If anybody that subscribes to me is worried about receiving too many notification emails, fear not, this post has taken me 4 months to complete.
I have enjoyed the night sky my entire life. From my childhood summers in Michigan’s upper peninsula (UP) where skies are pristine and dark, to summer days backpacking and hiking in remote sections of the American west, I love to be in places with few man made lights. I remember on a trip through New Mexico in January of 2002, we were going to spend the night near Carlsbad and being as it was mid winter, it got dark early. We were driving near the Guadalupe Mountains and I noticed that it was pitch black outside. I pulled to the side of the road, turned off the lights, let my eyes adjust to the darkness, got out of the car, and it seemed the sky was completely filled with stars. An awesome moment.
In the northern hemisphere summer, one of the better meteor showers is the Perseids Meteors in mid August. Since we were in Michigan at that time this year, I thought that a good place to be would be Big Bay, Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior just north of Marquette. The Perseids Meteors peak around August 12 each year so that was the night we planned on being in Big Bay. The previous night we were in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and it was cold and rainy. On the drive from Sault Ste. Marie to Big Bay across Michigan’s upper peninsula, it was cloudy, windy, cold, with a few rain showers. I had hopes of clearing skies as the day progressed but as we arrived at Big Bay, we had seen only a few patches of blue.
We arrived at the Thunder Bay Inn, in Big Bay at about 6pm, in time for dinner at the Inn and a couple of hours before sunset. I had a few ideas on where to go for a good view of the sky to the east so we checked out those locations and picked a spot only 1 mile (.6 km) north of town on a beach near the harbor and marina. By now it was 8pm, the sun would set in an hour, and it was still cloudy and windy. I decided to take a nap and would get up about 9:45 so that I could be at my selected location by 10pm.
At 9:45, I got up, gathered my gear, went outside, looked up to see…mostly clouds but a few breaks with stars shining through. My spirits were rising. I got into the car, drove the short distance to the beach and was the only person there. I set up my camera close to the trees on the high end of the beach and started a time series with the shutter open 20 seconds, a 4 second pause, then repeat. By now the sky was half covered with clouds and I was quite hopeful the sky would clear, or at least have only a few clouds visible. I had everything set up with my time series started by shortly after 10pm local time. It was still twilight with the sky not completely dark. True darkness would not begin until 11:10 pm when astronomical twilight ends.
I waited. The beach I had chosen has a clear view over Lake Superior to the northeast. The storm that had just passed through over the previous few days had come from the northwest and the strong northwest winds had created substantial waves on Lake Superior. The shoreline went slightly west of north from my location protecting me from the strongest waves that were coming from the northwest. But it was still quite loud with waves crashing on the beach. My location tucked at the high end of the beach near the trees offered protection from the wind. So despite the cool mid August temperatures, it was not so bad sitting next to a large tree looking up at the sky and seeing the clouds slowly melt away.
I spent about 4 hours at this beach, watching Jupiter rise directly across the lake from my location. And yes, I saw a few meteors with one particularly bright one that lit up the trees over my head. The previous day driving to Big Bay I had confidence the skies would clear behind this storm and indeed, the few clouds that drifted by during the night added to the beauty of watching the Perseids Meteors on the shores of Lake Superior
The video below is a time-lapse from about 11pm to 130am local time. If you look closely at the 15 second point, the meteor that streaks by in the middle left leaves a glowing cloud that drifts off to the right.
The next day was just a relaxing day to walk around the small town of Big Bay before heading off to my childhood home of Engadine. As we were walking back to our hotel after eating dinner, we walked past a small shop that sold coffee. The owner was outside, we chatted for a few minutes, and he invited us in for coffee some morning while we were staying in Big Bay. I said we would be leaving the next morning, Monday morning. He said that was the only day he is closed but he would open for me if I promised to come by. I am an early riser so I said if he is open at 7am, I’ll be there at 7. He said “For you, I’ll be open”.
So the next day turned out to be quite interesting. At 7am I was at the door to the coffee shop, checked the door, it was open, I went in, down the stairs, and there was a full pot of coffee. Seeing nobody, I said “Good Morning” to the empty room, poured myself a cup of coffee, and had a seat. Just a minute later the owner came in and we sat and chatted for about an hour. This gentleman was about my age and in talking about where we have been in life he mentioned he had attended Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette. I asked what years, and it turned out that that the one year I attended NMU, he was there. It further turned out that we most likely attended the same class together. And furthermore, it is very likely he played tennis with my cousin that lived in Marquette many years later. Small world.
Leaving Big Bay, we were driving to Engadine and my wife and I both decided to get a cup of coffee as we passed through Marquette. Now there are many fine coffee shops to choose from in Marquette and I just happened to pick the shop where my second encounter with a close connection would occur. I am normally not all that chatty when I get coffee but when the barista asked if I wanted to put my coffee purchase on some sort of loyalty card, I thought I’d mention that I’m from out of town and I probably would not be back. I then added that I lived in Marquette many years ago attending NMU but that I had a deeper connections in Engadine and Newberry 100 miles to the east. As soon as I mentioned Newberry, the man next to me at the county says “Newberry eh”. He asks my name and I tell him. He says you don’t happen to know Kristi do you? Well, yes indeed Kristi is my cousin. We chat for a few minutes and drive on.
Passing through Munising, Michigan we wanted to stop at the local wine shop get some UP wine for my cousins in Engadine. There is about only 1 place in Munising that offers wine tasting so we go in. It was about 1pm and only a few people were in the room so it was just me and the woman behind the counter talking as she gave me several different wines to taste. I picked several to buy and as she is ringing up the sale I asked if she was from the area. No, she says she grew up in California. I ask where in California? She responds she grew up in Fresno. Again, normally I’m not so chatty but the woman was about 10 years younger than myself and many years ago I worked as a migrant farm worker for a week in Clovis, California which is only 10 miles (16 km) away from Fresno. I say to her, “Neat, I once worked as a migrant farm worker in Clovis”. She looks at me and says “That is really where I’m from, Clovis”, she went to Clovis High school. I told her the farm I worked at had been turned into a factory and she knew exactly the farm I worked at.
One day, three connections. It’s a small world. I’ve had other interesting connections like this. Many years ago my family (my wife and 2 daughters) were in Quebec City, Quebec. We had a small dog with us and it was dinner time. I suggested my wife go to dinner with our daughters and I’d sit in the park with our dog. I’d go for dinner when they were done. We had a small lovable Pug dog that had the softest fur of any dog I’ve seen. Of course sitting on a park bench with a dog at my side, lots of people want to pet the pug. Then an older man came along and asked if I spoke English. I said yes, I’m from the states. He asks where?, I say well currently we live in Arizona but I’ve lived in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Utah, but my roots are really northern Michigan. “Michigan?” he asks. “Where”? Oh you wouldn’t know, a little town called Engadine. “Engadine?” he says. “Yep” I answer. He then throws out three names of people that I knew from Engadine, including one of my uncles. Small world indeed. Quebec City, more than 600 miles (1000 km) away, in a park, in a modest sized city, and I meet someone that knows my uncle.
People. We come in all shapes, sizes, and with completely different life experience. Some people like to be in crowds of people, some like to be in remote wilderness. By just being a bit more open with strangers, with a smile on your face, and with a willingness to listen, random connections came into focus. The person serving you food in a restaurant, behind the counter at a grocery store, fixing your car in a shop, or just randomly walking in the same park as you a thousand miles from home, may very well have a connection to you.
Life is short, Be nice, be kind, be open, be friendly, enjoy the wonders that are on this planet we all share called Earth.
If you think someone might enjoy the occasional musings I write, and the photos I include, pass on this link.