & Tall, learn about Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington State Park and see tons more Michigan lighthouses on Michigan in Pictures.
Check this out bigger in Tim’s Lake Michigan slideshow and stay warm people!
Lightning Strikes Again: Exposure.Detroit February Show
looking out, photo by neubauerphotography.
The EXPOSURE.Detroit photography group opens their February Photography Exhibit on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 from 7-10 PM at the Bean & Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak. The exhibit will feature the work of five talented photographers:
Mike says that he loves trying to capture lightning. See this bigger in his slideshow.
Detroit’s Golden Age: Looking up Woodward Avenue
Looking Up Woodward Avenue, c 1917, photo by Detroit Publishing Company
Thanks Chris Sebok for today’s find and happy birthday to Michigan!
This dry plate glass negative comes from the Detroit Publishing Company. Check out more photos from the Detroit Publishing Company archive and purchase prints from Shorpy’s!
This photo inspired mLive to put together a fantastic photographic timeline feature they titled Photos of Detroit’s Golden Age: The other side of ‘ruin porn’. It begins:
Detroit these days is not exactly the model of a great American city. While still vibrant and beautiful in several areas, the Motor City isn’t what it used to be, and we’re not here to lie or sugarcoat it.
Those abandoned buildings that have been thrust into the world’s spotlight through photo galleries by the likes of Time and Slate are real and a major part of Detroit’s landscape today.
But a few months ago, we came across a different kind of photo from Detroit (above), one that showed the city as a bustling metropolis full of people and booming businesses — in 1917.
People seemed to love it just as much as they loved those Detroit “ruin porn” photos.
Read on (and see some video) at mLive and check the comments at Shorpy’s too!
Old Reliable: Quincy Mine on the Keweenaw Peninsula
24/365 – Quincy Boiler and Shaft, photo by dcclark.
You can buy mine related stuff and get tour information from the Quincy Mine Hoist Association. You can’t, however, get historical information.
Thankfully, David has posted a bunch. He has some information on his Copper Country Explorer web site (update: actually run by his friend Mike!). On his Cliffs & Ruins blog he writes:
In the foreground are the ruins an old boiler house — once filled with huge steam boilers, providing steam power to the mine. Behind it is the #2 shafthouse, a modern steel structure from a different era of the mine’s development.
The Quincy Mine is a very different mine from the Central Mine, featured yesterday. Although both started in the 1850s, the Central was a “fissure” mine — mining primarily huge, pure chunks of copper. The Quincy, on the other hand, was an “amygdaloid” mine — mining rock with tiny bits of copper infused through it. As it turns out, Quincy’s model was better, and all of the truly successful mines in the Copper Country were amygdaloid mines. Quincy paid dividends for nearly 50 years straight, earning it the name “Old Reliable”. But, just like the Central and all other Copper Country mines, the Quincy is now nothing more than a collection of shafts and ruins.
It’s one of the Keweenaw National Heritage Sites and there’s detailed information on Wikipedia’s Quincy Mine entry.
Be sure to check this out bigger, in David’s store and on his Quincy, Michigan map.
Gray Skies: 1st Place in the Pure Michigan Fall Photo Contest
1st Place – People’s Choice Award, Pure Michigan, photo by Mike Darga.
Every season, Pure Michigan sponsors a photo competition.
Mike’s photo from Kensington Metropark was selected as the People’s Choice winner in their Fall contest. You can see it bigger in his Michigan Parks slideshow.
You can enter their Winter contest and learn more and see past winners at puremichiganphotoclub.com.
And Go
…and have a good weekend!
Check this out bigger, in Rick’s DN Central Races Boyne City, Michigan 01/15-1/17/2010 set and for lots more of Michigan’s best ice boating action, head over to elklakeiceboating.com.
Ski Free in Michigan
There’s an Upside and a Downside, photo by farlane.
A friend told me yesterday about a deal that Shell stations are offering to give you a free ski ticket at participating ski resorts when you buy 10 gallons of gas. The details are at skifreedeals.com and the Michigan resorts are:
- Apple Mountain
- Bittersweet Ski Area
- Boyne Highlands
- Boyne Mountain
- Caberfae Peaks Ski Resort
- Cannonsburg Ski Area
- Cross Country
- Crystal Mountain (where this photo was taken)
- Hanson Hills
- Homestead Resort
- Marquette Mountain
- Mt Bohemia
- Mt Brighton Ski Area
- Mt Holiday Ski Resort
- Mt Holly
- Mt Zion
- Norway Mountain
- Nub’s Nob Ski Area
- Otsego Club
- Pine Knob Ski Resort
- Pine Mountain Resort
- Shanty Creek Resort
- Snow Snake Mountain
- Swiss Valley Ski Area
- Timber Ridge Ski Area
Every once in a while I get to use one of my own photos. It’s in my contract along with the “no red jellybeans” clause. You can check it out bigger and in my Winter slideshow.
Tons more Michigan skiing info including profiles of these resorts at absolutemichigan.com/Ski.
You Are My Sunshine
~ You Are My Sunshine ~, photo by suesue2.
Here’s something for those who’ve had a little too much in the snow & gray department lately. You might also want to check out this feature on Absolute Michigan that looks at how Michigan could be a great state for solar power:
“Many people think that solar won’t work in Michigan because it’s too cold and it doesn’t get as much sun as other places, but that’s misconstrued. Michigan has an average of 4.2 hours of peak sunlight per day each year. Florida, the ‘Sunshine State’ only has about five hours.”
Check this out bigger in Sue’s Fantastic Flowers slideshow, and I hope the sun shines on you today, even if it’s just in your heart.
Need more flowers?
Michigan in Pictures 