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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

The Cranes Are Coming, the Cranes Are Coming!

 


You hear them before you see them -- that purling, purring, somewhat cackling, creaking cry as they circle high in the sky. At first they are higher than the unaided eye can see, and then gradually they come in lower and lower, and the congregation assembles for midday or evening rest.


I really miss the old telephoto lens I had with my previous camera. With what little zoom power I have and some judicious cropping, I can get closer, but never close enough. The cranes attitudes in flight are so striking!



Of course, it's when they are massed on the ground and in the shallow water that their numbers are so impressive, as they are this year at Twin Lakes outside of Willcox, Arizona.




I'd need to do a video and sweep across the whole crowd to show them all adequately, but my favorite shots are those with the twin peaks of the Dos Cabezas Mountains in the background.









Friday, December 11, 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

There was ice, there was snow ...

 





And the wind was very cold --

but there was sunshine, too.






It's a beautiful day in northern Michigan!










Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Come to Northport!

 



Cross the 45th parallel coming north ...


slow down for the curve in Omena ...


stop for pumpkins, if you like, but keep on north,

where you will find us waiting for you 

at Dog Ears Books!






Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Friday, October 16, 2020

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Hot Buttered Toast...

 


...dripping with honey!




Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Mid-October, Leelanau

 


"This is the time of year when I really miss the Midwest," says my nephew in Austin, Texas. "Central Illinois owns autumn," says my brother-in-law from Springfield. But my whole family admits that northern Michigan -- the upper Midwest, I guess -- is no shabby performer when it comes to fall color. One year our parents made the trek to New England and found themselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the country roads, with no room at the inns anywhere along the way. My father decided they would enjoy future falls back in Illinois and Michigan with family.


Below are some more scenes in my Leelanau Township world this somewhat overcast Wednesday morning. The last one will probably be a surprise. I wonder which scene you will like best.