Michigan Blue Magazine

A perfect way to appreciate the glories of winter is to slip on cross-country skis and glide into the night when even a thin crescent of moon is enough to overlay the glistening snow with soft shadows from the trees.

Glen Arbor artist captures all that grows in paintings, drawings and coloring books.

Winter is fast approaching, and it is difficult to know what to expect. Will this be the year to buy an all-wheel drive vehicle, a pair of pac boots and a snow blower? Or, a year where there is no need to mothball that favorite sports car for a season due to deep snow conditions?

Michigan winters: They’re epic, they’re beautiful and they can leave even the most seasoned native wishing to be somewhere else. When blizzard conditions and ice-slick roads have you feeling a touch of cabin fever, go somewhere — and let a good book take you there. Here are some great winter reads with Michigan roots to accompany you on your armchair travels.

By the time the first serious snow blankets northwestern Michigan, a village of igloos has been firmly planted in the barren woods behind the taproom at Hop Lot Brewing Co., an idyllic winter landscape illuminated by strings of glimmering white lights and blazing campfires.

When the powder falls, nature calls. And snowshoes make it easy to indulge in winter’s delights. This ancient form of transportation takes outdoor adventurers and nature lovers high atop bluffs and into dense forests, across deep snow and to places skis, fat-tire bicycles and snowmobiles cannot go.

In the morning, we woke to a new world. The storm had filled the driveway with waist-high drifts, and the road beyond was unplowed and impassable. Schools were closed, of course. It appeared that nobody was going to work, either.

Much more than a vintage car collection, Gilmore Car Museum celebrates America’s love affair with the automobile and car innovations that changed how people live, work and play. 

For many boat owners, the day their vessel is hauled for winter storage is the worst day of the year. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways they can get a maritime fix during the winter months. With more than 3,200 miles of coastline and hundreds of years of commercial, passenger and pleasure boating heritage, Michigan maritime history is on display at several museums around the state. Here’s a look at a few:

The essay “A Winter Soul” was published in “Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction” in 2018. This excerpt from that essay is reprinted here with permission from Jessica Mesman and Wayne State University Press.