We live in Ann Arbor and meet my in-laws (from State College, PA) in Northport every year.  Enjoy the area, the people, the vistas and the general feeling of being re-energized after visiting.

–  Devin Mathias, Ann Arbor, MI

Here is a photo from our neighborhood produce stand and the owner, Meeghan Siera.

–  Maxi Neugebauer, Traverse City, MI

 (Everyone here at the Leelanau Conservancy sends their thoughts and prayers to Meeghan and her family, who lost her husband and our very good friend, Bob Siera, in September after a battle with cancer. The Siera’s home and business, Leelanau Produce, is near our DeYoung Natural Area on Cedar Lake. For years, Bob watched over the property, and when we purchased it, helped us in innumerable ways from mowing and planting fields to helping with repairs and maintenance. He will be missed.)

Members enjoy a mid-June hike led by Leelanau Conservancy docents, David Harris and Lou Ricord.

– Bonnie Ricord, Empire, MI

In honor of Sleeping Bear Bay freezing solid, we decided to bottle that special essence to share with you. Actually bottling the water would have required special permitting and registration with the Department of Agriculture and DEQ, and subjected us to additional regulations. Instead, we put our best engineers on the project, and devised something even better: Freeze Dried Ice Water.

Using our innovative VaporICE (TM) method, ice is harvested, melted, and the vapor permeates the special 8 ounce plastic bottle. It is then capped and frozen to complete the process.

Pour any potable water into the bottle, cap it, shake, and magically the essence of Michigami Ice Water is transferred to the water, making it the second-best elixir to drink (after coffee!). Our VaporICE (TM) process lasts forever, but does work best with water from the Lake Michigan aquifer. Water from Milwaukee, Chicago, and Manistee is highly recommended. See the video here Michigami Ice Water

Submitted by: Anne Shoup, Director of Charitable Giving, Leelanau Conservancy.

(Anne's note, "A friend of mine at Leelanau Coffee posted this video on their website, in honor of the ice freezing on Sleeping Bear Bay. I think it’s hilarious and that our friends on Why Leelanau would love it, too. A little humor now and then is good for us all!)

A deer had somehow curled into the lake ice near the shore and was being covered by the howling snowstorm coming across the big lake. At first it looked like a snowy piece of wood. A coyote walking by turned and noticed it, then a head lifted up , and I realized it was a deer. A scream from the deck frightened the coyote. Fierce weather coming in, sub-zero temperatures, high winds. A call to a special and valiant neighbor brought him in his wet suit and his friends. Neighbors arrived, a life-line was put together, he crawled out on the ice, the line separated, was tied again, an extension ladder to lay on the ice was found. The crawl to the deer, who lifted her front quarters and tried to pull away, but could not, was precarious because of water under the thick slushy ice (though shallow). This photo catches him actually talking to the deer to calm her, this is a moment of communication as she turns to listen to him. The noose was finally placed around her neck, the guys pushed and pulled her in, her body and head covered with clotted ice hunks. We stood there, stunned. She finally staggered to her feet, fell on the ice, then managed to get her bearings and ran clumsily up the beach and into the woods.

– Kathie Snedeker, Gills Pier, MI