The Return of the Ladyslippers

I discovered these beauties yesterday and took the camera to them this morning.  A total of 7 blooms this year! Almost every year for the last 9 years I have lived here, the twins return in all their splendor.

And each one is a masterpiece in its own right.

Be the Thing You See

John Moffitt

To look at any thing,

If you would know that thing,

You must look at it long:

To look at this green and say

'I have seen spring in these

Woods,' will not do--you must

Be the thing you see:

You must be the dark snakes of

Stems and ferny plumes of leaves,

You must enter in

To the small silences between

The leaves,

You must take your time

And touch the very peace

They issue from.

Source: To Look at Any Thing

Mary and the Night Visitors

So home again only to discover a visitor on Wednesday night.  Didn't know he/she was visiting until I heard the gnawing on my house! Porcupine! So I went out with my broom and gave him a swat and pushed him off the porch! I covered the chewed spot with generous amounts of chili oil as deterrent.  Somehow, that didn't do the job for more than one night probably due to copious amounts of rain during the day and night.  Last night at 10:30, just as I'd climbed into bed and turned out lights...loud GNAWING!!!! Arghhh!  This time I grabbed the camera as well as a bucket of cold water.

He just stood there, quills raised.  I emptied my bucket on him and he went quickly waddling away only to reveal that there was second littler visitor still on the steps who had no intention of leaving.

So into the house for a second bucket of water. That encouraged him to move off into the darkness and not come back last night.  We'll see if my visitors disliked a cold bath enough to find other spots than my house to go chew tonight! I am grateful to live in the woods and grateful that woodland creatures are so near.  I am also grateful when the woodland creatures find other food than my house.  If not, I may have to resort to the solution of the witch in Hansel and Gretel...but I don't fancy porcupine meat, so probably not.  :-(

The Adventure Continues

Friday morning greeted me cold, but beautiful!  Lake Michigamme:

I was very pleased with the campground at Van Riper State Park and especially so when I got ready to leave and found these!  It's been a long time coming at many parks.

Then it was off to explore and to find the camp at which I would be staying and meeting my son, Joe. It's back in the woods of Ishpeming along the Dead River Storage Basin.  Owned by Erik, a friend of Paul and Shawn, who are Joe's close friends (second family), Joe now does some maintenance work there occasionally.  Joe arrived late Friday, and we got the well pump up and running and the sauna too.  Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we played... not that getting the pump and sauna fixed and running were not play... it is definitely our kind of play!

Paul and Shawn came with tie-dying materials.  We had a blast!

My first time ever doing a tie-dyed T-shirt!

Paul is a long time artist at this...

Socks, scarves, onezies, tank tops, and t-shirts!  We went crazy!

Joe and I took the canoe down the basin.  The water was about 3-4 feet higher than normal so we got to see areas that normally would only be wetland, not river.  The sunset was gorgeous! And the moon was full one of the nights and bright every one of them.

Joe and I played and explored away from the camp too.  Warner Falls in Palmer.

And the old mine areas of Negaunee and Ishpeming, though we were wise enough (I was scared enough) to not go where things were fenced off.

I learned that there is an entire neighborhood in Negaunee that was closed off and all the houses were moved to another section of town when the ground started to cave in from old mine shafts.  That area has now settled and is used for recreation, but the old roads, curbs, concrete stairs are still there.  Odd and eerie.  Near the entrance to an old tunnel where the tram cars ran, we found a good deal of snow. There was quite a cold updraft.

The rock formations and landscape feel so typically UP to me.

Home for some part of me having spent a total of 14 to 15 years there at various times, completing college there, having made a family with both children born there, my parents' cabin there for many years, and built a house in Marquette in 1977.  I stopped by on my way out of town on Monday evening.  The owners invited me in to see what had changed since we built it and ask me some questions about the house.  Here's how it looks today:

And here's 33 years ago!

Away to the North

Taking a little time away now to visit my son, Joe.  I will meet him in Ishpeming tomorrow evening.  But I wanted a little extra time away, AND I didn't want to travel on the holiday weekend, so I packed up today and left for an adventure.

I was going to tent camp.  But not in the rain.  And definitely NOT with the forecast for freezing temperatures in the UP tonight! But I was determined to go and figure it out one way or another. As predicted, the weather changed by the time I got to the bridge.  Yeay!

Heading west on US 2 toward blue skies, enjoying the sandy north shore of Lake Michigan.

First stop, (well, third if you count rest areas) is my traditional UP lunch haunt near Brevort. One pasty and  a little ice cream could take you all the way across the UP!

It was like rewinding time about three weeks. At MorningStar, the maples are fully leafed out.  And here they are just beginning to leaf.

On to the Seney Stretch...

And Alger Falls in Munising...

And breathtaking Lake Superior!  It was so windy that I had to rest the camera on the trunk of the car to hold it steady enough for a picture!

And finally to tonight's destination: Van Riper State Park in Champion on Lake Michigamme.  They had this little cabin available. (The greeter said they had snow flurries earlier today!)

It has electricity, a little heater, and an overhead light, but no water, sink, or chamber pot. Enough to keep me dry and not freezing tonight, but I could get a lot more amenities and much nicer ambiance for the same price at MorningStar!  And relatively quiet neighbors at M* too.

None the less, I am VERY grateful for this not-tent tonight! As I get ready to post this, the temperature in Champion is 35 degrees with wind!

Mislabeled?

Except for "Handle with Care" absolutely!

Family Visit

The last few days of April, my daughter, Karen, son-in-law, Todd, and granddaughter, Katelyn, visited me at my home.  What fun!  Basically, the plan was to just "hang out" together!  I loved it!

So we went on exploring hikes,

And examined everything very closely.

And went on make believe explorations too.

We all drew...

And got our exercise!

We cooked together...

And ate together.

And made dessert together...

And ate together some more!

We had wagon rides...

Even Katelyn's boots got a ride to Julie's house for fixing by the boot fixing expert, Julie herself!

We planted peas in the MorningStar garden.

And made sure the peas, lettuce, and kale all had a good drink of water.

Then on to laundry chores.  Those clippy clothes pins make a little one grit her teeth to try to squeeze them hard enough. And since hanging laundry can be hazardous, one should always wear her construction helmet.

Long days of hard work call for an outside shower when you visit at my house.

And at least 5 books before bedtime!

I couldn't have dreamed of or wished for a better time with them all!  Thank you so much for visiting!