Those squatty little yellow cacti are adorable! They’re like sea urchins for the ocean of sand.
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I just got back from a trip to U.P. Michigan and saw several ecosystems I’ve never seen in person before!
Pine/Spruce forests that block out so much light the only undergrowth is ferns:
Giant sand dunes with sand grasses and thorn bushes at the peaks:
Both would make for amazing tank inspos, but for what species I’m not sure 
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The first one would be great for box turtles and eastern/western rat snakes.
For the second one a golf ball would probably work
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Were those beach photos taken in the U.P.? Beautiful blue water! That’s SO my jam!
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“That’s so my jam”? Never heard of this before but I now have a new quote! Thanks lovely Gina! 
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Here’s a couple shots from my hike last week in the Montecito hills, about a 20 minute drive from my house. You’d never guess from these pictures that several huge fires have ripped through this area in the last 10 years (though I did see a few charred tree trunks). Nature’s ability to repair itself never ceases to amaze me.
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Yep! This was Sleeping Bear Dunes, which might not technically be north enough to be UP but we were all over the place up there, a beautiful place!!
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I am ashamed to say that I had no idea there was anything up north with sandy beaches with beautiful blue water. I’m sure my avatar is a dead giveaway of how much I love beautiful blue water lol
@caron I like using that phrase and I don’t remember if other people use it to encompass anything they love rather than just referring to a song they love
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No shame! I had no idea either!
I the closest large bodies of water near me are dam watersheds, which tend to have brown still water, and Lake Erie, which is much more brown than Lake Michigan, at least the shores I have visited
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Oh that would be fun to do!!!
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Yeah, I think it would be cool for something. Just need to figure out that something lol.
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Does this count? It’s my yard, well part of it. I have 2 acres and 1/3 of it. I leave as a natural forest. I also back up to a hay field and national forest.
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What a beautiful place to live and fish!!
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Those are awesome pictures Tom! Your daughter is so beautiful! 
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Somehow I didn’t realize there were salmon in Michigan. Learned something new and cool!
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The State of Michigan began stocking salmon in Lake Michigan in 1966 with the release of Pacific coho salmon. The stocking was an effort to control alewife populations and was an immediate success. The salmon ate the alewives, reducing their numbers and preventing die-offs. In 1966–70, 15 million coho salmon and 6 million chinook salmon were planted in the Great Lakes.
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Thanks for that info, Tom. I’m always happy to learn more about nature and the wondrous wide world. Now I am hungry for salmon, which isn’t on my menu for the next few days anyhow. Gonna need to rectify that soon. 
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