Silver Lake

 
Silver Lake is a beautiful local lake with one of the longest stretches of bare dunes along the Michigan Shore, between Silver Lake and Lake Michigan.



That said, it's one of my least favorite places to go in the summer. The DNR has decided that these dunes will be dedicated to motorized recreation. There are commercial dune rides, places for private citizens to ride their own or rented dune buggies. The small community that has grown up around the tourist business is wall to wall people and noise all summer. The state park tent sites are like side-by-side bedrooms.



However, after the summer people leave, it can be almost restful.

Like anywhere else on a lovely lake, the cottages and starter castles encroach as close as possible to the public land.



We used to deliver papers here. If the papers were late and we got there after 7 am the traffic was so bad it really made for slow deliveries.

But yesterday, I had a case to do near here, and stopped to enjoy the more natural feel of the post-tourist season.

	See I Never Would Have Seen These If
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We Build Trail in Low Places

 
This has to be what I share today. The North Country Trail Association raised the money to fund this through Kickstarter, and then did this professional video celebrating volunteers on the trail. I managed to make it to one of the filming days by stopping on the way home from my spring hike.

Just enjoy! (watch till the end... funny stuff there)

We Build Trail in Low Places--North Country Trail Association Celebrates our Volunteers! from North Country Trail on Vimeo.

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Would It Be Easier to be Green?

 
Today was the day of improbable lawn decor.

First we have the green flamingos. Wonder what they've been eating- limes? Firetrucks? And they have two friends of some unknown species. Any guesses? Pink peahens?



Then, when I was almost home, I found the guys who should be green but aren't. These are just for my pal Lin who loves her froggies! And anybody else's froggies too.



I have a little backlog of flamingos. Always good for a rainy day. Today was not rainy. It was gol-danged near perfect!

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Sorting out Asters- Two is Enough

 
There are so many kinds of asters, identification is a challenge, and remembering all the names is worse than a quiz naming the spinal nerves. At least there's a mnemonic for that!

Anyway, here are two I encountered this past week, and am pretty sure I've identified them correctly.

First is the flat-topped white aster, Aster umbellatus. At least two of the key features are in the name. The flowers are white, and the clusters are flat, although this picture doesn't show that very well.



Two other important things to look for are the sparse rays (you'd call them petals, but technically that's not what they are on asters). Each blossom might have only 2-15 of them, looking a lot as if some have gone missing. The other thing is that the leaves of this one don't clasp the stem. In many asters, they do.



Now for a blue species, Aster prenanthoides. I struggled with this one, because it wasn't either of the ones I thought it was. However, the leaves finally gave it away, so I'll start with them. These do clasp the stem a bit, but that's not the big thing. Notice the odd shape? They are wide at the tip with a few teeth, then taper quickly to have almost parallel sides near the base.



The common name, crooked-stemmed aster, comes from a feature that isn't revealed very clearly in my picture, but you can sort of see it. Follow the stalk that is coming from the top of the picture toward the bottom. At each joint the stem turns a little bit, looking zig-zag. I'll have to find a better example.


Now the question is, will I remember these?

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Black

 
Black is not my favorite color. However, I love the patterns in this black substance. Can you guess what it is?







I don't want you to see the answer too easily...

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There is a leak in the pipes that carry ink from the tank to the presses at the paper!

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