Morning Mist, North Lake Leelanau

Morning brought mild air.

Under a clearing sky,

land and water exhaled softly.

Only the day before,

the lake offered different scenes.

We Live in Two-Seasons Country

I don't mean what you might think I mean. I'm not saying that northern Michigan has only two seasons, Winter and Company (or Winter and Bad Sledding). What occurred to me this morning is that while we do have at least four seasons -- and I often think we have several more -- we don't have them separately. This morning, for instance, while trillium are springing up in the woods (lots of leeks and spring beauties, too), almost ready to unfurl their blossoms -- flowers a sure sign of spring -- winter lingers on in the Manitou Passage and on east- and south-facing wooded slopes. Winter and/or spring: wing and sprint?

Manitou Passage, 5/6/2014

Winter Ice, Spring Birds, Country Views

On Saturday, May 3, tired as you may be of these frigid winter images, there was still plenty of ice out in the Manitou Passage. Only a little way inland, however, birds activity spoke of spring --  a male mallard on a temporary spring pond in Leelanau Township and a pair of common mergansers on Shalda Creek down in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

Flowers are popping out, too, both indoors and out. The little branches of plum brought into the house after my belated pruning of the original plum tree burst into bloom on Sunday morning. As for the chinodoxa, I have some at home, and it's one of my very favorite spring garden flowers, the deep blue reminding me of blue glass, but these particular flowers are not mine but a clump in front of Trish's Dishes in Leland, formerly the home of Stone House Bread.

Yes, the color has been doctored on the two country views below. Both views are along a lovely curve that always pulls my truck over to the side of the road. Early evening on Saturday the prospect was enhanced by a low bank of dark clouds over distant hills.

Weekend Ice

Visiting with new friends out at Cherry Home subdivision on Saturday evening, we were astonished to see how much ice was still there on Grand Traverse Bay, no doubt pushed to shore by east winds.

Christmas Cove on big Lake Michigan was still quite iced over, too, the following day, and we were not at all tempted to risk going for a swim.

Early Spring Fog over Last of Winter's Ice

This was a telephoto view, looking east, from the M-22 shore on the north side of the village of Suttons Bay on Monday. When I post more than one photograph, I usually save my favorite for last but am putting this one right on top. Other -- in my view, lesser -- shots follow. 

Ice in the Manitou Passage

Ice only offshore northwest Michigan and up around Drummond Island at the eastern end of the U.P. The rest of Lake Michigan is ice-free, Erie and Ontario are open, and Lake Superior still frozen. This is according to my friend reporting what she'd seen on the Canadian Ice Service site.

Snow Retreats, Ice Lingers On

A long look inland discovers irregular patterns of snow cover and last year's leaf litter beneath the trees in the woods. The patches of snow have been growing smaller every day. It takes but a glance over Lake Michigan to see a different story, however, and there is snow in the forecast for this coming Monday.

Lake Leelanau Scene Two Ways

The Photoshop filter used 

to achieve the altered image below

is called Chalk & Charcoal.

Looks like a book cover to me.

The Melt Is Underway