Shipwreck!

By on Dec 1, 2019 in General |

With changing water levels and shifting sands of erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline we all continue to experience “rediscovery” as shoreline explorers. I took these photos on the evening of Saturday November 30, 2019 wading into the water for a closer look. My imagination pictures a 2-masted schooner from the 1880’s about 90′ in length and 20 some feet wide. A proud and stout wooden vessel of beams and iron. A flat-bottomed hull (visible in the water below) an ideal sailing vessel for visiting shallow harbors with a draft of only 5 to 7 feet. At 120 gross tons and economical to operate, shuttling lumber to Chicago from West Michigan she was subject to the November gales without the benefit of weather forecasting like we have today. But alas no such drama. The wreck is a scow (barge) being towed that sank south of Muskegon while transporting a steam crane in November of...

To be or not to be is really not a question

By on Oct 15, 2019 in Fall, General |

As October presses on, the leaves of the trees make their descent to the earth and the cycle of life continues. As you stand in the yard with leaf rake in hand it’s enough to make anyone wax philosophical. I think on the words of the famous writer William “Rake”-speare: To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the yard to suffer The foliage piles of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of leaves, And by opposing them. Well to be or not to be is really not a question. You’re going to have to do something about those leaves. Or are you? You could wait for favorable winds to make the leaves your neighbor’s problem. You can’t burn them anymore. I remember those days as a kid when all the neighbors would rake their leaves to the curb and light them on fire. When it came to being groundbreaking hip my Dad would compost...

Studying fungus is a way to mold young minds.

By on Mar 21, 2019 in General |

She lichens me she lichens me not

By on Feb 19, 2019 in General, Nature |

I am amazed at the duress lichens will cause some people. They view lichens as a sign of death or decay and strategize to bleach it from existence. True they are found on stationary imperfect objects like grave stones or the north side of slow growing trees, but what keeps us from appreciating their natural beauty? Lichens are an intimate relationship of fungal filaments and algae creating a natural mosaic of art. The fungus protects the algae from the mean world out there and helps collect minerals and water. The algae in turn can photosynthesize making food like plants do and fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. In this intimate relationship it shares some of that with the fungus. It’s like a quid pro quo you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours intimate relationship of organisms. Who would want to break that up? She lichens me, she lichens me not. In the plant world we call the...

Think Outside the Box….Natural Christmas Window Boxes

By on Oct 31, 2018 in Christmas, General |

For natural beautiful Christmas and Holiday Window Boxes that you can enjoy both outside and from inside the home….November to March….think outside the box! Watch my video and thank you very mulch. Merry Christmas!

Adventures in Plant Sitting

By on Aug 2, 2018 in General, Kick in the Plants! |