What does one do in the middle of February when you live in Northern Michigan? One goes to the beach!
Yes, it was a warm day, though our Florida friends wouldn’t think so. But it felt like spring to us, so we loaded camera gear in the car and headed for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, conveniently located about half an hour from where we live.
On the way we saw a flock of turkeys, out for a stroll. Kim took these photos out the window of our car:
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| Heading for the beach? |
Everyone up here seems to have a favorite spot, and North Barr Lake was a strong suggestion from the girl framing a picture for us at Michael’s. So off we went. As it turns out, it’s a small lake connected to Lake Michigan by a channel.
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| North Barr Lake, with a trail over a dune to Lake Michigan |
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| Bands of color and texture on North Barr Lake |
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| The Channel |
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| Dunes, with condensation |
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| Sleeping Bear is not all dunes and water. |
We were delighted to find some seldom-seen birds on the lake. They were not as delighted to see us, as they beat a hasty retreat.
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| Common Mergansers, fleeing |
We continued our beaching at the Point Betsie Lighthouse, which for some reason is closed in February.
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| Green Frog enjoying a preview of spring. A few days later: 5 inches of snow. |
Maybe this day was anecdotal evidence of global warming, or maybe Nature just decided to break us in gently to Northern Michigan winters, at 35 degrees. Whatever the explanation, it was a Day at the Beach.
How did you spend your February days? Let us know at dstring@ix.netcom.com.
We visited Oaxaca Mexico where the jacaranda trees were starting to bloom and the daily temps were in the 70's and 80's. Spent most of the time walking, sitting outside at cafes, or taking siestas. Not a bad life. Also, spent hours with the beaucracy trying to get our Triqui godchild back in school. What a fiasco that was. Of course, this is all in Spanish! Not an easy task! She's on her own now, ojala, as they say in Spanish. Now, we are freezing in Ann Arbor with snow and high winds one day and torrential rains. Plants were popping up all over the place and the grass was growing. Who says there's global warming? Ask Californians about global warming as they evacuate their homes from flooding.
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