Sharon's Week 18: Longing for Spring

Happy Saturday to you all.  I am spending the weekend with my El Grande 50 friends (although I guess we should now be El Grande 51) in Traverse City, Michigan.  Yesterday I took the leisurely scenic route here and it was so nice to be away from work and doing what I love (driving, enjoying the scenery and taking pictures) on such a beautiful, albeit chilly sunny day.  This morning there is nothing I have to do (no dishes, work or cleaning calling my name) until 11:00 when our bus driver, Candy (yes, there have been unfortunate jokes already) picks us up to begin the Sip and Savor (I am in  the States, I have to spell it that way) wine trail weekend.  There are 24 vineyards participating with paired food and wines at each one.  I am not sure how many we will get to but some of our group have a competitive edge so I am going to predict...a lot.  The hard part for me will be deciding if I want to go in and try the wine and food or wander the grounds with Hermione at each stop - I don't think I will be allowed to hold up the bus so I can get just one more shot.

It's another sunny cool day so I will get on with the photos so I can head out to a nearby park.  

Donna told me I need to make the photos bigger so I did.

spring

What says spring better than cherry blossoms...millions of them.  The Traverse City area is the cherry capital of something - the world? the country?  They are known for their annual cherry festival and many, many products and services around here involve the cherry.  I stopped at an orchard yesterday where I was welcome to wander.

long

I have driven over the Mackinac Bridge about a million times but I have never stopped to photograph it...until now.  The bridge is five miles long and it is the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world.  It's also pretty high.   Due to my fear of heights, I always drive on the inside lane even though the grate is noisy and it pulls the car a bit.  Yesterday, the inside lane was closed for construction.  The entire time I was on the bridge I had my eyes fixed firmly on the road right in front of me, never letting them veer over the side, yet my stomach was still in turmoil.  I hope the construction is done when I head back.

with flash

Here's my lame photo of the week.  I couldn't think of anything interesting to set up and make look cool using the flash so I quickly took a photo that needed a flash only because it was not light enough in the house to go without.  This is me doing one of my hand therapy exercises and I'm about to win!

Z

Here we have a reflection of the bridge in the bright early morning sun.

spiral

I immediately thought of the playground equipment at Bellevue Park.  Here is a spiral slide for the kiddies.

budding

There is a plethora of budding going on right now.  Here are a few things I saw this week.

wild card

I was awake early yesterday so I headed to Whitefish Island for sunrise.  The beavers were again very active and since there was nobody else around and I was very quiet, they didn't seem to know I was there and came very near.

This goose is a photo I originally took for the "spring" topic as it typifies the season.  If you look carefully, you can see the feathers beneath her butt.  Soon there will be babies coming out from that nest.

Since we seem to have lost Maxine forever, we have lost the opportunity for Gimli and Fergus admiration.  Here they are.

For some reason, some of my photos lose their focus a bit when I upload them.  I have been noticing that for a couple of weeks but I don't know how to fix it.  You will have to take my word for it that the photos are crisply in focus even though some of them don't look like it here.

And that's another week.