lakemichiblog

Winter Lake Swimming

2012-02-05T20:27:00.001-06:00

I posted about this phenomenon before, but here's some footage of WINTER Lake swimming off Promontory Point in Chicago. I've never done it, I doubt I ever will, but I can't help but admire those who do.

Soothing

2012-02-01T14:07:00.002-06:00

Beautiful smooth blue for a balmy February first. What a contrast with last year.

New Format

2012-01-29T19:31:00.002-06:00

Thoughts? I like the old version, too, but this is interesting for a photo blog.

Borderless

2012-01-28T21:44:00.002-06:00

A hazy blue morning. From 1/26/12.

Understated

2012-01-28T21:43:00.000-06:00

They can't all be show-offs. From 1/25/12.

Extra Wonders

2012-01-28T21:41:00.000-06:00

Nothing to say here.

And this is best enjoyed by clicking through to make it larger. Those ice islands are brilliant on that steel blue water. From 1/24/12.

Iced Donuts

2012-01-28T21:34:00.000-06:00

See those little islands out there? They are like these, only sparser. We had our first substantial snowfall of the winter, about 6 inches (and it's January 23rd!)

When they get to shore, they pile up in these giant banks.

Bank + ice rounds. From 1/23/12.

Relief Map

2012-01-28T21:22:00.000-06:00

I fell like this is a view of a relief map of a low range of craggy, rocky hills. Only blue and gray instead of the browns and golds and greens you'd find in a real relief map. From 1/19/12.

Curds

2012-01-28T21:18:00.001-06:00

Forgive me, but those clouds look like cheese curds to me. Calling Miss Muffet. From 1/16/12.

Brushstrokes

2012-01-28T21:15:00.002-06:00

Those clouds look whisked onto the sky. And we got some snow! From 1/13/12.

Warm Glow

2012-01-28T21:13:00.000-06:00

We've had an unseasonably warm winter so far for a location this far north. Later on the day that was posted below, I went for a LONG walk on the lakefront to enjoy the 50+ degree weather (on January 11th!). I caught this unusual sunset view, looking southwest from the easternmost point in town.

This pivot to the south shows more of the Lake from the same position.

Here's a path heading north toward the Harbor.

And a perfect reflection of our lovely lighthouse. It was a gift of spring in the middle of January.

Ducks in a Row

2012-01-11T21:12:00.000-06:00

On a glassy, mirrored surface.

Radiation

2012-01-11T21:09:00.000-06:00

It looks like something is glowing just beyond the horizon.

Fuzzy Peach

2012-01-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

That is gorgeous color in the morning, softly framed by clouds.

Soft Angle

2012-01-11T21:02:00.002-06:00

I panned out so you can see the largeness of the sky here.

Sky Squiggles

2012-01-05T20:57:00.000-06:00

Lots of contrails in the sky this morning.

Blue Window

2012-01-05T20:53:00.002-06:00

I like the bit of blue peeking through the gap in the clouds.

Still no snow in January in Wisconsin.

Peaceful New Year

2012-01-01T11:14:00.000-06:00

Today it is terribly windy outside, and I may go to the Lake later to get a representative pic, but in the meantime, I want to share this beauty from earlier this year.

This is Schoolhouse Beach, on Washington Island, Wisconsin, at the tip of Door County. I have been to Washington Island a few times, but not for several decades. This lovely photo was generously shared by guest photographer MS. Thanks, M, and Happy New Year to you and yours!

Pushing

2011-12-27T20:45:00.000-06:00

It looks to me like to clouds are trying to push the building back. From 12/20/11. (And with this I am caught up with my daily pics for now!)

Framed

2011-12-27T20:42:00.000-06:00

Slightly different vantage point. From 12/19/11.

Perpendicular

2011-12-27T20:40:00.000-06:00

I wish I had a prettier sounding word for this, but it is almost a perfect perpendicular. From 12/16/11.

Divider

2011-12-27T20:37:00.001-06:00

This view has an outline of blue between sky and lake. From 12/15/11.

Borderless

2011-12-27T20:36:00.000-06:00

Where's the lake and where's the sky? from 12/13/11.

The Shadow Knows

2011-12-27T20:34:00.000-06:00

Or does it? From 12/12/11.

Wispy

2011-12-27T20:32:00.001-06:00

Those clouds look like inflated balloons that are about to drift up, up and away. From 12/09/11.

Moody

2011-12-27T20:30:00.001-06:00

More contemplative fodder. From 12/08/11.

Reflective

2011-12-27T20:27:00.000-06:00

Both the surfaces and the mood they create are reflective. From 12/06/11.

Heavy

2011-12-27T20:25:00.000-06:00

Those clouds look like they are about to burst open. From 12/05/11.

Light at Dusk

2011-12-20T12:01:00.000-06:00

I'm still here! It has been quite a December. I've taken a photo nearly every day, but haven't been able to post them. Stay tuned as I try to make up for it over the next days.

Meanwhile, enjoy this lovely view from the first day of December.

Setting Sun

2011-11-30T16:38:00.001-06:00

This was taken at 4:10pm (roughly).

This, too, shifted a bit left to get the contrails.

This was 15 minutes later, deeper, pinker, and oranger.

NOT a Lake

2011-11-30T16:35:00.001-06:00

I was about 3 miles west of Lake Michigan when this sky, with its unrelenting color and pattern, forced me to pull over and take a photo. The silhouette of the barn, tree, phone wires, and smoke from the nearby powerplant just added to the show. So there's no lake, nay, not even any water. Sorry.

Light! Camera! Action!

2011-11-30T16:33:00.001-06:00

A lame title, but a new one! I love that splash of light out there on the horizon. The waves had died down some by afternoon, but it was still a good show.

Crash! Spash!

2011-11-30T16:30:00.001-06:00

I wasn't able to capture and image of the tallest waves striking the lighthouses.

You can get a sense here of how much spray there was. It's hazy because my lens was covered by a film of fine mist from standing out in that wind.

Heavy

2011-11-30T16:28:00.001-06:00

Those clouds are loaded with rain, or so it seems.

Swimming Off The Point

2011-11-26T21:22:00.001-06:00

This absolutely lovely story about radio host Maria Hinojosa taking her kids to swim in Lake Michigan off Chicago's Promontory Point is a must listen for all the fellow Lake Lovers out there. I knew a lot of Point Swimmers when I lived in Chicago, though I was never one of them. They are a hearty/hardy bunch.

Note the Boat

2011-11-26T21:16:00.001-06:00

This sky is pretty impressive.

But note that there is a boat out there on the horizon, too.

Watercolored

2011-11-26T21:09:00.001-06:00

Silhouette

2011-11-11T13:39:00.001-06:00

T'was the witch of November come stealin'

2011-11-10T12:44:00.001-06:00

36 Years Ago Today. Informative links at this earlier post.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
By Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!

Smoky

2011-11-10T12:42:00.001-06:00

Horizon Stripe

2011-11-10T12:32:00.001-06:00

Opening

2011-11-10T12:31:00.001-06:00

That looks like a window to serenity.

Peachy

2011-11-10T12:28:00.001-06:00

Inverted

2011-11-10T12:25:00.001-06:00

These pictures look upside down to me.

Spotlight

2011-11-10T12:23:00.001-06:00

Dull Day in November

2011-11-10T12:21:00.001-06:00

Halloween Clouds

2011-11-10T12:18:00.001-06:00

A First

2011-10-27T16:30:00.000-05:00

In 3 years of blogging, I've never before seen a rainbow over the Lake. It was there for 10 minutes or so. Now it's gone.

Ketchup 3

2011-10-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

These two (above and below) really deserve their own post. They are from the same day, morning and afternoon. Beautiful.

Same Day Stunners

2011-10-27T16:03:00.000-05:00

Morning.

Afternoon.

Ketchup 2

2011-10-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ketchup

2011-10-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

So far behind. I just need to post these and get on with my life, no cute captions this time.

What an incredible place to live and work. Wow.

Pouty

2011-09-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

Another storm last night, but no glorious morning. Or afternoon. Just a petulant, frowny, in-a-bad-mood giant body of water out there. From this afternoon.

After the Storm

2011-09-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

In the wee hours of the morning, there was a terrible storm. Lots of rain and wind, waves I could hear from my closed up house three blocks away. But oh, what a beautiful morning! These were taken around 9am.

Here is some video footage of the much-calmed, but still beautiful, waves.

Cottony

2011-09-26T16:54:00.000-05:00

Look at those clouds. From Friday, 9/23.

Same Old, Same Old

2011-09-26T16:52:00.000-05:00

More beauty, just like yesterday. From Thursday 9/22.

Serenity

2011-09-26T16:49:00.000-05:00

Midweek beauty. From Wednesday, 9/21.

Flecks and Swoop

2011-09-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

Flecks.

Swoop. From Tuesday, 9/20.

Aquamarine-ish

2011-09-19T22:12:00.001-05:00

I really couldn't think of a title that does justice to these stunning colors. From this afternoon.

Rosy Friday

2011-09-18T19:41:00.002-05:00

There's a bit of pink along the horizon, framed by gorgeous clouds and a gray, choppy Lake. From Friday, 9/16.

Hippo Birdie, Two Ewes!

2011-09-15T09:11:00.001-05:00

Happy 3rd birthday, lakemichiblog! And many, many more!

Smoky

2011-09-14T14:48:00.002-05:00

I don't think those clouds are gray because of the smoke plume, but the sky still looks a little strange. And interesting. And beautiful. As always. From this afternoon.

The Tree Stands Alone

2011-09-14T14:33:00.003-05:00

This tree appears in lots of photos on this site, but I don't think I've ever put it in the center of the frame before. The Lake looks hazy, because, in an almost unfathomable function of meteorology, we are experiencing a smoke plume from a forest fire in Minnesota. Yes, hundreds of miles from Lake Michigan. It smells terrible. I hope things go well for those fighting the fire. From Tuesday, 9/13/11.

BackBlogging: Storm Drama

2011-09-12T22:04:00.002-05:00

One of the more dramatic photos of the June 30th storm: an overturned park pavilion. That's the inside of the pavilion you are seeing; the wind literally scooped it up and flipped it on its back, like a turtle.
And here's a tree snapped like a toothpick. Most of this is cleaned up now. Our parks are more like open fields and less like forests. Five minutes took out over 800 trees city-wide, some of which were growing for 100 years or more. Makes you think.

Backblogging: Blogging the Bay 2

2011-09-12T21:58:00.003-05:00

From a bridge overlooking the industrial section of Green Bay. Also early August.

Backblogging: Blogging the Bay

2011-09-12T21:47:00.003-05:00

So here's a new location for this blog. Green Bay is not just a football team, it's an actual bay, not always green (as seen above) off of Lake Michigan in northern Wisconsin.
These pics were taken from Bay Beach, a park-district-owned-and-run amusement park right on the lakefront (bayfront?) They were taken from the top of the giant slide (4th pic from the left in this series.)
That chunk of land is on its way to being Door County, the penninsula that sticks out of Wisconsin into Lake Michigan like a thumb. These were taken in early August.

About Last Week

2011-09-12T21:40:00.003-05:00

Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday.
Friday.

I'm Back! Blogging

2011-09-12T21:29:00.005-05:00

After the I'm Back! blogging, I will need to do a LOT of backblogging to catch up from summer. But anyway, this was today. Above, new life in one of the trees broken off in the June storm.

Someone was trying to be romantic with the rocks on the beach. I think it says "...U GO OUT WITH ME?"
Answer: NO. Oh, snap! and with rocks, no less!
And here's a pretty view looking south at dusk.

Sailing Away

2011-08-31T22:32:00.003-05:00

Or kiting away, or whatever. I am embarrassed about how far behind I am on posting. I have SO MANY beautiful pics from this summer to put up. Hang in there, and hang ten, like these guys.

Blogging by Phone II

2011-08-03T19:58:00.001-05:00

Early evening lake pic. Will it be upside down?

Backblogging: Moonrise

2011-08-02T21:48:00.004-05:00

Tiny moon, big sky. From late July 2011.

WAYBackblogging: Lake Geneva Sunset

2011-08-02T21:43:00.003-05:00

Lake Geneva is no Lake Michigan, but it's beautiful and not very far away, either. This was taken in August 2009, but I just found it in my photo cache. The colors are stunning.

Backblogging: Color Wheel

2011-08-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

A beautiful wheel of color in a lakefront park. That blue stripe on the Horizon is the Lake. From mid-July.

Backblogging: Guesting Gulls

2011-08-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

This great photo of a group of gulls resting on rocks was taken in early July by guest photographer PM. Thanks, P!

Backblogging: Dusk Collection

2011-08-02T21:24:00.002-05:00

These were all taken from my new camera phone, and downloaded in a batch without dates. I do know they are all from July 2011. That's the best I can do. Pretty, huh?

Backblogging: 500th post! 5 gorgeous views!

2011-08-02T10:35:00.003-05:00

Prairie meets lake.
Clear water, smooth round stones.
A sandy beach with driftwood--or is that a lioness napping between tufts of grass on an African plain?
Humans meet Lake.
Sunset over Southport point. All from June 2011.

When I started this blog nearly 3 years ago, I could never have predicted what was to come: nearly 30,000 pageviews, a google hit with a post about icebergs, an art exhibit of some of these very photos, visitors from all over the world. But the thing that keeps me blogging is the reason I started in the first place: a reason to notice and share the beauty of this great natural wonder that is part of my very lucky everyday existence. Thank you for visiting.

Backblogging: Anger in the Sky

2011-08-02T10:30:00.003-05:00

Clouds roll in over Lake Michigan on June 22.

About Last Night

2011-07-31T21:53:00.003-05:00

This was my view.
While I was fishing.
From this pier. I will resume back-blogging tomorrow, to try to catch up the summer. But this was too lovely to leave out before the month ended. Happy July, all!

Backblogging: The non-calm before the non-storm

2011-07-30T22:30:00.002-05:00

I was out for a walk around 7pm on June 30th, and noticed that the sky looked weird and the Lake was roiling. I even took a video to try out my new phone video feature:

As you can tell, it was NOISY and wavy. And then, about 90 minutes later, this.

BackBlogging: Mid June

2011-07-30T22:13:00.004-05:00

These were all taken from my new phone, but downloaded to the computer first, which I guess accounts for their better quality (and the fact that they are not upside down)? Still learning the new phone/camera, but the pictures are not bad. They aren't dated, however, which is a bit of a problem. Another thing to learn.

BackBlogging: Early June

2011-07-30T21:58:00.004-05:00

I have been neglecting to post but not to photograph. Here are some beauties from 6 weeks back. I love the gulls.

Blogging by Phone

2011-07-08T17:19:00.002-05:00

I got one of these new-fangled phones, thinking I could blog from it easily. Not quite. But I'm learning. Here's a pretty beach sunset to start.
From Thursday, 7/8/11.

Update, by computer: Okay, so that went comically wrong. But that is how we learn, no?

A Great and Famous Lake

2011-07-05T13:12:00.005-05:00

Lake Michigan (the Eastern Shore) is featured in the wildly popular "The View from Your Window Contest" on Andrew Sullivan's The Dish blog.

Do you recognize this place? Click through for the answer!

Lakefront Devastation

2011-07-01T15:22:00.004-05:00

Last night, I was going to sit down and blog all the beautiful photos I took in June, so that June would not be a post-less month. The wind had other ideas. Our beautiful lakefront trees have been destroyed. We are all devastated. When we get power at our house, I'll try to post some before and after pics. So sad. So, so sad.

Now That's More Like It!

2011-05-31T11:58:00.002-05:00

The weather changed from late winter to full-blown summer in one day--yesterday. Although this photo is from today, to show you that the leaves are almost fully open (compare with last year).
Pretty clouds, too. From this morning.

In Honor and in Memory

2011-05-30T13:23:00.001-05:00

Your silent tents of green

We deck with fragrant flowers

Yours has the suffering been,

The memory shall be ours.

~~~~~~~

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Decoration Day

Sky of Many Colors

2011-05-30T13:21:00.001-05:00

And Lake, too. From Friday, 5/27/11.

Paging Mike Mulligan!

2011-05-25T22:37:00.002-05:00

Looky here! What an interesting surprise on the lakefront on Tuesday!
Apparently this steamshovel (backhoe?) is trying to re-route the channel that the Pike River created after all the sand piled up this winter.
Whatever the reason, it was an unexpected surprise (and the Lake behind it is extra-beautiful, too!) From Tuesday, 5/24/11.

Beaming

2011-05-25T22:35:00.001-05:00

Just a little hole in the clouds, small enough to let in some sunbeams, or maybe a member of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew. From Monday, 5/23/11.

Sparkling Gifts

2011-05-25T22:33:00.001-05:00

It was a breezy, sunny, beautiful day on Sunday, 5/22/11.

Blump

2011-05-19T17:47:00.002-05:00

Cute little cloud there, along an otherwise hazy horizon. There was impressive fog around noon, but it burned off by the time I took this, at 4pm.

Bubbly

2011-05-17T12:15:00.001-05:00

The sky looks like it is having a bubble bath. From this morning.

Yes, It's a Cold Spring

2011-05-17T12:09:00.002-05:00

Look at these lovely green leaves from May 18, 2010.
Now look at the same exact tree (at a wider angle) 363 days later. Leaves are barely unfolding. Out west they had a frost warning last night. So yes, you are colder than usual this spring. Or at least colder than last spring. I can't go back to 2009 for this view because I was still taking pictures from my office window (this was in the pre-reflective film days) so I don't have any of this tree. The one outside my window, then as now, is in full bright green leafiness. Someday I might add a time/temp feature just to help track these things.

Spring Silver

2011-05-17T12:07:00.001-05:00

Just a few hundred feet south of my usual vantage point. The combination of sun and churning water made for a silvery surface. From Monday, 5/16/11.

Lucked Out

2011-05-15T10:25:00.001-05:00

Haziness has given way to choppiness (which, over the weekend, has become full-blown storminess). (Note seagulls in lower right, just below the 05.) From Friday, 5/13/11.

Still Hazy

2011-05-15T10:23:00.001-05:00

Note seagull in upper right. From Thursday, 5/12/11.

Dude, Where's My Lake?

2011-05-11T15:15:00.002-05:00

Another day, another foggy shroud. People just an hour south of here are posting on their Facebook pages about how hot it is. Here, we are in San Francisco, with a stiff ocean breeze and foghorns. Definitely jacket weather.

Pea Soup

2011-05-11T15:13:00.001-05:00

Not quite that thick, but we have some fog-mist action going on. The air is warming up, but the Lake lags behind. From Tuesday, 5/10/11.

Grassy Knoll

2011-05-11T15:10:00.002-05:00

Not that one, though this was taken outside the Hob Nob, which was frozen in time in 1963. From Saturday, 5/7/11, at dusk.

Super Clouds!

2011-05-07T11:59:00.002-05:00

Just about every color and shape of cloud is represented in this photo! From Friday, May 6.