A rare day of sunshine

Living on the Lake Superior shoreline, we are very used to cloudy and snowy days due to lake effect.  Yesterday, however, was very sunny!  I wanted to get out and enjoy it, but I was working on custom agate windows.  I want to get this order done so I can resume work on my next book.  When I went to town I did stop by the boardwalk.  I was curious what the beach looked like, so I had to check it out.

First Roof Rake of the Year

Last night for the second night in a row we lost power.  It went out around 11:15 and didn't come back on until around 4:30 or so.  Glad I have a wood burner.

Yesterday I roof raked for the first time this year.  The snow is starting to pile up!

Lots of Snow

The snow has finally stopped, at least for a few hours.  The wind is going to switch back around to the northwest, so we'll get more snow over the weekend.

Yesterday I went to town to mail some book orders.  I drove around and took a few photos.

Snow is covering all the trees.

Time to roof rake the snow....

It has been so cold that the ice on the bay is starting to freeze.  Last winter the ice fishermen only had one day of ice fishing, due to the warm temperatures.  Looks like it will be better this year.

Locals call the week between Christmas and New Years "Hell Week."  We are being invaded with snowmobiles...

The museum is all ready for the winter.

Snow is starting to pile up.  This garage is on Coast Guard Point.

Watch out for the snow plow white out!

My driveway...

Holiday Photos and More

I realize that I am not as faithful to the blog as I have been in the past.  This last week or so it is because I was traveling for the holidays.  But I'll try to catch up with some photos over the next few days.

My son, Jonathan, with his family and me.  Thanks for letting me celebrate with you!

The first Christmas family dinner....

On Christmas eve -- making the house smell great!

My son and grandson...

On Christmas eve we drove around South Lyon and looked at Christmas lights.  One house is famous for their display.  They have their own radio station.  In your car you tune to that station.  The lights are all timed to the music.  Absolutely incredible.

Our Christmas tree...

My grandson received a tiger's jersey with his name (and favorite number)....

He also received a Lions football outfit.

The second family Christmas dinner....

Jonathan made me a frame for the Ray Jansma drawing donated to the museum this past summer.

He also made me this cute reindeer.  Jonathan makes them different sizes, from this small six inch size to life size.  If you are interested in having him make you a custom reindeer, check out his FB page at https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=south%20lyon%20wood%20crafts.  He can also make you a variety of picture frame styles and sizes.  His workmanship is fabulous!

Snowshoe around my property

I have trails around my property that I mostly use for cross country skiing.  In the warmer months, there is sometimes standing water in low areas, so I don't hike the trails much.  But I love my trails in the winter.  Since we received around eight inches of fluffy snow, I snowshoed the trails yesterday to lay a "human groomed" track for skiing.  This afternoon I'll ski the trails.

Here are a few photos I took while snowshoing my property.  Thanks to my son, Jonathan, for helping me to brush the trails last summer.  They were getting too overgrown to ski.  But with four or five hours of efficient teamwork -- we made the trails skiable again.

White Out and Yard Visitor

Yesterday it snowed off and on again all day.  At times it was a complete white out.  Over night we received many inches of fluffy snow.  It is snowing this morning, although not hard.

A yard visitor...

NEW BOOK UPDATE:  I finished the research the other day and now I am writing.  I did decide that this second book in the Rocks through Time series will be in the same poetic narrative style.  I also decided to expand the subject matter back to the beginning of our planet's formation to what was the geology before the Great Lakes formed, and how the Great Lakes formed.  The graphics for this book will be a challenge, but I am looking forward to that part!  I am hoping to have the book back from the printer by some time in May.

Partly frozen bay, beach, and ski trail

When I went to town yesterday, I took a couple of pictures of the partly frozen bay.  Since the local ice fishermen only had one day of ice fishing last year (because it was so warm last winter), they are celebrating that the bay is already starting to freeze over.

Then I went over to the boardwalk.  I attempted to ski, but there was too much sand mixed in with the snow.  There was also a lot of vegetation and exposed driftwood, so I bailed and went back to the car.  Next I tried to just go for a walk, but it was too cold.  Although it was 20 degrees, the 20 mph winds made it feel like -10.  My face was too cold to continue. After a total of 30 minutes I had to go back to the car.  I did get a few photos.

Looking west...

The photo below looks like an agate, but it is sand mixed with snow blown into ridges.

Looking east....

Looking west....

I just had to get on my skies.  First I drove east to see if the town's ski trail was groomed.  It was not, so I headed over to the national park.  The trails were packed, not groomed, but I headed out for a ski.  I didn't get all the way around trail B due to vegetation (didn't want to scratch my skies), but I had a decent ski anyway.