Lift Off!, photo by David Marvin
Here’s hoping your week gets off to a great start! You can read all about the red-tailed hawk, Michigan’s most common hawk, and see more photos and hear calls in the Red-tailed Hawk entry from All About Birds.
View the photo background bigtacular and see more in David’s Birds slideshow.
Temple Beth El, Study #01, photo by Brian Day
Temple Beth El was established in 1850 as the first Jewish congregation in the state of Michigan. Their history page notes that there were just 60 Jews out of a population of 21,000 at that time.
The Michigan Notable Book Michigan Modern’s page on Temple Beth El says in part:
Temple Beth El is located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, on a low rise adjacent to Telegraph Road, a wide and heavily traveled thoroughfare. Mature spruce and pine trees are present around the base of the structure to shield the worshippers from outside distractions. The unmistakable design of the sanctuary incorporates a tent-like form to recall the “Tent of Meeting” referenced in the Bible and the earliest places of worship used by the Jewish people. The cast-in-place concrete structure consists of two pairs of closely placed sloped columns, or tent poles, supporting curved ridge beams at the top of the structure and tied together by elliptical ring beams at the structure’s base. Below the ring beam is a transparent curtain wall of clear glazing that gives the illusion, from the exterior and interior that the tent-form roof is hovering above the open sanctuary space. Between the ridge beams is a transparent skylight that provides natural light into the sanctuary and further emphasizes the “lightness” of the structure. Catenary steel cables suspended between the ridge and ring beams support the gentle curve of the lead-coated copper roof which soars some seventy feet above grade.
The administrative offices, social halls and religious school are located in a one-story wing that extends north from the main entrance to the sanctuary on the building’s west elevation. The Temple Beth El comprises approximately 112,500 square feet, and can accommodate up to eighteen hundred worshippers.
Read on for more!
View the photo bigger on Facebook where there are other photos in his Metro Detroit Modern Architecture Study and see more of Brian’s photography at brianday.org.
Love is in the Air, photo by Julie
Julie caught this pair of cardinals earlier this week. Definitely a lot of this going on out there!!
View the photo bigger and see more in her Birds slideshow.
Jedis From Tiger Stadium, photo by Sean Doerr
Happy May the 4th aka Star Wars Day everyone!
View the photo from the 2007 Detroit St Patrick’s Day parade background big and see more in Sean’s St Patrick’s Day ’07 slideshow.
Sante River, April 2017-19, photo by Invinci_bull
Paul’s Falls on the Sante River at Waterfalls of the Keweenaw begins:
Finding a sizeable river that flows east from Toivola/Twin Lakes is tough – finding a waterfall along one is even harder. Paul’s Falls on Sante River fulfills both of those criteria with an impressive drop down into a sandstone bowl. While much of the river is a meandering flow along a gentle rocky bed, here the water plunges over a lip of sandstone and pours down onto a steep slope of mossy rock. The river banks steepen to dangerous levels below the falls and create a descent cave on the north side.
Read on for directions, map, and more!
Nathan took this photo in April and writes “I decided to check out the remote and topographically intriguing Sante River gorge, deep in the heart of the Keweenaw Peninsula. I wasn’t expecting to find Paul’s Falls at the end of it!”
View it bigger and see more inNathan’s Sante River Exploration – April 2017 slideshow.
More Michigan waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!
Danger on the Trail, photo by otisourcat
The other day I went on a hike. After I got in the car, I belatedly remembered to check for ticks and found TWO just hanging out on my leg.
You can check out the information about Michigan ticks from the State of Michigan, and you might also find these 5 essential oils that repel bugs useful:
View the photo bigger and see more in otisourcat’s massive Here & Now slideshow.
Reflections, photo by cncphotos
Here’s a sweet shot from May 1st last year of a Great Blue Heron patiently fishing.
View the photo background bigtacular and see more in cncphotos’ Birds slideshow.
More spring wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.
Empire Bluff, photo by Pantheos
The author of my favorite Michigan blogs writes that Michigan is blessed with some of the most beautiful and tallest coastal sand dunes on the planet. He decided to climb some and put together a big old list of 87 Michigan’s ‘skyscraper’ Coastal Dunes that he could verify at 100′ or more in height.
This photo is from the tallest one, the 526-foot Empire Bluff Dune in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (which includes many of the tallest). To put this in perspective, it’s almost exactly 200′ shorter that our tallest building, the Renaissance Center in Detroit as well as One Detroit Center and the Penobscot, but it’s taller than the 4th highest – the Guardian Building.
More photos and a list of all the dunes on the post, including the option to follow!
More dunes on Michigan in Pictures.
26 April 2017 West Bay Leelanau County, photo by John Robert Williams Photography
Here’s a ridiculous sunset that my friend John captured on Wednesday night over West Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City. The Rays & Shadows page from our friends at Atmospheric Optics identifies these as “cloud shadows” and says that they are basically the reverse of crepuscular rays, the beams of light that stream through gaps in clouds.
View it bigger and see more on John’s Facebook.
Lake Superior Shoreline, photo by Kirt E. Carter Photography
View the photo bigger, see more in Kirt’s slideshow, and view work & check out his blog on his website.
Michigan in Pictures 