I've Gone Macro

I rented a macro lens this past week, and it was the key to another dimension. Wow! The doors it opened and the way it translated the smaller worlds was amazing. I'm hooked.


I turned the lens on the expiration date of autumn and found much beauty and awe in the way plants die and transform. I'll let you guess what the above photo is.


More to come...

PAW PAWS and the Joy of Discovery

Come this time of year, I often ask people whether they've had a paw paw. The most frequent response is, "what's a paw paw?"

Paw Paw, Michigan was named after the paw paw. Not many people know that. 

We're in the northern most range of this exquisite, tropical fruit, and if you look carefully you just might find some growing out in the wild.

The fact that so few people have any idea what a paw paw is, or that it grows natively in our state, makes the paw paw emblematic of the enduring discovery that still greets us right outside our back doors. There are still fruits and plants and animals that have--for what ever reason--flown below our radars of experience. In other words, there's still a lot to discover out there. And the rewards can be great, particularly in the case of the paw paw.

I only came to know the paw paw a few years back and it was a discovery that has sweetened my life. It's safe to say the paw paw is now my favorite fruit. There's nothing quite like it: it's a cross between a mango and a banana. It's especially sweet, almost sugary, and is a custard-like consistency. They're absolutely delicious.

Once I tasted them I was obsessed with finding them in the wild. That's part of the adventure, and also because you won't find them at the store (except for the People's Food Co-op, which, for the first time I believe, had them in their produce section this year). The paw paw isn't especially cooperative though when it comes to mass marketing. It perishes easily and I believe can be difficult to grow. That's why most people have never heard of them: because it's the round fruit that never fit in the square peg of industrial food. That's the converse beauty of our commercial world: it's one page menu can actually deprive us of choice, yet inadvertently creates a cornicopia of discovery once you "go native" with produce. 

MORE SLEEPING BEAR

BACK TO SLEEPING BEAR

I was lucky enough this past week to catch the Sleeping Bear in autumn splendor, something I've longed to witness for years. 

The leaves were peaking and the weather was warm. 

There is never enough time.

Yet time stood still.

OTTAWA MARSH

Lesser Yellowlegs

RIDING THE "WAVE"

Just got a nice feature article from Kalamazoo's new online magazine, Second Wave. An alleged "fan" recommended they do an article on me and low and behold, they did. Thanks to Kathy Jennings and Erik Holladay.


The nice thing about the article is that it focuses primarily on my recent work documenting the Osprey that nested in the old Georgia Pacific lot this past summer. I've been waiting to publicly announce the doc and this serves as a great heralding. Check out the article by clicking here, and be sure to check back for updates on the doc.

HUNTING PUP

Wounded Warrior

They're out there...

Much to my surprise, I'm seeing (and hearing about) some stellar bucks in the woods behind my house.

I thought all the big bucks were poached, or never made it past 8 points because of poachers.

This year is proving that speculation of mine to be all wrong. Sometimes I like being wrong.

This slightly lopsided 10 point was the only one I managed to photograph. Another larger, taller and more symmetrical buck has refused to show himself ever since the evening I was out scouting and we both saw each other. We were both startled, and clearly for different reasons.

And his disappearing act sits well with buck lore that says big bucks don't get to be that big and that old without a certain kind of smarts.

I just pray I'm old and smart enough to snap his picture sometime this season. Then he'll enter into my own personal lore.

Our Favorite National Park

Platte River Point - where the river meets the lake and the sun greets the day.

Sleeping Bear Dunes.

I just returned from a week long business trip to the "northern Lower" (translation for non-Michiganders: the norther part of the Lower Peninsula). I was interviewing people for an orientation video for North Country Community Mental Health. I interviewed around 25 patients from East Tawas, Alpena, and Petoskey. What a moving and inspiring experience to hear how people with a mental illness cope and function and thrive and help others. There was a humility and gentleness of spirit that suddenly illuminated Jesus' statement, "the meek shall inherit the Earth". Indeed.

At the tail end of my trip I managed to squeeze in a morning at Sleeping Bear Dunes to photograph the sun rising at Platte River Point. This is of course in the wake of Good Morning America's vote for Sleeping Bear Dunes as our most beautiful National Park. Although it's dear to my heart as a Michigander and has always had my vote, I kept pondering why it was voted America's favorite out of all the spectacular National Parks.

It occurred to me that as a vote, it's possible our economically challenged state flooded the polls with the hopes of attracting tourists. Stranger things have happened. But assuming it was a genuine vote of appeal, I think I know why it stands out as our favorite.

Other parks could easily outrank Sleeping Bear on the grounds of grandeur: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Denali all offer a dramatic landscape that gives rise to an awe and humility in the face of the Earth's power and scale. But that same immensity can overwhelm and distance a person from the land, whereas Sleeping Bear, with it's gentle dunes and the warm, clean water of Lake Michigan invite you in. It welcomes you to enter into it's sandy folds. There is a subtle grandeur to the park that brings about a peace of mind or even slumber for a summer vacation. The name itself sums it up with it's sleeping bear. With the spate of recent bear attacks abroad, this is a pleasant thought.

Now with the park in the national spotlight, we can only hope she doesn't become overwhelmed with too many tourists. What a shame it would be if we smothered the very beauty that drew us to her in the first place.