Last Blast of Summer, photo by paula liimatta
Did you get all your summertime fun in? If not, get on that before it’s gone!
Paula took this a year ago at Blackrocks in Marquette’s Presque Isle Park. View it background bigtacular and see more in her Summer 2017 album on Flickr.
More Summer Wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!
The Great Lakes Echo shared a feature from Great Lakes Today entitled Ideal Conditions for Firefly Boom. It says (in part):
Whether you call it a lightning bug or a firefly or perhaps by its scientific name, Lampyridae, chances are you’ve had some experience with the tiny flying insect that flashes and blinks its way through summer evenings.
And if you’ve been noticing more fireflies in your backyard this summer, you’re not alone.
“A lot of people are enjoying it and I’m thrilled that people are enjoying it,” says Sara Lewis, an evolutionary biologist at Tufts University in Boston, and writer of the book “Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies.”
“As firefly scientists, we’re just trying to understand it.”
Lewis says the first thing you have to know about fireflies is that they live underground for two years before they hatch into the blinking bugs we associate with this season. And, she says, they love wet conditions, like those in the spring of 2017.
“Those were great conditions for baby fireflies, called larvae, because they live underground and they feed on earthworms and snails and slugs so those wet conditions mean that more are surviving.”
That wet soil also makes it easier for eggs to hatch, larva to metamorphose, and adults to lay eggs for future generations — which could explain why the population seems to be booming.
Read on for more including the fact that fireflies remain threatened and how you can help reduce the threat!
Brian took this in the Maple River State Game Area. Check it out background bigtacular and see more in his Michiganscape album on Flickr!
Lots more summer wallpaper for your computer background!
Mackinac Bridge from the Grand Porch, photo by Marilyn Bogle
Happy 131st Birthday to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island which opened on July 10, 1887. Here’s some historical highlights about Michigan’s most iconic hotel:
1887 Grand Hotel opens, billed as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrive by lake steamer from Chicago, Erie, Montreal, Detroit, and by rail from across the continent. Rates are $3 to $5 a night.
1890s Grand Hotel’s Front Porch – longest in the world—becomes the principal meeting place for all of Mackinac Island, as well as a promenade for the elderly and a “Flirtation Walk” for island romantics. Grand Hotel Manager James “The Comet” Hayes invites an agent of Edison Phonograph to conduct regular demonstrations of the new invention.
1895 Mark Twain lectures in the Grand Hotel Casino. Admission: $1.
1897 The West Wing is added to the hotel.
Turn of the century – The automobile finds its way onto the island. Grand Hotel supports an island-wide ban. A law is passed, but not strictly enforced until the 1930s.
1919 Hotel rates: $6 a day per person.
1935 A radio salon where patrons can listen to Jack Benny and other popular programs is added.
1947 This Time For Keeps starring Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams is filmed on the island and at Grand Hotel.
1960 Grand Hotel owner W. Stewart Woodfill appoints R.D. (Dan) Musser president of Grand Hotel.
1976 Musser and wife Amelia begin the redesign of the hotel’s interior and exterior with the help of architect Richard Bos and decorator Carleton Varney.
1979 The Mussers purchase Grand Hotel.
1980 Somewhere In Time, filmed at Grand Hotel and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, is released.
1989 The U.S. Department of Interior designates Grand Hotel a National Historic Landmark.
View Marilyn’s photo background bigilicious and see more in her Mackinac album.
More Grand Hotel and more Mackinac Island on Michigan in Pictures!
Pictured Rocks by Tudor ap Mac
I wanted to make sure everyone was aware that I’m making periodic updates on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook.
View Tudor’s photo of the Petit Portal in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and a lot more including this stunning panorama in his Upper Peninsula album!
gimme more summer by Yolanda Gonzalez
For the next week, Michigan in Pictures will be on a vacation of sorts as I work on the Earthwork Harvest Gathering, a truly wonderful gathering featuring 120+ bands, panels, workshops, day passes or weekend camping. Head over to the Earthwork Harvest Gathering website for all the info and I’ll see you in a week.
I’ll leave you with this feeling I feel every time of year that Yolanda captured so well in this photo. Hope you get a little more summer! View the photo bigger and see more in Yolanda’s Beaver Island slideshow.
Maybe watch the Michigan in Pictures Facebook page for some quick hits!
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, photo by Peter Tinetti
What a September. Even without the daily political chaos, we’ve got the West in flames, our fourth largest city devastated by flooding from the current most costly storm in US history, and what could very well be the new most costly storm barreling towards Florida.
Hopefully, we’ll get a breather soon.
View the photo of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse background big and see more in Peter’s slideshow. He’s originally from the UP but lives in California, so many of the pics are from there … and gorgeous!
More about the Eagle Harbor Light on Michigan in Pictures.
Mackinac Point Lighthouse, photo by T P Mann
Great shot from a year about at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, which is located right next to the Mackinac Bridge.
View the photo background bigilicious and see more in TP’s 200+ Faves slideshow.
Crazy Times on Torch Lake, photo by Drew Shaffer
Here’s another photo from that cool mLive feature on jaw-dropping Michigan locations. Wikipedia’s Torch Lake entry says in part:
Torch Lake at 19 miles (31 km) long is Michigan’s longest inland lake and at approximately 18,770 acres (76 km²) is Michigan’s second largest inland lake.
The name of the lake is not due to its shape, rather, is derived from translation from the Ojibwa name Was-wa-gon-ong meaning “Place of the Torches”, referring to the practice of the local Native American population who once used torches at night to attract fish for harvesting with spears and nets. For a time it was referred to by local European settlers as “Torch Light Lake”, which eventually was shortened to its current name.
Torch Lake is part of a watershed that begins in northern Antrim County with Six Mile Lake, which is connected by the Intermediate River with Lake Bellaire. The Grass River flows from Lake Bellaire into Clam Lake, which in turn drains into Torch Lake via the short Clam River. Torch Lake itself is drained by the Torch River, which flows into Lake Skegemog, which opens into Elk Lake. Elk Lake flows into the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay at Elk Rapids. This watershed is popularly known as the Chain of Lakes.
View the photo bigger and follow Drew on Instagram for more!
Summer Evening at Big Sable Point Lighthouse, photo by Craig Sterken Photography
This weekend is the 2nd Annual Michigan Lighthouse Festival featuring Big Sable Point Lighthouse’s 150th Anniversary! The festival features lighthouse tours throughout the weekend, a vendor show on Saturday and Sunday, Friday Night dinner with special guest speakers, topped off with Ric Mixter performing “The Storm” on Saturday night.
Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light has some great information about the history of Big Sable Point Lighthouse including an explanation of the light’s unique appearance:
Construction began in early 1867 with the arrival of Lighthouse Board and Army Corps of Engineers workers, who immediately began the construction of a dock at which to unload the necessary supplies for the project. Next, a temporary cofferdam was constructed to keep waster from entering the foundation, which consisted of tightly fitted cut stone blocks beginning a depth of six feet below grade and extending three feet above.
On this sturdy foundation, the skilled masons began to raise the tower. Constructed of cream city brick, the walls were laid five feet thick at the foundation, tapering to a thickness of two feet thick immediately below the gallery. Within the tower, a circular inner wall, eight feet in diameter supported the cast iron spiral staircase. On its’ vertical climb, the stairway passed through three landing areas.
…In 1898, the District Inspector reported that the cream city brick used in constructing the tower was found to be flaking as a result of exposure to the elements, and voiced concern that if left as-is, the integrity of the tower would likely be compromised. This flaking grew so severe, that in 1899 a contract was awarded to the J. G. Wagner Company of Milwaukee to construct the necessary steel plates to encase the tower. The plates were satisfactorily test assembled at the Milwaukee Lighthouse Depot, loaded onto lighthouse tenders and then shipped to Big Sable. With the arrival of the plates, the process of riveting the plates together around the tower, and filling the void between the brick and the plates with cement began. The construction was completed in June 1900 at a total labor and materials cost of $4,925. In order to increase the visibility of the tower during daylight hours, the new cladding was painted white with a contrasting black band around its’ middle third.
View the photo bigger, see more in Craig’s Big Sable Lighthouse slideshow, and view & purchase photos at craigsterken.com.
More Michigan lighthouses on Michigan in Pictures!
Another World Below, photo by Neil Weaver Photography
Yesterday we were above the surface of Lake Superior, so let’s take a look beneath the surface today. Neil writes:
Sandstone formations make an intriguing landscape beneath Superior’s surface – Pictured Rocks NL. I had a lot of fun doing a little underwater photography this past week.
View the photo bigger on Facebook, follow Neil on Facebook for lots more cool photos, and view & purchase more work at NeilWeaverPhotography.com.
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