Here’s a look back at some of my favorite photos from 2017.

Catnap  |  16 January

Sonic Sundays concert at the Chelsea District Library  |  22 January

This young patron was engrossed in the music during the Sonic Sundays concert at the library  |  22 January

CrossBow packed the Chelsea Alehouse for another of the library’s Sonic Sundays concerts  |  29 January

Another Sonic Sundays concert brought a jazz trio to the library  |  5 February

Jeff Daniels played a series of shows at the Chelsea Alehouse  |  20 March

No matter how long winter seems, spring always arrives  |  9 April

The lion is dandy, indeed  |  19 April

The library’s Midwest Literary Walk brought a crowd to Chelsea  |  29 April

The depot was packed for Heather Ann Thompson’s talk during the Midwest Literary Walk  |  29 April

A group of Chelsea students and their teacher brought to life their idea of the Alumni Arbor: a grove next to the high school with one tree planted for each CHS graduating class  |  6 May

A flowering tree in the Alumni Arbor  |  6 May

The sign that stands at the entrance to the Alumni Arbor  |  6 May

The annual Heart and Sole race filled Chelsea with runners  |  22 May

Some Heart and Sole runners were more enthusiastic  |  22 May

This Girl Scout took seriously her duty of carrying the flag during Chelsea’s Memorial Day ceremony  |  29 May

Memorial Day  |  29 May

Jacopo Giacopuzzi played an outdoor piano concert at the library  |  3 June

Chelsea’s Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights, a weekly event that brings outdoor live music to downtown, returned for another summer  |  8 June

In addition to drawing lots of people to downtown, Sounds & Sights also drew a number of good dogs  |  8 June

The library held a ribbon cutting for its new fairy garden  |  10 June

Sounds & Sights brings a festive atmosphere downtown  |  15 June

Kids love the more energetic bands that come to town  |  15 June

She took a quick break from her dancing to pose for me  |  15 June

Awwwwwwwwwww  |  15 June

This particular Thursday evening was hot and humid, but the kids knew how to handle it |  15 June

Big scary dinosaur!  |  15 June

Yet another good dog at Sounds & Sights  |  22 June

A little music brought a lot of joy to this little one  |  29 June

This band was a family affair  |  29 June

Have you ever seen a one day old kitten? Well, now you have  |  6 July

Cat grass  |  6 July

The sight of a person at the Chelsea Community Fair staring at a phone while wearing a shirt that says “live in the moment” was too funny NOT to photograph  |  22 August

The Chelsea Community Fair’s demolition derby is usually more fun and less dramatic than this; fortunately, the driver escaped unharmed  |  22 August

“40th Derby & Out,” declared the paint job on the car of Rick Beeman, who decided to hang up his helmet after four full decades of running in the Chelsea derby  |  22 August

Chelsea’s figure 8 derby is action-packed  |  23 August

If you come to the tractor pull at the Chelsea fair, bring earplugs!  |  25 August

This participant in the Chelsea fair parade is just about as Chelsea as it gets  |  August 26

I tried to take a picture of the sunset, but I mist it  |  29 August

CHS cheerleaders ready for Friday night football  |  Chelsea football vs Pinckney  |  1 September

That was the end of that play  |  Chelsea football vs Pinckney  |  1 September

Remember that one day old kitten? She grew up  |  2 September

Running under the banner  |  Chelsea football vs Lincoln  |  8 September

This creature landed on my jeans during the football game and stayed there about ten minutes, persisting even through a walk the length of the field  |  8 September

The Lincoln game didn’t go Chelsea’s way, but it proved to be the only blight on Chelsea’s record in the regular season  |  Chelsea football vs Lincoln  |  8 September

A flock of turkey vultures settled in on the farm for a day or two to do some cleaning up; the rain didn’t bother them  |  13 September

The term “touchdown” seems more appropriate when you fly into the end zone  |  Chelsea football vs Tecumseh  |  15 September

The Chelsea defense shut out Tecumseh, so there was lots of this happening  |  Chelsea football vs Tecumseh  |  15 September

Chelsea and Tecumseh students launched purple balloons at halftime, making for a unique sight as they escaped the glare of the lights  |  15 September

There must be open running room over here somewhere  |  Chelsea football vs Adrian  |  22 September

Do you think he disagreed with the call? I suspect he might have  |  Chelsea football vs Adrian  |  22 September

Chelsea nudged its win streak over Dexter up yet another notch  |  Chelsea football vs Dexter  |  29 September

Sunsets are nice  |  8 October

Homecoming began with the parade, as always  |  13 October

Nope  |  Chelsea football vs Huron  |  13 October

During Chelsea’s week 9 football game, Pat Clarke was honored for his nearly five decades as Chelsea’s girls cross country coach  |  20 October

He absorbed a bone-crunching hit from the two on the left but powered through it for the touchdown  |  Chelsea football vs Alpena  |  20 October

Turnovers are fun!  |  Chelsea football vs Alpena  |  20 October

Fall is nice, too  |  21 October

Chelsea’s first-round playoff game was a rematch against its week 1 opponent; the result was the same  |  Chelsea football vs Milan  |  27 October

Chelsea’s second-round playoff opponent turned out to be too much to handle; for seniors, the last time off the field is the most difficult  |  Chelsea football vs River Rouge  |  4 November

Chelsea football coach Brad Bush and his family were the last to leave the field after Chelsea’s loss at home in the playoffs  |  Chelsea football vs River Rouge  |  4 November

Dr. Creg Carpenter, an Air Force veteran, spoke at Chelsea’s Veterans Day ceremony  |  11 November

Veterans Day  |  11 November

Veterans Day  |  11 November

My favorite part of this photo isn’t the goal celebration, but the expression of the man on the left  |  Chelsea hockey vs Davison  |  29 November

He’s doing a fine job of keeping an eye on the puck  |  Chelsea hockey vs Davison  |  29 November

Daniel Fisher made a second visit to the Bristle farm to finish what he couldn’t get done during the first (hurried) mammoth dig in 2015  |  29 November

If you want to be a paleontologist, you can’t be afraid of getting dirty  |  29 November

Fisher talks about one of the bones found during the second dig  |  29 November

More digging  |  29 November

Chelsea’s holiday festivities kicked off with the lighting of the tree in Pierce Park  |  1 December

This year’s holiday parade was hailed as one of the better parades Chelsea has had  |  2 December

It’s important not to look TOO enthusiastic if you find yourself riding in a parade  |  2 December

We all phone it in sometimes  |  2 December

This game had so many penalties there were times I was surprised either team had enough players to put on the ice  |  Chelsea hockey vs Bedford  |  6 December

Chelsea hockey vs Bedford  |  6 December

Chelsea hockey vs Bedford  |  6 December

The Bulldog took the puck right in the face  |  Chelsea hockey vs Bedford  |  6 December

It seemed like it was taking a long time for the first meaningful snow to fall, but it finally arrived  |  7 December

It’s the holiday season  |  7 December

Look, the snow is smiling  |  9 December

Chelsea hockey vs Mid-Michigan  |  20 December