Return to Hidden Lake Gardens

I decided to go to Hidden Lake Gardens today.  It has been almost four years since I went there and I think when I went there I probably wanted to get back at some point.  And since it's been this long, it's nice to see what I've learned over the years.

 I'm not sure what many of these flowers are, so for the most part, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

 Some lily pads.  As I was driving through, I found a couple of pictures.

 I kind of like this shot.

 They have roads that allow you to explore the area pretty well.  I may have to come back to check some of the trails.

 I'm assuming this is the Hidden Lake.

 And the water lily.

 I had to take a few pictures of it, because it was so nice.

 A snapping turtle.

 The turtle made me decide to get my bigger lens.  That allowed me to get some closer shots.

 I'll have to say that I'm pretty happy with them.

 A beetle.

 A closeup of the beetle.

 Some pine cones.

 The Conservatory itself.

 And of course, there were some cacti.

 I kind of like these.

 They had a pretty nice selection of Bonsai trees.

 I think this is a lotus flower.

 At any rate, it looks pretty nice.

And one more before leaving.

Eastern Michigan Baseball Vs. Michigan State

I heard that Eastern Michigan was playing Michigan State tonight, so I decided to briefly stop at the game after work.  I try to make all of the home Eastern Michigan Footballs and most of the home basketball games but I don't get a chance to make many of the Eastern Michigan baseball games.

For some reason, the college baseball season starts in February.  That is fine for teams that are in areas of the country where it isn't winter.  For teams that do play in the north, that means they are away for roughly the first half of the season.  When they do finally get home, many of the games are schedule during the day on weekdays, so that takes out about 2/3's of the remaining games.  Since spring is the time that I like to pursue other photographic activities, that doesn't leave much time for baseball.

It's kind of sad because I do enjoy baseball, the games are free and I can get in some pretty decent spots to take pictures.

 I was taking this picture through the netting, I think you can kind of see the pattern, but I like the shot.

 One of the Michigan State players sliding into third.

 I really do need to work on my timing.  I would love to get a shot where you can see the bat contacting the ball.

 the Michigan State pitcher working the mound.

 This would have been a sweeter shot had I gotten more of the player in it.

 One of the Michigan State players swinging the bat.

 Laying down a bunt.

One of 10 Eastern runs that would score this game.

I only stayed for a couple innings, Eastern was up 4-2 at that point.  They would end up winning 10-5.

Eastern Michigan Vs. Michigan State Basketball

I was kind of waffling about whether or not I wanted to go to East Lansing to watch Eastern Michigan play Michigan State in basketball.  Had I decided to do it sooner, I probably could have received a pass and shoot from the court.  However, I wasn't really certain until yesterday but there were tickets available, so I went.

 The Spartans play basketball in Breslin Arena which was built in 1989.  It was named after Jack Breslin who was a Michigan State alumnus, athlete and administrator.  It was his vision that led to this arena.  It has a capacity of around 15,000 people depending on the configuration.

 The view of the court from my seat.  It wasn't a bad spot for watching the game but because of the railing, it wasn't a good spot for taking pictures.  Fun fact, the court is the same court that was used in the RCA Dome when they won the National Championship in 2000.

 I tried to get a couple pictures but I didn't bring the right lens with me.  So I got some wide sweeping views of the court.  Here Raven Lee is putting up a shot.  Based on the percentages, it probably didn't go in.  Eastern shot around 24%.

 Kind of a shot of Eastern's zone.  They looked decent enough but not enough to win.

 The zone collapsing.

 Eastern would go on to lose the game 66-46.  I still think they will be fine when it comes to playing in the MAC.

 Another shot of the stadium without that cursed rail in the way.  I will have to say that Breslin was pretty nice.

A shot of the Magic Johnson statue in front of the arena.  He is a Lansing native that went to Michigan State for three years.  He was a part of the 1979 Michigan State national championship team.  He would go on to play for the Los Angleles Lakers, where he would win help them win the NBA championship 5 times.  His career was cut short when he revealed that he had the HIV virus (this leads to AIDS) in 1991.  Through the magic of drugs, he has been able to fight the virus.  He has since been a pretty strong advocate for HIV research.