via Leelanau.com… The Glen Arbor Sun shared this photo a year ago, and I think it’s the perfect reminder for everyone to pay attention to your driving & traffic laws as we head into the Labor Day Weekend. Have fun and please don’t drink & drive – you simply don’t want to end up as a traffic statistic.
And yes, Jeep lovers, we know that you can deflate the tires to get out of a mess like this. The point is don’t break Federal law by driving on the beach in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore or any of the other idiotic things that might seem like a good idea at the time!!
In her song “The Dream Before” of my favorite musicians, Laurie Anderson, observes that progress is a storm blowing us from Paradise into the future. While I am a big fan of lots of progress, I do not welcome the rise of Artificial Intelligence image generators that are positively overwhelming social media with idealized versions of real scenes. These false images are vexing, but they are only the tip of an iceberg that threatens to sink our ability to share information of any kind.
While many will probably say this picture is an AI creation due to the fancy clouds, Mary shared it four years ago on August 26, 2020. Head over to the Traverse City Camera Club group for more from Mary!
I just realized that summer is almost over, and I hope that we can all act accordingly!!
I have featured Jonathan’s photo of Grand Haven’s “Formal Day at the Beach” before & I will undoubtedly share it again!! Near as I can tell, the event no longer happens but it looks super fun. See the latest from Jonathan on his Flickr.
Now this is no shade to Manistee’s First Street Beach because for my money, it’s one of the best, especially for finding beach glass. I am for sure wondering if readers think this is our best beach or if they prefer another. Let me know in the comments or on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook!!
Manistee Tourism shared Tess’s photo on their First Street Beach + Douglas Park page. Visit for a live web cam and info about the three playgrounds, bathhouse & concessions, dog park/dog beach, and all kinds of other amenities!
Here’s an incredible photo of the Northern Lights dancing over the Manitou Passage in Lake Michigan last night from Sleeping Bear Point. South Manitou Island is to the right, North Manitou Island to the left & The Crib (North Manitou Shoal Light) is in the center. Ethan’s father Elmer Hohnke recently passed away and he shares:
I’ve been a little quiet lately on here as my dad passed away a few weeks ago and needed to step back for a while. Since then I’ve been needing a mental health break chasing the night sky, as that is my true escape. With the peak of the Perseids meteor shower as well as anticipation of a coronal mass ejection(s), AND a clear night..last night was the perfect night. It wound up being so much more than perfect. The aurora made an appearance and danced from just after sunset to just before sunrise. The night sky did so many different things and so many different colors were present. I also felt the presence of my dad with me last night and it was something I can’t even put into words. I love you, forever and always. This night will hold closer to me than any other night.
This is a great reminder of the pain this world can hold for us all and the fact that many you will see today are grappling with similar pain. Please grant them grace & here’s hoping for a lifting of all our spirits … and a continued run of absolutely banging auroras!!
If you love the Great Lakes and aren’t yet following the exploits of Milo’s owner, Great Lakes shipwreck explorer Chris Roxburgh, then today is your lucky day!! Follow Chris on Facebook and view & purchase his work including some awesome coffee table books on his website!
On the night of November 28, 1960, Lake Michigan would claim one of her most recent victims. The steamship Francisco Morazan ended a 38-year career when she ran aground on South Manitou Island. She had sailed for eleven owners, under six flags, with eight names.
…The Morazan was Captain Eduardo Trivizas’ first command. Onboard were 12 crew, and the captain’s pregnant wife, Anastasia. Fog slowed the ship and a bad feeder pump for the boiler forced the crew to stop and drift in Lake Michigan for eight hours to replace it. The Morazan passed Point Betsie in a blinding snowstorm at about 7:15 pm on the 28th. She was pushed off course and ran aground just 300 yards from the beach on South Manitou Island.
Three Coast Guard vessels and a civilian tug responded to the Morazan’s mayday. On December 4, the crew was removed from the ship after it was determined that she couldn’t be salvaged. Attempts were made to salvage the cargo but were ultimately abandoned. In the years afterward, the wreck became a popular hangout for island residents. They helped themselves to the cargo of canned chicken and toys. The wreck is now protected as a part of the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve.
While it looks like a dry weekend that should be sunny, there will likely be areas of high-level wildfire smoke. The exact timing of the smoke will be difficult. It does look like some time Saturday will have a thick blanket of smoke high in the sky. It won’t mean much to the big picture of the weather other than keeping our temperatures out of the high-80s.
One thing is sure this weekend. Our humidity will be fairly low. We can see that with the morning low temperatures. Saturday morning we will drop into the 50s.
Just like back in 2016 when Ken took this photo of the full moon over Sleeping Bear Bay, we will once again be staring at a big & beautifully full Strawberry Moon close to the summer solstice. According to the Farmer’s Almanac who popularized moon names in the 1930s, “strawberry moon” comes from the Native Algonquian tribes who lived in the northeastern US. The Ojibwe, Dakota & Lakota marked it as the full moon to be harvesting wild strawberries.
European names include the Honey Moon and the Mead Moon. Since June is named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno, you gotta believe this is where honeymoon comes from!! This year the moon will be full at 9:08pm tonight (Friday, June 21st).
The Summer Solstice happens today (June 20th) at 4:51pm. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice is the moment when the sun reaches its highest and northernmost point in the sky. In addition to being the moment that summer officially begins, it also happens on the longest day of the year.
Kent took this in Charlevoix on the solstice in 2019. See his latest shots on his Flickr!
Atmospheric Optics is the go-to for information about rainbows and other marvelous sights in sky. They explain the science behing double rainbows:
Light can be reflected more than once inside a raindrop. Rays escaping after two reflections make a secondary bow.
The secondary has a radius of 51º and lies some 9º outside the primary bow. It is broader, 1.8X the width of the primary, and its colours are reversed so that the reds of the two bows always face one another. The secondary has 43% of the total brightness of the primary but its surface brightness is lower than that because its light is spread over its greater angular extent. The primary and secondary are are concentric, sharing the antisolar point for a center.
James got some great shots of a double rainbow at sunrise over Lake Michigan in Empire yesterday morning. See more by clicking the pic. and view & purchase his work on his website.
Michigan in Pictures 