A violent storm ripped through northwest Lower Michigan a few years back. The winds and waves pulled up anchors of several boats in West Grand Traverse Bay. This is one of two sailboats that washed up on Clinch Park Beach during the night. 
Dock in the clouds
A dock in West Grand Traverse Bay stands in stark contrast to the cloudy sky reflected in the shimmering waters of the bay.
Sunrise over East Bay Township
The orb ascends over East Bay Township, southeast of Traverse City.
After dark in Traverse City
Some nights are busy in downtown Traverse City. Others are quiet.
A deer in the road
A fast-moving whitetail flashes across a road south of Traverse City.
The Big View
The view from the overlook on Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore makes every visitor slow down and stop. There’s something about the endless and gentle pattern of waves on Lake Michigan seen from far above that makes everyone step out their shoes and step inside themselves while they gaze in wonder at nature’s majesty.
Yellow memory of summer
A bee hovers near a Leelanau County sunflower.
Delicate fringe
The rising sun kisses the delicate fringe of frost outlines a stray maple leaf on a cold northern Michigan morning.
Ice out
The ice thins out in the Leland Harbor marina.
Swimming in the Au Sable River
Summer afternoons are well spent swimming in a northern Michigan river. The flowing water sparkles in the sunlight and refreshes the mind.
River swimming brings its own kind of joy. Floating gently in the cool water as the current presses past your skin on its journey to the big lake. The alternating bright sun and gentle shade of the pines. Perhaps a glimpse of a shiny trout shooting across a riffle of fast water.
All images on this website are copyright Daniel C. Nielsen, tclocal@gmail.com.
Birds in Flight
A flock takes flight over Traverse City’s downtown.
Wreck off South Manitou Island
The Francisco Morazan ran aground near South Manitou Island on November 28,1960. It had left Chicago the day before, loaded with 940 tons of general cargo. The ship’s captain was 24 years old. His wife, 29 and pregnant, was aboard the ship, as were 13 crew members. The captain’s wife was lifted from the ship on Dec. 2. The crew abandoned ship on Dec. 4 and were taken to Traverse City aboard the icebreaker Mackinaw. The ship’s owners could not be located and the rusted remains of the ship still rest where it ran aground a few hundred feet from the island’s shore.
Francisco Morazán served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. The nation, which ceased to exist in 1841, covered land today occupied by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The nearby beach, where this photograph was taken, is a beautiful spot for swimming and a picnic. The island is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
All images on this website are copyright Daniel C. Nielsen, tclocal@gmail.com.
True Traverse City 