Musings

We did outdoor chores through mid-morning, then de-ticked (one, on me, walking) and bathed. Fuddled around, then decided to head out for A Better Grocery Shopping Experience. We have three choices for that, each about 90 miles away: Escanaba to the WSW, Marquette to the WNW, and Sault Sainte Marie to the ENE. We chose Escanaba.

That means we saw the M of HOMES. Here is Manistique bay, and its stubby lighthouse marking the west side of the river mouth /outflow /channel.

Rain off and on during most of our trek, but the predicted precip didn’t materialize at the cottage until after we returned, perhaps 5pm. Plenty of wind, too, so not pleasant outside at all. Now we’re hunkered down with cupboards full of fine grocs, and even a new small-medium sized fan (for summer heat, although 80s are forecast for next week).

Posted at 7:35 PM | Comments Off on Roaming consumers

I’ve been waiting for this: my first quiet, clear morning artistically generating ground fog.

Yeah, I know eclipses are show-stoppers, but ground fog comes more often, although not frequently enough that it’s not special when it happens. Shown here with this year’s ringfort (aka small, elevated garden), planted with mixed greens (center), amidst a ring of basil seeds. Stand by to see what germinates and survives; give me/it time.

Posted at 5:23 PM | Comments Off on Simple pleasure

I read the prediction yesterday—a 24-hour rain—and wondered if it would materialize, as the last rain prediction we had yielded no precip whatsoever. Rain is what came (and what makes the odd haziness in this image from this morning), and what is still falling hours later. Along with major branches from this ancient apple tree, but that happened last winter/spring when there came a big load of heavy, wet snow. The winter-white is all gone now, leaving downed floral proxy evidence scattered about. [The pile on the right is our accumulated discarded Shrubberies, getting bigger everyday as we do spring yard cleanup.]

Posted at 4:44 PM | Comments Off on Never-ending (slight exaggeration)

Today was a lot of removing and moving. Removing sprouting weeds, with weeds meaning The Botanist’s definition: a plant growing where you don’t want it to be, and moving pruned branches to the (potential) burn pile over by Our Field. Otherwise the pruned branches are In The Way, and that cannot be tolerated. 😎

Late in the afternoon when I was winding down with chores, I went across the street to visit with Lady Wonderful Neighbor, and we were chatting, and she gently leaned over and picked a strolling tick Off My Cheek. Yikes. Only good thing about that was it was still strolling. So, subsequently: major, serious tick-checking primate behavior. The count remains at one.

So the first paragraph story relates to the second in that some of the removing and moving involved getting into The Long Grass, which is not yet actually long because the spring is not advanced, yet: deer roam here; there may be mice/chipmunks, and thus a tick-supporting ecosystem. You get the picture.

Posted at 9:25 PM | Comments Off on So far

Today was open-the-cottage day, known in some quarters as open-the-cabin day. Invasive varmint count was zero. A big yay, truthfully unprecedented, that zero. Rhubarb that I tentatively resettled is doing terrific. Another big yay. So warm and pleasant out (providing there’s enough breeze to discourage the blackflies—yes, they’re early) that I cleaned up from cleaning up and opening by bathing in the lake. Not too cold in the shallows, really. And here’s the rhubarb that didn’t get transplanted; it’s also improving.

Posted at 10:32 PM | Comments Off on Settling in

Yesterday, I managed to skip the most demanding…topic…that I keep in mind when I walk: inhale through nose ONLY. ONLY. It is not instinctive; it is not easy to maintain. And yet: very important (to not tickle your vagus nerve…better to keep it quiescent).

Often, I post photos of organic subjects. Not always. Like today. Pure material culture. Functional, manufactured objects. Features. Parts of larger systems. Vroom. Whoosh.

Posted at 7:03 PM | Comments Off on Mental?

The notion that the difficult becomes possible if attempted in small, familiar increments encoded in the phrase “one foot in front of the other” is bunkum. At least for me these days. When I walk, I have to (try to) remember to tilt my pelvis a bit, shorten my stride, keep my chin up, keep my shoulders back, watch out for cross-traffic, avoid other pedestrians (Covid), avoid stepping in doggie bombs…you get the idea.

Posted at 7:58 PM | Comments Off on OFiFotO

I know of one bed of this plant (although my identification skills are abysmal) in our neighborhood, and I don’t remember this plant from elsewhere [really, why would I?]. My magic identification app suggests this is Houttuynia cordata, which is native to greater Southeast Asia. The app indicates the Chinese name translates as “fishy-smelling herb” and the Japanese name literally translates as “poison blocking plant.” These are far more…entertaining…than “the plant that spreads rapidly and keeps a slope from eroding,” which might be a colloquial name chosen by observers of this bed.

Posted at 8:11 PM | Comments Off on Not my type

Humidity and impending rain created an atmosphere such that I couldn’t face pulling ivy and the mattock work I’ve been doing for two weeks, so I opted to walk. Still humid. Still rain pending (in 49 minutes, professed my watch—and it was right). I’ve been sparing my ever-so-sensitive knees by not pounding the pavement with a daily walk, so I turned tables and headed out for haunts I haven’t checked up on lately. Mucho progresso at the neighborhood firehouse, and I’m sure the fire-folk will love the upgrades.

And our new favorite summer evening menu: salmon salad. Like this. With lettuce and tomatoes and a drizzle of “balsamic glaze,” a TJ’s prep that is made with grape must, and is yummy (thank you, Cuz, for introducing me to it!), although it may not sound yummy.

In short, a day of changed habits.

Posted at 6:47 PM | Comments Off on Habits

I’m staggered that the Chief Justice is more worried about the non-Justices doing something that might be termed underhanded than that that is just what several of the Lying-Under-Oath and Lying-to-Senators-in-Private regular Justices have done. Lying under oath BY A JUDGE seems to me to be a staggering problem with the institution of the Supreme Court. And thus for our nation.

Posted at 8:07 PM | Comments Off on Shady