#lake michigan love

[theknitpotato]

If you're brave enough to venture to the bottom of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, be sure you can get back up! Those who need rescue face a $3,000 bill. The cool water of Lake Michigan is inviting, but the climb up is no joke.

Credit: Senior Nezbit

[zfotos]

a trip to heaven

[whilereadingandwalking]

Lake walks. Bless this 40s weather!

[cosmicfaeriewitch]

𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒕 🌅✨

ig: cosmicfaeriewitch

[julykings]

goodbye july hello august

[dinkysdoodlesxoxo]

sailboat on lake st. clair at dusk

st. clair shores, mi

[doortongs]

did they tell you what happens when you touch it?

[holophotal]

the lakefront was all icy and foggy today <3

[kivaember]

Michigan's Emblem

well a passing observation had me going down a rabbit hole SO JOIN ME ON MY JOURNEY

At a glance, the emblem looks pretty cool alright? But there are some things that leap out at me:

why does ur liger have five legs, michigan

the heraldic style of the liger

the odd placement of the blade for a heraldic style

the liger's positioning

So the leg thing is interesting to me, because in heraldic style, there are three ways that an animal can be positioned: rampant, passant and statant.

(Okay actually I lie there's more than three ways, there's like eight but there's three that's the most common)

Rampant is the one people usually think of first when it comes to heraldry: the animal is standing on its hindlegs, forelegs raised in a clawing motion or reaching out.

Passant and statant, however, is when the animal is on all fours. Passant is when a front leg is held up (much like how Ligertail's fifth leg is), and statant is when all four paws/hooves/whatever are touching the ground. Examples below:

Rampant

Passant

Statant

Now Ligertail is in both Passant and Statant thanks to its five legs. This is interesting because of two things:

Statant postures are more frequent as crests than on charges on shields, which refers to their positioning on the heraldry. So, uh, crest is on the top, and charge is on the middle rightish.

A lion in passant may be called a leopard, because way back when the general rule (for English heralds) was that a passant lion was termed a leopard and a rampant lion was termed a lion.

Actually I'll be a bit more detailed: a lion in passant guardant, that is, its head facing towards the observer, is called a leopard. A lion in passant where its head is facing forwards is called a lion-leopard. (Looks at Liger... Lion-Tiger...)

In an old manuscript called de harudrie, a leopard was considered "borne of an adulterous union between a lioness and a pard" and like a mule incapable of reproducing. So a leopard was considered an appropriate charge for a person either born of adultery or someone that's forbidden to reproduce (like someone who's sworn a vow of chastity). Meanwhile lions traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, strength and valour.

OKAY so we have that quick and dirty and very simplified heraldry info out of the way (for those of you who are more au fait with heraldry feel free to chime in if i got anything wildly wrong), what does this mean for Michigan's five-legged heraldic liger?

Firstly, that it's in both passant and statant comes across as if Michigan is caught between two states, esp combined with Liger which is a Lion-Tiger hybrid. Statant is a posture usually used on crests, and a statant lion is still acknowledged as a lion, but a passant lion ends up being launched into that ambiguous realm of 'leopard' - and the whole implication of being a bastard or chaste. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Michigan making a joke. Maybe he's well-known as a bastard son of someone important, but his Hero of Jupiter title has him vaunted as a respectable figure (thus Crest) and so it's one of those 'widely known secrets no one talks about or acknowledges'.

There probably is some clever heraldic thing that the five legged liger caught between statant and passant means... let the theories flow...

Anyway, there's one other thing too: Ligertail's, er, tail. The way the tail forks and the end tapers into a sword, curled over Liger's back, sort of gives me scorpion vibes. Is it intentional? Who knows. Maybe he wanted to match with the other bug boys, or maybe he thought it looked cool. Anyways, I'm looking at that scorpion-esque tail and going hmmm.

Anyway, this was a fun deep dive. Maybe the fifth leg was just an accident and Michigan kept it because well, lol, it's funny. Or maybe there really is a deep meaning to it all hidden behing obscure heraldry rules..... or even if there isn't, I'm thinking there is one now and no one can stop me.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Lake day.

[thesewordsaremymusings]

“In another life,

Where I am a better girl

You are the man I chose

You take me to Michigan,

And drown me in all your blueness,

All your holiness”

-m.n. | “Drowning in Lake Michigan.”

[liptonrm]

I just learned that my home state, Michigan, has a law that forbids the state from establishing a dark sky preserve in the Upper Peninsula.

That is, of course, one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, but a local environmental group has created a petition to help encourage lawmakers to change that law.

Anyone even a little familiar with the Great Lakes area knows how beautiful the Upper Peninsula is, with some of the clearest, darkest night skies in the United States' lower 48. The first time I ever saw the Milky Way was swimming at night in the UP. The arc of stars shone in the sky and was reflected in the dark water around me. It was like I was swimming in the sky.

Business interests don't want the UP to have protections, they want to feel free to strip mine it for parts. But just because they have all of the money doesn't mean our voices can't be heard.

[cosmicfaeriewitch]

🌅

TikTok: cosmicfaeriewitch

[impossiblepluto]

[eldritch-deity]

Some of my favorite shots from the shores of Lake Michigan. These shots were taken as the sun was setting on Silver Beach, in Saint Joseph, Mi.

[crmsnmth]

The Cold Waters of Lake Michigan

She moves like molten metal Along the polluted beaches of Lake Michigan Finding sea glass embedded in the bottoms of her feet Beauty mixed with blood Wearing pain with a smile Sold in droves at flea markets and in strange hotel room And the water stains on her dress match the ones in the ceiliing The sky is vast and empty Claustrophobia in it's purest moments

She spins and her hem becomes clouds Rainstorms for depression and sunshine for the eager call of being young and free again Through suffering and fire, her teeth remain white A smile made of dandelion fluff and cheap wine Residue of a long long forgotten And never repeated She holds philosophy meetings for the addicts of the world Sharing wisdom in things she knows nothing about But she can fake it Oh god, she knows how to fake it

Comforted and caring in her vampire mouth We fell for it like dominoes on the table one bump and they fall down And I apologize profusely as she softly whispers that everything is fine And I want to believe her but I know she never stops lying Her branded kind of coping mechanism

The water is cold, and I am home.