Night-Night

Today Grand Hotel's gardeners were hard at work planting tulip bulbs. They tucked the bulbs into their earthy beds, so come spring we will be treated to displays like this:

I can't even begin to imagine what their bulb budget might be...

Fall Favorites

 Mackinac is beautiful in any season,

but I am quite partial to fall. 

Unbelievable

We have had the most amazing fall in northern Michigan. The weather has been incredible! Today, Allen and I ate dinner outside, without coats, because it was 67 degrees! Later, while I was scrolling on Facebook, I was reminded that eleven years ago on October 22, Mackinac already had snow. We're supposed to get cooler weather later in the week, but for now we are happily soaking up these warm days.

Autumn

A tapestry of terra cotta, gold, and brown;

leaves dance and swirl,

then slowly drift down.

They make a fragrant carpet - 

with earthy scent so deep,

a place where the woodland whispers

secrets nature keeps.

Northern Lights Over Mackinac

Thursday night, much of the northern United States was treated to the northern lights. Despite it being a school night, we're completely nerdy people so there was no way we weren't going out to see them. Thankfully Mother Nature cooperated and gave us a mostly cloud-free sky.

My pictures aren't nearly as impressive as many other folk's are, but they do more accurately reflect what we were able to see with just our eyes: lots of red. At one point it almost looked like the sky was being illuminated by a nearby forest fire - it was that bright.

Things started early. Allen and I were at Point Lookout, with out camp chairs, by 9:30 enjoying the show. It changed minute by minute, varying between red and green, bright and dim, and where in the sky the lights danced. It was absolutely stunning. Surprisingly, we had Point Lookout virtually to ourselves. It seemed like just about everyone else went to Fort Holmes or the airport.

We packed up and biked home at about 10:45, grinning from ear to ear the entire way. 

Capital City Comic Con

Back in February I posted about working on my Princess Leia costume, but I just realized I never posted pictures from the comic con. We had a blast! The Lansing Comic Con isn't huge, but it was a prefect con for us to start with. We had a great time. My favorite moment was getting my picture taken with a little Ghostbuster. She told me Princess Leia was her favorite Star Wars character and that she had been trying to catch up with me to get a picture. He dad was kind enough to snap a picture with my camera as well. I also got to hear Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager, speak and answer questions; which made my nerd heart happy.

I went with my good friend, Keith. He's an incredible maker! He really doesn't appreciate it when I brag about his talents, but he really is incredible (and modest.) The man can make / build pretty much anything - his Boba Fett costume for instance. While he bought the jumpsuit and helmet, he 3D printed, built, and painted the rest of it. He even made all the hard parts of my costume, including my helmet, blaster, etc. 

Now we've got to start planning for next year! The nerd in me is thinking Star Trek, but who knows...

Happiness Is

Not only did I get invited to a cook out at a friend's house today, but Mackinac was treated to a beautiful rainbow. I wasn't able to catch a photo, but for a while it was a double rainbow!

Disapproving

We spent the weekend up in Marquette visiting the kids up at Northern Michigan University. Since we were there, we took the kids on a little shopping trip to Meijer. As we drove out of the parking lot, I got the distinct impression Meijer did not approve of our choices - probably because we tried to stick to a budget! Lol.

Glorious

Fall is, by far, my favorite season on Mackinac. Many days, like today, are practically perfect weather wise.