Waterlife, Michigan’s Life

Sunset over Chicago, photo by kevindooley.

A search for “Great Lakes” from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr yields nearly 2,000 photos. A search for “Michigan Great Lakes” on all of Flickr, over 20,000.

When I think about Michigan’s body & soul, at the very core are the Great Lakes that surround us and the rivers and lakes that feed our mighty sweetwater seas. There is no place in the world that is as blessed by water as we are, something that struck me when I watched Kevin McMahon’s brilliant movie Waterlife. This wonderfully shot and edited film explores the splendor and the imperiled state of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. It shows threats like toxins, sewage, invasive species and falling water levels and the effect that each and all have on the lakes, all accompanied by solid and very accessible science.

One threat that the scientists who are working to save our Great Lakes can’t do much about is that of the profound apathy towards these threats that we all show. In this interview with Kevin McMahon from Circle of Blue, McMahon talks about the challenge of telling the story of the slow death of the Great Lakes through a mass media that is only interested in the latest crisis.

There has always been a feeling of permanence I’ve associated with Lake Michigan and its siblings. The width of North Beach, the color of the water under the Mackinac Bridge, the sunrise over Lake Huron or the waves hitting the Pictured Rocks can all change from day to day or season to season, but you always know that you can return another time for a fresh experience.

Waterlife made me question that.

I really enourage you to explore Waterlife and to watch it.

And, if it’s not too much trouble, to do what you can to preserve one of the world’s greatest treasures.

This photo is part of Kevin’s Book set (slideshow). Check it out bigger.

(Michigan State) Spartan Helmet

MSU Football Helmet, photo courtesy Michigan State University

ESPN sez:

MSU players will wear a “Silver Lining” decal on the back of their helmets this season. The decal is actually a silver outline of the state of Michigan.

Former Iowa coach Hayden Fry did something similar in the 1980s when Hawkeyes players wore an America Needs Farmers (ANF) sticker on their helmets during a rough time for agriculture in the country. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio and athletic director Mark Hollis came up with the idea for the silver decal.

Say yes to Michigan, anyone?

Riding out for Labor Day

Double J Ranch Riding, photo by Jeff Milton.

Absolute Michigan’s 2009 Labor Day Roundup says that AAA Michigan estimates 1.4 million Michiganians will travel during the 2009 Labor Day holiday. Click that link for a bunch of Labor Day events from all over the state and also see the 52nd Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk on Michigan in Pictures.

Be sure and check this out bigger or in Jeff’s My Favorites slideshow.

Grand Island North Lighthouse

Grand Island North Light 2, photo by Shawn & Brian Malone

The page on Grand Island North Lighthouse from Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light begins:

Eight miles in length, and three miles in width, Grand Island is the largest island on Superior’s south shore. Long known by fur traders for the natural harbor of refuge on the island’s southern lee, the North West Company established a post on the site of present day Munising in the late 1700′s, and subsequently the American Fur Company operated a post on the Island itself during the early decades of the nineteenth century. The hay days of “King Fur” were fading into memory when Abraham Williams, the island’s first permanent white settler arrived from Vermont in 1837 and set up homesteading in a couple of the old abandoned trading post buildings on the island’s south shore. As other settlers began arriving to eke an existence from the island’s shores, Williams established a trading post, blacksmith’s shop and sawmill on the island.

In 1853 Congress appropriated $5,000 for a new lighthouse at the top of a 175-foot cliff on the northern end of the island, but materials used were so inferior that the light had to be completely demolished and rebuilt in 1867. It served for almost 100 years before being decommissioned and sold to Dr. Loren Graham, author of “A Face in the Rock,” a chronicle of the rich native heritage of the island. There’s more great photos of the lighthouse including this one by Jeff Shook and a shot from 1905.

You can buy a copy of this photo right here and check out more of their Lake Superior lighthouses.

If you’re looking for some chilly reading on a warm fall day, The Surfer’s Journal is running a ten page story in their summer issue featuring photos that the Malones took at a Grand Sable Dunes surfing session in January of 2009.

Mt. Franklin view, Greenstone Ridge on Isle Royale

Mt. Franklin view, photo by yooper1949.

Mount Franklin was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It’s along the Greenstone Ridge, about which Summit Post says:

The Greenstone Ridge forms the geologic backbone of one of America’s least visited National Parks…Isle Royale … The island is composed of a series of ridges that run the length of the island. In between these ridges are areas of swamp and muskeg. Sound inviting?

The Greenstone Ridge is the longest and highest of these ridges. It gets its name from the greenish stones that are commonly found along it. It runs the entire 45-mile length of the island and is anything but smooth. A few notable peaks along it include Mt. Franklin(1080’), Mt. Ojibway(1136’), Mt. Siskiwit(1205’), Ishpeming Point(1377’), and Mt. Desor(1394’). The ridge top is quite open in places, particularly along the northeast half of the ridge. The trail between Mt. Franklin and Ojibway is especially scenic.

Click to read more about this trail. The Isle Royale National Park site says that Greenstone Ridge forms the backbone of Isle Royale and is thought by many geologists to be a portion of the largest lava flow on earth.

This photo is part of Carl’s Isle Royale National Park set (slideshow), to which I am drawn back to again and again. You can also purchase many of them from Carl’s MackinacScenics site.

52nd Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk ~ September 7, 2009

2008 Mackinac Bridge Walk, photo courtesy Michigan Department of Transportation & Mackinac Bridge Authority

The annual Mackinac Bridge Walk is a Michigan tradition that has been held every year since the Bridge opened in 1957. This year is the 52nd annual and it takes place (as always) on Labor Day  (September 7) from 7-11 AM. The walk is free and you can get all the details from the official Mackinac Bridge web site.

There’s more info available on Wikipedia and you can learn all about the Mackinac Bridge over at Absolute Michigan.