City of Gold IX by Andrew McFarlane
OK here’s one of my pics of the frozen Lake Michigan shore of Leelanau County from back in January of 2009. I chose one with sun because I would like to see the sun! See more in my Frozen Shore gallery on Flickr and STAY WARM!!
Broken ice on Lake Michigan shoreline by Tom Clark
mLive shared yesterday that the coldest air of the season is blanketing Michigan right now, bringing icy temps & dangerously cold wind chills, according to the National Weather Service:
“The coldest air of the winter so far is surging into our area this evening,” according to the NWS meteorologists in the Grand Rapids office. “This is (going to) be the big story for the next 36 hours, how cold it will be. Wind chills will mostly be in the 0-degree to -10 degree range into Tuesday morning. Lows Sunday night will be (between) zero and 10 degrees, and tomorrow we have a secondary surge of even colder air coming in during the afternoon. That will limit our high temperature to the mid-teens.”
…Wind chills are expected to be especially brutal in the U.P. They could drop to 30 degrees below zero near the Wisconsin border tonight and into Monday, the NWS said.
This morning’s Michigan temperature map agrees with a toasty 18 degrees in Detroit dropping to 10 in Mt. Pleasant, 8 by the Mackinac Bridge, -9 in Marquette & all the way down to -15 in Ironwood at the western edge of the Upper Peninsula. Bundle up kids!!
Tom took this back in February of 2018 near Mackinac City. See more in his Michigan Winter gallery on Flickr and view & purchase his work on his website.
Before the Plows Come By by Ann Fisher
Ann captured a nice winter mood in this photo from a late December evening in Marquette. See more in her 2021 UP gallery on Flickr & thanks to all the hardworking plow drivers around the state!
Gathering Place by Rodney Martin
This Saturday Woodland Studies, a small exhibition of black and white photographs by Grand Rapids photographer Rodney Martin, will be available for viewing at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. Rodney is a photographer who has been featured in the past on Michigan in Pictures, and we’re excited to see his latest work! The GAAA writes:
Martin focuses his lens on the landscape. For the images in Woodland Studies, he zeros in on rivers, woods and orchards in Benzie, Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. His images were created in all four seasons; but they are related by the quiet and solitude he frames. There is little evidence of human habitation in these scenes. Instead, the images are studies of shadow and texture, shades of gray, and the deep and refreshing beauty of places off the beaten path.
Woodland Studies can be viewed in the GAAC Lobby Gallery or on the GAAC website starting this Saturday (January 7th).
Regarding this photo, Rodney shares:
I came across this gathering of roots three years ago when visiting the Teichner Preserve on Lime Lake near Maple City, Michigan. I returned four or five times over the past three years looking for the right angle to get the compelling image I wanted. I finally found it on my second visit this year. I call the image “Gathering Place.” The image speaks to me about community. I have been asked whether I warped this image to make the trees spread out from the middle. I did not. Nature did. The trees on the very left of the image hang out over Lime Lake. I suspect that in a few years the trees on the left will succumb to the waves that eat away at the shoreline and then fall into the lake.
Head over to his website for more pics including a really cool 2021 year in review!
Blue Mineral at Adventure Mine
WWJ-Detroit shares that a bright blue mineral has been discovered at a mine on the Keweenaw Peninsula that so far has people perplexed:
The mysterious mineral was found on rock walls in the historic U.P. Adventure copper mine in Greenland Township, south of Lake Superior.
On Sunday, officials from the mine have posted pictures on Facebook of the mystery substance found on rock walls, but the bright blue material has not been positively identified.
Officials said they believe it to be a secondary mineral caused by a reaction with air and water. The mine operated from 1850 until 1920 and 11 million lbs. of native copper has been extracted.
Definitely visit the Adventure Mine website for information on their tours & the history of the mine. In the Facebook post referenced, Adventure Mine said “This bright blue mineral has not been positively identified as of this post but it is a secondary mineral that is caused by a reaction with air and water. It was found on the 3rd level in a small stope.” A stope is an excavation in a mine working or quarry in the form of a step or notch & the comment thread has some very interesting ideas as to what the mineral could be.
My own personal pet theory based solely on how cool it would be is that this reaction is due to the same mineral that creates the unique iron ore slag known as Leland Blue.
PS: After some discussion with Adventure Mine operators, I realize that I took my kids on a tour there 20 years ago. Super cool & a highlight of our visit to the awesome Keweenaw Peninsula – definitely put a trip to the copper-iest of Copper Country on your Michigan bucket list!
WWJ 950 Detroit shares that last winter Nick Schirripa of the Michigan Department of Transportation, “put some feelers out” on Twitter, asking for help naming Michigan’s snow plows. A year later, all 330 of Michigan’s snow plows have new names.
You can check the plows out in realtime on the M-DOT map. The only one I found out & about this morning was Blizzard T Snowplow, listed as “applying material” way up on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Other names include Alice Scooper & Gordie Plowe, movie references like Darth Blader & Han Snowlo, and even “Control, Salt, Delete” for computer nerds.
Bill got this shot along M-72 along the border of Leelanau & Grand Traverse Counties in northwest lower Michigan back in 2018. See more in his Pics from the Car gallery on Flickr.
shoutout to @hksbks on Twitter for the heads up!
While this year doesn’t seem to be opening with as much hopefulness as 2021, here’s hoping that 2022 has all of us feeling like we’re walking on clouds!
John took this photo yesterday at Saugatuck Dunes State Park. See more in his Michigan 2021 gallery on Flickr.
Icy Sunset on Torch Lake by T P Mann
“Even the most terrible days eventually have their sunsets.”
-Andrew McFarlane
Since a Google search finds exactly ZERO results for “Even the most terrible days eventually have their sunsets” I am low key happy to close the year with an original quotation that I think is perfect for the end of 2021. Here’s hoping that the unfolding of 2022 will be miles better & that you are all happy, healthy, and with the ones you love in the coming year!
TP took this back in March of 2021. See more in his Torch Lake gallery on Flickr.
It’s once again time for me to look back on another year of Michigan in Pictures. Today is actually the 16th anniversary of the very first Michigan in Pictures post! In 2021, I posted 232 photos of the Great Lakes State along with exactly 35,693 words that were viewed on Facebook, Twitter & here nearly 2 million times! Definitely pretty cool to know my offerings are well received. OK, on to the list…
Frozen Lake Michigan & the Mighty Mac by Shelbydiamondstar Photography
Some years the top photo is a close one but with well over 250,000 views, this stunning shot of the Mighty Mac in shared March 5th left absolutely no doubt! Head over to her Facebook page for more great shots!
Frankfort Light Dream Shot by Noah Sorensen
If you can believe it (and I can because it happened) the year’s second most popular pic was shared one day before on March 4th! For reference, the top of the tower is 67 feet above Lake Michigan! Follow Noah on Facebook or Instagram and definitely follow your dreams!
Sunset over Munising Bay by Michigan Nut Photography
I’ve been featuring photos from John McCormick aka Michigan Nut here for quite a while, and once again he’s got one of the year’s top photos with this beauty he shared in April. See lots more on his Facebook page and view & purchase his work (including calendars) at michigannutphotography.com.
Sunrise at Tahquamenon by Dan Gaken
Seems like there was something in the air in March of 2021 in addition to Covid, because this a stunning sunrise at Tahquamenon Falls that I shared on March 1st is clocks in at number 4 on the list. See more from Dan in his Michigan’s Upper Peninsula gallery on Flickr!
Mac & Trees by Noah Sorensen Photo
All props to Noah for two appearances on the list as well as the absolute banger of a title on this pic shared November 1st! Head over to his Instagram for the latest.
Thank you all for another great year & if you’re able, I always appreciate a little love through my Patreon!
“This is not fun to go through, obviously. But there’s people going through a lot worse than this.”
-Lions head coach Rod Marinelli (2008)
Detroit Lions fans who haven’t successfully repressed the memories know that yesterday (December 28th) was the 13-year anniversary of the Lions finishing 0-16. With their 31-21 loss on Dec 28, 2008 to the Green Bay Packers they became the first team ever to go winless in a 16-game season. While they have been far from amazing in the first year of the Dan Campbell era, there are at least a few glimmers of hope to be found in their 2-12-1 season. At least that’s what I’m told. 😅
Sam took this photo at the Thanksgiving Day game when it was already pretty clear where the team was heading. See more in her Thanksgiving Day Football ’08 gallery on Flickr & for sure follow her blog Roar of the Tigers for entertaining content!
Michigan in Pictures 