Okemos in Spring

Remember the shot of "Okemos in Winter" from a few months back, that shot of the the blizzard that hit southern Michigan and many points south in March? Well, here's a shot of almost the same exact scene two and a half months later. The field remains unplowed and unplanted, though most of the corn fields have been laid in over the past week or so. This shot was taken along Every Road, about 2 miles west of Okemos Road. Drew and I were on a bike ride on a Sunday evening along the fields and woods near our home south of Okemos proper. It was a mighty chilly night, 50 degrees with a sharp north breeze. We needed, but hadn't worn, gloves. I was actually in a tee shirt, which was a big mistake. But, being the hard-headed soul I am, we kept going for the full ride. It feels strange to be posting these thoughts on a day that it is almost 90 degrees here in Okemos. All that cool spring weather has become a part of the past. Here's the url for the winter shot:

http://copperharbor.blogspot.com/2007/03/winter-day-in-okemos.html

My next shot was taken on the same evening, as Drew and I were headed back toward home after going away from home about four miles. The color in those cheeks is not enhanced. It was so cold that we came back with red faces and very red hands. Drew sometimes wonders whether I am truly sane. He was rather quiet about my decision to proceed with our ride this night. Though he didn't say so, I think he was enjoying himself, despite the chill.

Michigan's State Capitol Building

It's just about time for me to head north to Copper Harbor for the summer season. But before I leave (Marsha and the boys to follow at the end of school), my sister Jo came down for a visit with her son Griffin, first time in 13 years, she calculated, that she had been down to our place in Okemos. She did a lot of shopping, as is her wont, but she took a little time to take in a few of the local sights, such as the State Capitol Building in downtown Lansing. The evening had turned quite chilly, two weeks back, even for southern Michigan. But we parked the car and walked up the steps to the front doors and tried to stay warm in a harsh northeast breeze. I got this shot of (l to r) Jo, Logan, Marsha, and my daughter Miranda, down from CH for a week to work at a dog breeding place that she likes to spend time at. This was an interesting test for my camera, the Canon Digital Rebel. I used a flash, but I was standing some 50 feet in front of the group. The shot came out almost entirely black, but I used Photoshop to get what I could out of the black photo, and I think the results are at least a decent record of the event, which is the purpose of most family shots.

Frost on Beach Stones

There is plenty of time left for frost in the Keweenaw Peninsula. In Okemos, in south-central Michigan, the safe date is May 25 or so, but in the far northern reaches of Michigan, there will be plenty of frosty mornings to come well into June. Here's a shot of ice-cold beach stones delicately coated in frost near Hunters Point. The stones are mostly that ever present chert, the fine-grained sedimentary rock that is closely related to flint and jasper. Chert comes in several colors and is red on the beaches of the western U.P. because of traces of iron in the stone. I have read that chert was used for stone tools in prehistoric times, though I don't know how widespread its use was among the Native Americans who inhabited the shores of Lake Superior.

Where the Hell Are Those Dogs?

My daughter Miranda Davis, Copper Harbor year-round resident, listening for the sound of Gus and Capone (short-haired pointer and husky-shepherd mix). These two make so much noise as they hurtle through the woods that we can safely conclude that they must be far away. A very typical pose, even down to the chuk almost covering the eyes. This shot was taken just south of town up the ridge and near the golf course, on a challenging new mountain biking trail that Sam Raymond of Keweenaw Adventures has cut through the woods.