a morning skywatch

No, I am afraid this is not Fabius Township.....  Posting it is a part of my longing for the snows to leave!
This photo was taken last September up on Lake Superior in front of our rented cabin near Silver City and the Porcupine Mountains in the western Upper Peninsula.  Although the Mackinac Bridge now connects the two parts of Michigan, the Yoopers talk often of having their own state.  We who live in the southern peninsula are called Trolls.  We love the UP and Lake Superior, actually all the land surrounding this magnificent lake.  We have done the Superior Circle Tour.   We must have our Superior fix every summer!

waiting patiently?

 

The azalea and rhododendrum are just like the rest of us, bursting with the desire for spring!  More snow predicted for today and every day this week.  

Just can't get away from winter!

A heavy snow, lots of it, turned our world into black & white overnight and once more.  It has made walking in the woods very difficult and what one needs are snowshoes.  I am having trouble keeping up with day by day since our clan expanded.  Here are Gene and Willow on the newly plowed road.

the side view mirror was a surprize!

In either view we are looking at the past: the road I just came down or the house and car which have been uninhabited and unused for many years.  This is yesterday's photo and the explanation is a long story of the car battery being dead two days in a row plus the time the newest member of our clan is claiming from us.  Willow is a charming, rescued Golden Retriever who got herself lost north of us in Holland (MI) but who was fostered by friends of ours in Three Rivers.  Many wanted her but we got lucky.  All of this to explain how yesterday got away from me.  The photos got taken because I drove the car around for half an hour to get that battery happy again! 

the sun is playing with us today

 

With the sun on the snow we live in a doubled world that intrigues the eye and mind.  It is warm (in the 30's) and the snow is melting and dripping off the roofs like rain.  Last night the Grand Rapids TV8 weatherman announced that we have had only 4% of the possible sunlight in the last 9 days.  Thank you clouds for leaving!

Who are these two sweeties?

Can anybody identify these two for me?  I thought purple finch?

Inside light

A sunny day in SW Michigan and this is the light coming in the garden door.  Soon the garden will grow again!

in honor of The Great Backyard Bird Count, I present....

More of the religious life of the township

This church greets you as you enter Fabius Township; it is across the road from the "welcome" sign I posted in January.
I personally do not get the message.  Are we speaking of a tombstone?

Three for one

The snow storm has petered out and the birds are out in force as the sun tries to top the clouds.  I am practicing for the Great Backyard Bird Count of the Audubon Society and Cornell Ornithology Lab which begins Friday.  Check it out.

Today -- need I say more.....

a transforming sun today

Again today the sun had graced us and transformed the view through the east window: the tree outside and the slab glass inside.  The slab glass is by an artist friend and one of several pieces we have by her, not counting her wonderful paintings in watercolor and oil. 
Like all the northerners who are sharing their daily photos, I long for spring.  We console ourselves by saying, well, at least, it is February!

People litter

 

Ok, ok, this is from yesterday, but I can't resist sharing it.  Don't know if the placement of the yellow plastic bucket and its message is premeditated, but it makes a great juxtaposition at the every Saturday recycling site in Fabius.  The woman in the vest is the face of recycling in the whole county.  I will share her pickup with you on another post.

In the background is the Waste Management land fill.  Perhaps an international depository of modern litter since Michigan serves as a respository for garbage from Ontario.  The WM facilities here are the reason there is no tax levied by the township, even for the fire department. 

the end of a sunny but cold walk in the woods

 

There are paths connecting over a hundred acres of land around us.  Winter snows on the paths can make for a strenuous hike and I am always gald to see the house still up on the hill where a warm fire awaits.  The house is passive solar meaning making a fire in the wood stove is an almost daily task.  

Cold Comfort Farm

After the novel of the same name (oh and a movie as well), this farm greets as you enter the township and from the first time I saw it I have called it Cold Comfort Farm.  Watch out for the wood shed!

the new bell tower at St. Gregory's Abbey

St. Gregory's Abbey is on Abbey Road (the signs are very often spirited away).  It is an Episcopalian Benedictine Abbey with two guesthouses for visitors.  The bell tower was completed last year.  In front of it is the church and to the rear is the library where I once worked part-time helping the abbot/librarian with the production of catalog cards and the processing and shelving of books, and in the process learning a great deal about recent scholarship on Christianity.
St. Gregory's has many acres of old woods and more recent tree farming.  It is a very beautiful place to be and worship.

Standing tall

This is a photo from the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy Coon Hollow Marsh.  The money was raised locally to keep the area from being developed and honors a wonderful woman whose dedication to the environment including doing the annual frog census. 

Which direction?

 

All my senses say keep going straight but the sign says no, no!