There are Strange Things Done 'Neath the Midnight Sun

 
Apologies to Robert Service, but today was pretty strange. You're never too old to do something for the first time, right?

I had to be at work at 8 am, but the temperature was supposed to get to 55 degrees. Laundry outside! So I hung clothes up in the dark. I've sure never done that before. They were flapping in the breeze as I left just before sunrise.



Who could believe I'd be drying clothes outside on December 10?

I thought I'd do some outside work this afternoon after I got home. It may have been warm, but it was (and is) so windy I really couldn't do much. I chased the clothes and clothespins from the yard before they left the county and then folded them inside.

My one other accomplishment was to trim that rose bush I hate for 51 weeks of the year. See link at end for its one redeeming quality.



And the midnight sun? Well, I don't live that far north, but it is two weeks from the winter solstice. Very strange weather, although I do remember mild Decembers, as well as wintry ones. The sun left us at 5 pm. But it did so with style.

	See Its One Week of Glory
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Promenade at Pentwater Pathway

 
Had an easy work week with cases, and found myself near Pentwater Pathway when I finished. Time for a hike!



The primary purpose of these trails is for cross-country ski loops. They are great to walk when there's not snow. A volunteer group, Oceana Cross Country Ski Association, keeps the trails cleared, and they do the grooming in winter. Here's a big job you can thank them for!



The temperature was perfect at about 47 degrees, and the sun even came out from time to time. I liked how it highlighted this dead pine.



Witch hazel in bloom... a subtle addition to fall beauty.



I walked the entire outer edge of all the loops, for a total of just over six miles.



I liked how this tree dealt with a horizontal wound some time in the past. Grow teeth!



Saw chickadees, crows and a white-breasted nuthatch. Also a gray squirrel. Other than that, it was pretty quiet.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer! But I have things to do at home in the afternoon. That's OK, this was a great spontaneous hike.

	See Pentwater Pathway, Sept 2013
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Problems - Solutions

 

I remembered to carry the saw with me today on my walk out back. Two problems solved.

I like to put the trail between or near trees so it's easy to follow the same path in winter (better packed underneath). Going between these was becoming a problem. Even I had to duck.



Not any more.



Here, the problem is the opposite... getting over. In fact, I'd been going around. You can faintly see where the trail was.



That one was easy.



Also took out some additional stupid autumn olive. More to do, but this was a good start.

	See Restoring My Trail
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Little Green Things Make Me Happy

 

It's amazing how baby pine trees can hide in the weeds all summer long. Today, I found five new white pines all to the east of the large clump my trail goes through.



They are probably too close together to all survive, but two or three of them should make it.

They are in two clumps.





I didn't manage to get the largest one in either of the closer pictures.

These aren't the same ones that I discovered in the summer. Not even in the same area at all. It must have been a good year for sprouting seeds. But in just a few years another few feet of my trail will go through trees!

Meanwhile, I seriously need to carry a saw with me on one of my walks. Some big branches (no plant material of value) are encroaching.

	See Surprises in My Kingdom
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Mickey Matson Comes Home

 
Three years ago, a children's adventure film was made locally, followed by a sequel. You may never have heard of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure (originally named Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy) or Mickey Matson and the Pirate's Code. But, you might have heard of the blockbuster movie "God's Not Dead." Same writer/director, Harold Cronk. He's local too. Graduated from the same high school as my Steve, a year later.

Several local actors had supporting and minor roles in the Mickey Matson films, some of whom are friends of mine. And yet, I'd never seen either film.

This afternoon, both were shown at the beautifully renovated Vogue Theater in Manistee (that's a story in itself for another day)





Following the showings, all those present who were part of the cast or crew came up front and the audience got to ask them questions.



Both are fun movies, excellently done by Cronk's 10 West Studios.

Does it say something about me that the largest pool of my acquaintances who were in the movies played pirates?

The strangest part for me was that I'd never seen a large-screen movie made in places familiar to me. It was weird to see the local college become a secret training camp, the state park a desert in Sudan, a local closed bank the scene of a bank robbery, etc.

There's a possibility that a third movie in the series will be made. That would be fun.

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