New destination, photo by Moobyluvsme
Gorgeous photo from last month. Check it out big as the sky, download it as a background and see more in Mike’s slideshow.
Safe travels this weekend everyone!
Robot Supply & Repair and 826 Michigan
NOVEMBER 2012-1152, photo by RichardDemingPhotography
Today is Black Friday, and though many of us – your host most definitely included -get worn down by the constant march of “Consumer Christmas”, it’s important to remember that our dollars when spent wisely can build strength in our communities. Below is one great example and I’m sure people can suggest more in the comments! I should add that I’ve had this post saved as a draft for almost a month which is why Richard has a rare back-to-back feature!
This photo is of Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair in Ann Arbor. Stocking common items as well as more esoteric gear like positronic brains, they’re the source for all your robot needs in Southeast Michigan.
The store is also (literally) the front for 826michigan, a nonprofit student writing & tutoring center, and all proceeds go toward their free student programs. 826michigan is dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. 826 opened its doors in June of 2005 and believes that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success and that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention.
I for one welcome our new robot overlords and encourage you to watch this great video about Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair and 826Michigan.
See Richard’s photo bigger and see more in his Impressions 2012 slideshow.
More Ann Arbor on Michigan in Pictures.
Wishing everyone the best of Michigan’s Thanksgiving Bounty
FARMERS MARKET Nov 2012-963, photo by RichardDemingPhotography
The story of Thanksgiving is one of our country’s oldest and best stories. At the heart of it is the sharing of the rich and diverse bounty of the land.
Michigan is the second most agriculturally diverse state, and here’s hoping that some of Michigan’s varied fruits, vegetables, meat and other local and tasty foods will make it to your table today and throughout the holiday season.
See this bigger and in Richard’s massive Farmer’s Markets 2012 slideshow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
More Thanksgiving on Michigan in Pictures.
111 Years of over the river at Hines Park
Hines Park, Livonia, MI, September, 2012, photo by Norm Powell (napowell30d)
Nice shot from Hines Park in Livonia. Here’s hoping everyone and their guests have safe travels this holiday whether you’re headed over the river, through the woods or somewhere else.
Check this out background big and see more in Norm’s slideshow.
More bridges on Absolute Michigan.
Chestnut season
Scoring the Chestnuts, photo by DarrylW4
Michigan in Pictures had a great feature on chestnuts last year that has a lot of information on this traditional Thanksgiving food.
With 54 farms encompassing 813 acres, Michigan ranks first in the nation in chestnut plantings. As you plan your Thanksgiving dinner, consider Michigan chestnuts and other local products. Over on Absolute Michigan we have a feature that can help you do just that – make it a Michigan Thanksgiving.
If you want to put chestnuts on your holiday menu, MyNorth has a recipe for a Michigan Chestnut Pie. Or, if you prefer your chestnuts in liquid form, how about a Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono (Autumn Fire)? Every year Jolly Pumpkin makes a limited amount of this seasonal Belgian ale brewed with chestnuts and spices and it’s delicious!
Check this out on black and see more in Darryl’s slideshow.
More food on Michigan in Pictures.
Snow Bound: Winter 2013 forecast to be cold & snowy for Michigan
Snow Bound, photo by siskokid
Some of the first snows of the 2012-2013 winter have visited Michigan, so it’s probably a good time to have a look at what Old Man Winter might have up his sleeve this winter. The Winter 2013 forecast from “Caleb Weatherbee”* of the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a split in the nation’s weather with warmer and drier conditions in the West and cold & snow in the East & Midwest. The Freep takes a closer look at the winter forecast saying:
In a forecast sure to delight Michigan’s snow sport industries, the almanac is predicting plenty of snow, with temperatures 2 to 4 degrees colder than average. It estimates the first snow will come Nov. 7 in some parts of the Great Lakes — and a major storm of up to 8 inches will blast the Great Lakes on Jan. 20-23.
So far, so good I guess. While I’m not a meteorologist, it seems like warm, dry air in the west and colder, wetter air in the east could make for some exciting weather for Michigan. Someone who is a meteorologist is Dr. Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground. In his interesting and informative Forecast for Winter 2012-2013, Jeff notes that NOAA’s predictions suggest the same warmer & drier conditions for the west (with a wider area covered). He walks through the many factors that can affect winter weather, ultimately concluding:
I’m often asked by friends and neighbors what my forecast for the coming winter is, but I tell them to flip a coin, or catch some woolley bear caterpillars for me so I can count their stripes and make a woolley bear winter forecast (this year’s Woolley Worm Festival in Banner Elk, North Carolina is this weekend, so we’ll know then what the official Woolley Worm winter forecast is.) Making an accurate winter forecast is very difficult, as the interplay between El Niño, the AO/NAO, the AMO, Arctic sea ice loss, and the 11-year sunspot cycle is complex and poorly understood. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected and unprecedented from our weather over the past few winters; perhaps the most unexpected thing would be a very average winter during 2012 – 2013.
View this photo on black and see more in Jim’s 50+ Faves slideshow.
*FYI, Caleb Weatherbee is the official forecaster for the Farmers’ Almanac. His name is actually a pseudonym that has been passed down & shared by generations of Almanac prognosticators.
Brad Keselowski poised to become Michigan’s first NASCAR champion
In Michigan native Brad Keselowski on the verge of NASCAR glory, the Freep Mike Brudenell writes:
Keselowski, the tough-as-nails, unflinching NASCAR driver from Rochester Hills, is one race away from making sports history in this state.
Should the hard-charging 28-year-old driver survive a torrid 400-mile stock car race in south Florida on Sunday afternoon — against some of the most unforgiving drivers in the world — he will become the new NASCAR Sprint Cup champion for 2012, the first person born in Michigan to do so.
…Keselowski races for Penske, the legendary Birmingham team owner, and needs only to finish 15th or better at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the last race on the Cup schedule to capture the title.
More at Brad Keselowski Racing and while he probably won’t be tweeting from this race, you can also follow him on Twitter.
Check it out background bigtacular and see more in Parker’s NASCAR slideshow.
Deer Season in Michigan: 2012 Edition
IMG_9524, photo by flickaway1
Today is Opening Day, a de facto holiday that will bring hundreds of thousands of deer hunters to the woods & swamps of the Great Lakes State. As almost all of the state is potentially open to hunting, you’re advised to take extreme care for the next two weeks during the November 15-30 Deer Hunting Season.
Read all about the 2012 Michigan Deer Season at Absolute Michigan.
Check this out big as a buck and see more deer shots in Brent’s slideshow.
Remembering Detroit Boxing Legend Emanuel Steward
Emanuel Steward’s boxing clinic, photo by yousef_anani
Boxing legend Emanuel Steward, one of the greatest trainers ever, was remembered yesterday in Detroit. The entry for Emanuel Steward at the International Boxing Hall of Fame begins:
Steward, who was born in West Virginia in 1944, has been one one of the most successful trainers and managers in the last two decades of the 20th century.
Like many young men, he started boxing after receiving a pair of boxing gloves as a gift. The youngster boxed in informal matches that his father set up. When his parents separated, he moved with his mother to Detroit. By age 12, he was training at the Brewster Recreation Center, which had been the boxing home of Joe Louis and Eddie Futch. As an amateur, he ran up a record of 94-3, which culminated with a 1963 National Golden Gloves title. Steward than began training amateur fighters, but eventually gave that up and found full-time employment as an electrician.
But boxing was in his blood. In 1971, he was asked to look after his half-brother James, who was 15 at the time. Steward took him to a nearby gym called, the Kronk. It wasn’t long before Emanuel was coaching again. In 1971, his charges dominated the Detroit Golden Gloves, winning seven championships. A year later, he left the security of a full-time electrician’s job, and turned his attention to boxing, and the Kronk.
By the mid-70s he had built the gym into a national power, and two of his charges, Thomas Hearns and Hilmer Kenty came close to making the ’76 Olympic Team. A year later, the two turned pro with Steward serving double duty as their trainer and manager. On March 2, 1980, Kenty became Steward’s first world champion when stopped Ernesto Espana in the fourth round to win the WBA lightweight crown.
Five months later Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns stopped Pipino Cuevas with a blistering second-round kayo to become champion No. 2.
Wikipedia’s Emanuel Steward entry lists some of the fighters he trained including Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis and Julio César Chávez. It adds that his heavyweight fighters had a record of 34-2-1 combined in title fights. The Freep has a nice video with boxers Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Lennox Lewis remembering Steward that also includes a bit of Aretha Franklin singing. You may also want to read this article in the New York Times or watch this ESPN tribute to Steward.
Yousef Anani took this photo at an Emanuel Steward’s boxing clinic in London last year. See it bigger and view more in his Emanuel Steward slideshow.
Up Close at Hidden Lake Gardens
Detail, photo by corinne.schwarz
Corinne took this photo at Hidden Lake Gardens, a property just west of Tecumseh (map) that was donated to Michigan State University (then Michigan State College) in 1945 by Harry A. Fee, an Adrian businessman. They explain that:
He had always dreamed of owning a lake, and, upon his retirement in 1926, he purchased Hidden Lake along with 200 acres of land surrounding it. He repaired and refurbished the old farmhouse, built a greenhouse, and began farming. He soon realized that the land was not suitable to conventional farming or raising livestock and so he began to grow nursery stock. Not wanting to compete with local nurseries during the depression he planted the stock on his own land in an effort to create a “series of pictures,” a philosophy that we continue to strive for today. Mr. Fee described Hidden Lake Gardens as a “dream as you go development”…
“When the idea that I was making a series of beautiful scenic pictures available to the Public and just when I decided to dedicate the Gardens to public service I do not remember …. all subsequent work has been and should be continued with the prime object of its being for the Benefit of the Public…” Mr. Fee donated Hidden Lake Gardens to Michigan State University (then Michigan State College) in 1945 and his wish that the Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public has continued through the years. He was actively involved in decision making at the Gardens until his death in 1955.
With his generous endowment under the direction of MSU’s Horticulture Department, the Division of Campus Parks and Planning and presently Land Management, the Gardens has continued to develop with land acquisitions, construction of buildings, and the establishment of educational programs. The original 200 acres have grown to 755 acres! This includes a 120 acre arboretum that was begun in 1962 and consists of plant groups such as crabapples, lilacs, maples, evergreens, and shrubs.
Garden highlights include an extensive arboretum, a collection of dwarf trees and rare conifers, a Bonsai courtyard and a Conservatory featuring three distinct climates. They host weddings & events as well.
Check this out background big and see more in Corinne’s Hidden Lake Gardens slideshow and more of her photography on her Facebook page.
Michigan in Pictures 