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Check this photo from richwyllis out bigger and also have a look at his sets including Moonset at Sunset and HDR Images (slideshow). He also took a recent trip to the UP and got some sweet shots along the Chapel River in the Pictured Rocks.
Jump into his Flickriver.
Autumn Pathways by pentax hammer (gary syrba)
The crowds and traffic have subsided, the harvests are bountiful and the mosquitoes are few and far between. What we're trying to say is that autumn is perfect time to get out and enjoy a color tour, take in a late season festival or event, go camping or hit some of Michigan's numerous wineries and pick up a few bottles for holiday gifts or get-togethers.
MyNorth.com produced a great video a while back that takes you on a tour of Northern Michigan's wine country and we think it is worth a watch and will entice you to plan a visit. On that note we should point out that Absolute Michigan is giving away a pair of tickets for the Toast the Season wine trail event which takes place on the Leelanau Peninsula on November 14 & 15.
Hoping to get one more wine tour in this summer? Or maybe you're envisioning those glorious fall days when wine is an excellent excuse to drive through our wine country. Sit back and get some ideas as we visit Chateau Grand Traverse (cgtwines.com) on the Old Mission Peninsula; Traverse City's urban wineries, Left Foot Charley (leftfootcharley.com) at The Village in Grand Traverse Commons (old state hospital grounds) and Black Star Farms (blackstarfarms.com) in the Mercato, also in the Commons (Black Star also has its winery just south of Suttons Bay); and Shady Lane Cellars (shadylanecellars.com) near Suttons Bay.
Enjoy watching the lush landscape as the vintners each tell us what makes them unique and what it is like growing and selling wine in Northern Michigan.
Also be sure to check out our monthly calendars on Absolute Michigan's home page as well as keywords Halloween, maze, pumpkin, cider and more!
Scientists say that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for life as we know it. We're currently pushing 400, and this Saturday (October 24, 2009) is the 350 International Day of Climate Action, a day designed to show through public action that life as we know it is something we're interested in keeping.
The science of 350 is as inexorable as an approaching train and basically goes like this: For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Beginning in the 18th century, people began to burn coal and gas and oil, causing the stored carbon in the fuel to rise. It's currently at 390, and is rising by about 2 parts per million every year. CO2 traps heat, and this heat causes glaciers to melt, water sources to fail, farmland to turn to desert and lakes to dry up. It also helps diseases like malaria to spread and is a prime factor in the rise of invasive plant and animal species (and growth of the seaweeds like that on the rocks above that are increasing on Michigan's beaches).
Although Michigan is just about the best place to be in a warming, drying world, Lisa from Ishpeming notes in the posting for her talk titled Three Degrees: The Great Lakes and Climate Change that:
NOAA scientist have predicted that if the world temperature increases by three degrees, the Great Lakes will be come incontinuous, ie, they will shrink to a point where they will no longer be connected.
If the concept of your great-grandchildren walking to the UP without the need for the Mackinac Bridge (as they fight off a water-starved world probably) bothers you, it might be time to raise your voice to say that you'd prefer a different future. Below is a map of 350 actions scheduled for in Michigan. A couple that caught our eye were:
A stolen copper turtle, a monstrous green Gi-bi, a haunted music hall, and a man missing from the Governor’s Conference—suddenly, Jared and Sadie’s boring summer perks up!
Jared, Sadie and their new Mackinac Island friends Eric and Becky find themselves turning into detectives as strange events occur all over the island. Native American art and artifacts are vanishing from gift shops and art galleries. At the Governors’ Conference, Dr. Royalton is demanding that Great Lakes water be diverted for use by states in the southwest—and then he disappears! As the four teenagers explore the island and its historical sites looking for clues, they find themselves facing an evil Gi-bi who locks them in a dungeon. Will they get out in time to save Dr. Royalton? Will they discover who stole the copper turtle and other art from the island stores? Eric and Becky’s cousin Luke keeps interfering in their investigation. Is he involved or just the jerk Jared thinks he is? How is all this connected—or is there more than one mystery to solve?
Mystery of the Copper Turtle is the first of the Big Mitten Mysteries, a series of books for the young reader set in locations around Michigan. Look for Jared, Sadie and more of their adventures in The Mystery of the Voyageur’s Rendezvous, available for Christmas, 2009.
Published by Arbutus Press you can purchase the book online though Amazon.com.
167|365 ride the wind by nicole st. john
The Huron Daily Tribune noted last week in Final report: Wind potential high that the final report issued Thursday by the Michigan Wind Energy Resource Zone Board (view PDF) identified key regions for wind energy generation and a potential annual energy output of an eye-popping 17,720,522 megawatts! The report found that major region in Michigan for wind power generation is:
... the Thumb Region — which includes Huron County and portions of Bay, Saginaw, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties — has the potential of having a minimum of 1,578 and maximum of 2,824 turbines. The wind board derived this figure with the assumption there were no turbines placed within the boundaries of the villages and cities, as well as three townships.
In addition to the Thumb Region (Region 4), other areas included as having the highest level of wind energy harvest potential in the wind board’s final report include portions of Allegan County (Region 1), portions of Antrim and Charlevoix counties (Region 2), and portions of Benzie, Leelanau and Manistee counties (Region 3).
Yesterday, in GVSU Lake Michigan wind energy test project gets $1.4 million federal grant, the Grand Haven Tribune reported that:
Grand Valley State University's efforts to launch a wind turbine testing project on Lake Michigan will receive a $1.4 million federal grant.
The school's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC), based in Muskegon, is planning to put a turbine on a floating platform to test how it works on the Great Lakes. Researchers hope to have the platform installed by fall 2010.
MAREC notes that the wind potential of Lake Michigan is in the range of 4 to 6 wind class with 7 being the highest possible. A tenth of the wind power potential of Lake Michigan alone is equivalent to some 20 nuclear power plants and when you look at that and at the state's overall potential for wind power, it seems to make a ton of sense for Michigan to support wind energy development as aggressively as we once pushed the auto industry.
Speaking of industry & wind, check out this video of Dr. Soji Adelaja from the Michigan Land Policy Institute (the organization that produced the map to the right) talking about wind energy generation at industrial brownfield sites:
See absolutemichigan.com/wind for much more about wind power, windmills and wind energy generation in Michigan.
November by Karen from Michigan
Here's a bunch Michigan festivals & events for the month of November. As usual, there's no way to get them all, so please add links and information about the one's we've missed (or reviews of ones we have here) in the comments below.
November Fast Facts
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving(pdf).
November Quotes
"All in November's soaking mist
We stand and prune the naked tree,
While all our love and interest
Seem quenched in the blue-nosed misery."
- Ruth Pitter
"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year."
- Emily Dickinson
"So dull and dark are the November days.
The lazy mist high up the evening curled,
And now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze;
The place we occupy seems all the world."
- John Clare, November
"November's sky is chill and drear,
November's leaf is red and sear."
- Sir Walter Scott
"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early."
- Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"
Click on in for the event listings
Nothing touches the heart and engages the mind more than a good story. From ancient campfires to online urban legends, stories captivate and motivate us to explore our human potential. A visit to the award-winning Michigan Story Festival is an opportunity to experience the wonder of story telling at its finest, with national, regional, and local storytelling masters.
The two-day Michigan Story Festival offers a complete showcase of the power of storytelling in all its art forms. Michigan Story Festival is one of the only storytelling festivals to integrate the stories of many cultures and traditions. With the exception of the opening and closing performances, there is no charge to experience the magic of Michigan Story Festival events and presentations.
The sharing of stories, from the great myths and legends of the world to the everyday stories of everyday people, allows us to view the human experience and the world in different ways. The Michigan Story Festival, developed as an initiative among Central Michigan University, the Mount Pleasant Community, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, will provide a venue for those stories.
The aim of the festival is to bring together those who have found their narrative voices and those who have not. The resulting creative dialogues will take the form of performances, exhibits, workshops, and lectures presented both by those experienced in sharing their stories and those who would like to learn.
Even the undead enjoy Michigan apple cider!
A Dubs (Alan) runs the blog Faded Detroit.
His sets include Detroit in Black & White, Faded Detroit: City wide and Tiger Stadium Demolition.
Dive into his Flickriver.
The annual Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association Toast the Season wine trail tour is held on 2 separate weekends in November. A few tickets remain for both the November 7 & 8 weekend and the November 14 & 15 weekend - get them while they last!
The annual Toast the Season wine trail tour is a great chance to experience the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula. event features a special wine pour accompanied by holiday themed gourmet food at each of the 17 Leelanau Peninsula member wineries. At your starting winery you will be given a commemorative glass and a holiday gift bag featuring a unique holiday ornament and food & drink from the members of Sleeping Bear Gourmet, a group of local, fair trade and organic food producers.
We have our winner!!! Some tickets for each weekend still remain and we encourage to support Michigan's wineries this holiday season.
Toast the Season Giveaway!
In the spirit of giving (or at least giving away) Absolute Michigan is offering a giveaway of a free couple's ticket to the weekend of November 14 & 15. All you need to do is send an email to absolutemichigan@gmail.com with the subject "Toast the Season Giveaway" to be entered. If you want to tell us what your favorite Michigan wine is, please feel free!
Leelanau Tarts (fo-lomo) by farlane
Old Orchard Brands debuts 'Very Cherre' premier line of cherry juice on mLive begins:
Move over exotic pomegranate, acai and mangosteen. The All-American tart cherry could be the next rage in superhealthy “superfruits.”
Old Orchard Brands is giving the simple pie fruit a chic makeover with its introduction of a premier line of juices called Very Cherre.
The Sparta-based fruit juice company will debut the 100 percent tart cherry juice product this week at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, J.W. Marriott and other Amway properties. There, Very Cherre — available in Pure Tart Cherry and three cherry blends — will be added to sauces, mixed in cocktails and sold in gift shops.
“I think it’s a superb product,” said Gerhard Schmied, vice president/director of food and beverage for the Amway Hotel Collection. “It’s from our own backyard. I can’t emphasize how important that is.”
Very Cherre juice is made from Montmorency tart cherries grown in the Leelanau Peninsula. The northern Michigan region is the biggest producer of the Montmorency cherries.
Read the rest at mLive and check out verycherre.com - kind of cool to see a private company promoting their product AND the region it's grown in! (especially since it's in Michigan!)
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