Port Oneida Farms

  Port Oneida, Michigan, United States
Saturday, October 6, 2007

I got off to a very late start today...and I'm not even exactly sure why since it was a pretty decent day out there. I guess didn't feel like getting up early again for starters (those of you who know me know I'm a night owl!). After a leisurely morning here at the residency apartment, I eventually headed out around lunch hour. Leelanau Coffee Roasters was my starting point again - I grabbed a nice cup of fresh java and a toasty onion bagel.

Every day before I set out on my travels, I drive a couple blocks over and then one down to the end of Manitou Boulevard where one can easily see both of the Manitou Islands. It's a pretty good way to gauge the wind, the cloud positions and incoming weather as you can see for miles away. This time there were some good looking storm clouds forming off to the east-southeast.

Miller Hill Road

My first stop was Miller Hill Lookout again, but I drove the opposite direction on the road to reach it than on my last visit here.  It wasn't nearly as windy. I did discover there was too much haze over the lake to make out anything distinctly. The sky and the lake and the horizon all sort of blended together. That told me that I shouldn't bother going to any destinations today that had a "view", and I should either find animals / buildings / trees to photograph.

The animals findings haven't been anything worth photographing to this point. Sure - I've seen a few. I saw a good-sized fox cross the road at night. I've seen hawks and turkeys and squirrels. But they haven't been doing anything interesting other than running across the road - and I really don't think anyone cares to see roadside animal images.

Thoreson Farm

Because my husband and two sons will be arriving tonight for a weekend visit - I knew I didn't want to drive too far away on the Peninsula, either. Seeing the nice contrast of storm clouds forming above the hills, I decided to explore the farm area in Port Oneida again. I first stopped at Thoreson Farm. This place has been restored nicely by the Glen Arbor Art Association, and in my opinion, has the nicest outbuildings. The clouds were building right above the landscape, so I snapped a few images here.

Brunson Barn

Brunson Barn Door

I also stopped at the Brunson Barn around the corner from the Thoreson Farm. The house that went with this barn is long gone. There are two apple trees growing out front, and I was able to find a few apples that weren't in bad shape to sample. They weren't very sweet and I only tried a few bites before deciding they weren't worth eating.

Dechow Farm

Behrens Barn (Dechow Farm)

Driving along M-22, there are a few other farms to look at. I stopped to photograph the Dechow Farm, and then parked my car at the Kelderhouse Farm to wander about.

Kelderhouse Farm

I know this isn't a very good photo, but I wanted to show you the old apple trees that are left from where the orchard used to be. Believe it or not, I found a decent enough apple on each of these to "sample" and found them all to taste different. I only thought one tree had apples good enough for more than a taste, so I kept two more for later. Too bad I have no idea what kind of apples these might be. I read that some of these varieties were planted so long ago - they are being studied because of their longevity and resistance to diseases.

Old Apple Trees

Right next to this house is the Kelderhouse Cemetery where many of the pioneers of this area are buried. I noticed many of the stones have flowers and memorials on them - I'm sure there are a number of folks still in the region who are descendants of these families. Across the street is the Port Oneida Schoolhouse.

At this point, I could feel the rain coming, and it got rather gloomy outside. Too dark for more photography, I went back to the apartment to tidy up a bit before the boys arrived. When I came back, I checked the Doppler radar to see where the rain was and when it might arrive. I was somewhat intrigued by how a small storm was skirting right around the Sleeping Bear Bay area and headed out towards Pyramid Point and Leland. Another thing I've always wanted to try is storm photography. It's tricky because you have to know in advance where the storm might be, and have a good open location to view the storm without being in harm's way. In this instance - I had both!

I ran over to the place where I did the late-night star photos in yesterday's blog. The storm was a bit further away than I had hoped, but the clouds were really interesting. I set up my tripod and wide angle lens (hoping the wider angle would help me catching a strike). I then fumbled around with my brand-new cable release. I had no idea how long to set the exposure for, but I took a guess and started snapping away.

Double Strike over Sleeping Bear Bay

I was happy to have caught several strikes, but upon reviewing this one later - I noticed there were TWO bolts at ths same time! Click on the thumbnail to see the image larger. It's very fun to try out this type of photography.

Once I came back to the apartment, it was only about 15 minutes before Russ and the boys arrived. Let the fun begin!