Well we’ve reached the end of summer 2021. I hope you had a good one & that you get a chance to get out to grab one last bite of Michigan summer goodness!
Dan took this photo back on Labor Day 2019 in West Branch. See more in his massive Life in Michigan gallery.
Diego Rivera Mural by Ashleigh Mowers
“As I rode back to Detroit, a vision of Henry Ford’s industrial empire kept passing before my eyes. In my ears, I heard the wonderful symphony which came from his factories where metals were shaped into tools for men’s service. It was a new music, waiting for the composer with genius enough to give it communicable form.
I thought of the millions of different men by whose combined labor and thought automobiles were produced, from the miners who dug the iron ore out of the earth to the railroad men and teamsters who brought the finished machines to the consumer, so that man, space, and time might be conquered, and ever-expanding victories be won against death.”
― Diego Rivera, My Art, My Life
There’s probably not a better monument to the massive role of labor in building Michigan & the United States than the Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry murals. Commissioned for the Detroit Institute of Art, these 27 massive paintings that cover the four walls of the Rivera Court at the DIA:
In 1932, Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) began illustrating the walls of what was then the DIA’s Garden Court. Using the fresco technique common in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Americas, Rivera created a grand and complex cycle of murals that portray the geological, technological, and human history of Detroit. He also developed an ancient context for modern industry rooted in the belief system of the Aztec people of central Mexico.
Ashley took this photo back in January of 2017. You can see more in her Detroit gallery & on her website!
Boathouse on Leelanau by Francois
Back in the day, I used to feature excerpts by Linda S. Godfrey from the definitive book of Michigan mysteries: Weird Michigan. One of my favorites (and a good story for when you’re floating around this weekend) is the tale of the Lake Leelanau Monster:
The story of an early 20th Century sea monster sighting was sent to The Shadowlands Web site by a reader whose great-grandfather was the witness. The boy was fishing for perch one day in 1910 in the shallows of Lake Leelanau in Leelanau County. The lake had been dammed in the late 1800’s to provide water power for the local mill and to enable logging. The dam also flooded much surrounding area, turning it into swamps and bogs punctuated by dead, standing trees.
On that particular day, the young great-grandfather, William Gauthier, rowed out to a new fishing spot near the town of Lake Leelanau. Looking for good perch habitat, he paddled up close to a tree that he estimated to stand about five feet tall above the water, with a six-inch trunk. He was in about seven feet of water, and after deciding this would be a good place to stop and cast a line, began tying the boat to the tree.
That’s when young William discovered the tree had eyes. They were staring him dead in the face at about four feet above water level. The boy and serpent exchanged a long gaze, then the creature went, “Bloop” into the water. Gauthier said later that the creature’s head passed one end of the boat while the tail was still at the other end, though it was undulating very quickly through the water. The writer noted that Gauthier always admitted to having been thoroughly frightened by his encounter, and that the event caused him to stay off that lake for many years.
The writer added that his great-grandfather came from a prominent area family and was very well-educated, and that he knew others who would admit privately but not publicly that they, too, had seen the creature. No sightings have been reported in recent times, but who knows how many people have believed they were passing by a rotting old cedar when in fact they had just grazed the Leelanau lake monster?
While Linda’s website seems to have disappeared, you can buy the awesome Weird Michigan right here & get more Michigan weirdness on Michigan in Pictures!
Francois took this photo on North Lake Leelanau back in 2017. See more in his Michigan Journeys gallery on Flickr!
Taylor North wins Little League World Series by Little League
The Freep reports that Taylor North beat an Ohio team (cherry on top!) 5-2 this weekend to take home Michigan’s first Little League championship since Hamtramck won it all in 1959. You can read on at the Freep & congratulations to Taylor!
Sunflower & Monarch! by Michelle Leale
It’s been good to see a lot of monarch butterflies this August in my photo feed & in real life! Featuring a pair from Michelle today, the one above & the one below as the latest cover for the Michigan in Pictures Facebook page!
See more in Michelle’s feed & have an awesome week everyone!
The Great Lake Michigan by Kate Dailey
Michigan has 3,288 miles of coastal shoreline, more than any other state except Alaska, and this weekend is the perfect time to get yourself to the Great Lakes coast before summer is gone!
Kate took this photo earlier in August. See more on her Flickr!
PS: With 1640 miles of shoreline, Lake Michigan has just about half of that coastline! See much more of Lake Michigan on Michigan in Pictures!
Dinner on Main by Charles Bonham
The latest entry in the “Things I Want to See in My City” sweepstakes is this photo of fundraiser for Cancer Services of Midland for 200 people on Main St. in Midland. Hosted by The H Hotel, the dinner was served at the same time by 100 volunteers carrying two covered plates each in single file and set down simultaneously!
Head over to Charles’s Flickr for more including a couple more from this event!
Reany Falls – Marquette by David Marvin
Waterfalls of the Keweenaw shares some info about Reany Falls:
With a location close to a well-known Marquette destination (Dead River Falls) Reany Falls is a surprisingly photographed and popular waterfall. Composed a few small drops along a narrow creek, the main focus is a three-way split plunge nestled in the bedrock that is viewable from the road’s bridge above. Smaller drops are located above these falls, although the narrow little canyon makes viewing them difficult.
David took this photo last weekend. See more from David in his 2022 Calendar gallery on Flickr.
Many (many) more Michigan waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!
Northern Michigan Being True To Itself by Martin Hogan
WWJ News Radio had a feature on last month’s UP Bigfoot Conference in Munising:
“We wanted to spread the news, basically, that bigfoot is real, a real thing and in Michigan — specifically the Upper Peninsula.”
That’s the message from Richard Meyer, founder and organizer of the Upper Peninsula Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research Organization (UPBSRO) and the UP Bigfoot Conference to be held this weekend.
…”We have footprints. We actually have some on display this weekend with us,” Meyer said. “People have had a what we call a Class A sighting, where they’ve seen Bigfoot right there in front of them.”
As far as just how many could be in the UP, Meyer said it’s hard to put a number on it. However he said they’ve had “multiple sightings,” including of family groups of anywhere from two to ten Bigfoots at once.
“There’s a breeding population of Bigfoots, for them to have been around as long as they are…So it’s more than one creature,” he said. “There’s males and females, old ones and young ones.”
Bigfoots have been spotted, he said, all across the U.P.. from Drummond Island to Ironwood, and from Copper County all the way down to Menominee.
Meyer said, historically, there have been Bigfoots in the Detroit area as well. “There’s sightings from Belle Isle back from before everything was developed, where they had Bigfoots on Belle Isle and they were crossing the (Detroit) river.”
Martin took this photo of a bigfoot feeder in Kalkaska County (a known Michigan Bigfoot hotspot) back in 2019. See more in his 2019 Summer Trip gallery on Flickr.
More Michigan Bigfoot stories on Michigan in Pictures!
Miguel Cabrera by Keith Allison
“It means a lot. Not only for me, but the people around me: my teammates, the organization of Detroit, my coaches, the managers I’ve had for my whole career, the people from Venezuela, my family. It’s really big because it’s something special for my country, for my family to be able to do this. I’m really happy.”
– Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers
Yesterday in Toronto, Miguel Cabrera launched a 500-foot homerun over the scoreboard & entered the MLB record books as the 28th player to hit 500 homers. The Freep has compiled some notable facts from Cabrera’s first dinger way back in 2003 to the 500th home run on Sunday. Congratulations Miggy!
Keith took this photo a few years back. Head over to his Flickr for the latest!
Michigan in Pictures 