I had the day off today so I took a walk in the woods. It was very windy with bright sunshine, not the best combination for taking pictures of wild flowers. I found a place that had some shade and was protected from the wind. I think it is pretty unusual to see these wildflowers blooming in March.

Spring Beauties 1

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Spring Beauties 2

Up close.

Dutchman's Breeches

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

I've been waiting for this picture all month. I can't believe that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was even more beautiful than I imagined it would be.

Capitol Conjunction

Full resolution image: http://www.ceruleanskyphotos.com/p254287028/e5026666

A series of spring thunderstorms blew through late yesterday. There was a lot of rain and a lot of lightning... And there was a awesome double rainbow that I missed! So I decided to go downtown Lansing and try to capture a colorful sunset picture. Well the sun set but the color never came. So I decided to try and salvage the evening by trying some long exposures to add color to a night scene of the state capital building. Here is what I came up with:

Michigan Capitol Building

I decided to go to the Looking Glass River today and see if the wildlife was stirring about yet. The river was high and easy to navigate but there wasn't a lot of wildlife activity. I saw these turtles warming up in the sunshine and I had to laugh. I have never seen turtles giving a piggy back ride. What a hoot!

Painted Turtles

I left the Looking Glass and went north to the Maple River flooding just north of St. Johns. I saw flocks of Red Wing Blackbirds, an Eagle, an Anhinga an a few Tree Swallows. This one was showing off so I just had to take a couple of pics. All in all it was a lovely day. Pretty amazing for the middle of March.

Tree Swallow 4

Tree Swallow 5

The first dandelion of the year brings back special memories of my childhood. When my sister or I found the first dandelion mom would let us take off our shoes and socks and go barefoot in the grass. Guess what I did after I found this?

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Everybody get on your feet, 
You make me nervous when your in your seat 
Take off your shoes and pat your feet, 
We're doin a dance that can't be beat 
We're barefootin', We're barefootin', 
We're barefootin', We're barefootin', 

Barefootin by Robert Parker

Sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another strong solar flare, an M6-class eruption. The blast hurled a CME almost directly toward Earth. The "cloud" will arrive on March 09. The prospect of seeing the Northern Lights in Michigan is very high tonight through Monday.

"Chick a boom chick a boom don't you just love it"!  Daddy DewDrop

On days like today I'm reminded of the ELO song "Mr.Blue Sky"

Hey there mister blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Ev'rybody smiles at you

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BPS Skywalk

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This street is a long stones throw from my house. Just beyond the bend is one of my favorite places to hang out, 300 + acres of township natural area along a meandering river. I can take an 8 mile run out my back door and 7.5 miles is all trails. The other half mile is down this street. I am sooooo lucky!

My picture of the sled dog took second place in the Fred Miranda Monthly Assignment Photo Competition! The contest was very close with my photo and the first place photo switching places several times. This was a fun one!

Sled Dog

I went up north for a couple of days to enjoy winter before it is gone. I left early Monday morning. My first stop was the Ocqueoc Falls near Onaway.

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This is the only waterfall in the lower peninsula.

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This is downstream from the falls along the Bicentennial Pathway.

I continued my trip north along the shores of Lake Huron to Cheboygan where I stopped for lunch. Then I headed west across the state to Petoskey where I spent the night at the Best Western in Harbor Springs.

Early Tuesday I drove a couple of miles to Nub's Nob where I spent the day snowboaring. The conditions were perfect!

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You can see Little Traverse Bay behind me.

Just so you know I that I don't spend the whole day sitting on the top of the "mountain" I have included the following video. Be prepared to get sea sick. I'm not very good at holding a camera and staying upright.

I think this run is called Smooth Sailing.

I'm back home safe and sound. I had a great time! Maybe I will get a chance to go one more time before the spring rains melt all of the snow. But that's OK because then I can just take my kayak!

For the past several years my friend has participated in the Polar Plunge. It is a fund raising event for Special Olympics. Every year he has tried to talk me into taking photographs of the event. But I was always able to find an excuse, it was too cold, it was raining, it was snowing.... Well this year I decided to join in the fun and I am glad that I did. Let me remind you this is not a heated swimming pool that the participants are jumping in to. Today the water was a balmy 34 degrees!

Here are a few pics:

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My friend Tiger and his daughter.

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One two three GO!

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Can't turn back now.

Maybe spring isn't here quite yet. We dodged a big one! The winter storm warning has been cancelled and we will not be getting up to 10 inches of snow. I love snow and it is absolutely beautiful outside. If the weather holds I will be going up north to the Nubs snowboarding. I wish I could take my kayak.

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As I was walking in to work this morning I saw a blind person getting off of the bus and it reminded me of a photograph I took last winter.