The Lake that I Love

 
Cayuga Lake. My lake. This is home. 40 miles long, two miles wide. The big blocky building is the Miliken Power Plant (named for a former Michigan governor), now decommissioned. You could see this from my home.



We did go swimming. It was so hot that this activity was almost a requirement rather than recreational. Actually, we went back to Sheldrake. Even though it is posted, all the locals still swim there. The sign is mostly because of the bad current off the point. We stayed well inside that. In my opinion all beaches should be small smooth flat stones like the Finger Lakes beaches, not sand. We picked up some pretty rocks, and I found one fossil, a crinoid. If I'd hunted longer there were possibilities of finding horn coral, brachiopods, and even trilobytes.


And, I promised we'd get ice cream which we did. I had Sleeper Awake (coffee and chocolate), and Marie had Boomberry (raspberry ice cream with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries). Definitely yummy, and it helped with the cooling.


This is the school I attended from kindergarten to 12th grade. It's still in use as an elementary school, although the district is consolidated. It was built in 1924. My kindergarten room was on the first floor on the left. But the use patterns changed when an addition was built, so that was also my high school English room!



And Dick finished the second of my trailer metalwork projects. The propane tank holder is now removed, and the spare tire is mounted on the hitch. Hooray!



Tomorrow more playtime. I promise there will be hiking eventually, but not quite yet.

See Memory Lane

Kindness Thrown Like Confetti

 
This was another perfect Dove chocolate wrapper, received earlier this week at Randy and Annette's house. Southern hospitality is real, and the confetti of kindness has been thrown my way by the bucketfull this week.


I've had such a good time with the people in these pictures, and others that we didn't manage to capture digitally. Of course, Loretta.


Paul and Mary Ellen



Randy and Annette, Marleen (and her daughter who arrived today to help her with the move)



Today was Sunday, with all the usual church activities. But I also went swimming with Rhett, a new young friend.



Tomorrow morning I head for home. It's been a wonderful, wonderful two-plus weeks, but I think I'm ready to slip into the writing harness. One more night on the road with more friends, and then I'm ready for some quiet time.

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The Goggily Monster

 
So last year I bought a cheap pair of swim goggles so I could keep my eyes open better while I was swimming. I need to stay just outside of the line of weeds (they just feel icky on my legs), and inside of where the power boats are cruising around. I learned that I liked the goggles, but not the $6 ones that didn't seal properly.

So I finally got my act together and went into town to the sport shop to look for a "real" pair. Actually, they were only $20, so that wasn't too painful. I wore them today, and they seal perfectly around my eyes- no more water sloshing on my eyeballs inside the lenses!

Not only that, but the lenses are treated to cut glare. That's really nice, because late afternoon (when I usually swim), when I do the side stroke on my way back, the sun is right in my eyes.

So when I got home from the lake today, I decided to put on a silly grin and take a picture of my new goggles to show you.



Yikes! Now there's a new look for me if I ever saw one. No wonder small children ran screaming from the shallows to find their mothers when I entered the water.

Now if I could just get the earplugs to seal as well.

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Kayaking and Swimming

 
Ellen and I thought we might have to cancel. The morning was gray, and she even got a little rain at her house (I didn't). Gray wouldn't matter, but thunderstorms were predicted. Playing on water in electrical storms is not a good idea.

But we ate lunch, and the day cleared off and turned bright and hot. We did the paddle we always do from Ellen's because there is no transporting of boats. We paddled across Bass Lake.



The outlet from that small lake to Lake Michigan is always one of the prettiest spots I know for small boats. It's shaded and intimate with interesting plants.



The outlet leads to Lake Michigan. The big lake was warm enough for swimming but cool enough to feel REALLY good. We swam for a while- nothing too strenuous. And then we paddled back!



And some of those interesting plants? Lots of water lilies blooming. I liked this one which was not shy about showing off and not hiding in the leaves.



The interesting shrub known as buttonbush was also in bloom.



I'm always smiling when we are playing outside!

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Swimming and Slaw

 
I think something must be slipping... I forgot all about doing a blog post yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night realizing I hadn't done one.

I was just going to show you where I swim, so I'll do that today. This was only the third day I've swum this summer, but today I went farther than I thought I'd be able to do so soon. I'm not fast, and my technique isn't fantastic, but I get there.

(Secret: I have really bad shoulders that like to dislocate, and I have to build them up, so I'm glad it's going well.)

The lake has a nice small beach. Most days there are quite a few families there, with kids in the water, but yesterday it was deserted. Fine with me... that way I don't have to watch out for boats.



I also made a big tub of cole slaw for my dinners this week. I always used to hand slice the cabbage and grate the carrots, but I recently discovered that I like the texture when it's coarsely ground with my Universal Grinder.



Not a strenuous day. That's fine. Next week is going to be nuts.

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Hot Enough to Get Me in the Water

 
Nasty hot muggy day. I know most of you in the US are having the same thing, so I don't expect sympathy. I just don't do humidity very well.

But it was hot enough to get me over to Hackert Lake for a swim. I'm SO out of shape! But the water felt good, and I'll work on building up the stamina.

Here's a picture of a catbird I took a couple of days ago. They usually hide in the bushes, so I feel really lucky to catch a picture.



They can be good mimics, but usually they just make a noise like a mewing cat. When I first saw it, it was actually standing in the parking lot. I knew instantly what it was because they often hold their tails cocked upward at a jaunty angle like a huge wren. It's a really odd posture for a large-ish (robin sized) bird.

Tomorrow... resort cleaning day again.

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So Slow, But Undaunted

{EAV_BLOG_VER:8616ac8a1f32aaa0} just ignore this- it's a verification code for Empire Avenue.

This could get long... but I just have to tell you about it. Today was the swim for the Hamlin Lake Preservation Society. The weather was looking iffy with gray skies. We checked in, got our t-shirts and waited around for 9 am. Of course it started raining. No one cared much about that, but then some thunder rolled in and there were even a few flashes of lightning. Nobody was very excited about being in the water with that scenario. But in about 10 minutes the storm moved off.



They lined us all up for a group picture. Eleven people were waiting to hop into the water. At least the water was quite warm- someone said 74 degrees.

Where were we going? Yes that far shore looks rather distant. Yes, it really was that dark, even after the storm passed.



They only gave us some vague instructions about where the finish was. As it turned out, I was headed quite a bit too far north for about half of the swim until one of the escort boat people told me that I needed to veer to the left.

Om came out to see me off. He got a few pictures to prove that I was actually a swimmer.



That's me on the left. You'll have to take my word for it that I continued to swim... Om wasn't in a boat, so no pics till I came back.



I'm not in this picture, but this shows the swimmers heading out, and one of the escort boats. It became obvious within ten strokes that I was going to finish last. That's what comes of swimming alone- I had no way to gauge myself against anyone else before this swim.

But, I was certain that I could do the swim. I've been practicing right? The water was, indeed, a comfortable temperature. Near the shore the water was pretty clear, but soon we had to swim through a big patch of the spiral eelgrass. That was kinda nasty, just because it kept draping over my arms and being annoying, and it was a long patch. I don't really feel weird about that kind of stuff, but I was surprised because it wasn't too near the shore.

I have been counting my strokes the last couple of practice days. I thought that way I could estimate how much farther I had to swim. So I began to count. I easily made 250 and thought that was about a quarter of the way, but I didn't want to be too optimistic, just in case my map-measured practice course was a bit off. I made it to 500 and was still feeling good.

At 1000 strokes I was trying to guess how much farther I had to go. Somewhere around then, the lady in the boat told me to change course. I kept swimming. At 1700 stokes my back was starting to hurt, and that sand dune still wasn't very close. Hmmm.

About then, I figured that either the planners or I had made some serious miscalculations on distances. I switched to side stroke for a while, and realized that I'm also not very good at keeping a straight course while swimming. Now that I knew where I was supposed to go, I was having trouble heading there. I kept swimming.

I did some side stroke, and then I switched to breast stroke. Then I did some more crawl for a couple hundred more strokes. A couple of waves of chop washed over me and I had to stop and cough both times since I'd swallowed a serious portion of the lake both times. Nothing serious, but I realized that when swimming distances in open water, one doesn't worry too much about form- just turning your head the minimal amount to take in air- it's more important to take in air than water!

Those darn sand dunes kept playing keepaway. I wasn't worried about finishing, but that stitch in my lower back was getting very uncomfortable.

After a bit, another boat came near and the reporter from the paper who was watching the swim from that easy location teased me, saying that he hoped I could hike straighter than I could swim. But he also said that the good news was that I was more ready for my Finger Lakes swim (he'd asked about that earlier) than I knew, since this swim had now been measured at 1.8 miles, and I'd done even more than that.

I kept swimming. While I was still about 50 feet from shore my strokes began hitting the bottom of the lake! It had suddenly become really shallow, and there wasn't much choice but to stand up and walk the rest of the way.

As it turned out, three people had finished only a few minutes before I did, and one of the 11 who started had bailed out early, so only ten of us finished, and I wasn't way far behind.



There is no way to drive to those dunes, so the only people waiting for us were some boat owners. They had brought across our towel, sweatshirts, etc. and a cooler full of bottles of water to drink, and I really appreciated that. Very shortly we were brought back to North Bayou Resort, which had also been our starting place.

Time in the water: about 2 hours 15 minutes. Wow... my longest practice swim was an hour.

Things learned for next summer: 1) with some more training, I should have no trouble doing my Cayuga Lake swim.
2) I need to do some exercises to strengthen my lower back. That was really the only thing that was sore, but it was really hurting.
3) I'm not fast... ok... I can live with that. I'm not planning to race, I just want to do it.
4) I need better goggles. I had to take mine off because they were making my eye sockets sore.
5) I need to learn how to travel in a straight line.
6) The distance I've been training is only about 0.8 mile.

When I got home I realized that I really smelled like algae. I got out of my wet suit and enjoyed a nice hot shower. Then I discovered that the inside of my swim suit was bright green with algae that I had "picked up" on my way across. I wonder if this is one of the problems that the Preservation Society is working on.

I'll admit it... I'm tired. I didn't do a lot else today. I finished reading a book, and did some internet surfing, but I don't expect any lingering fatigue tomorrow. All in all... it was worth doing for the things I learned.

A New Hero- Nora Stanton Blatch

I think I have a new "hero." This lady is Nora Stanton Blatch, the granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was one of the founders of the woman's rights movement in the United States. She lived from 1883-1971, and the picture was taken in 1921. (Oddly enough, my grandmother was born in 1882 and died in 1973.)

It turns out that Nora seems to have had plenty of her grandmother's spunk. For one thing, she was the first woman to earn a degree in Civil Engineering. She graduated from Cornell University in 1905, and worked her entire life as an engineer, mostly in the steel industry. She also continued the family tradition of fighting for the vote for women.

However, the reason that I came across her name is because she was also the first woman to swim across Cayuga Lake in New York, in 1904. Here's the connection. Since completing my big North Country Trail quest, people have been asking me what I want to do next. For sure, I want to finish hiking the Buckeye and Finger Lakes Trails (both of them have miles that aren't NCT). But I've been thinking about another idea.

When I was a child, it was a local badge of athleticism and stamina to swim across Cayuga Lake. I never had a chance to do it, back then.

But I've now walked 4400 miles on the longest hiking trail in the US. I've ridden sea to sea on a bicycle. This is beginning to sound like some sort of lifetime triathlon; it only needs a swimming component. So... my mind wanders back to that old dream.

There are lots of places to swim across Cayuga Lake. As it turns out there's an annual swim at the south end, just 1.25 miles. Hundreds of women participate in that each year to raise money for the local hospice. But I want my swim to be longer; for most of its length the lake is two or more miles wide. Where Nora swam it, the width was 2.25 miles. I found a newspaper article that gives the approximate location. It's quite a bit north of where I lived, but there is some appeal to using her same route.

In any case, I've made up my mind that next summer I'll be working up to a swim of that length and crossing Cayuga Lake. I have to arrange for a boat to accompany me... one doesn't swim across a large body of water without an escort. There are too many power boats and too many ways to get in trouble.

Thus, my interest in completing the 1.25-mile swim this Saturday. I swam at least a full mile both yesterday and today. That distance is estimated, but I think it's pretty close. I'll swim it again tomorrow, and then take Friday off.

Om is planning to go to the start with me on Saturday, so I hope he'll take some pictures. The swim is not a race. It's to raise money for the Hamlin Lake Preservation Society. I have no interest in racing- I'm sure there will be many strong young swimmers entered. I just hope I don't come in dead last.

Naked Lilies

After seeing naked lilies in bloom at the Gene Stratton Porter garden, and also at the Wegerzyn Garden in Ohio, I was hopeful that mine would be blooming when I got home. It wasn't a sure thing. Here's why.

Naked lilies, Lycoris squamigera, don't like to be moved. About three or four years ago I dug up a clump and split them to plant in the beds I've created to line the driveway. They've never yet all recovered enough to bloom. For the first time ever, they are all in flower together!



These flowers really make me happy. They're also known as surprise lilies. The surprise is that they show a mound of bright green strap-like leaves in the spring, which dies back completely. Then, in August, a naked stalk grows almost overnight, and bursts into this lovely head of flowers.

Did I tell you that I'm participating in a 1.25-mile swim on Saturday? I did a full mile today, and don't feel any the worse for it. My plan is to swim tomorrow and Thursday and then take Friday off. The only thing I'm at all concerned about is that the event is in the morning, which is not a great time of day for me. I think I'll be ok, though.

Swimming with Duke / Dreaming with Frida

 



Meet Duke. He is one of the most unusual dogs I've ever known. I'll tell you about his people in a minute. One of the really important things about his people, to Duke, is the fact that they live on Lake Superior.

We've all known dogs that love the water; that alone would not make Duke unique. Have you known a dog that would completely entertain himself as long as he had a beach? Duke first runs up and down the sand for at least a tenth of a mile in each direction. Then he heads out into the water for a long solo swim. I mean a LONG solo swim. He heads straight out for Canada until he is almost out of sight. Then he turns and swims parallel to the shore till he's well beyond his own beach, when he will finally head back into land.

I swam out pretty far myself, and I wasn't even half as far as Duke. One of the three times we went out together he swam over to me and we touched noses. I think that was a real honor! He's a four-year-old chocolate lab and Vizsla mix. Did he know that Maggie was his "cousin?"




Here are Duke's people, Ron Thorley and Frida Waara. I got to spend the last day and a half with them. They are a remarkable, generous couple. Their son, Ian, is a professional snowboarder, and their daughter, Erika, leads expeditions to summit Mt. Rainier.



I've known Frida for a couple of years. She is an outdoor writer and videographer. She's also a polar adventurer, part of the WomanQuest team that went to the North Pole in 2001. She's headed to the South Pole in November! She was the keynote speaker at the NCTA Conference, so we got to renew our budding friendship.

If I had known about WomanQuest before they went I would have applied. I'm serious. It's an amazing story of the persistence of a group of woman with a goal. Currently the only book about it is Ordinary Women, by Sue Carter. Frida is in process of writing one too.

She set about getting publicity for my trail finish, and I did do an interview with TV 6 Marquette. Amazingly, she got me into the September issue of Silent Sports magazine. That is really remarkable.

Perhaps most importantly, and I'm going to tell you more about this tomorrow, she is helping me with this redefinition of what I'm going to be... how I'm going to earn enough to support my addiction to being outside.

See Frida's Web Site Read Lawyer Leads North Pole Trek, a document about the trek, written just before they left for Russia