In celebration of Michigan Week, Mark Houston over at 360Michigan has posted new panoramas from four locations: the National Trout Memorial (downtown Kalkaska in front of the Kalkaska Historical Museum), the Michigan Fireman’s Memorial (near Roscommon), the Manistee River and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum (Belle Isle, Detroit).

…Now I am an adult living in Lyon Township. Michigan is still my home and the third week of May is still “Michigan Week.” But instead of the celebrations of old that I experienced as a young child, my state is in a state of mental depression. Gone is the celebration of pride in the state I and many others call home. Instead of school events and civic presentations focused on the uniqueness of Michigan and of the achievements of our citizens that produces a sense of fulfillment, we hear the drumbeat of despair and defeat.

All we hear about is people losing jobs, automobile companies failing, politicians that can’t make decisions, schools that are not educating our children and people moving away. The state motto seems to have changed from “Tuebor” – (“I’ll Protect”), to ‘Will the last one to leave please turn out the light.’