Clear Springs- A Clear Choice

Whenever I have to go to Muskegon, I try to make time to hike some or all of the trails at Clear Springs Nature Preserve at Montague.

Yesterday, I left the house early enough that I had time to walk all the trails there by walking fast. There are a series of loops that all return to or near the parking area. I only missed a few little connectors, and didn't have to do very much twice. I like that.

One area has been selectively logged. I looked on their web page, and this may be to remove diseased red pine.

It was too early for even hints of wildflowers. I've been pleasantly surprised the last few times I was there to find some nice plant material. It was pretty junky when I first found it. Perhaps they have been trying to remove invasives.

Maybe the anteater is also eating alien plants. She was there in 2012, and she's still there!

Carleton Creek (or Landford Creek depending on the map you look at) runs down the center. This was the site of a small fish hatchery in the 1950s. The creek was dammed at one spot and it creates this nice pool. Later in the year this gets clogged with algae, but it's clear and open in March.

Not sure why I never noticed this giant before. This is a red oak that has to be at least 10 feet dbh- diameter at breast height- which is how trees are measured.

I'm getting to like the East Boundary Trail. It's the farthest from the traffic on US 31. You can hear that from anywhere in the preserve, but it's really loud on the west side.

At any rate, I hustled and did the West and East Boundaries, Rim, Spring, Pond Side and Crest Trails.

Miles walked in 2026- can you believe it? 99.9

Clear Springs Nature Preserve, Montague, MI. all trails 3.6 miles.

Oh, and an unexpected job. The kitchen sink peed all into the cupboard. Nearly totally clogged pipes. Cleaned out the gunk, reinstalled, cleaned that part of the kitchen. Last time this was done was 2016. Homeownership is not so much fun anymore.

See other hikes at Clear Springs See And the Solution

Scouting Out the Dental Landscape

Today I traded a lot of money for the first step in getting that molar replaced. I decided I did not want to live without it. Not having it put a big dent in the places I could chew.

First off, they took a new x-ray, and where I've pointed the yellow arrow shows where the bone regrew after the extraction and procedure to help the bone grow. They were very happy.

Basically, they drill a hole in the bone and screw in a post. There are animated videos on youtube if you just want the basics, but I found one of the whole, for real, process. Considering how invasive this is, I feel pretty good.

The post has a cover on it to protect it until this part of the whole project heals up- maybe another two months. Then my regular dentist will put a tooth on the post.

The funniest part? They screw the post in with a little ratchet set just like a mechanic working on your car!

I've circled the little dark round thing behind the two well-filled teeth. That's the cover. It will also serve to keep the gum from growing all around the post while the bone heals. So this is called the implant, and the fake tooth is called a crown when they do that.

The scouting? Buddy Bill may have an implant done and this way he can hear my advance scouting report before he has to commit.

I left home early enough to get in a hike on the way to the dentist. I'll show you that and report the miles tomorrow.

My brain is a little foggy, so I haven't tried to do anything this afternoon that took a lot of mental power, but I sort of puttered at a project. The jaw and tooth area isn't very sore at all. This dental surgeon is very good- same one as last time. I did make some cream of mushroom soup for dinner, and had a little ice cream. I'm supposed to skip hard crunchy things for a while.

See How Did Things Go at the Dentist?

New Times Two

I had agreed to go take some photos where the railroad that is behind my house goes under the freeway. This is for the Mason County Non-Motorized Trail Commitee I'm on.

Just for the record, here's what that looks like. Not too exciting.

But there are some new things to show you. I did walk this section of tracks once long ago, but I wasn't taking pictures. It was so long ago, the freeway wasn't finished, although it was under construction.

There is another Saginaw distance marker. This one is 134 miles. The one behind my house is 130 miles. I'm sort of surprised these are being kept up because the current line, Marquette Rail, no longer connects to Saginaw. Those markers are from when this was main line of the Pere Marquette Railway which was in operation from 1900- 1947.

But far and away, the most interesting thing is those brown lines beside the tracks you can see in the first picture. Here they are again.

This is welded rail sections laid out, I assume for replacement of the regular track. Now this is extremely interesting! I've seen it being laid in New York, but couldn't get pictures as we were going by in a car.

I paced out the sections of rail and they seemed to be about a quarter-mile long. I have looked this up, and that is accurate. But how did they get those long pieces here? They are transported on specially connected flatcars. I'm not sure why they were dropped in bundles of 8.

Anyway, traditional rails are about 39 feet long and are bolted together. Those joints are what makes the "clickity-clack" of the train. However, for heavy loads or high-speed travel, the longer sections are the way to go. These are welded together in place.

Here's a video that shows the whole process of laying these and repairing the track. It's long. But if you just want to see the cars that unload the long rail sections watch from minute 6 to 10.



I sure hope I manage to catch some of the actual work when they put this down.

The other "new" thing is that I am going to switch out my current Scripture verse to keep in mind for my life. My most recent one was for the big NCT hike, and it was II Samuel 22:37- "You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way."

But I'm going to concentrate on keeping this one in mind now. Isaiah 43:18- “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

I love to learn new things. I don't want to get stuck in a rut just because I am getting older. I don't want to let the mistakes of the past weigh me down. I'm going to look forward to however many more years I have to see what new things God has in store for me!

I edited and worked on projects in the morning. The afternoon was filled with errands and bell choir. I did get in some miles with the walk beside the tracks and then all the trails at the Methodist Church and some in the School Forest.

Miles walked in 2026: 96.3

Beside the tracks, then Methodist and School Forest trails, 3.4 miles.

See Marquette Rail

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026- American Landscape Showcase

I don't really understand this exhibit very well. Apparently it was to present a variety of typical American landscapes. There were four sections.

This part was created by a studio from California. The description used a lot of words to say very little, but here is part of it. "Land and human presence are inseparable- shaping each other in ways seen and unseen."

The best part of this section was a new-to-me, California-coastal plant called Blueblossom, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, var. Griseus 'Yankee Point.' It has evergreen shiny leaves. Of course it also has thorns and grows to be a tree about 20 feet tall. But the Flower Show is as much about fantasy as anything.

Next was (Decay)dence from Design Under Sky in Rhode Island. I really don't understand this one at all. It also used a lot of words to say very little. The idea is that the roots of weeds break down other plants (which isn't even true, really) to recycle the nutrients. This is a look into the interior.

I didn't see anything in that whole section that was very interesting.

Third is The Ghost Forest by a studio in Maryland. This one is a hoot, but it was pretty. The description made sense anyway. It lamented the loss of the American Chestnut that left a void so we could contemplate loss and create a future woodland in partnership with the gardner.

Here is the void left by the chestnut.

Here's the hilarious part. If you look closely at what's in the void, it's mostly filled with acorns and magnolia pods with some pine cones. I will admit there were a few chestnut burrs (almost certainly not American Chestnut).

The best part of that section? That big globe in the first picture was actually lit with an orange light. From the other side it looked like a huge full moon!

The fourth section was called American Anemoia by a company from Iowa. Anemoia is a term coined by The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows website for "nostalgia for a time you've never known." It was attractive and humorous. The company that made the exhibit had a for sale sign with themselves as realtor on the lot that called it a "beautiful home and garden with native plants."

The best part of this one was an official notice on the fence from the city of Philadelphia citing the owner for having weeds and needing to mow.

Of the plants they used, I really liked the use of Andropogon virginicus, broomsedge bluestem. It grows around the Great Lakes, and it can look quite pretty in the fall. That said, not all the plants they used were native. Some were cultivars.

I'll have to feature a local clump of the Andropogon virginicus on the blog. I thought I had, but apparently not. It IS native.

I guess I'm getting too picky. I know that the Flower Show is about fantasy gardens and temporal beauty. But I sort of think that when places claim they are showcasing native plants that they should actually be doing that.

In other news: I edited hard and continued to work on a couple of projects.

See PFS 2026- Fare to Remember

Rock Garden Surprise

The snow is melted off the rock garden. I went on the deck yesterday to see how bad things looked (more on that later), and was stunned at this bright red Sempervivum. What the heck?!

This is the 'Gold Nugget' I bought last year. Let's call it group 2 because it was purchased more recently

I could not believe the color. It really is that bright red; it's not a trick of the light. I had to find my plant records to find where the other 'Gold Nugget' is planted. (more on that later too) Here it is. Not nearly so red. Call this group 1.

These two puddles are the same variety, but purchased different years and at different places- in different states, actually.

These pix are group 1 at other times of the year





And these are group 2. The first is when it was purchased in May 2025.



And in July 2025

More: I had a genuine scare when I went to look for the garden records. When I switched computers last fall, my backup hard drive did a catastrophic failure. Everything is gone. Although beyond annoying, I didn't lose much at all because it was a backup. But could I find the computer file with the plant records? Eek! No! But I finally did a search of my whole computer and I had put the folder in a different place. (Take deep breaths, calm down.) I would have lost about 2 years of records if I'd had to go to the older backup.

More: I left the fencing up all winter, but it clearly didn't keep the critters out of the rock garden. You can see how the dirt around the second picture above is all churned up around the plant. It's much too early to be working on it yet, but I can see I'll have a lot to do.

I was super, super good today. I edited, I worked on one of my pet projects, I finished most of the unpacking, and I cleaned the kitchen floor. I did those in rotation with pieces in the big puzzle. I actually need to get that finished because I need that table to do taxes!

And I feel fine. Still draining the head a bit, but hopefully I'll get outside for a while tomorrow.

See Those Shifty Semervivum