Musings

Among the many necessary chores and activities around here is going to the laundromat (aka dro). That was today’s big chore. This was the welcoming sign on both doors of the dro. Small-town humor.

Since The Guru reinstalled the clothesline (posthole digger work to get a replacement post erected), we used MaNachur for the drying cycle. Aided by strategic removal of items still damp in late afternoon to the toasty sun porch…toasty until the temps drop, and headed down to reflect an overnight low of approximately 52°F. Still, they’ll be dry dry dry by morn.

We got our late afternoon sandhill crane flyover, for something like the fifth day in a row, that I’ve noticed. Magnificent. And a bit raucous in a pleasant way.

Posted at 8:33 PM | Comments Off on Dry is open

I enjoy the view of “our” lake from the bluff, looking down into the water by the shore and across a wide liquid expanse to the far shore. Today the lake was quiet all day, almost no waves—quite unusual.

Even when dusk was arriving….

Posted at 9:36 PM | Comments Off on Lake view

Such a pleasure to take a walk in the woods. No blacktop. No zooming vehicles. Just a chipmunk cacophony on the forest floor, and wind susuration overhead.

Quite a festival of fungi on rotting logs and here and there on the…forest floor. The tiny, bright orange spheres were my faves; alas, no photos.

We had what I think of as two options leaving the trail head. We could go the Mosquito way, or we could pick the Chapel route. You can also mix it up, I guess. We selected the Chapel circuit.

Here: Chapel Beach.

Chapel Rock (with the tree growing out of it and the hole; this is only the pinnacle-crown).

The top of Chapel Falls, with the water disappearing down, down, down. I think it’s north-flowing enough that it’s almost always in shadow.

And Chapel Lake. With touches of fall color.

Posted at 8:39 PM | Comments Off on Chapel-ing without prayers

This angle is just east of north, and I sure didn’t expect to see dawn pinks that direction. Had to put my rubber boots on and mosey out to capture it. With clothes line and posts.

We spent most of the afternoon at an extended social “hour” enjoying sun and shadow alternately on the neighbors’ deck and near-constant laughing and stories. Attendees were the same as at last night’s dinner.

A guest looked over the end of the deck in the autumn-fading ferns, and spotted this beast. It looks rather like a strange and distorted morel, however it is too white and the top is separate from the stem, and the stem is holey. It is a kind of stinkhorn. Ten minutes after picking this was abundantly evident. Even flies zoomed in. And the specimen was summarily delivered to the compost pile.

Posted at 6:58 PM | Comments Off on (Don’t) squish me

It was sunny late morning to late afternoon, then the rain came in, just as we were assembling our potluck at the neighbors’. Lucky us, we got to see and hug and congratulate the newlyweds, up from below the bridge. By the time we left, clearing sky, I suspect portending temps dropping into the 40s. Weather rather sets the tone for our lives in this fall chore season.

Posted at 9:32 PM | Comments Off on A railing and its reflection

I believe that today is number 365 of My Life with Apple Watch [not iWatch].

I have decided that of all the metrics for moving around and being busy on a daily basis, the most useful for me is “Move,” that is, the red ring. Move is portrayed as calories over baseline/basal counts (the calories needed to exist). Move clearly reacts to walking or running, and I assume cycling and swimming and skiing. Move still increases if you are active but not walking, and say gardening or house-cleaning. On this: yay for Move measurements.

Other places, Apple refers to Move as Active Energy, and and the basal metabolism as Resting Energy. Apple indicates that the units of both are calories, by which they mean calories just as you see listed in nutrition tables.

It is my belief that both these Energy measures exceed non-Apple calorie counts, so that they are below 75% of non-Apple calories, at about 72–73%. I derived this from looking at my two energies versus my approximate calorie intake, and watching it closely for weeks on end.

So I was not surprised to read this week a NYT article, “Your Workout Burns Fewer Calories Than You Think,” by Gretchen Reynolds (September 22), which says that despite careful measurements of energy expenditure, “most people seemed to be burning only about 72 percent as many additional calories, on average, as would be expected, given their activity levels.” I promise you I came up with 72% before I read the Reynolds article. The scientists who did the study do not know why the descrepancy.

I have said for a long time that a calorie is real and accurate in a test tube and in a laboratory, and it’s a great concept, but that energy does not measure the same in a body. Somehow.

Posted at 8:48 PM | Comments Off on One year

Rainy evening cleared overnight, so we have a full barrel, yet no dry plants, and darned little growth this time of the year. The downspout was still dripping, hence the active distortion.

Our big event was that we drove to the nearest county library, which has a true, lovely reading room. Note the air cleaner tower, right, by the newspaper desk. I picked up a Louise Penny and an Anne Hillerman (daughter of…) for relaxation, while the Guru was getting us some moving picture entertainment using their sorta fast connection.

Taking advantage of the gorgeous day, I walked late, including along the edge of this christmas tree forest (lots of quiet shade away from the road). The orange flags are new, and I assume they indicate that these generously sized spruces are going on a trip this year.

Posted at 7:31 PM | Comments Off on Sunny sun sun

I tried to make a transportation theme for the day, and it could have worked except for this photo. And I had to include it because: proof of sun…when I walked this morning. Still: breezy and cold-ish, but some sun. Oh, yay.

Sometime after noon, or I guess 1pm, we decided that the afternoon probably would have windy, cold-ish, and no sun, so we’d head to A Small City for errands, groceries, and…a bite to eat. We discussed the options, west, southwest, and east, and their pros and cons, and decided on east: that is, Sault Ste. Marie.

For our final stop, a burger, we headed to Clyde’s, duh. Closed for the season. Oh, no. But we did get to see a school bus on the Sugar Island Ferry adjacent to Clyde’s parking lot…through heavy fog.

However, this summer, Newberry friends extolled the virtues of West Pier, which they prefer to Clyde’s. And it was open! For two more whole days! Lucky us—our first visit could happen. Excellent burgers, but no bison version, which is what we order at Clyde’s. This is how you broaden your horizons, folks.

And from West Pier, we had a great view of The Bridge to a Foreign Land, although traffic counts are miniscule with the border closed to all non-essential traffic. Also, we listened to the CBC as we left SSM, and heard all about their nationwide average of 80% of adults fully vaxxed, yet also too-full hospitals in rural areas in Alberta and Saskatchewan (if I remember correctly). However, a large stadium is expected to be packed for a hockey match this weekend. So, Canadians also…well, I’ll just stop there.

Posted at 8:09 PM | 1 Comment »

That is, here we are on the first day of autumn, and look at those leaves…a metric for the season-change?

Posted at 7:57 PM | Comments Off on Maple measurement

Thought I’d offer a visual to go with the reference yesterday to an artesian well; here it is—I returned today. And when I was there it was lightly spitting rain. That let up fast and the sun came and went all day, although my device indicates that it will fall into the high 40s tonight. That’s almost 20°F cooler than last night. Have to go switch to the heavy quilt. Again.

Posted at 7:11 PM | Comments Off on Follow up