Returned.

 

I went on a whirlwind tour of the Michigan Upper Peninsula.  No tour bus. Just my youngest son, his wife, and my 5 yr old grand daughter. 

We arrived predawn at Brockway Mountain after driving through the night. We packed the 4 of us into my Cross trek Subaru. After all, the car is newer and a much safer vehicle than what my son owns. It also tends to sip gas.

I made rules of course. No eating in THE car. I'm a stickler for keeping the inside clean.

Gas prices? Anywhere from 3.98/gallon to 4.29/gallon. 

That aside....

We drove all night to get to Brockway mountain to see the sun come up. 

The wind on the 'mountain' was so wicked we retreated to the 'Nose' Lookout to watch the sunrise over Copper Harbor.

We found a couple from Colorado who were standing quietly waiting for the sunrise. The clouds moved in and the sun started to try to peak through.

The couple left, their opinion was that the sunrise would not be worth watcing.  We waited patiently and moved around as the sky began to change.

We kept moving, and I went back to the 'scenic' lookout overlook and took this shot of Copper Harbor.

And as things kept changing my son kept waving me below the overlook to check out different views of this point. 

The old adage. Patience. 

Things will keep things changing and sometimes a person will be surprised and sometimes they will be disappointed.

We were NOT disappointed.

We explored the trails under the look out point and found more exotic views of Copper Harbor.

First Mission Accomplished.

I wanted to go back to another spot. I don't recall what it it is called, but it was the first spot we looked at for my son's impromptu April wedding.

I wanted to go back to this spot --taken in April with a wicked wind at predawn. [Cell phone shot in April]

This spot had so much potential with a bit more light. The rocks, the waves, the winds, the harsh environment was absolutely perfect. The tree on the right in the photo above was uprooted and gone.

However the stormy looking clouds and wicked winds still made for a great shot in B&W Infrared.

 

I handed my IR camera to Em and she took a couple of shots. Below is my son Jeremie.

Here is Mari. How she was not cold, was a mystery to me. We spent quite a bit of time here in this spot.

We explored this area thanks to a 5:30AM breakfast and strong coffee. This particular spot has so many interesting facets to it. Lichen, rocks, waves, winds, trees, plants, and clean toilets!

Here is Mari trotting down a trail next Lake Superior.

Oh to be a child again!

We noticed an elderly fella out by the shore and I grabbed a shot of him...

He was as obviously as intrigued as we were by the variety of interesting rocks we found along the shore.

This little 'wayside' intrigued me the most in the morning. Well, that was before we explored further.

Jer later asked me which part of the whirlwind tour was the 'best'. I started by naming each place we visited.

I don't really know. I need a lifetime of exploration of these places.

This is a somewhat close shot of the same place with my cellphone in April.

 

It is a worthy spot to explore more.

I guess I'll be spending some time sorting through the shots I took and trying to make sense of all the beauty I've seen.

I should be a wander-er.

I hope I can be! Pic by Jeremie. He is pretty good at catching me off guard.

We took the whirlwind tour, to see what I liked best. When asked...I said all of it.

We put 1,200 miles on the car from Saturday morning to Monday morning.

No regrets.

Just a feeling that I have to go back and explore more.

Carpe Diem.

My intentions with epic trips like this, is to take small portions of Rich's Ashes with me and let him explore amazing places that we had planned to see together. 

And maybe some not too epic spots! The town IS named Gay, and it is a tiny town worth exploring. --- It involves mining and not the what you might think. 

I think this is a very interesting part of the lake shore history. I will visit again.

So the name will throw you.

But it happens to be one of the best places I've visited in Michigan. 

Just not necessarily for the play on words.

But for the interesting history and scenery of Gay Michigan.

More to come.......

stay tuned.

My idea is to travel to places that Rich would have loved to explore and to drop a tiny amount of his ashes in each place we would have loved.

Yes.

I did that.

And it feels perfect.

 

 

Mornings around here

So mornings have been pretty much the only time I've been doing a lot outside. The bugs have been awful in the mornings unless there is a good breeze.

Thursday morning looked like it was going to be foggy/smokey so I jumped in the 'Ru to avoid the skeeters. 
The smoke and fog were moving in when I parked.

In the skies above, I could see the clouds and sky...

Soon the smoke really decided to move across the landscape.

Chart of the air quality:

Neighbor's cattle on the ridge.

A doe and her triplets. There is a third in the weeds you 

can't see. I caught them in 

the next shot.

A cute little family.

So most of the day was spent doing something I don't like that much. Moving everything and doing a deep deep clean. Walls, floor trim, and even anything else that could keep me going.

I used the left over water in the shallow water tank to wash some pieces of rugs that needed freshening up but can't go in a washing machine.

Wednesday morning I did walk out to the ridge with the dogs and saw some incredible fog and sunlight shining through the logged forest. It almost was worth the attack of skeeters that I encountered.

Mornings and late evening have been the only times I've been out and about doing chores and gardening until the bugs start to chew me up.

Here is to staying out of the smoke and heat. Hang in there. Winter will visit us once more, I hope.

Busy busy

Monday was a day of surprises.....

It started out with a text from my youngest son.

"Call me when you wake up. I'm bored driving home." He and his wife and their daughter were on their way home from Colorado.

I called since I was up at my usual time: Hannah Time ----->> which translates to predawn.

We talked for a little bit and then he said he had to pull off the road for gas...and "WAIT wait! Oh my goodness the sunrise is amazing!" 

As he said that, I was about to pour a cup of decafe when I took a peek towards the NE direction. The fog was heavy but there was a slight color threatening to brighten the sky. 

I texted back: Later! I'm headed towards the ridge to see our sunrise! 

My phone pinged once more: See you mom in about 5 hours!

I passed our mailbox on the ridge and saw a typical driftless region sunrise where the valley was thick with fog. The cool waters in the rivers and streams often produce amazing fog.

I pulled out my regular camera with my long lens. 

The shape of the land I live has wonderful shapes. When we have valley fog, the ridges and the trees appear above the fog creating an unusual sight. Meaning, I'm still not used to it after living here for 30 years.

The fields are not flat and even, our world is uneven and wonderfully rough. Contour farming is the only way to farm.

I thought I'd drive down into the valley and take a peek around. Sometimes the valley fog hangs 40 or 50 feet off the ground.

Not this day! However, the swallows were so busy at the bridge over Black Bottom Creek that I just stood in the road and watched them for a while.

[Yep, I could stand in the road on the bridge and not even see any traffic at that time of day!]

They were literally swarming the area. You can see that the sun is ready to dip into the valley from the light on the top left of the photo.

Depending on the season, it can take up to two hours before the valley sees the sun.

Back up on the ridge the sun was shining brightly. I was able to see across the valley fog to the dot on the map that is called Folsom.

This is one of the Folsom Lutheran Churches on the next ridge over.

I stopped back at Linda's Tractor on the way home. I taken a sunrise shot through the tractor and wanted one afterwards. It is rare that she leaves any equipment in the field. In fact this is the first time in 30 years that I can recall she has left one parked on a field she rents.

Linda still farms and is in her later 80's. She hires help of course, but still does quite a bit of field work on her own.

The heat and humidity set in by the time my son and his wife showed up but I had to walk them back to our 'campground'.

They were amazed at how cool it felt in the grove of trees and the definite lack of bugs.

Here is Mari who is 5 she was having a blast playing with Charlie and Hannah.

<--------------->

Today [Tuesday] I got to go to a birthday party for the grand daughter of a friend. I went to help and take some photos for fun because I was asked to.

Everyone was smitten with my friend's mini horses!

We came up with the idea of a birthday party with the idea of the kids decorating the minis. 

Safe to say, it was a huge hit.

All I can say is that it was a blast! I think the little girls are going to remember this as the coolest birthday party ever. Homemade cake, homemade ice cream, decorating mini horses, and so much laughter.

Grandma Pat is obviously the coolest Grandma Ever!

 

Turn the page

Here it is. November. 

I promise not to get glum.

However, historically, I have not liked November. I say this each year. I'm going to go out and find something I like in the landscape of November.

I have to look a bit harder, but I'm sure I can find beauty around me.

That is, until the period of time I can't go out for walks in any of my usual haunts for 10 days during the WI Deer Gun Season.

I don't want to complain, as the deer herd does need to be managed. But.....

November 22-30th is when the majority of the gun hunters are out. December 1-10th is the muzzleloader antlerless hunt. 
December 11-14th is a special antlerless gun hunt.
December 24th through Jan 1 is another special antlerless Holiday Gun Hunt.

If that isn't enough, Bow Season lasts through January 4th.

Uffdah.

The 10 day season is the worst.

However, the folks that end up on the land east of me during the other seasons keep me on edge. They don't always know that a barbed wire fence means property lines. Go figure. 

Sometimes I dislike living in such a rural area. However, there is till amazing beauty all around and this year I will have to make some special efforts to deal with it.

Below are a few of the last blast of some of the plants in our woods. Maybe not gorgeous like the full fall colors, but still interesting enough for me to stop and take a look.

I spent most of the day yesterday with another gal friend. We enjoyed an afternoon of fun things. 

November also holds the promises of all sorts of Holiday Fairs and Craft Shows that I can visit. I'll have to keep busy. These are things I couldn't do for the past several years.

So even if November is the time of less color outside, a time of weather change, and more...darkness, I promise to find something fun to keep the spirits up.

Glorious sunrises always do help.

Colors & Mojo

Fall is an amazing colorful time to be out and about if the weather is good. Through the fall, the sunrise decorates my eating area with unbelievable colors. I can't help but look at it in wonder.

Charlie and I took a drive to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve for a nice quiet afternoon walk. Note to self. Sunday afternoons are the busy times at the Reserve. 

However, there are enough trails that one can find a peaceful one to trek and not be bothered by others. On the main path, we encountered a lot of dog walkers, bicyclists, and a few horses. We kept to ourselves and found the trailhead to the Blackhawk Trail.

As expected, we didn't see anyone when we got on this trail.

Charlie got hot walking on the mowed path with no breeze, so I gave him a lift up and he enjoyed sniffing the air while I did the walking.

I really didn't pick the right time of day to go on this trail, but I felt the need to get out and get some fresh air after cleaning in the spare room most of the morning. I was making headway, but got stuck in a decision on how to pack things up or toss them out.

A hike would change my focus and then I could get back to the issue.

I've taken so many shots of this trail over the years I've hiked it, yet each time it seems new and refreshing to me. I didn't hike it hard as I had all the time I wanted. I could walk and pause when I saw something interesting.

With the winds we'd had a couple of weeks ago, so many trees have already lost their leaves. But deep in the forest I found a beautiful canopy of maples and other trees. The colors were just beginning to pop and glow.

Count me lucky. I found some glorious colors.

 

With the past two days being rainy and cold, I finished a purge and clean project. 

I identified the medals and ribbons on Rich's uniform and put the uniforms back in the bag so I can explain them to his grandchildren and even perhaps his daughter if she'd want to hear it. She might be impressed, though her father never talked about it.

I finished the table project and have given it a place of honor. Right away, I decided to use it for a fall Still Life.

I then couldn't help but set up another spot. This one is a planter, but I love the face on it. I use it mostly as a vase when I can.

This is the first time in ... a very long time that I've actually worked on something like Still Life or even Lego Photography. 

It felt good to goof off a bit. 

That table hosts my haunted mansion right at the moment. The Vampire Lady says, "Come on in, all are welcome!"

This is the first time in a long time that I've felt like having a bit of creative fun. I was afraid it had left me for good, but phew, there it is.