Strangers 6 & 7 - Marsha & Ruth Ann [ Michigan Family, Child & Fine Art Portrait Photographer ]

As much as I like to think I color outside the lines and blaze my own trail instead of following the one already marked & mapped - I do sadly realize I am also a creature of habit.  And so, on my travels to my beloved northwestern Michigan to do an environmental portrait session & a commercial shoot of a cottage vacation rental - I found myself stopping (as usual) at the Clare Michigan Welcome Center. This is always my last rest stop on the journey north - only 2 hours from my final destination of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

It seemed only fitting that I capture some strangers for the 31 Strangers Project at the Welcome Center! Marsha & Ruth Ann were happy to oblige! Marsha (left) usually works at the Port Huron center, but was called to duty to the Clare Center. They obviously were very happy to be Michiganders (Wolverines?) and were delighted to impart some facts about their state.

Michigan has over 64,980 inland lakes.
Other than California, Michigan grows the widest variety of fruits and vegetables..... and Michigan doesn't have to irrigate.
The name Michigan is a French alteration of the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".
A person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline.
Lake Huron rushes into the St. Claire River at the same force as Niagara Falls.
Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state.

... And just some of the reasons I'm always heading north!  Thank you Marsha & Ruth Ann for participating in the Strangers Project!