Musings

In general, humans tend to pattern recognition.

Here’re a pair of architectural detail patterns, the kind that aren’t typically included in a book of architectural details. I especially like the flanking solar lights.

Posted at 9:16 PM | Comments Off on Patterns

Another foggy, dewy morning, with wisps generated by the arrival of Mr. Sun. This is a few minutes later, when the fog tendrils had disappeared, and the sun highlighted the dew-outlined spider webs across the field. Lovely effect.

We left the compound, and headed up to the mouth of Hurricane Creek. At present, it’s flowing straight into Lake Superior, with its tannic taint clearly evident in the crystal clear lacustrine waters.

We walked the 1.5 miles along the Norse Country Trail* to the Au Sable lighthouse.

On the way back, I detoured to look at this shipwreck. Those are large iron rods that held the wooden beams together protruding above the water.

I also spotted a few of these gorgeous endangered pink lady’s slippers (Cypripedium acaule). They’re orchids and

In order to survive and reproduce, pink lady’s slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil from the Rhizoctonia genus. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds. Pink lady’s slipper seeds require threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach them to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the pink lady’s slipper seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older and producing most of its own nutrients, the fungus will extract nutrients from the orchid roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species. [USFS link]

This one had me stumped. I don’t remember seeing it or looking it up before. It’s Polygaloides paucifolia, commonly called gaywings. Given that its range is eastern North America from Georgia north to the Hudson Bay and inland as far as Minnesota in the USA, I should be familiar with it. So, have I forgotten? 😎

* Why is this stuck in my head? Of course, it’s really NORTH Country Trail. No Viking hikers sighted.

Posted at 6:54 PM | Comments Off on Lakeside adventure

New sports fields at the high school. I assumed the matching rust color in the building and “grass dirt” was deliberate. And, yes, I found that ball trying to escape to a nearby forest and tossed it on the field, where it rolled to the line between the fake grass and the fake soil.

Alley view. I stayed in the alley and minded my Ps and Qs.

Ah, there’s that across-lake mountain view, with cloud-caps.

Posted at 9:12 PM | Comments Off on Pieces of landscape

First, we were headlight-flashed by a semi. Then, we saw a large, propped up, plywood sign with crookedy letters, “Sheep on road.” Okay, we’re wide awake; we saw this in Scotland, and usually the signs are not Fake News™. Next, we saw sheep evidence (like the black smears in the left lane), then we popped over a hill, and voila! sheep, all on the left side of the road, and extending for a LOOOOONG ways up the highway. We carefully crept along, alert to Stupid Sheep Behavior—that is, stupid from the vehicular point of view. Sure enough, we were most of the way past the flock, and a few decided to cross in front of us, and instantly were head-down browsing. Like…um…sheep, soon dozens more followed. We inched along on the far right as a semi was in our lane, heading toward us and trying to make headway against the flock drifting into his lane. Surely there’s room for all, no? Just so the sheep part.

The size of the flock suggests it was being relocated for summer forage at higher elevations. With all the fenced land, the only possible passage was via the highway right of way. In Europe, it is possible to find the networks of drove-ways that have been used for thousands of years for seasonal movement of domesticated herbovores.

Scenery.

Snake River, where the banks are not cliffs.

Snake River making Shoshone Falls, and the Falls making rainbows. The River has cut through a lava bed from long ago that blankets the area. If you’re back from the rim perhaps a quarter mile on that flattish lava bed, you can’t see the cut the river has made, making it rather like a giant ha-ha. This falls is so high that the progress of spawning fish is halted, and this is an excellent hunting spot.

Posted at 10:10 PM | Comments Off on Transhumance and more

We did get into the train station this morning. Nice budget version of art deco details, as we also saw on the exterior.

Then we headed down the road…to Atlanta! Hey, look at that population! And the town further down the road: Macon. No kidding. Much larger population, so this is a true alternate universe.

Motored west to Loess Bluffs NWR. The Refuge is mostly Missouri River floodplain, and not the bluffs. I did notice our westbound descent to the floodplain, and only later realized that our path dropped down from the loess bluffs.

Above are avocets. These are great egrets. We also saw many great blue herons and assorted ducks and geese. And four white pelicans. Whatta surprise: pelicans.

And this national crane.

We’re overnighting by the mighty flat Platte, but this is a dug lake with a forest of motels adjacent. Nighty-night.

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments Off on Looking for loess

Here’s that property that I posted photos of on the 8th and 12th as the building clearing process was underway. Today, it’s all clean and the lot is flattened. It looks like the machine-operator “captured” a piece of i-beam and used it as a scraper. Smart!

Cardoon; fascinating foliage…the leafy cousin of the globe artichoke.

Posted at 9:23 PM | Comments Off on Plain and fancy patterns

The cylinder wrap reads “Forever lawn,” that is: plastic, more plastic, green plastic that you’ll never have to mow and will shed water and emit who-knows-what as the sun beats down on it. In other words: not green green.

Natural big bumbling bee. With pollen.

Dramatic flowers, kinda like straw flowers, but larger and not straw flowers.

I’ve been watching this abandoned old building for months; it used to have artist studio spaces. Then it was empty. And empty. Until today, when it got crunched. I expect the condo for-sale sign will reappear.

Posted at 8:37 PM | Comments Off on Fake forevers

This small industrial complex next to the old railroad grade, now an important artery for foot, bicycle, and scooter/etc. traffic, makes specialized railroad “cars.” With the gates closed and the sun glinting off the exterior ventilation ducts, it waits for the tumult to launch anew on Monday morning.

Posted at 8:37 PM | Comments Off on Closed Sunday

That’s a plane down at the bottom, all gleaming in the BRIGHT sunshine! Look at that sky! Clouds rolled in late in the afternoon, and rain will follow overnight, I hear.

This house is one of the odder ones around. I think it’s two houses that share the carport about two-thirds of the way toward the left. On one lot, near as I can tell. An oddity.

Posted at 9:09 PM | Comments Off on Blue skies, for a while

Stiff wind and I was nearby, so I deemed it safe enough to visit the BeltLine…not many people, and MaNachur was moving any and all germs right along, away from meeee….

I only traversed two short blocks…which was enough to remind me what I’ve been missing…the many public art installations along the route! I am uplifted!

Posted at 9:43 PM | Comments Off on And sunny, too!