Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Pure Harley, I’d call it. Loved the copper-colored plate frame in contrast to all the chrome and silver-grey metals of the bike.
Our fine neighbors heat all winter with wood. This stack is like a wall next to the garden. By the next planting time, it won’t cast a shadow at all. The passage of time….
Monday, 19 September 2016
Down at the beach, the snapdragons are holding their own as summer wanes. I assume that these are long-ago escapees from my great-grandmother’s garden, but maybe not. They do not tell.
I think of the mushrooms that look salted like pretzels as Amanitas, and maybe this is the infamous poisonous Amanita muscaria. I did not pick it and I will not eat it.
That’s it for today’s botanical tour.
Sunday, 18 September 2016
I’m loving being here this time of the year. It’s warm enough that we enjoy the porch almost all day. See! The windows are open!
I can also tell the seasons are progressing as gauged by the sun angle…the light never penetrates this far in the south windows in mid-summer.
Of course, the day length is dramatically different. I wake up in the pretty-dark dark if I wake up at 6:30. The first morning here, we had hinterland-quiet and the late dawn trick, so I awakened about 8am, somewhat discombobulated by the clock and the light levels “not matching.”
I have now adjusted. There’s still light at this hour in the evening (until the gov’t fidgets with the clocks); I think I’ll take one last stroll to the beach to seal the day’s deal.
Saturday, 17 September 2016
We drove across the swamp on a gravel road that’s atop a corduroy road. Saw only a few bits of corduroy, as the wood is now well-covered and pressed into the swamp-murk. The road was lined and sometimes crossed by plenty of puddles from yesterday’s rain.
Later, westbound on the north edge of the swamp, we encountered a dirty white pickup towing a garden rake, much narrower than the bumper it followed and probably from a large multi-purpose mower-machine. I think they were scuffing the road surface to come back and look for deer/bear tracks. Of course, I suspect the immediate goal was primarily to drink beer.
I was glad to see that in spite of all the rain, the Tahquamenon was running clear. Means runoff is controlled upstream. A minor victory in the world of logging, clearing, and climate change.
Friday, 16 September 2016
The tomato plants we put in during our last visit are productive! The Guru picked a plum variety, and these gems went in our evening’s tomato sauce. Yum!
Good thing we put the plants in the hardware mesh “squirrel cage” we brought up that I had made several years back. Seems the deer are happy to eat tomato shoots (and probably fruits), as evidenced by the nibbled parts that protruded outside the metal mesh. Who knew? Not me.
Also, this is mushroom season. We spotted tiny puffballs in the grass; I’ve seen them as large as volleyballs…but they have to escape feet and mowers first.
While this afternoon was sunny and pleasant, a wind kicked up in the afternoon. We found one dock section, both deck and support, bobbing on the beach. They were pretty waterlogged, so have been there for a while. I don’t know if we’d have realized they were gone if they weren’t adjacent to the dock as the water seems high and the deck seems complete without them.
Anyway, they are now rescued and standing on land drying out.
Thursday, 15 September 2016
We got rolling before the sun was up. Eventually, we could see mist floating above the treetops in the valleys. When they opened up, we could see it laying across the hay fields.
Much later, we crossed the Big Bridge. I apologized to the toll-booth lady when I handed her a big bill. No, she said smiling, it’s fine—we all HATE ones.
After a quick burger, we turned west, and started killing bugs with the windshield. When we turned north, it was like it was an hour later, with the trees along the road blocking the orange sun that had been in our eyes.
Great day!
Wednesday, 14 September 2016
First, I saw a male cardinal in the back yard.
Then, we passed by the Big Chicken.
Later, we passed a semi-trailer labelled SWIFT.
Truly a fowl* day.
While in today’s usage a fowl is a creature in the order Galliformes, in the olden days it meant a bird of any sort. Thus, the title could have been “Fowl day” or similar. 😎
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
I didn’t mean to move our BookClub discussion from Richard Russo to Walter Mosely. Still, both are masters at characters with interwoven stories, maybe more than they know.
The Russo book was “Empire Falls,” also an excellent two-part movie with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, and other worthies. The Mosely titles we talked about happened to be the two latest Easy Rawlins books, “Rose Gold” and “Charcoal Joe.”
Near as I can tell, anything by either author is worth your time. If you need a suggestion.
Monday, 12 September 2016
I know these as non-spiny veggies (perhaps botanically fruits), but these spiny chayote emote “don’t touch me.” I sure wouldn’t. Internet recipes suggest boiling the whole spiny plant-porcupine, then peeling after the flesh becomes soft. I dunno.
With the non-spiny versions, funny thing, when you peel them, or just cube them, the flesh very slightly oozes a slightly slimy slippery substance. You really notice it if you don’t have a sink to wash up in.
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Somehow these delicate funnels evoke ear trumpets to me. Not that I’ve seen many ear trumpets.
“Dust bunnies” refers to the cleaning sprint we did. Where does the bunny-material come from? The AC filter? I’m mystified.