The Northern Lights

Growing up in Michigan I had seen very faint northern lights, mostly in the winter. The lights I saw were white in color and seemed like weak heat lightning. Not too impressive other than being the glow of the northern lights. Tuesday, just when full darkness hit the real northern lights came out for about twenty minutes. Initially, we thought the lights were from the town of Bellaire but I noticed that they were moving and one part of the lights towered up into the sky almost to 45 degrees above the horizon. The lights were also slightly green. Northern lights! I took a picture which you can see below. Nothing like the dramatic pictures of the lights you can find elsewhere but you can see the green tint and that's good enough for me. You can see the lights of Bellaire in the picture. They are the white glow in the bottom right corner of the northern lights.

Comerica Park Panorama

My dad and I had a full Monday this week. we awoke at 6 am and drove to Detroit from Lewiston, MI. We watched a playoff baseball game at Comerica Park and turned around and drove back to Alden, MI. We arrived home at 10:30 pm. Long day, but worth it. I think it was worth it because, dang, that was a long day. Long day. Long, long day.

Naturally, I took a panorama from out seat.

Sunset Panorama

Just west of my Mom's house is an overlook that gives you a view of Lake Leelanau and Grand Traverse Bay. I discovered it while trespassing a few years ago. It really is a great spot and it was a nice surprise when I found it. Whoever owns the land has mowed and put in a picnic table in the area with the best view. I went up there tonight and took this panorama of the sunset. You can see Lake Leelanau in the bottom right corner.

Back Home Again

I haven't been to northern Michigan in 18 months and tonight I was greeted by this sunset over Lake Michigan from a public beach in Leland, MI.

More Slides

A box of slides arrived the other day. It is a roll of film shot during a trip to Mackinac Island in what is either the late summer or early fall of 1968. The date printed on the slides is October 1968 and since there isn't any fall color yet in the trees there is a good chance these were shot in early to mid September. Maybe. Who knows, really? I won't post all thirty here, just a select few. If you want to see all the pictures you can view them here.

Their first stop was Fort Michilmackinac and I like this view of the Mackinac Bridge from the fort.


Then they drove across the Mackinac Bridge and took that photograph that everyone takes but it's still special.


Arnold Line boat arriving to take the vactioners to Mackinac Island. According to Wikipedia the Arnold Transit Company has been around in some form since 1878. I had no idea.


I really like this view of the bridge from the ferry.


The Grand Hotel as the ferry approaches Mackinac Island.


Another nice shot by the photographer. This from a bluff overlooking the hiking path.


This last photo was a big surprise. It's a shot of Lambeau Field in Greenbay. It is amazing how much the exterior has changed.

1968


Current

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Some Flickr Finds

I haven't done this in a while. Flickr finds!!

A nice recent panorama taken near home plate down the thirdbase line at Comerica Park



A view from a ferris wheel on Okinawa



Los Angeles at night



A shot of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin.

The upright Concordia. I am really impressed that this project was successful.

Oh, the Humanity

Really, who allows their teenager to go around looking this stupid?

Some Helpful Advice

Friday I played golf with Wendell and Barry. We played 18 at Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course at Revolution Park. And, yes, that is what the employees have to say when they answer the phone. "Thank you for calling Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course at Revolution Park, how may I help you?" That is a mouthful. We still call it Revolution because we're old skool.

Friday at the turn Barry and I each purchased a beer. Unlike most courses we go to, the Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course at Revolution Park serves regular Coors. Coors is not the best beer in the world (that would be Highland Gaelic Ale) but compared to the other domestic ass beers it's not too bad. Good enough for a hot day on the golf course.

Since it was hot out I finished off my one can of Coors quickly. When I was near the bottom of the can I tilted my head back to ensure I got every drop of beer available. When I did this I was staring at the ceiling of the golf cart's roof. Someone had written a message with an ink pen. It read, "Suck a dick." Picture is below.



Well played, unknown vandal. I can only hope whoever did that sees this post so he can know how much I laughed when I tilted my head back, killed my beer and read his short message. It struck me as hilarious. Barry also.

A Family Photo

Another photograph I found at the antique store. I have no information on this photograph other than they all look pretty happy.

Another Photo Find

Today I found the picture below. I paid $1 for it. It was printed in February of 1965. You can see the word "Florida" on top of the building in the upper left corner. There is no other way to describe this photograph other than to call it bad ass.



One thing I don't understand about some of the vendors at the Sleepy Poet is how they price their wares. The vendor that had this photo for sell had a bunch of old photographs which they were asking $1 for. If the vendor had instead priced these items for around 10 for a $1 I may have spent $10 instead of the $1 I did spend. I might spend $1 for a find as unique as the picture above but there is no way anyone is going to drop $1 a picture for the other 99% of the photographs which were merely average snapshots. Why not price your stuff to move? I really don't get it. I know that vendor probably paid less than a quarter for each picture so the markup is unrealistic.