If you happen to be driving around in the upper part of Michigan, you just might stumble upon a town called Christmas. And it is hard to miss Santa Claus, who towers over the surrounding buildings. And the street names for the town are Christmas Ave, St. Nicholas St, Mrs Claus Ln, Pinetree Rd, Mistletoe Ln, Jingle Bell Ln, Santa Ln, Tinsel Dr, Sleigh Way, Holly Dr, Evergreen Dr, Reindeer Run, Northpole Rd and even a Scrooge’s Alley.
Christmas in Michigan
The snow returned today to imprint winter on the land. White blossoms of the Lowbush Blueberry are more pleasing than white snow, and when it turns blue, the berries are good eating which is better than when I turn blue from the cold.
Lowbush Blueberry
Winter wanted its presence known as there was a coating of snow overnight and the pond is ice covered again. It takes lots of cold nights before the ice starts forming on Lake Superior so one would see open water by Lovers Leap although a bit chilly for leaping and swimming. (And you wouldn’t want to leap there since the water is only a few feet deep even if the lore has lovers leaping together to profess their love.) In the background behind the arch of Lovers Leap is Rainbow Cave.
Lovers Leap
Today marks the winter solstice, the first day of winter, and the day with the shortest sunlight of the year. Of course with the cloudy skies, the sun wasn’t visible anyway, but it also didn’t look like winter with the lack of snow at the moment.
Winter Solstice
This country church may still be flanked by the pine trees but on this Sunday, the lawn may have patches of snow and the maple tree would have deposited its leaves on the ground two months ago. The church was built in 1923 and appears to be in fairly good shape yet.
Zion Lutheran Church
Many of the area townships have garage and recycling hours on Saturdays so you could see trucks loaded with trash traveling on the roads, although one like this truck would probably be headed for a metal scrap yard instead. This truck is actually a sculpture by John Himmelfarb titled “Remains” where most of the pieces came from L & M Salvage.
Remains
The very wet December seems to have sped up the decay of dead trees and the tree fungi is covering many of the stumps.
Fungi Folly
With the daylight decreasing each day in addition to the very cloudy weather, I have needed to have the lights on more often in the house to work. I’m glad that the candlepower from the light bulbs are stronger than the old oil lamp.
Old Oil Lamp
The weather was rather mixed up today, with thunder and lightning during heavy rain and sleet, then a brief thirty seconds of sun before it turned dark again with more snow and rain. A flowing river in the autumn would be a more favorable sight than what was flowing today.
Cascades Before Bond Falls
With the temperature below freezing and a chance of more snow, critters big and small will appreciate a warm barn to snuggle in.
Warm Shelter
