Musings

We crossed this long flat stretch, marred by puddles crossing the road, knowing that the dribbles and currents they carried were waters of the Tahquamenon that evaded the culverts. We drove north, and it almost looks like it’s swamp all the way to Lake Superior; however, if you look closely, you can see the ground does ridge to the north. The swamp will end after maybe a dozen more big puddles.

Eagle’s Nest has changed a little over the years—and almost not at all, simultaneously. The bridge and cabins, yes, they come and go and are modified. The river—this is the Tahquamenon again—looks very much the same as in my oldest memories of this place.

On up in Grand Marais (perhaps a corruption of maré, meaning sea, and transformed into marais, meaning swamp—which there isn’t here on Lake Superior’s shore, at least not a huge one), we once again beheld the Pickle Barrel House (on the National Register, BTW). This was a two-story home with a kitchen in an extension behind, built for Chicago cartoonist William Donahey, who drew The Teenie Weenies. He and his wife used it for a decade at its original location on Sable Lake, then it was moved to town.

Of all things to find in Grand Marais, a food truck! With “burgers” and “taco’s,” I kid you not.

Turning homeward, we looped through the wildlife drive at the Refuge, and found this swan sleeping on one foot. We saw many swans feeding, often with a few ducks? (grebes? coots?) futzing around them. The latter didn’t seem to also be feeding, and we couldn’t figure out what the advantage was of hanging with the swans, close enough to sometimes annoy them.

Posted at 6:54 PM | Comments Off on To the north

Her-mean* is long gone, northeast-bound, and we are headed back to highs in the 90s°F.

I marinated pork loin rounds in soy-garlic tempered with toasted sesame oil for tonight, and, yum.

That’s the pronunciation, although the spelling is Hermine. And if you were amidst it, it was a mean storm.

Posted at 7:48 PM | Comments Off on A fork is a wye

I find this way of using tile scraps appealing. Also, the many grout/mortar separations mean it won’t get as slippery as a mostly-tile surface.

On the same property, the lettering of the name of the apartment complex is more formal tile-work.

Posted at 5:57 PM | Comments Off on Underfoot (again)

I saw this out of the corner of my eye and had to back up to make sure what I was seeing. Yup, contact paper that looks like a brick wall. I agree with the idea; this is better than a grey metal box, especially for a spot you see near-daily—plus this is a big utility box!

This stump is losing its battle with the fungi. Their function in the wild is as part of the army of living things that breaks down dead things. I’m no specialist, but I counted five visually different fungi in the process of turning this oak into dust.

Posted at 5:15 PM | Comments Off on Disguises

Square steel lighthouse…built in 1915, automated in 1968 (if I remember correctly). Seagulls love it.

And on the dunes on the way back, we saw these bladder campion blooms, incongruous on their skinny stems.

Posted at 11:08 PM | Comments Off on Mouth of the Manistique

Sign spotted in random post-boughten-breakfast stroll: Wallace Morley Bicycle Hospital. Charming.

Our peonies are fast-fading; I had hoped we’d catch them closer to their prime. A somethingorother butterfly adds aesthetics. However, the peonies down by the Stone House are perfect and gigantic. Latitudinal variation? 😉

Posted at 6:43 PM | Comments Off on Fading specimens

It’s about the flashing.

Photo is from the other day because it’s record-breaking hot here and I have a case of the summer-crud. No temperature, so I’m only slow and cough-sniffly. Only, haha.

Posted at 6:08 PM | Comments Off on Episcopal right-angles

I was separated from this display by the windows of the shop; it was closed and the flowers highlighted by a chandelier serving as a security light. Class.

Here the separator is the white picket fence…protecting a small stand of maize that has survived marauding raccoons, cats, rats, and opossums.

The separator here isn’t visible. The pot is about four feet above the sidewalk in a little garden patio-tableau with a table and chairs; the pot sports a good reflection of the overcast sky. So the subtle separator is the retaining wall for the patio.

Posted at 6:03 PM | 1 Comment »

Eye-catching golden glow from security lights….

Height-challenged orange-cone soldier lineup….

These photos were taken about two minutes apart, although they don’t look that way…in the dark vs in the open street.

Posted at 6:11 PM | Comments Off on Situational ambience

I said goodbye to the lilacs for this year…well, to the blooms. I am leaving them to MaNachur.

We crossed the bridge to troll-land. Thankfully, we didn’t drive straight into a wave of summer heat.

We stopped for what you do at a rest stop…stretch legs and toilet activities. Here’s a euphemism for the same for our canine companions.

After quite some time, we drove by the country mosque—which is overlooking a construction zone at present.

Our next distinctive architectural find: sugar silos.

And we saw some glorious day-end light.

Posted at 9:42 PM | 1 Comment »