Twelve-mile Beach,Lake SuperiorWaves tugging at the sand beside the broad blue of Superior, with great effort she lifted herself-- each labored step, dragging her clumsy body a bit further, beyond their reach onto the otherwise empty, windblown edge of Michigan’s Twelve-mile Beach. Knocked off the breeze carrying her in carefree flight above its lapping waters by a long, curling tongue of this hungry lake, she’d escaped a watery death. But, wings now heavy with droplets, she co... Read Full Story

Tahquamenon Falls, Michiganthe Upper Falls from the platformThe Tahquamenon River (rhymes with phenomenon) flows north into Lake Superior, after winding nearly 100 miles through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to empty into Whitefish Bay. From swamps lined with hemlock and spruce, their tannins having stained its rushing waters brown, it passes here, over the Upper Falls in Tahquamenon State Park, falling 50 feet from a magnificent rocky bed, 200 feet across.A viewing platform holds visito... Read Full Story

I still pour through piles of photographs, captured, now months ago, when we took just one day to travel north and spend the week walking a great lakeshore. With each, reviving an impression so great upon our reaching daylight, after passing down a dim and winding trail from within the dense, north woods--of a broad beach and open water which, at first, lay calm and still.In mounting wind and change of sky, I wrapped my head with an extra shirt, tying the sleeves beneath my chin. And, sat, b... Read Full Story

Reflection(This is part III of a story that begins here.)While the pheasant dashed between the rows of corn stubble without so much as a pause or backward glance, I pulled the car to the side of the road and waited. The dogs, still running circles in the tangles beside me, apparently had lost him at the road’s edge. And the fact that my vehicle now stood between them and their prey’s low, escaping form had stopped their pursuit in an instant. They ran, tails wagging, back throu... Read Full Story

(This is Part II of a story that begins here.)Rather than stop right there and step clumsily out, draped beneath the tangled straps of binocular and camera, into the midst of insulated boots and hunter’s caps, I continued past them, turned the car in the overgrown field beside the line of trucks, and wiggled my way back out onto the small, rural road. Four-tenths of a mile further, I could hope for a better spot.The road to the lake ran between a large cornfield on one side, acres deep ... Read Full Story

Spring Valley Wildlife AreaWe are wrapping up a stretch of those rare autumn days—those seemingly more wonderful than the fleeting days of summer. For they visit us after the frost has fallen, when summer has packed her bags and moved on.Friday’s forecast promised sunshine and blue skies--uncommon for November in the Ohio River Valley. Where the usual day is clouded and gray, and each piles up, one upon the last, neither freezing nor warming, until we long for any change—... Read Full Story

I arrived at the beach mid-afternoon, in a desperate attempt to hold onto the dwindling hours of a weekend—their passing even faster, now, as the time change steals an hour of light from the end each day’s due.The night has suddenly grown long.American Lotus seed headAt the water’s edge, a withered leaf and seed head of the Lotus remind me of their great fields in the distance. The tall, creamy blossoms and broad, flat leaves of late summer, now faded and furled, have turne... Read Full Story

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Summer came to play for just one day--her blue eyes flashing,flaxen hair lifted in the breeze,as she skipped the trail where Autumn patiently waits.Then, ran off to another place,white petticoats flashing behind her.Her calico dress is laid out across my field.Autumn Meadowhawk, Sympetrum vicinum,male above, female belowkatydidGoldenrod of summer pastRose hips, multiflora roseEastern Bluebird Read Full Story

Little Beaver LakeWe pushed off in Red Canoe with barely a glance over our shoulder, hurriedly strapping seatbacks into place, and grabbing day packs and paddles--anxious to make up for what had been a late morning’s start followed by several detours down the invitingly shaded, sandy paths on Michigan’s UP. This spot on the map, Little Beaver Lake, looked to be an easy paddle. A 39-acre lake, adjacent to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, bound by dense, piney woods and ringed w... Read Full Story