Author Archives: Jim Burnham

Vol XVIII – #92 – Still Hot But We Were on a Boat

  (Report by Jim)The day was hot, but who cares when you get to spend it on the water? The A10 Warthogs from the Cherry Festival made a couple passes over Leland. Nice day overall. I talked a little about our Leelanau Summinar talk tonight at the kickoff this evening. That was before the storm front moved through and knocked… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #70 – Wine Fest Today

(Report by Jim) The wine fest was well attended today and the weather was so nice (as opposed to previous years) that it went an extra hour. Not too hot, not too cold. Not too sunny, not too cloudy. I got to set up, attend, and tear down for the first time. Hats off to Jennifer Collins, Kate Vilter and everyone… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #69 – Wine Fest Tomorrow

(Report by Jim) Tents are up for the Wine Fest tomorrow. We may have put the boat in, but it’s coming out again with a bad bilge pump. Manitou Marine in Lake Leelanau is going to have a look-see. Who’s that in the back? It’s Leland Report Joanne! This little Red Squirrel posed for me today. I’m not good at… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #68 – Tale of Two Peninsulas

(Report by Jim) A remarkable day today. I have been working remotely all week and it’s really hard sometimes to be productive knowing what it’s like outside. At 3pm I was free! After dinner with Leland Report Keith and Joanne, I escaped out into the countryside to find some photos for today’s report. I managed to get up to the tip… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #67 – Grey and Cold

(Report by Jim) Still unseasonably cold…but better! We put the boat in for the first time in a couple years and though the photo is pretty blah, I was in a boat on Lake Leelanau, so it wasn’t all that bad. Not until it started raining, of course! But I was safe with my Coast Guard approved signal orange life… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #66 – Veterans Go Fishing

(Report by Jim) Unseasonably cold! 49 degrees at sunrise and no more than 55 all day. But, it was sunny and busy with Leelanau County Vets filling up the charters and having a fish fry at the dock. The Coast Guard was doing some maintenance on the green navigation light and the Survey Vessel Steelhead here doing fish population assessments…. Read more »

Vol XVIII – #36 – Something for Everyone

(Report by Jim) Ok, last one for me this week. I’m heading back to Illinois tomorrow. I accomplished everything I came here to do and I have something for everyone today. First, I picked up an annual National Park System Pass at the Philip K Hart Visitor Center in Empire (M72 and M22 if you are interested) and headed up to… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #35 – A Fata Morgana

(Report by Jim) When the atmospheric conditions are just right, you can look out to the West and witness a “Fata Morgana” mirage where the ends of the Manitous appear oddly shaped. This happens in calm weather when a warmer layer of air rests on top a colder layer, causing light to refract and show the same image inverted and… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #34 – Open Water

(Report by Jim) Looking at the North end of the lake today, there is still a small pocket of slush that will probably be gone by tomorrow. Today’s temps were in the lower 70s, but by 4pm the temperature dropped to 50. The ice on the breakwall in the photo below is slowly disappearing as well. The lines of sand… Read more »

Vol XVIII – #28 – Throwback Thursday

(Report by Jim) Many of you saw the old photo of the Waterboy on Instagram and Facebook today. It was great that all below (except the mysterious woman in the white scarf) were identified! I thought I would go back in time and pull out another Erhardt Peters photo. This one reminded me of the one we have in our… Read more »