Cornell, Michigan Photos
In 2015, I spent a few months living on the Escanaba River in Cornell, Michigan. Cornell is a tiny little town near Escanaba, located in the scenic and wild Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Here are some nature photographs that I took on the property I lived at during that time.
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I used to love to start my day sitting quietly on the porch at sunrise, drinking my morning coffee and smoking a joint before I got ready to face the day. In Michigan, Medical Marijuana is legal, so you can do things like that without fear, and it’s really lovely.
One thing I can say is that I’ve never seen so many Eagles, turkey, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, turtles, frogs, snakes, and other random critters on a day to day basis as I did when I lived in Cornell. Every single morning, large flocks of turkeys would fly over from across the river and hang out in our yard for an hour or more. I would watch them through the windows as they hunted for bugs, and took dirt baths. Turkeys are really mean, so I didn’t go outside while they were here. Afterward, when they had flown back across the river for the day, I would go outside and gather up the feathers they had dropped while they frolicked.
All day long, Eagles would soar overhead randomly, and I would see at least one every day. In the mornings and evenings, large flocks of birds would come and fish the river. It was an amazing sight to behold. I loved to sit by the river and smoke every night and watch them fish.
The Escanaba River also is a fantastic place for humans to go fishing. It was such a treat having the river in my backyard for so many reasons.
Sometimes I would sit outside and be so still and quiet, that chipmunks, squirrels and other critters wouldn’t notice me, and got extremely close. I considered them “My” critters and would whisper softly to them in Potawatomi. “Bosho, friend! Welcome! I mean you no harm.”
Once, a large pine snake slithered under my chair though, and that was less fun. Snakes are beautiful, but also cause me anxiety. Another time, a skunk walked up on the porch about 4 feet from where I was relaxing. I panicked and ran past it without incident, thankfully.
Two baby cows wandered into our yard one day, and a neighbor came to gather them up. We helped her load them into her mini van. They were adorable.
I never did get to see the moose, sadly. I’m glad I didn’t see the cougar in person. But there were so many creatures that I did encounter on a daily basis, it would be impossible to list them all.
Overall, Cornell was a really pretty place to live. I couldn’t get much phone service, and the lack of reliable internet made it difficult to work. DSL was the only option at the time, and it was so slow, it was about the equivalent of a 2400 baud modem most days. But if your profession doesn’t require reliable phone service or the Internet in order to make a living, or if you can afford starlink, then I would highly recommend it as a very nice place to live in the Upper Peninsula.
