Grand Marais Fisherman and more...

The rain has been catching up. TV6 news out of Marquette reports that we are only down a half inch from the average amount of rain expected for our region. That was as of the other day. Since we had rain over night, we may have caught up now. All the flowers are very happy, including these Black Eyed Susans.



I had to drop some supplies off at the museum's assistant manager's house. Candace and Brian have quite the view of the bay.



I was asked to stop by my friend's house the other night. Renee's husband, Bob Stocking, is quite the fisherman. His car was geared up just right. I especially liked the bungee cords that hold his fishing poles. Thanks Bob for the brook trout. I really enjoyed them.

Golf and Grand Marais Sunset

As busy as I am right now given the summer's responsibilities, I am making myself go with our Grand Marais group to golf the Newberry Country Club on Fridays. Yesterday was a perfect day for golf. We have had up to 15 or so people make the 100 mile round trip from Grand Marais. Yesterday we had seven people. I enjoyed golfing with Paul and Susan Bennett.








After golf I conducted the agate lecture at the museum and then visited with my friend Wendy to watch the sunset. We were entertained by a huge spider that was spinning a web.






I was supposed to visit friends on Mackinac Island again this weekend. However, with the Moose Lake show a week away and due to a good week of sales at the museum, I am staying home to make product.

Miscellaneous Shots

The other day it was foggy in Grand Marais. As evening approached, the fog started ti clear a bit -- other than over the lake. As the sun started to descend, the fog bank lit up to accentuate the sunset. I was talking on the telephone and had to take time out to snap a few photos.



One of my favorite ways to access the dunes is from the Masse Homestead Trail, or what some call the log slide trail. I absolutely love the forest.



This is a shot from a forested section of the dunes of a nursery tree. When trees age and fall, they later serve as a food source for other plants to root and be nourished.



Here are some more dunes shots.

Dune and Forest Hike

Hiking partner, Wendy Lynn, and I had an epic hike in the Sable Dunes area. We split our time between the forest on the south side of the dunes, and the dunes not far from Sable Lake. In our hikes we have found several "secret" ghost forests. This stump was quite unusual. Around four feet of it is still standing, but the center is completely hollowed out except for the connective cones from the one-time branches. I like the geometry of these cones.




From the top ridge of a north-south dune we had an unexpected view of Sable Lake.



We also made a friend on top of that ridge. Actually, the toad was not too impressed with us.



Although there certainly are a lot of sand-covered dunes, there are even more with dune grass, bushes, and trees.



The line up of flowers in the dunes continues with this yellow button-like flower.

Grand Marais July 4th Parade

I did not get a chance yesterday to update the blog, but here are the rest of the July 4th photos. The weather was perfect for the parade. The line up was longer than normal so the parade procession only went around twice. We had a band from Kalkaska as well as the usual fire trucks, groomer, vintage cars, several floats, and a whole lot of decorated four wheelers.

Grand Marais July 4th Celebration

First of all I would like to apologize for the busy schedule and the fact that I have not squeezed in enough time to update the blog. Now that the museum, lecture, and Kid's Science Camp programs are ready and the July 4th holiday is over, I'll get back into somewhat of a routine. I had a blast over the weekend with my only uncle and aunt (Lynne and Doug Kane), friend Marsha Hendrickson, and the Phillips family.

One bit of good news as some of you know is that I was FINALLY able to pick up the new agate book last week -- just in time for the July 4th weekend. I'm sure the almost 200 customers that were on back order including my contacts and those of my book distributor)were glad to get their shipments before the holiday. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please visit my web page wwww.agatelady.com -- or stop by the museum.

Pictured below is the shipment of books that were still on the pallet. I filled up my car with almost 1,200 copies. I'm sure that the weight exceeded what is good for the car's suspension.



I have a lot of photos to catch up with in terms of the blog update. I'll start, however, with the July 4th pictures. I love taking shots of the fireworks. Some of the better photos are included below. Tomorrow I'll include pictures of the parade.