Musings

Rainy this morning, then overcast. I futzed around the house and then couldn’t stand it any longer, and went out to check out the property. Windy…I wore a raincoat, but no drops.

This spot in the foreground used to have a smokehouse, a wooden structure the size of a smallish shed, as I recall. I don’t remember it smelling smokey, so I don’t think it was used to smoke meat during that time. I’m not sure when it disappeared, but it was over a generation ago. I think if the leaves weren’t down, I’d be able to find at least one or two of stone corner-supports. In the spring, there are so many species of the earliest bloomers here.

I also got down to the lake. Small waves. Past the opposite shore, it looked like it was lighter far away, but maybe it really was overcast all over the world. After I was back at the cottage, though, out the window I saw SUNshine! Shadows! I almost went out again….

Then, a few minutes ago, I was on the back porch and heard a few drops of precip.

Posted at 5:51 PM | Comments Off on Changeable day

I remember when this fire tower was still open to the public. Great fun to traipse up story after story to reach the views, and sometimes the breeze, at the top.

Of course, the refuge was organized as a stopping place for migratory birds, especially this then-over-hunted species. This group is now stashing calories for the big flight.

Still many leaves on the trees, including these beech leaves (I’m pretty sure). I love the variation, from golden-brown to golden-yellow to yellow-green.

By the way, the most unexpected critter we found during the nature walk—garter snakes. Three. In different places. Good-sized, but not scary. Strip-y. This one, the first one…when s/he moved, rustling the leaves and detritus…I jumped, then spotted her/him. And calmed.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

I am pleased at the orange-red reflection of the roof to the right.

Warmer night last night, and the sunshine predominated in the morning so we set off on a wee adventure. We went through Paradise (yes, it is possible), and on to the BIG Lake—fairly calm today on this shore. This is some of the support structure for the lighthouse at Whitefish Point.

We backtracked (because the other options, both long loops, didn’t appeal) and stopped at the BIG falls. The roar of the water and the feel of the mist still stop me in my tracks (best at the viewing deck to the far right). You can see that the leaves are mostly on the trees and the color is fantastic, although the overcast had set in by the time I took this photo.

Posted at 6:53 PM | Comments Off on Adventure (paved roads)

Bright sunshine all day—the sunporch even crested 70°F this afternoon. A flawless day. Well, with the wood-stove coasting along keeping the rest of the cottage toasty. Flannel sheets upstairs….

These images are from the beach…almost still water, little bubbles silently coasting slightly up and down at lake-edge*. And a few flowers still surviving the late-autumn coolness.

* I took this as a “wiggle-picture” (although that isn’t Apple’s name for it)—this version is still, however.

Posted at 7:51 PM | Comments Off on Moved beyond words

The last two-hundred-some miles we went through alternating bands of bright sun and snow/rain. The deepest accumulations of snow amounted to about three inches, but that for less than ten miles.

Here, it was the same pattern before dark. During a sunny phase, we went to the beach. Glorious.

Coming back, looping around the long way, we found this giant puffball, past its prime, so we won’t try to harvest it. It’s also not ready for kicking (I think), aka spore distribution…so the shoe-toe is just for scale (it’s not a threat).

Posted at 8:08 PM | Comments Off on We arrived

It wasn’t the way the Chinese would do it, or for the same reasons, but we burned a stack of hell bank notes for luck and health, carefully, one at a time. We forgot to do it last time we were all together…and the time before that when we got the notes. See, it was time.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Back on track

My today had a stretch of busy-busy-busy that burned up a LOT of time. And then…just buzzing up the highway, all quiet, with the biggest activity looking out the window. Did listen to a Rachel Maddow show…do enjoy hearing what she does!

Posted at 11:00 PM | Comments Off on Activity cycles

Leaf, I say, and not the car kind—the plant kind. Here’s a fine backlit-fern frond, and you can see all the sori/sporangia (what’s in a name?—those dark dots).

I think needles are leaves. Maybe they aren’t to a plant-dissector, but similar function…. I see these soft needles and their grey-green color and I think: tamarack…but maybe it’s another kind of larch. (Enough fussing on this ID for me for tonight.) Love the sweet gum (?) leaf caught in the needles.

Interesting that most of our trees are mostly green (or late-season green), but a few have already given up for the year, and have few leaves left.

Posted at 9:58 PM | Comments Off on Leaf theme

Today’s theme is light, both artificial and natural.

Walking the neighborhood yesterday, I noticed a truck with two work-dudes and a load of new streetlamps. After dark I could tell they had stopped in front of our house, although I didn’t spot them here. The new lights are marked LED and the light is less golden and more bright-white. I’ll take a while to get used to them.

Here’s afternoon sunlight coming through the cut-glass window insert into the shower…only a little bit of prismatic effect.

* I am out of title ideas…idling on titling? (Okay, clue to title: examine first sentence.Yeah: weak.)

Posted at 11:26 PM | Comments Off on TTiLBAaN*

Puffy spider: thumbs down (out of a box). Web addition: thumbs up (“home”-made).

Lemme think this Raggedy Halloween is homemade…or at least home-dressed.

Posted at 8:08 PM | Comments Off on Decorations, seasonal, continued