Musings

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.

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What could be a better surprise find than a Buddha in a bowl?

Perhaps a blooming driveway survivor?

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As far back as I can remember, I liked the juxtaposition of round and angular geometric shapes. What does it mean that these these forms are common on ancient pottery, if decorated at all….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

My photos from this morning’s walk were mostly mundane and uninspired.

These two, however, have something going on, both with the sky and quite different.

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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.

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I can tell the sun angle is shifting—and the day length is…diminishing. Sigh.

I believe I’ve posted a similar photo before…apologies…but I find the decorative spider-work visually compelling, draped over these meticulously shaped fine-leaved bushes.

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When I left this morning, the temp was below 80°F (whew!) and I saw the dew thick on the windshield. Liquid diamond?

In the oblique light, I found this gnarly trunk with a fern platoon casting pointy shadows on it.

My eye got distracted as I walked by another stand of ferns by bright pink that my brain could not associate with fern botany. I looked closer and discovered that it was a bloom-cluster from a crape myrtle that loomed above.

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After rounding a few corners in the early-light, and encountering dogs secure behind yard fences that barked at me, I rounded the corner by this and heard an engine running at a constant speed. Then I saw the orange barrels in the middle of the street. What’s this I thought. Not sure; the pump is down in a very low spot that used to be a parking lot behind a small apartment building. I can assume it has collected rain, but I’n not sure why this time it was decided to pump it out.

Elsewhere I encountered the sun, out to warm me since 79°F is apparently not warm enough…but the backlit dogwood leaves it created rather took my breath away.

Posted at 10:08 PM | Comments Off on An awakening neighborhood

Sometimes, I find reality between the cracks of MaNachur’s displays. From our domestic location, both sunrise and sunset require special effort to see. I felt like I was in a below-the-roof room in a European B&B when I spotted this vision of the dusk sky (instead of my upstairs bath).

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The sun broke over the trees this morning, finally lighting the dew-wet field of grasses, sweet peas in bloom, and milkweeds with wide leaves.

Later, it looked like we were preparing for a yard sale, except that the items were junky or weird. Some has been purged, and the remainder, is separated from a veneer of dust and cobwebs, and replaced in the entry-porch.

This is Day 1 of a two-day project; stand by for more tomorrow.

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