Looking up
Thursday, 4 October 2018
Today’s theme: clouds. And blue skies.
Some with god-rays.
Even uncrowded clouds.
And an especially colorful one at dusk.
Over and out from the southern zip code.
Musings
Lake tales, briefly
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
I decided the theme for today’s post would be lakes, although we skip a whole lot of the day…still, I have to start somewhere!
So, the first lake must be “our” lake, although this is a shot from yesterday since it was raining or drippy all morning, not good for photography at all.
Then, a Great Lake. Michigan. Chicago is way off to the right if you follow the coast, and keep following it.
I think of the Bridge as the dividing line between Lakes Michigan and Huron. I don’t know if geographers agree. Don’t much care, truth be told.
Note that by sunset we had left the rain and overcast behind. Yes, sunset over, hmm, soybeans? some row crop.
And now, the Guru says, we are in the promised land. Not for long; we’ll leave tomorrow.
Sunny and warm
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
My figuring last night was right on the money when I decided to lay the fire in the wood stove ready for setting aflame in the morning. And the morning was indeed cold, and the wood stove staved off the chill. Wood heat is radiant! And I think it sucks the moisture right out of my skin. [Where’s the hand cream?]
The Guru took Droney for a spin. Here’s the color developing in the Grove. It used to have white birches in the mix, but they’ve died. My bro, the tree guy, says for the most part the birch seeds need a fire to trigger them to germinate. [Another fire reference for today.]
Took my last private, unhurried walk on the beach. These shells have been deposited/revealed lately. I don’t know if they are from a die-off in a relatively short time, or an accumulation. I’ve never seen a clam die-off, so I’m guessing somehow they’ve accumulated.
As to the barberry fruits, they mostly full orange, with the merest hint of the orange-red to come. That’s the barberry berry report for this evening.
Natural history bits of the bluff and beach
Monday, 1 October 2018
Doesn’t this old branch scar look like a strange wrinkly kneecap? A white birch kneecap. Next to the steps down to the beach.
I saw evidence of a deer-dance in the footprints in the sand. Those long drag marks ended in deer prints. I’m unsure of the moves that produced them.
I’ve noticed this plant on the beach my whole life and don’t know even a common name for it. Just got out the wildflower ID book—it’s a Polygonium spp., most commonly called some kind of smartweed or knotweed. So there.
P.S. It’s October!
Two excursions
Sunday, 30 September 2018
Was it an excursion to check on our beach’s wooden Nessie? Soaking in the sand today….
Just after lunch we left the property to check on the leaf color and get out of the house.
Just as we got to Eagles Nest, the sun came out for the first time! Yay! Gamed the sunshine! It didn’t linger.
We drove on past the Big Fill (didn’t stop) and Lavender Corners (only stopped at the stop sign; it’s a ghost town now).
At Seney we made a detour up to the campground to check on the Fox River. I looked for a sign saying Ernest Hemingway fished here. None. I would also have been happy with an Ernest Hemingway fished here sign. Nada.
Needed the wood stove today, but right at the moment we have windows open for a few minutes because it’s kicking out way too much heat. Not enough; too much. The dance of life?
Stay tuned
Saturday, 29 September 2018
I persuaded my lazy feet to take me down to the beach…and didn’t expect the waves to be this quiet. North wind. And the widest beach I’ve seen in a while, perhaps more than a coon’s age—how long do they live???
Then, I looked off the dock and saw this clam track. I don’t know what the bio-folk call this, but it’s where a clam has plowed along through the sand on the bottom of the lake, near enough to shore that I can see it. I assume the clam was feeding? Dunno. My ignorance is vast.
And, next to the house, the barberry berries are transforming from green through red-gold, segueing toward red.
Sit back on your heels and exhale. Full autumn is on the way. Given that the “sun” porch temp reached no higher than 55°F, you know that northern autumn is fully present.
Lunch in Paradise
Friday, 28 September 2018
We monitored the progress of the fall color during a drive, ultimately to Paradise. Where we lunched. Mmmmm.
Here’s a mini-panorama of the Upper Falls*. Always find the roar of the water stimulates a mellowing of my mind….
At the Lower Falls, Droney captured some lovely impressionistic moments…. [Settings adjustments now underway, as I understand it.]
And now that we’re back at the Farm, the sun is out and the porch is nicely warmed.
* Of the Tahquamenon (River), of course. Sign reminds: rhymes with phenomenon.
Refuge
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
We intended to head to the Falls, but the view north was just plain murky, with no indication that it would clear. This is the view across the Tahquamenon swamp, which isn’t visible over the tree line, as it would be on a clear day. Since the falls are northeast, we felt the pretty index would be…muted.
The unpaved road across the highway goes into the center of the ghost town of Laketon. Last time we cruised Laketon, there was one standing house and one mobile home, both abandoned.
Given the overcast, we decided to instead head to the Refuge, and take the wildlife drive. We took the fishing loop option, which we do less frequently than the “regular” route. We even saw a couple with a big pike, perhaps twenty inches long, removing the hook from the fish’s mouth—but, ironically, that was before we got on the fishing loop.
While in general, the murkiness and sometimes a light rain, did obscure the beginning of fall color, we did find a few fungi, encouraged by the recent rain (including overnight).
Lake/light variation
Monday, 24 September 2018
Yeah, it was overcast again, this morning, but bright enough at 10:45am that you could see (and, of course, hear) the waves rolling in courtesy of a good south wind. In the afternoon, it was mostly sunny, and we reaped the benefit of the solar gain on the sun porch.
Not 15 minutes later, I took this photo, different angle…looked like a low sun situation…but wasn’t, just strange light through the overcast.
Meanwhile, over at the garden we’re watching, the broccoli was getting away from me. Happens this time of the year. The blossoming stalks are all pruned back for now, with the salvageable ones consumed!
Sky to the south
Sunday, 23 September 2018
This was the southeast morning sky—sunlight trying to peep through beneath cloud cover…
…and this was the southwest evening sky…but not the same cloud cover. It got sunny for much of the middle of the day, and thus the porch achieved a fine level of solar gain. Time to close it off again, however, as temps are dropping.
We walked down the road a bit and discovered that since we’d been staying “on the place,” we’d missed that a large maple limb fell across the road. Don’t know who chain-sawed it and through the pieces into the ditch, but thanks. Still overcast….
White pine pinecone. Or white pine cone. See, sunny. Kinda.