This was an unsettling day, what with getting back the hour stolen from me last spring and then having a hard time keeping track of it. I was in danger of being early for everything, but then I got distracted.
On the way to Traverse City there is an old orchard. This year the deer are welcome to the apples. There is an enormous surplus, and much of the crop will be withheld from the market. (Amos Farms has invited nonprofits to come pick what they can for distribution through food pantries and shelters.) The world is out of joint, but the deep red apples are striking against the golden leaves.
Farther down the road, wild turkeys foraged near Birch Lake. Usually they flow into the underbrush before I can dig out the camera, but today they seemed to be in no hurry. Perhaps they, too, have an extra hour.
What with one thing and another, it was really too late to go to the Dennos so I stopped in Elk Rapids to see what Louan Lechler was up to. I talked her into dinner at Pearl’s, or maybe she talked me into it. We got there in time for a Happy Hour discount on our Golden Margaritas, so we splurged on extra sides. Things were looking up. Louan knows how to tell a story better than anyone else I know. A couple of hours later, equilibrium restored, I headed home. The moon was rising over Bass Lake.
It was rising over the Shell station on Ames Street, where the night shift was busy at the tail end of a November Sunday.
It was rising over the Writing Studio and Bait Shop, where Miss Sadie and the Cowboy waited for their bedtime walk. Somewhere in there I spent my hour, and received good value.
Torch Lake Views 
katherine
November 2, 2009
Some very pretty photos. Yes, it was a beautiful moon rise this evening
Gerry
November 2, 2009
Thank you. It was beautiful, but cold, I thought–not a friendly moon at all. An excellent night for N’Awlins food and Louan Stories.
uphilldowndale
November 2, 2009
An hour very well spent indeed, the world is not just out of joint, it is mad, I’m sure of it.
Gerry
November 2, 2009
I expect you’re right, but cannot imagine what to do about it and slog on, muttering.
p.j. grath
November 2, 2009
Moon reflected in the lake–wow! I just managed to catch it tangled in bare tree branches.
Gerry
November 2, 2009
Thank you. As soon as I saw the moon I started thinking about places where I might catch its reflection. Bass Lake worked pretty well, even if I did have to go splashing about on the boggy shore to find the right angle. I went over to Rotary Park on the Elk River, too, but by then it was too dark. Besides, I could see long smooth ripples. The reflected moon wavered and bobbed. The ripples moved toward where I was standing in the weeds in the dark. I moved, too. My favorite shots were unplanned – I was very taken with the Shell station.
Cindy Lou
November 2, 2009
Beautiful moon photos, Gerry! I love when a full moon comes up over Keweenaw Bay – the shimmering path it creates looks almost as if one could walk on it to unknown adventures!
Gerry
November 2, 2009
Thank you, Cindy Lou. That shimmering path draws me, too. Just moonstruck I guess.
centria
November 3, 2009
Wild turkeys AND a beautiful full moon shot! Did you get a new camera or what? I gave up snapping photos of the moon cuz they never turned out. You did yourself proud,lady.
Gerry
November 3, 2009
Thank you. Camera’s the same, all dinged up and permanently fogged here and there, but well-loved. Scott Thomas (a/k/a “St. Photography”) says the best time for moonshots is just as the ambient light and the moon’s light come into balance. I keep trying to capture midnight moons, and they just won’t be captured.