Spring Is Sensed Even Before Apple Trees Blossom, Marking 10 Years of Michigan BLUE

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Big Sable Point Lighthouse
Photography courtesy Thinkstock

This issue marks a decade of photographic and writing excellence in a mission to capture the water wonderland of Michigan’s two peninsulas and the world’s largest bodies of freshwater.

The excitement, travel opportunities and adventure in an ever-changing, four-season environment are often difficult to meaningfully verbalize; we believe each issue of Michigan BLUE is worth 10,000 words of inspiration and profound appreciation.

Spring’s awakening can be sensed even before Michigan apple trees blossom and warmer winds sweep waves to the shore. Open the curtains of your mind to celebrate the state’s seasonal treasures — especially the morels, ramps and maple syrup — and to find enlightenment in BLUE’s homage to the world-renowned designers and architects who left an inspiring legacy of modern design and style.

Ready for adventure? Author Stephen Brede shares his journey of a lifetime, canoeing along the coasts of each of the Great Lakes.

Brede notes, “I paddled about 3,900 miles. The Great Lakes comprise 10,900 miles of coastline, but, in addition to the mainland, that figure includes the shoreline of connecting rivers and some 35,000 islands. I did a lot of island hopping and point-to-point paddling and cut across some large bays.”

Contributor Jon Osborn offers a land-based adventure in the hunt for Michigan morels and ramps, noting that those with knowledge of good locations guard it more closely than a CIA secret. Osborn writes, “If justification to skip work and slip outdoors was ever needed, these elusive harbingers of spring would be reason enough.”

In this issue, Michigan BLUE also celebrates the likes of the Saarinens, Minoru Yamasaki, Ray and Charles Eames, Alden B. Dow, Albert Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright and Herman Miller, who defined an era and formed the foundation for modern American design.

Contributing writer Marla Miller writes, “Mid-Century Modernism symbolized the future and expressed the optimism of the era. Its architects rejected the past and embraced the use of new materials, simplicity of form and unconventional, simplistic design.”

The feature “Synthesis on the shores” picks up the thread of that inspiration, linking it to some current designs of Michigan modern homes. Readers may note the clean lines and integration of the landscape in each of these new examples in a state that has been “an epicenter for style dating back to the 1930s.”

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network — the largest nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving the state’s rich cultural and architectural heritage — is hosting its annual conference in Detroit in May, for the first time since 2001.

Given the recent tremendous changes in the Motor City’s urban landscape, Michigan BLUE contributors provide updates on the restoration of Detroit’s riverfront walkways and its beloved Belle Isle.

Become an explorer of every seasonal gift offered in Michigan.

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