Musings

Contemplating ephemera

Mistiness strangeness

Last night was warm and strangely still, perfect conditions for mistiness to descend with the arrival of MrSun, first to the north where I usually photo, and then, later, in a second appearance of ground fog, to the south, shown here.

I am pondering what the googly, triple-eyed iPhone 11 Pro would do with this view…would it temper the murkiness (rrr), or enhance it? Or?

[Perhaps science is called for: get that phone; find “phog;” take pictures. Examine results.]

Naming/not naming

Toad frog

By the toes, I’m guessing: tree frog. But I think of tree frogs as green—my ignorance, I’m sure (and the amphibian ID book is at our first home, not here). I can use that rural CYA naming strategy, and call it a toad-frog?

Lichen

That’s lush for a lichen. If I form a band (ha!), I’m thinking Lush Lichen will be on the short list for a name. Along with Illusion of Symmetry.

Snorkel a shipwreck

Mountain ash berries

Yup. That was today’s expotition (intentional misspelling, in the style of KayakWoman). At the parking lot at the mouth of Hurricane River, we were cheered on by glorious clusters of mountain ash berries/fruit/redness.

Steps to beach

We zipped on foot along the coast path a bit over a mile, then down these steps to…

Superior beach

…head along this beach to our destination. The lake is so high the remains are almost totally underwater (to my left and slightly ahead of me). Warm today, so not bad for getting into the waters of Gitchee Gumee, despite what you may be thinking. I did snorkel a loop out around the wooden ship-carcass, so can officially check “snorkel in Lake Superior” off my bucket list. [Turns out, I’d rather not have waves breaking on me when I’m snorkeling.]

Sandhill pair

Welcoming us home: this pair of sandhills, which prefer fields to the north of us, but sometimes visit our property—pretty sure it’s the same pair.

Less sun today (not fewer)

Foggy field

Foggy morning. That colorful vegetation in the foreground is lowly milkweed. It’s taking over the field. Not so good for field-ness.

Eagle point

The sun did come out, but not for long (and the sunporch made it almost to 72°F). I was out for a wander and went to check the lake and was on the dock looking along the “beach,” and see that black shape above the tree on the point? The eagle. Which I spotted with my eagle-eye. Heh.

Mullien droplets

Mullien with droplets.

Mushroom cluster

Mushroom cluster. This rainy autumn/late summer means there a many “fun guys” pretty much everywhere.

Local lore(ish)

Waterbarrel reflection

Ever so slightly foggy this morning. Have no fear, we got full sun by mid-day and the solar gain has been lovely. Note the woodpile, far right (dark brown).

Woodpile denizen

And on the woodpile: this fur-bearer. John calls it a chipmunk apartment building.

Pickled eggs

On another note…local cuisine. I didn’t know about pickled eggs until I was of drinking age and archaeo-co-workers during some rural northern midwestern project took me to a local bar…and there were a pair of those big clear glass barrels on the bar, one of pickled eggs and one of pickled pigs feet. I stuck to beer.

Little to say

Lettuce droplets

Morning rain…

Squashblossom plant

…became afternoon sunshine.

Summary: lazy SUNday.

Shades of beige

Dried riverbed

Here’s the desiccating “riverbed” that was running with water yesterday in the same stretch of road. I have seen so many desert places across the world on GooEarth that look like this on a gigantic scale. I find the braided paths and subtle shadings mesmerizing.

Chipmunk

I had seen the hole and the dirt smear before, but today I spotted the perpetrator, ehem, builder. My grandparents called them Chippies. [I don’t know if it had a double meaning to them.]

Blond dinner

Somehow, when we inventoried menu possiblities, we ended up with a blond dinner. That’s cauliflower from the neighbor’s garden, plus scrambled eggs and quinoa. [It tasted good, perhaps better than it looks?] And a very colorful green lettuce salad with tomatoes (garden again) and wee rounds of chives.

Water themed day

Muddy gravel road

Can a morning be murkier? Rain. Mud. Looked like the sky wouldn’t clear for a week.

Cart in puddle

So we set off to assuage our need for some activity, and pfft, by just after noon: sunshine. We found flooded rivers and huge puddles down along the Lake Michigan shore. It took more than our latest rains for these floods! Decorative carts in Nahma were all in puddles—four of them! Nahma must have a year-around population of something like 300, so that’s an outsize effort.

Turkeys on road

Came across this small gang/rafter of turkeys…two hens on each side of the tom. The ladies split two to each ditch. He went with the ladies on the right. We motored slowly past and assume they reunited.

Yellow fish road

Eventually, we stopped at the Thompson fish hatchery. It was after the buildings were locked, but we could walk around, following the yellow fish road.

Degassing column

I don’t remember this machinery. They pump fresh water from a super deep well, then swap out trapped nitrogen for oxygen (they oxygenate the water). However the water smells of rotten eggs as it has a high sulfur content.

Waste pond algae

The one open water pool was the waste pond downhill from the hatchery. All the nutrients from the fish and excess food is removed here, before the water flows back into the wild. Big sheets and islands of algae.

Waste pond fish

Even a few “no fishing” fish. Speckled trout?

Sun did come out

SeneysBootHill

We haven’t stopped at Seney’s Boot Hill in years, so we did today. It was buffed up perhaps fifteen years ago, but nothing since, so it’s entering another genteel decline. Strange plastic items survive better than most of the wood.

Frilly shroom

We went on to the refuge, and it’s mushroom season…mushrooms and swans. And the usual marsh critters and plants.

Jr n parent swan

Parent trumpeter swan in front of perhaps three-quarter grown swan/cygnet—when do the youths become swans?

Perhaps giant aphids

I’m speculating: giant aphids?

Nibbled gill shroom

Not sure what nibbled this mushroom down to the gills—I know turtles like them….

Resting turtle

Speaking of turtles…painted turtle?

Twist on the normal

Moose bell

You’ve heard of a cow bell? Hah. 😉