It’s Tulip Time Again!
May 7, 2011
It’s Tulip Time Again, photo by Mi Bob.
Holland’s annual Tulip Time celebration kicks off today and runs through May 14. Fireworks! Vintage Base Ball! Tulipalooza! Kinderplaats! Volksparade! Klompen! …and of course more than a million tulips and almost that many visitors!
Check it out bigger and in Bob’s Tulip Time slideshow.
I Can’t Believe He Said That
May 6, 2011
Can’t Believe He Said That, photo from the Dusty Diary
Over on the Dusty Diary, Laura writes that she would pay good money to know what the remark was is this unknown portrait.
At first I thought this was a wedding portrait. Now I think this is a family. All the guys, with the possible exception of the guy on the left, share a facial resemblance. There is a familial informality in the manner in which two of the men are grasping the chair backs. I’m guessing the person who made the remark in question is the tall guy in the center. Also suspecting that remark in question was a bit naughty. Woman on left is married… to whom? One of these gentlemen?
Also, older woman’s face is probably the single most beautiful thing I’ve seen this past week.
Click through to see the photo bigger and some details shots of their faces and definitely tune into the Dusty Diary for regular gems that Laura finds in the Yspilanti archives!
Detroit Studio Collective Grand Opening
May 5, 2011
The Detroit Studio Collective is holding their Grand Opening this Saturday (May 7) from noon to 10 PM (location). The photographers (some of whom have been featured on Michigan in Pictures) are Bobby Alcott, Rebecca Gutierrez, Kellie Saunders, Rob Terwilliger, Josh Willerton and Eric Peoples.
Check Eric’s photo out bigger and in his Greatest Hits slideshow.
Made in Detroit … by Bill Schwab
May 4, 2011
At the end of a spring day…
May 3, 2011
KAScott_20100603_8800_1792b, photo by Ken Scott.
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
~Margaret Atwood
A fitting motto for the month of May indeed!
Speaking of May, head over to Absolute Michigan for the May Michigan Event Calendar which includes a lot of garden-based fun and don’t miss the Lanscaping & Gardens section for all kinds of articles and links!
Check this out in Ken’s Open Space Garden Planting slideshow and watch a the whole garden get planted in 3 minutes on YouTube!
May is Blossom Time in Michigan!
May 2, 2011
Traverse MI 1950s East Grand Travese Bay Cherry Blossoms Photo by Phil Balyeat Avery Card 58253 S1155661 National Cherry Festival Postmark 1961, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison.
The annual National Cherry Festival got its start around 1910, as cherry growers in the Grand Traverse area began to hold informal “blessing of the blossoms” ceremonies each year at blossom time in May. Businesses jumped on the bandwagon (cherry truck?) in 1925 for the formalized “Blessing of the Blossoms Festival” which was such a big deal that in 1930 they expanded to 3 days and in 1930 President Herbert Hoover attended the opening. The next year the Cherry Festival was declared a national affair and in 1933 they moved it to summer.
Although it’s now a summertime affair (July 2-9, 2011), the wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula hold an annual Blossom Days celebration (May 14 & 15 this year). My informal read of the cherry blossoms here says that tart cherry blossoms will be in full swing with sweets kicking off.
Apparently in 1906 there was some sort of spiritual attraction of orchards, because to the south in Benton Harbor, the Reverend W. J. Cady of the First Congregational Church in Benton Harbor was the first to urge his parishioners to drive through the orchards and view the fruit blossoms. Cady termed them “symbols of life renewed” and his sermon is credited with the birth of the Blossomtime Festival. Now the Blossomtime Festival in St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is shared between the oldest and largest multi-community festival in the state of Michigan. Join them this Saturday (May 7) for the Grand Floral Parade and more!
Check this photo out big as a cherry orchard, in Don’s slideshow and see another cool old orchard photo right here.
