Manistee Riverwalk Again

 
I had some things to do in Manistee this afternoon, and was glad I had time to also do the Riverwalk. If you walk all the way to the end of the channel and back (I did), it's about 3.5 miles.



The day was overcast, so there is no sparkly blue water, but it's still very nice to walk beside the Manistee River, through the city, to where it meets Lake Michigan. The Manistee Lighthouse is on the other side of the channel.



After I headed back toward town, I took this picture of the western end of the river, past where most businesses are. It looks quite natural in this section.



The boardwalk is also less complex, but more quiet and calm.



When I was back at my car, I took a picture of the River Street Bridge. I thought it was going to open- it's a drawbridge- because there were all kinds of bells and horns going off, but it didn't. Not sure why, unless the Washington Street Bridge opened (downstream) and the sounds all bounced around because of buildings and the riverbanks and sounded closer. Anyway... no picture of it open.



If you want to see more Riverwalk pictures on brighter days, follow the links below.

	See Riverwalk Walk See Riverwalk Details
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"My" Road Loop- Plus the Wetland

 
Just strolled around my 3-mile loop, plus I added a mile to get a current picture of the large wetland.

I always think it will be the "same old walk," but there are always beautiful things to be found.

Monarch butterfly on Boneset.



Trumpet Vine, which owns this piece of the highway right of way.



The bypass pond where I see wood ducks in the spring, and once, the northern shoveler duck. The bright light made the surface look white, but it's solid green with duckweed.



I even saw something new today. I'd never noticed there is a white birch near that pond.


Silky dogwood berries- not edible, but the birds love them.



And, I reached the wetland. Not terribly picturesque this time of year. Maturing cattails, pretty much a monoculture except around the edges. But I've taken an interest in this spot, and will probably continue to bring you pictures from time to time.



I did find a couple more interesting things, but they deserve their own blog post.

	See Johnson Road Wetland See Northern Shoveler
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Peach Cobbler

 
Are you coming to work tonight? If so, this is coming with me. That is all. Gotta scoot

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Clouded Sulphur?

 
These little yellow butterflies are so pretty, but they are really tricky to identify. There are three main choices where I live. I think this is a Clouded Sulphur, Colias philodice, but I'm open to correction by anyone who really knows these little guys (and girls). I'm strictly amateur when it comes to Lepidoptera.

This one has really pink wing edges, but it does have spots along the edges of the hind wings. So, that rules out a Pink-edged Sulphur. Those have no edge spots. Clouded Sulphurs usually have a double central wing spot. But that isn't definitive. It's probably not an Orange Sulphur because they have to show at least a little bit of orange somewhere.



And just in case you weren't confused enough, they can interbreed.

Anyway, they are cute little yellow butterflies with big green eyes and pink legs, and there are always a lot of them in August.

	See Cabbage and Sulphur Butterflies for more examples
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The Smell of Orange

 
Here's what's left of a bar of Fast Orange soap. It's got pumice in it, and is supposed to be as good as Lava. In case you are wondering, I think not.



However, I ended up buying a bar in a week when apparently every store was out of Lava. "You'll like it, the salesman said." Nope. You can see that I'll soon get to buy a new bar of something. Hopefully, Lava. But the strangest thing I noticed was that the orange soap smelled just like something else. Something not at all related to soap.



This story actually begins in second grade. But it became a critical mass today... enough to set off a blog post.

Over Thanksgiving Break, in second grade, I had my tonsils out. I remember having to eat tomato soup instead of turkey. I wasn't happy about that. But I did get to chew gum in class for a couple of weeks after going back to school. That would be Aspergum, orange flavor. It didn't taste like oranges, and it didn't taste like aspirin. But it had a distinctive odor. Some scents have stuck with me my entire life. This is one of them.

The package of medicinal gum looks disturbingly like the soap wrapper! Actually, this hasn't been made since 2006, but another company bought the brand, so it could come back. The soap and the gum smell just the same.



Just a few days ago, I realized that the Ibubrofen caplets, which are also orange (but not the dark red tablets), smell this way too.



I think this odor must be due to the orange dye. And today, my scent sensors were set off again. The soap dispenser at work is empty, so I used the bottle of cheap dish soap by the sink to wash up with. It's orange. It smells exactly the same!!!

This is a little eerie. Two medications and two soaps. All orange. Has to be the dye. It's not a pleasant or unpleasant odor, but it's distinctive. The smell of orange.

	See Maggie Says, "More Orange, Mom!"
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