A Winter's Day at Long Lake, Michigan

Last weekend, we had nothing planned for Saturday until my brother-in-law called and invited us up to their home on Long Lake near Reading, Michigan. And having nothing planned, we accepted their invitation.

It's about an hour and a half drive north for us and though we'd had snow, the roads were clear and the sun was trying to peek out from behind the clouds.  We arrived around 1:00 and sat in their family room to catch up on things and enjoy the view overlooking the lake.

The bird feeders right outside the window hosted an array of birds, including nuthatches, cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, and tufted titmice. It was the first time I'd ever seen a tufted titmouse, even though they're common to our area.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Its fur...er...feathers looked so fine and soft, it reminded me of rabbit fur. So cute!

Later, we drove to an area of the lake frequented by ice fisherman. The water in that part of the lake moves more slowly, so it freezes more quickly and deeper, making it ideal for ice fishing.  Ideal, if you enjoy sitting in the cold, waiting for the fish to bite!

We walked on the ice for a little while, enjoying the beauty of the winter landscape and the sounds of squeak and crunch of the snow.  When it's this cold, there's more squeak than crunch.  We didn't last too long, because there was a slight breeze, so we headed back to the car to warm up.

Leaving the lake, we drove towards town (Reading) and as we passed by some bittersweet,  growing wild and glowing in the afternoon sun, we stopped along the road so I could take a few pictures of it.

American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)

When we got into town we visited a local art gallery, which was across the street from Ray's Tavern - purported to have the best cheeseburger east of the Mississippi. We'll have to try one sometime.

As we drove back to the lake, the sky graced us with what we call a "snowbow." This occurs when the sun is shining and there are snow crystals in the air.  Can you see it?

A snowbow over Long Lake