WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

Roaming along the River.

Posted on September 14, 2019 by Linda Schaub

Today’s destination was Belanger Park in River Rouge, which runs along the Detroit River. It was the first time for me visiting this venue, although I’ve meandered along the Detroit River boardwalks at Elizabeth Park, Bishop Park and Dingell Park plenty of times. The primary reason for my visit was to check out the Belanger Lighthouse. Yes, it piqued my interest last week at the Grosse Ile Lighthouse tour, and it was a beautiful day, so I headed over there. The boardwalk and lighthouse are pictured above.

Yesterday was a stormy day and we had torrential rain multiple times. Three days of rain would likely have caused lakeshore flooding in most of the parks I frequent, so this excursion was a safe bet, though I did wonder if water would be slopping over the seawall like once at Bishop Park – it was fine. The sky and clouds were a myriad of colors; at times the clouds were dark and angry looking and sometimes the sky was bright blue with fluffy clouds that were like huge cotton balls. The wind was brisk at times; if you look closely, you can see the flag flapping in the breeze.

It was a great outing and I got in six miles while strolling the River boardwalk and around the grounds. Here’s what I saw on today’s trek.

Déjà vu – just look at the view!

Yep, this lighthouse looks very similar to the one I profiled last Sunday and I mused that I have gone my entire life without going anywhere near a lighthouse and suddenly I have visited two in six days! The Belanger Lighthouse may look similar in color, but it does not have the rich history of the Grosse Ile Lighthouse. You cannot tour inside, but you can get up close and you needn’t cross a long pier with no side rails – whew!!! (And with wobbly legs no less from that 51-steep-step climb up and down to the lantern room.) This is a functioning lighthouse and was built in 2003 as a memorial to the lost Great Lakes mariners. This is the front and rear view.

There were no facts or stats by the lighthouse, except a plaque and info showing the lighthouse was built in 2003 by volunteers and dedicated the following year and the info about the Edmund Fitzgerald.

So, I researched a little for some info and discovered that the Belanger Lighthouse has been certified by the U.S. Coast Guard as an aid to navigation, and, unlike the lighthouses requiring a “keeper” this lighthouse is automated. From its lantern room, it projects a continuous white light. It is a hexagonal wooden tower, topped with a weathervane and is 56 feet tall (the Grosse Ile Lighthouse was 40 feet tall).

As mentioned, the Belanger Lighthouse is a memorial to the men of the ill-fated freighter, the Edmund Fitzgerald, whose crew of 29 were lost in a storm the evening of November 10, 1975 and subsequently memorialized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“.

When the Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958, it was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes and remains the largest ship to have sunk there. Its tie to River Rouge is that it was built in that City.

There are memory paver bricks, but it is unclear if any names represent mariners lost in the Great Lakes or merely donations for the lighthouse project.

Fishing, freighters and much more.

When I finished taking photos of the lighthouse, I decided to explore the River’s edge where just a few fishermen were casting out this morning – one was sitting on the picnic table with his fishing pole propped up against the railing. I saw this sign indicating the fishing was good and took a photo of it – you’ll recall at Lower Huron Metropark last week, there were warnings about eating the fish due to the PFAS contamination.

While admiring the view, I ran into Christy, who was seated on a park bench, similarly admiring the downtown Detroit skyline and Ambassador Bridge which connects the U.S. to Canada.

We chatted it up for a bit and I learned about the park and lighthouse. Christy’s uncle was one of the volunteers who helped build the lighthouse and her daughter was married on the lighthouse steps.

Christy was waiting on her husband to return to Belanger Park. He was in a small boat making a video for a PBS documentary about a group of kayakers who were paddling down the Detroit River on their annual Lower Industrial Rouge Tour. The kayakers are members of the Riverside Kayak Connection and they have partnered with the Friends of the Rouge since 2007 for this annual event. The kayakers began at the Melvindale boat ramp, went down the River, past the Ford Rouge Complex, and under the suspension bridges. After a two-hour trip, these kayakers were the first of the group to show up, along with Christy’s husband who is in the nearby boat.

While we chatted, we watched one freighter, from the BigLift line, hauling oversized cargo. It passed by going extremely fast for a ship of that size.

Another freighter was nearing the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit.

The BBC Leda, was waiting in the wings.

Pleasure boats dotted the waterway as well. Here are some other sights from along the Detroit River boardwalk.

The power plant was sending plumes of steam into the sky.

Just a gal and her gull.

I have an affinity for seagulls. Unlike the heron who bolts as soon as I start to take a picture, seagulls are more good-natured and will pose in place for a very long time. So, I’m sorry … I just could not help myself and took tons of seagull shots. This seagull, whom I’ll name Jonathan, was willing to let me stalk him as I walked along the boardwalk and I didn’t even have treats for him. He flew and landed every so often to keep pace with me.

It was a bit windy by the water and it kept ruffling his feathers. Jonathan let me get quite close – isn’t this a fine-looking feathered fellow?

Occasionally he got a little antsy and hopped down on the other side of the barrier.

Jonathan appeared to be woolgathering while staring out to “sea” …

… alas, he grew tired of posing …

… and flew off, muttering, er, … screeching to himself. I don’t speak seagull so I’m not sure what Jonathan said, but he didn’t return and thankfully he did not fly over my car.

As if on cue …

I wandered around the grounds at Belanger Park, which is just west of the River Rouge Power Plant. This Park is actually between two industrial sites and I could hear the coal-carrying trains circling the plant and tooting their horns while doing so. I was reading the sign about how the site is slowly becoming a natural habitat.

As if on cue, while reading about the new-and-improved area, a beautiful Monarch butterfly settled first onto the yellow daisy.

Next, that winged creature dipped and swooped as the breeze threatened to wreak havoc with its flight pattern over to the goldenrod. It made it over safely, but was hanging on for dear life, opening and closing those beautiful wings often as it braced itself to stay steady on the bright yellow flowers.

I’ve been blessed seeing butterflies lately – soon they will begin their long journey to warmer climes as they kiss Summer in Southeast Michigan goodbye.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged Lighthouses, nature, River, walk, walking | 76 Comments

The wasps are giddy!

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Linda Schaub

After Labor Day, the unofficial end of Summer, it seems we just morph into the harvest and Halloween season and go with the flow. Mums have replaced weather-beaten petunias in porch pots and I’ve already seen the first Halloween décor in the ‘hood. The whole morning walk has changed dramatically the past few weeks. Not only must I detour two blocks over due to the significant construction on my regular route, but the angle of the sun is different – the sun is getting up later every day and it sure is starting to look like Fall at Council Point Park.

Here in southeast Michigan, this season has had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it and our Summer chugs along, with merely ten days left until Fall … on the calendar anyway.

We had about five days of below-average temps, so long sleeves, or even a light hoodie were welcome in the morning – yesterday it was 74 degrees F (23 C) and 94% humidity when I stepped out the door for my morning walk. Ugh! The homeowners who closed up their pools are wistful for making such a hasty decision. Because Fall kept stepping on Summer’s toes, Mother Nature punished Fall for doing so with some whopper storms last night and more are on the way today and tomorrow – that effectively shows Fall who’s boss!

It’s apple cider time! I popped into Meijer the other day and the harvest goodies take up almost as much space in the grocery store as the Halloween candy, costumes and décor. Pumpkin “everything” seems to compete with caramel apples and of course apple cider.

Speaking of apple cider …

The wasps are giddy at Council Point Park. The wormy apples are plentiful and gathering on the ground and across the perimeter path. They are either dropping off the tree on their own, or yanked off their stems by the squirrels. The squirrels and birds take a few bites, then leave the rest of the apple on the ground to turn brown and rot. Walkers step on them, squashing them nearly to a pulp, then the heat ferments those apples so walking under the tree is like opening a container of apple cider.

What apples the squirrels and birds choose to discard, the wasps are quick to hone in on, so any time you walk past this apple tree, the wasps are buzzing about … let’s just say that buzzed buzzers must be avoided if at all possible. A fellow walker told me his dog was stung by them a few years ago at this very location.

The squirrels’ mindset is “Winter is on the way. Must. Gather. Nuts. NOW!”

The squirrels scamper over to greet me and they do their usual begging routines …

… or perhaps act nonchalantly like “oh, were you going to favor me with some peanuts Linda?”

Sucker that I am, I soon drop nuts near their front paws like they are tiny princes.

Occasionally they’ll stop to munch a peanut …

… but mostly they scamper away to hide those nuts, and soon their paws are fast and furiously digging holes here, there and everywhere …

… so much so that nut gathering becomes a blur. So much for photo ops, huh?

And then there are dribs and drabs of color around Council Point Park.

I’ve been walking at this Park since 2013 and it has always amazed me that the raggedy bushes and spindly saplings that grow along the Ecorse Creek banks are the first to show their shades of Autumn.

I’ve already seen colorful Poplar and Maple leaves littering the pathway or pavilion area.

There are berries that the birds delight in eating.

Weeds and wildflowers provide a touch of color to otherwise blah greenery near the Creek banks.

I kind of like these delicate white wildflowers.

Even the algae bloom makes a colorful, but yucky statement.

The burrs aren’t as vibrant as the berries and blossoms, but make a stunning, late-Summer appearance. They remind us that days of “brrrrrrrrrr” are on the horizon.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged Fall, nature, Summer, walk, walking | 158 Comments

Sojourn in the sticks.

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Linda Schaub

I’m feeling a little weary this morning. Over the weekend I walked almost 15 miles, drove about 80 miles and stayed up late to describe my adventures in two very long blog posts. It is raining right now, so here I sit, in my jammies, taking a load off my feet and writing about Sunday morning.

As you know, in a separate post I detailed my tour of the historic Grosse Isle North Channel Lighthouse and our delightful trip as we wended our way along East River Road through the historical neighborhoods and saw sites marking history-making events from long ago. We even caught a glimpse of a freighter and tug barge steaming down the Detroit River.

My lighthouse tour was at 1:00 p.m. so I had time to sneak in a walk at the Island’s nature preserve. I hoped that on a peaceful Sunday morning I might be lucky enough to see a family of deer, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I found it amusing that later in the day I would see deer in the exclusive neighborhood near the lighthouse, as our group waited to board the bus to return to the museum where we began the tour.

Earlier this Summer I’d made a few trips to the island looking for a good place to park and walk along the shoreline and/or trek through the woods. A fellow walker at Council Point Park lives on Grosse Ile and had been showing me family of deer he kept seeing near his home. So, he gave me some pointers on nature preserves and quiet places to see deer – this is one of them in a Grosse Ile Open Space area. These pictures were taken on a sunny day, the last time I visited this venue, but I took the same trails yesterday, but never took the camera out of the pouch as it was very dark and gloomy the entire day.

Grosse Ile Wildlife Sanctuary.

The morning was quiet as I pulled into this small nature preserve at Horsemill and Thorofare Roads. It was woodsy, but not so dense that I didn’t feel comfortable walking there alone.

The occasional car whizzed by on Horsemill Road, but other than that, it was dead silent as I meandered through the woods.

Now, if you’re looking to immerse yourself in a little nature, just barely off the beaten path, this is the place to be. It was quite humid and the scent of fresh mulch on the trails and heaped up nearby made for a heady experience.

The dappled sunshine showed me some of what this little nature preserve had to offer, like glimpses of water and sure footing as I walked along.

There were signs of interest, as well as facts and figures to make you say “wow – I didn’t know that!”

Unbelievably, both hour-long treks yielded no deer pics, as I had hoped; in fact, I saw no squirrels or birds, nary a bug or a butterfly, and not a single human either.

It was just the trees –n- me.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged nature, Peace, walk, walking | 52 Comments

1906 – it was a very good year.

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Linda Schaub

After yesterday’s trek with a country twist, today’s offering promises something out of the ordinary. For me anyway. Not a hint of nature, unless you want to count some shots of the Detroit River. I didn’t even see a seagull cruising in the skies above.

I went to visit the Grosse Isle North Channel Lighthouse, located on the Detroit River’s biggest island, a/k/a Grosse Ile, which, according to Wikipedia, is 9.6 miles (24.9 kilometers) long and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide.

The Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1963 and is now closed to the public and its structure sits on private property. However, the Grosse Ile Historical Society, once a year, on the second Sunday in September, conducts their annual Lighthouse tour. There are four groups of twenty-four people, who are taken by bus and escorted by a member of the Historical Society along the narrow dock to this Lighthouse. All donations paid for the tour are used for upkeep of the structure.

Commemorating 1906 and celebrating Grandparents Day.

I booked this trip a month ago and kept my fingers crossed the weather would be good. Last year, I likewise registered/paid in advance, and the day of the tour was rainy so I didn’t go.

I was happy the event was taking place on the same date as Grandparents Day, (here in the U.S. a day to honor your grandparents), because the Lighthouse was built in 1906, the same year my maternal grandmother was born.

I often mention my grandmother in my blog posts. She was born November 19, 1906 in Ariss, a tiny farming community near Guelph, Ontario. She had eight siblings. Six of them were boys who grew up and bought their own farms near my great grandparents, living in that rural area until their deaths. Likewise for her two sisters, who moved closer to town, but never forgot their Ariss roots. Wilhelmina, or “Minnie” as my grandmother was known, was the exception, as the only one of the Klein kids to stray to the “Big City” … that “Big City” being Toronto, where she worked in the manufacturing industry and met my grandfather. This picture is from 1926 of my grandparents with my mom.

So, the way I figure it, 1906 was a very good year for new beginnings … Minnie Godard, née Klein, and the Grosse Ile North Range Lighthouse. Technically, a portion of the Lighthouse was built in 1904, but the permanent fixture, the Grosse Ile North Channel Front Range Lighthouse, which I toured today, was built onto its current concrete foundation in the year 1906.

The Lighthouse.

Originally there were two lighthouses on this island. They were known as the Grosse Isle South Channel and Grosse Isle North Channel Lighthouses and their range lights guided mariners sailing along Grosse Isle. The South Channel Lighthouse structure is gone and only this historic structure remains. The black-and-white photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, featured in the header image shows the Lighthouse, circa 1904, on its original structure.

The Lighthouse may look tall in this old photo, but its actual height is just 40 feet. It is not as narrow inside as I suspected it might be. If anything was narrow, it was the dock/pier upon which you must walk carefully to get to the Lighthouse. As you see above (and below in my photos), it is a skinny pathway and on either side is a lot of water, perhaps a little daunting to one that does not know how to swim (like me). I wondered how close the water would be to the pier area, as we are five inches higher than normal due to heavy rains in the Spring. I was surprised to find plenty of clearance. My worries were unfounded (as usual).

I arrived shortly before our tour departure time of 1:00 p.m. There were many people milling about on the front lawn of the Grosse Ile Historical Society. I figured they were just like me, early arrivals for the 1:00 p.m. tour. I guessed wrong as they were actually tour members of a lighthouse club. I didn’t know that I would get a crash course in lighthouse lingo and meet some people who are enthusiastic about visiting lighthouses around North America. Who knew? Of the four groups of 24 persons that would tour the Lighthouse today, the first two groups were members of a club known as the “United States Lighthouse Society” and this was news to me. So 46 members of this group were on the first day of a seven-day tour, beginning in Detroit. The tour was entitled “Lake Erie North” with stops along Lake Erie in Chatham, Dunville, Simcoe and then on to Niagara Falls. They will visit a whopping 25 lighthouses this week.

I learned that all persons in this group have “lighthouse passports” which resemble a regular passport, and just as you get stamps at various ports of calls or countries you visit in a regular passport, they similarly covet a stamp marking their visit at each lighthouse. One woman in our 1:00 p.m. group, was not with the tour group, just attending as she is a lighthouse aficionado, and she wanted her passport stamped with today’s adventure. She told me she was already on her second passport of lighthouse visits and showed me her last entry which is the Grosse Ile Lighthouse.

So I was the only person who was a “newbie” in our 1:00 p.m. group, as I’d never been in a lighthouse before. The group was warm and friendly as they regaled me with tales of where they had toured in the past and what they would see on this trip. They will visit two lighthouses in Michigan today: the Grosse Ile Lighthouse and the Belanger Park Lighthouse in River Rouge. I was rather red-faced when I told them I never knew River Rouge, (a nearby city), had a lighthouse.

We left the museum, which is actually a former train depot built in 1904.

Vintage-type signs all around the depot/museum describe life back when this was a bustling depot and commerce in the area was done by train until 1931 when the Grosse Ile Parkway and “free bridge” were finished.

The bus driver stopped along the shoreline as we traveled to Hennepin Point. Our guide, a member of the Historical Society, narrated stories of historical significance to the island, including the homes of the wealthy homeowners who made their fortunes in local products like Vernors (soft drink) and Kelsey-Hayes (automotive parts).

We traveled along a row of stately homes on Lighthouse Point Drive. Once off the bus, we walked toward the Lighthouse. Once a year, the owner of the home (who owns Mans Lumber) permits these four tours to be conducted. We assembled on the homeowner’s front lawn by the shoreline, approximately 50 feet from the Lighthouse which sits on a 25-foot square concrete pier. The wooden walkway is actually a private boat dock. I asked if the five inches of above-normal rainfall covered the pier in the Spring and it did. Good thing no one had to light the lantern if waves were lapping at the pier!

I had read up on the history of the lighthouse and its restoration through the years. I knew it sustained much damage this past Winter, when the Polar Vortex froze most of the Detroit River solid and the ice piled up and thick chunks plowed into the Lighthouse base and railings causing much damage. You can see the ice chunks and damage by clicking here:

I saw the solid ice and ice chunks at Bishop Park, also on the Detroit River, and did a post about it. I was amazed at such a sight of the entire River being solid ice and waves had frozen in mid-air. It was a sight to behold. The Lighthouse was partially repaired and tomorrow the scaffolding will go up and painting and further restoration will begin.

We followed our guide who allowed eight persons access at a time. We were told there were 51 steps to ascend to reach the eight-sided lantern room, where all but two are the original windows/casings.

The steps were steep in the circular staircase. The inside was not well lit and the wood paneling was dark making it difficult to ascend the steps. This was a view along the way.

The last 11 steps had no railing. My tour buddies were all good with the steps, having done countless lighthouse tours in the past, but I was dealing with my eyeglasses, still dark from being outside, and the steep stairs. We arrived in the lantern tower. This is how it looks from the outside.

This is the view from the lantern tower:

Here at the lantern tower we were given a lecture on the Lighthouse, its significance in guiding mariners, as well as its various Lighthouse Keepers through the years. And then there was the trip down again. I was dreading it and I have to tell you that my legs were still wobbly as I walked across the wooden ramp which is a private boat dock used to access the Lighthouse

Here are some photos of the Lighthouse against a very dark sky with many brooding clouds.

When we finished the tour and waited to board the bus back to the depot, some tour members spotted four fawns in the bushes in a neighbor’s yard and the Mama deer loped across the driveway as we were boarding. I’d already tucked the camera back in the case, so no pics. It was an interesting and fun trip.

[Photo credit for header photo: United States Coast Guard]

Posted in Uncategorized | 55 Comments

Smiling faces and wide-open spaces.

Posted on September 7, 2019 by Linda Schaub

Everything was going great, and then there was that proverbial fork in the road.

Decisions, decisions … I’m horrible at decisions, especially when I glimpse two vehicles behind me in my rearview mirror and their drivers are honking.

Patience is a virtue people – cut me some slack! Especially because Google Maps never mentioned no stinkin’ fork in the road in those directions I so carefully copied from my computer screen early this morning.

Well there was no time to dawdle, nor risk more horn honking and maybe even a stray finger showing up when I next glanced in the rearview mirror.

So, I chose the right fork, though I saw nowhere straight ahead that I was supposed to be making my next turn. I knew the last part of those directions would be problematic … every few tenths of a mile, it was either a left or right turn. Well, I put on my right blinker and moved along, just to get those drivers off my tail and also figure out what to do next. After all, nobody said I had to be the first one standing at the gate when the DeBuck’s Sunflower Festival opened this morning.

Just relax Linda!

But, soon I found myself on Waltz Road and I knew I was on the wrong track – sigh.

But I kept rolling along anyway.

A big sign said “Welcome to Huron Township” and before the afternoon was done I would pass through the villages of New Boston, Waltz and Willow, all part of Huron Township.

Gradually my irritation with my direction SNAFU disappeared as my mindset shifted from: “Must of Got Lost” to “Roll with it” and I eventually settled on “Out in the Country”.

I conceded I was enjoying this road trip, though it was not getting me to the sunflower farm anytime soon.

I continued on my journey, past all the tall corn stalks bending with the breeze. Okay, I could do that too … bend with the breeze, I mean, go with the flow.

Oh look – a turkey farm and a pig farm.

A sod farm too.

And a ton of road kill – eww! The road kill was gory enough to see, but I had to roll up the window, shutting out that cool breeze, when I smelled a skunk. “P.U.!” as we used to say when we were kids and smelled a skunk. (I know I just lost a few of you and I had to check Urban Dictionary to ensure it didn’t have some other meaning in 2019.)

Wow – I was really out in the boonies!

There were multiple roadside stands like this one.

The stand was unattended, so you bought your goodies on the honor system as you see from the sign. Across a narrow gravel road was a huge garden brimming with a bounty of beefsteak tomatoes in different stages of ripening on many tangled vines. A few cukes were suspended by stems that grew between large leaves that wandered around the floor of the garden. I looked for a “no trespassing” sign and there was none. I saw no humans or big dogs and the only sentries “guarding” the garden were these sunflowers. I decided to take a few pictures just in case I didn’t make it to the sunflower farm today – at least I’d have a mini sunflower fix.

Back on the road again, I passed through the tiny town of Waltz, Michigan. I haven’t been this way in decades and my head swiveled back and forth as I drove down the main street in this quaint town. There was The Waltz Inn, just as I remember it. On our Sunday-drive-in-the-country jaunts, my folks and I sometimes went there to eat. The Inn is over a century old, rumored to be haunted and has a colorful prohibition history as well.

I decided I was hopelessly lost by now and of course I did not have a paper map in the car, no GPS tracking device, nor a smart phone, just my flip phone. All I had was my written directions and I had already strayed far from my original route.

Before I turned around to head back to wherever, I saw a sign for Apple Charlies, a popular cider mill. It’s been years since I was at this venue either, so what the hay, maybe I’d make a pit stop here as well. That side trek didn’t happen since I got to the intersection to turn and it was blocked off by a brigade of police vehicles with lights flashing, but no sirens. I waited in a long queue as 100 motorcyclists with their riders rolled in front of us. Wow – pretty impressive. I wondered what the occasion was – funeral of a fellow biker, maybe a ride for a cause?

Since the police diverted traffic to accommodate the bikers, I went down still another road – “this will be interesting” I thought, glad that I had a full tank of gas.

Before I had too much angst, I saw a sign for Lower Huron Metropark – well, this was on my Trek Bucket List. Dare I go here and just skip the Sunflower Festival until another day? Sure, why not?

It was the first time here and just like the other Metroparks, it did not disappoint. I took in the sights as I walked along a pathway that wound parallel to the Lower Huron River. I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with cuffs, long pants with cuffs and socks to thwart any mosquitoes, as the health department is warning everyone to keep covered when walking near any woodsy areas as we had a death from EEE, (the mosquito-borne virus), yesterday and several other cases have been discovered.

I said “good morning” to a few walkers or bicyclists, but I pretty much had the trail to myself. The occasional colorful leaf fluttered down onto the pathway and the refreshing cool temps were reminiscent of Fall. The camera was clicking away as I inspected wildflowers near and spilling over the split rail fence and the bees and butterflies were plentiful. I’ve included a few of those shots below.

Blooms, butterflies and bees.

The wildflowers were so vibrant …

… and a few Monarch butterflies danced and hovered over them.

Bees busied themselves, burrowing down into the blossoms.

Signs touted fishing in the area where I walked along the Huron River, but it was catch-and-release only due to PFAS contamination in the water.

You see one fellow fishing, but the dock where most of the fishing is done was empty.

There were a few oddities along the way worth noting.

We’re happy to yield to turtles, but it sure would be nice to eliminate these tent caterpillars which seem hellbent on ravaging all the leaves on this bush.

As I passed each mile it made me want to savor the perfect Summer day as this season is on the wane now.

Peaceful is the word I’d use to describe these three canoeists paddling down the Huron River Water Trail.

I walked seven miles before hopping into the car to head home. I’ll get better directions and try again next weekend – how difficult can it be? After all, this Park and the Sunflower Festival were in the same city and same zip code!

Tranquil time in nature versus the busy festival atmosphere was just perfect. In retrospect, I believe I did NOT take the wrong fork in the road after all.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged Bees, Butterflies, nature, sunflowers, walk, walking, wildflowers | 61 Comments

Tuesday Musings.

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Linda Schaub

The school bells are tolling again.

Today all the schools are back in session. I don’t have to look at the calendar date – nope, and I don’t even rely on common sense – just my senses: who can miss that yellowy-orange bus amid a sea of SUVs, all grinding to a halt as they enter a school zone? And look at the school kids hefting brand-new backpacks and not even attempting to hide their sullen looks as they trudge to the door where the principal greets them with a smile. Those scowling kids see right past that principal’s silly grin as they anticipate 179 more days of tests, homework and alarm clocks going off at the crack of dawn.

Next, while I wend my way to the Park, of course I could hear that school bus, chugging up and down the street, gears grinding like it was hauling a load of middle linebackers, instead of just a group of school kids.

Once that bus had passed, in its wake was the unmistakable smell of diesel fumes as huge plumes threatened to choke every squirrel and bird in the ‘hood … and Yours Truly too.

Yep, school is back in session, the 2019 version.

Many moons ago it was the first day of school for me too.

I didn’t take the bus, as E.A. Orr Public School was just a stone’s throw away from the cul-de-sac, a/k/a Sandmere Place, where I lived. All us kids in the neighborhood were around the same age and someone’s older sister would herd us along to school every morning and again at the end of our school day. Big sister Monica was puffed up with importance as she walked alongside all of us fresh-faced tykes. We giggled aplenty and childish squeals erupted as we tripped along Sandmere Place, but when we got to Tansley Drive, we obediently did as our parents asked and clasped onto a friend’s free hand. Then, with Monica in the lead, we were a brigade of munchkins marching across this busy street. We arrived safely at our elementary school (pictured below) simply because there was safety in numbers.

I wasn’t scared in the least and I figured I had this kindergarten thing licked, because we’d already practiced spelling and vocabulary words, plus I learned math by adding and subtracting animal crackers or Smarties, the Canadian equivalent of plain M&Ms. (Despite those fun exercises, math has never been my strong point and evidently I was not a stellar speller, despite Mom’s coaching, because I enlarged the photo to check out the name tag on my dress for the first day of school – I’m pretty sure I wrote my name, not Mrs. Kellett and I made an abomination of it.)

Long before I started kindergarten I could rattle off: “My name is Linda Susan Mary Schaub, and I live at 497 Sandmere Place, Oakville, Ontario, Canada. My phone number is Valley 7-3219.“ (Oh my, but the human brain is pretty amazing isn’t it after all these years?)

When just a handful of days remained before kindergarten began, and I would finally don my new plaid dress and sport a barrette that was positioned just so, to pin some wayward strands of hair from my eyes so I could see the blackboard, Mom sat me down and said that yes, I was a big girl going to school, but she had something important to tell me. No, it was not a spiel on the birds and the bees, nor to bust the myth about Santa and his reindeer, but instead, it was a lesson on “stranger danger” even though this was decades before the term “stranger danger” was coined. Sadly today’s 5-year olds are much savvier about such unpleasant subjects, than we were circa 1961. That’s thanks to the internet which they readily access on smart phones and tablets. Face it, they know a helluva lot more about life in general than we ever did at their age.

So, after Mom imparted her wisdom to me, she said “now don’t be scared, learn lots of new things and make Mommy and Daddy proud of you.”

So, off I went, leaving behind my comfort zone of Mom, “Romper Room” and “Captain Kangaroo” and began kindergarten with Mrs. Kellett and all my new classmates. Some were already my playmates from the neighborhood. We learned a lot and had mid-morning milk and cookies and a nap on a pad that was placed on the classroom floor.

So what advice did Mom give me all those years ago?

As I recall, it went like this:

“If someone tries to give you candy or sweets, politely say ‘no thank you’ and then run away!”

“If someone tries to lay a hand on you, scream as loud as you can and then run away!”

“If someone calls you over to their car, you run away!”

“Don’t get into anyone’s car – ever. That means even a neighbor’s car, even someone you know – don’t get into their car. You know what to do Linda, right?”

“And, if someone tells you Mommy or Daddy were hurt and they’ll take you to them, run as fast as your legs will carry you!”

“If you are lost, look for a policeman, or ask someone to find a policeman, then tell him your name, address and telephone number that you memorized. You can always trust a policeman. When Mommy was your age, all the kids wanted to walk across the busy street in front of the school with the policeman and hold his hand.”

“So, have you got all that Linda?”

Wow, that was a lot to absorb and I obediently said “yes Mommy” … a lot to fill a little kid’s head with.

As a kid I always toed the line – my parents were strict and with no siblings to back me up or help forge new trails, I was all on my own. I never forgot Mom’s warnings as I advanced through elementary, middle and high school. Even as I wandered the halls of Old Main on Wayne State University’s campus in Detroit, her words echoed in my mind. I was always aware of my surroundings and I was always careful.

Until one rainy day.

I was wearing a brand-new outfit, a sky-blue sundress made of silk voile fabric. There were at least a thousand tiny white polka dots splashed across the bodice and a swirl of tiny pleats that swished when I walked. A white linen bolero blazer completed the ensemble. It was the first day after the Memorial Day holiday and I was excited to get dressed up with white sandals and a white purse since it was now acceptable to “wear white” … suffice it to say I thought I was “all that”! 🙂

Because the dress had an under liner it had to be dry cleaned … in fact, a warning on the label said “do not wash!” There were no worries as it was supposed to be a beautiful and sunshiny day. But alas, the weather forecasters didn’t always get it right (even back in the 80s). I was sitting on the bus on the way home and out of the corner of my eye I could see dark clouds gathering. I couldn’t concentrate on my book as I stewed and fretted over the fate of my dress once I got off the bus, since I had to cross busy Fort Street and walk a block or so after that.

As the bus pulled over to my stop and I hopped off, the big fat drops started a’ flyin’ and soon there was a rumble of thunder as well – just great. I dashed to take cover under the drive-in bank’s concrete canopy, prepared to plant myself there until the storm was over, even if it took all evening.

But, after hunkering down for a short time, I heard a horn honk and a police car pulled into the bank’s parking lot. I watched the rain-spattered window roll down and a young police officer gave me a toothy grin and said “it looks like you’re going to get your pretty dress all wet – want to hop in and I’ll give you a ride home?”

Casting all sense and sensibility to the wind, I smiled sweetly and said “sure” and got into the police cruiser. The officer asked my name and address and we were off, (thankfully without the sirens going), and not a thought in my head except how I was salvaging my new outfit. He pulled up in the driveway and I said “thanks a bunch – I appreciate it immensely” and I hopped out.

When I got into the house, my mom said “I thought about you coming home in the rain with your new outfit – why, your dress is bone dry. Did someone from work give you a ride home?”

I told her about my good fortune.

She said “oh, was it one of the cops you knew from Carter’s?” (I worked at a diner through college and we prepared all the meals for the prisoners, so I got to know all the police officers who came to pick the food up.)

“Nope, just a young officer, likely fresh out of the academy, who was being polite, considering I’m a lot older than he was – he was just being nice Mom.”

She didn’t miss a beat and said: “well I thought I raised a smarter kid. Didn’t you pay attention to me all those years ago?”

Hmm …. well, I didn’t miss a beat either and said “but you always told me it was safe to trust a policeman when I was a kid, so why is it any different now, if I may be so bold and brazen as to ask?” (My mom and I didn’t always see eye to eye on everything.)

She sighed long and loud and took a moment to respond, and when she did, she said “Linda dear – sometimes you just have to use your head for more than a place to hang your earrings.”

Well, chastising me like that stung a little, but I have to admit it was a bit reckless on my part. No, I was not a babe in the woods, so blame it on vanity, or even stupidity if you will. Or perhaps I was just too trusting.

After that episode, I got a fold-down golf umbrella and a lightweight, full-length raincoat and they stayed in my bus tote bag year around for the rest of my commuting days. Of course, if you listen to the news these days, there are the occasional rogue cops, or persons impersonating a police officer who stop women for traffic infractions. This was just a nice officer being a good guy. But yes, I do concede you have to have your wits about you every time you step out of the house, no matter what age you are.

So why did I relay that silly story from eons ago?

Saturday morning I got to Council Point Park and soon thereafter, a truck carrying a crew of grass cutters arrived and began to unload their large and noisy industrial lawn mowers. Well that was a bummer because I knew the squirrel interaction would be zero, because once the machines started up, the squirrels would beat a hasty retreat to their respective nests to cower in silence. I knew the grass cutting would continue even after I departed, so I deposited peanuts on the picnic tables, a few park benches and a cement wall to give my furry friends a snack later.

But one squirrel, either oblivious to the roar of a half-dozen large lawnmowers, or very hungry, threw caution to the wind and came to see what I offered, though he appeared a bit wary to this tall stranger, obviously a “newbie” to this venue. As I stood there trying to coax him over to the park bench for some peanuts, he gave me the once-over to determine whether I was indeed trustworthy enough to come down from his high perch atop a chain-link fence, where he hightailed it once the noise began.

He looked down at me with a hint of disdain.

Then he tip-toed along the top of the fence, treating it like a thick tightrope, and I pictured the gears in his brain simultaneously matching the soft clicking noises I made to try to woo him to the short tree next to where I stood since he didn’t seem to like the park bench.

Alas, he deemed this stranger posed no danger, so, with a little fancy footwork …

… he joined me on the ground where I coaxed him closer to me with peanuts, many more than he could stuff into his mouth (though he would surely try to do so).

Unfortunately, the fellow with the weed whacker came along and fired that baby up – the noise was deafening, and my furry friend took off, the half-eaten peanut shells scattering to the wind. He beat it up the tree at the speed of sound, and, heart pounding, he looked around …

… so, was he looking for help, (the squirrel equivalent of “phoning a friend”), someone to come fetch him from the horrible noise and a stranger who was way too close for comfort?

His safe haven became a fork in the tree and that cranny seemed tailor-made for him.

There he perched, just waiting for a chance to bolt and be done with all these intrusive humans. When I tried to put some peanuts up there for him, I obviously intruded into his personal space, and he shot right to the top of the tree. He’s no Parker and we’ll have to work on establishing some trust here. I tried to find him each successive time around the walking loop to no avail.

So here’s a quote to close this longish post: “Safety is as simple as your ABCs – always be careful.”

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged nature, Park, school, Squirrel, walk, walking | 71 Comments

Cone zones, country roads and …

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Linda Schaub

… a special anniversary. More about that at the end of this post.

I stayed close to home and didn’t venture far on this first day of the long holiday weekend. There is construction everywhere, and, with so many of our parks still soggy and swampy and the media advising us to stay away from woodsy and marshy areas due to the EEE mosquito-borne virus crisis, I figured it was prudent to just stick close to home.

Honestly, driving isn’t very fun anymore between dodging orange barrels and cones and then there are all the potholes. There are so many road construction projects in the Mitten State right now, the traffic reporters are tongue tied by the time they relay them all and “the Game of Cones” is how the media refers to Michigan’s current road construction woes.

Our new governor’s campaign promise was she would “fix the damn roads” so drivers, fed up with car-swallowing potholes, flat tires and broken axles, were buoyed by her proclamation. To gain revenue to repair those roads, Governor Whitmer had proposed a gas tax of $0.45 cents, ($0.15 at six-month intervals beginning in October), but it likely will not be implemented as scheduled. So, our roads will continue to crack and crumble and they are even a walking hazard.

Corncobs, ‘maters and cruising on a country road.

So you hop into the car to get from Point A to Point B, but driving has lost its appeal in my opinion. Back when I was a kid, and even a teenager, I remember my folks and me going on a Sunday afternoon drive. My father had a 1972 Chevy Impala and it was the Sunday car. During the week he drove a VW Fastback stick shift and that was because he worked near a cement factory and didn’t want the cement dust collecting all over his “baby”. So every Sunday, we’d take a long drive out in the country.

Long before the large produce markets were available, and even before the tiny farmers market set up shop in our city, come August, a Sunday drive in the country was the ideal way to get the pick of the produce from the roadside stands.

We would pass by dozens of roadside stands, trying to accomplish “one-stop shopping” and, as my father slowed down the car, my mother craned her neck to peer at each stand’s offerings. Sometimes there was a sign advertising their produce; other times you could see the husks of corn, their silks riffling in the breeze, or the bright red tomatoes spilling out of a wooden basket. There would be cukes big enough to put a knot on your head if you chose to wield them just right. Sun-ripened peaches and plums would magically become a cobbler or kuchen before week’s end. My mother would call out “do you have green beans, I’d love to make a stew?” And, if it was time for new potatoes, she’d be salivating thinking about those too. Mom would boil them with the skins on, split them open and spread pats of sweet butter which formed golden pools on our dinner plates. When we finally stopped the car, I remember you’d just point at a basket and they’d have it turned upside down and the contents emptied into a brown bag in a heartbeat. No cash registers were around as the tallying of all produce was done in the proprietor’s head, or on a scratch pad.

My mom was a tough customer and wanted to check out the beefsteak tomatoes herself – she was not going to take their word that there were no mushy ones on the bottom. Her inspection tended to rile the vendor and he grimaced while he said “lady – I throw the bad ones out or eat ‘em myself!” She’d reluctantly relent and grab a basket and off we’d go, returning the following week, weather permitting. This continued through September. Often the vendors had bouquets of Fall flowers for a song, so sunflowers and cheery mums, the occasional daisies or Black-eyed Susans would grace the kitchen counter until the next Sunday outing.

I had such vivid memories of those roadside stands while passing some enroute to Oakwoods Metropark last Saturday morning. I couldn’t help but flash back all those years ago, as it was such a regular ritual and an excuse to run “Old Betsy” at the same time. We’d get home later in the day and Mom would have those tomatoes out of the basket, washing the field dirt off and slicing them with the long, serrated knife in record time. Occasionally she’d swipe one for herself, leaning over the sink with a huge tomato in one hand, the salt shaker in the other, a happy grin on her face and juice dribbling down her chin as she savored that guilty pleasure. Mom was like the character of Edward X. Delaney in the Lawrence Sanders novels, the Detective who liked devouring sloppy deli sandwiches over the sink as he pondered his tricky cases. Our tomato slices were stacked on hot, crispy buttered toast, no bacon or lettuce … a no-frills treat.

Trek bucket list.

It is eight years ago this Labor Day weekend since I began my walking regimen, so I decided to write about that special anniversary.

Just like last year, in the Spring I made a mental list of what walking or miscellaneous events I would like to attend and parks I wanted to visit. The incessant Spring rain annoyingly messed up my weekend walking agenda, and, when finally the torrential rain ceased, the lakeshore flooding kept me away from several of the state parks and Metroparks as well. It seemed wherever I did venture, parks were soggy or muddy or worse, mosquito laden. So I may have not fulfilled my trek bucket list, but, a constant in my walking regimen is Council Point Park, my favorite nature nook, and it never disappoints. Though I began my walking regimen on Labor Day weekend of 2011, I never started walking at this venue until May of 2013.

Rules of the road.

No walk is the same, nor is it mundane. If you are mindful of your surroundings, there are endless things to notice and take delight in at the Park, or even along the way, as you will see in the captioned photos below:

AVOID One eye opened, one eye closed SYNDROME.
Always have that robust cup of coffee in the morning before heading out; otherwise you might mix up your favorite squirrel’s treats!

have a big breakfast.
Load up on lots of protein and carbs.

AVOID JACKRABBIT STARTS.
If you dilly-dally on WordPress in the morning, this is how you will look bolting out the door.

BE SURE TO STAY HYDRATED.
You’ll keep a spring in your step that way.

GET LOTS OF SLEEP.
Or you’ll look and feel bedraggled even before you leave.

set a goal as you step out.
Strap on that pedometer – you go girl!!

start every day with a clean slate.
No worries, no thoughts, just let your mind be a blank as you stroll.

**remember to practice mindfulness.**
**That way the joy from your walk will stay with you the rest of the day.**

always be curious.
Pretend you’re a kid again and explore everything.

don’t litter!
It’s okay to feed your furry and feathered friends, but don’t leave any messes behind.

always stay vigilant.
Don’t go off the beaten path on your own and watch for Mute Swans who may chase after you. **Surprises are not always fun!**

don’t ever stop.
Why? Because you’ll lose momentum.

always be filled with awe.
Stand up and take notice of everything that crosses your path.

remember not to sweat the small stuff.
And remember to watch for small stuff along the perimeter path.

don’t blow your own horn all the time.
It’s good to be proud of your walking regimen, but keep it to yourself, except when you’re blogging about your total steps. 🙂

always watch for photo ops.
Especially when fellow walkers pour Cracker Jack on the perimeter path.

always look behind you.
A passel of squirrels might be following at your heels.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged Beauty, driving, nature, walk, walking | 118 Comments

There was a Fall-like feel in the air.

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Linda Schaub

The road trip was long (for me anyway) … it was 20 miles from my house to Oakwoods Metropark in Flat Rock, Michigan. I had been leery of visiting there as so many of our parks are still flooded or swampy from May and June’s incessant rainfall. I figured I’d take a chance and try and make a day of it, so I took my red vinyl boots in case I needed them. It was beautiful weather, with low humidity and refreshingly cool for a late August day. I aimed to take a long hike, then settle in to learn some sketching techniques and implement them on the nearby trail.

Because I sometimes get lost when driving, as I am definitely directionally challenged, I left extra early. Oakwoods Metropark has been on my Trek Bucket List for over a year, so when I spotted this sketching class called “Walk, Talk & Sketch” … well, I was all in. I figured I could also fulfill something on my future Retirement Bucket List, i.e. learning to sketch or paint as a hobby in my golden years. Not only did I treat myself to the event (a mere $5.00), but I bought a sketch pad and some number two pencils too. I thought it would fun, and believe me, I was not ready to quit my day job and become an artist at the end of the day. If you read my most-recent post, you’ll see why. You can click here if you missed it.

I found a place to park near the Nature Center where we were to meet, so I left the art supplies in the car and went off to explore. Outside the building I checked out the enclosures and discovered an Owl and a Red-Tailed Hawk. I’ve never seen an owl before and this one preferred the darkest corner of its enclosure, so mostly all I could see were glowing eyes and tufted ears. I am going to ID it as a “long-eared owl” (no surprise there), but there was no name on its enclosure. I later learned it was injured, then rehabbed and this is its permanent home, since it cannot survive on its own in the wild.

The Red-Tailed Hawk was singing me a song here … it has a rather evil grin, doesn’t it?

I only knew this raptor’s name and ID because I passed its permanent home in the woods earlier that day. Because enquiring minds want to know, I asked Paula, our interpretive guide, if this was indeed “Hawkeye” and yes it is.

I meandered down the pathway where I saw a hut made entirely out of tree bark. I don’t know if it serves a purpose, but, as you can see it was roped off. I peered inside but there was nothing to see.

So what might be awaiting me in those woods anyway?

The preliminary exploration over, it was time to hit the Long Bark Trail. I had researched about Oakwoods Metropark in the past. There are three trails and reviews stated that it was a haven for critters.

So, I started on this trail which links up with the Sky Come Down Trail (one mile long) and the Big Tree Trail (3/4s of a mile long) depending on which fork in the road, er … trail you pick. I wondered what critters would cross my path? Furry, feathered? Perhaps a deer – now that would be nice. What about a friendly raccoon? That would make a great photo op. Maybe a cute squirrel? Metropark rules forbid feeding the wildlife, so I always leave the peanuts at home.

The Long Bark Trail had an overlook at a portion of the Huron River and watershed area.

At this wooden overlook, I could see a marshy lagoon and some pond lilies. Unlike Lake Erie Metropark which has several water lotus beds where the water lotuses rise high above the elephant-ear-sized leaves, these were just large lily pads floating on top of the water and there were no lilies blooming and since the pond lilies and reeds created an all-green and almost blah background in the marsh, it was very easy to see the stark white color of a pair of Mute Swans and a Great Egret who were companionably fishing in the lagoon. They were quite far away, so I was lucky to get this photo.

There were many benches dotting the River’s edge, but seating was also found throughout the woodsy areas. I found it interesting that every one of the wooden benches had a weathered look with splotches due perhaps to lack of sunshine as the wood never completely dries out.

Soon I was back onto a more defined path in a woodsier area. There were mushrooms in many areas where sunlight was scarce.

There was a definite Fall feel in the air and the leaves and acorns scattered about looked more like a September scenario.

The breeze made it seem a mite chilly so at mile marker #2, the sun felt good.

It was quiet and peaceful and the only critters around were the mosquitoes occasionally attacking my bare arms and hands, or buzzing around my ears. Sometimes I’d be startled by an acorn plopping to the ground from one of the many oak trees. It was very still and I saw just a handful of hikers or Saturday strollers as I meandered along, likewise on the Sky Come Down Trail and the Big Tree Trail.

Here is a view of some of the trees on the latter trail.

I lost count of the amount of trees that had fallen in the forest and I noted they were left as if they had just toppled to the ground. In many cases, those old logs presented an interesting pattern of decay …

…. or mysterious-looking holes …

… and sometimes branches or twigs looked like an over-sized game of Pick-up Sticks.

But what I found fascinating was the abundance of moss. It was everywhere, on old logs, and on the pathway. I’m guessing it was because only dappled sunlight was able to filter through the trees so there was moisture in abundance, especially given all our rainfall this year.

Moss was even on one of the walking paths. The sunlight made all the moss look almost emerald green.

A grasshopper caught my eye when it hopped onto some gravel. Once it saw the hulking human looming over it, that grasshopper went airborne but landed against my leg. A faint fluttering against my shin seemed to stun it and it landed on the gravel and scrambled off for good this time.

Just a gal and her butterfly.

The highlight of my Saturday morning meander was the butterfly which alighted on the ground next to my foot. I’ve never seen a blue butterfly, so I’m guessing, based on my research, that it is a Red-Spotted Purple. Yep, you and I know it is blue, but that is its name. It first alighted near a dried-up oak leaf, as you saw pictured above. That butterfly stayed in place for the longest time and I watched it opening and closing its wings. It was as if it was rejoicing to bask on the warm gravel in that patch of sun. Back when I had my butterfly garden, the experts advised to place large flat rocks around the garden so butterflies visiting your garden can bask in the sun. It was a chilly morning, by August standards, and this was the only area of the trail that was not moss covered or mulched up and in the direct sun. So Mr. (or Ms.) Butterfly was enjoying those sunbeams that were streaming down. It stretched leisurely, opening and closing its wings, then leaving the wings spread out, its beautiful colors displayed. It was during this display of colors that I noticed this poor creature’s wings were tattered in many places. However, when it finally flitted away, it did so by delicately landing on a wildflower without any hint of wing impairment.

I insisted on taking a selfie with my fluttery friend, albeit a shadow selfie.

The butterfly had his/her own shadow magic going on.

I found the most human activity at the paved bike pathway which winds around the Park. There were many bicyclists out and I walked along that bike pathway when I was done with the rustic trails. The flowers interspersed with cattails blowing in the breeze was picturesque considering it was a ditch.

It was a large park, 350 acres altogether, and I would have explored it more, but I didn’t want to get lost or be late for the sketching event at 2:00 p.m. I would have liked to visit the Butterfly viewing area and Monarch waystation on the other side of the Park, but I was lucky enough to see the blue butterfly so no need to stop there.

Meanwhile back at the Nature Center …

Had I arrived just a few minutes earlier to the Nature Center, I would have witnessed the release of four Monarch Butterflies into the woods behind the Center. I entered the building and saw the back door open and a few people gathered at the doorway. A Monarch butterfly was sitting on a woman’s hand and as I reached for my camera, she said “here, let him sit on your hand and I’ll take a picture of it.” Remembering what happened with the last friendly butterfly, I jumped at this chance and extended my hand only to have to fly up into the air. Maybe next time. The butterfly exhibit inside the Nature Center still had one Monarch that had just emerged and several chrysalises where caterpillars hung in their pale green sacs and will soon emerge as Monarch butterflies and be released just as these were.

I took pictures of the snakes and turtles inside the Nature Center, but this post is way too long already, so I’ll write about them my next time to this venue. We had a very rainy morning today – not lucky for racking up steps, but with a stormy day ahead, at least I was able to wrap up and put a bow on this post.

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged bliss, nature, Park, walk, woods | 97 Comments

“Walk, Talk & Sketch”

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Linda Schaub

Prior to publishing last Sunday’s post about creativity, where I introduced you to Brian and his paintings and a few of the vendors at the “Art in the Park” event, I was perusing my Metroparks newsletter to see if anything captured my interest.

One event, which name I used for this post title, drew me like a magnet: “Walk, Talk & Sketch – Take your art outdoors. Learn some of the basics of field sketching; then hit the meadows and woods of Oakwoods Metropark for inspiration.”

Michigan’s Metroparks are comprised of nine separate venues, with a total of 84 miles (135 kms) of rustic and paved hiking and biking trails. The adjoining waterways make it perfect for fishing or boating activities. I bought my first park pass last July, and sadly, I’ve only been to one of their venues (Lake Erie Metropark). Since I wanted to try out Oakwoods Metropark and Summer is slipping by, I signed up for this event.

I’ll do a separate post about the six-mile long hike I took after arriving there around 9:15 a.m. I wasn’t sure how long we’d walk while sketching, so I cut myself off after walking six miles. The woodsy areas were not so dense that you’d worry about getting lost, or being alone in the middle of nowhere, so I walked all of the trails, taking a lot of pictures. I found it amusing that the reviews about Oakwoods Metropark mentioned lots of critter activity. I found a grasshopper and a butterfly and took their photos. Then I saw a Great Egret breaking bread, er … fish with a couple of Mute Swans in the distance, all which will be fodder for a Part II post about this jaunt.

After hiking the rustic trails from about 9:30 to 12:30 and reaching my six-mile, self-imposed steps cutoff, I realized I still had 90 minutes to kill before the sketching event began. So, I took out my sketch pad and pencil and parked myself on a picnic bench under a tree while the breeze stirred the wispy tendrils around my face and a cacophony of insect noises, (maybe cicadas), were music to my ears.

I didn’t sketch a thing, but instead began writing a post in longhand that memorialized my hike to hopefully publish it last night.

In the past I’ve written about a sketching class I took as a teen. It was sponsored by our city and every Wednesday, the bus took us to different historical or scenic locations in nearby Wyandotte, Michigan. Maybe it was free, but likely my parents ponied up for the lessons; we just needed to show up with a sketchbook and charcoal pencils or pastel crayons, whatever was our preferred medium. I was sorry to see the class end at Labor Day, and my parents, eager to foster my interest in art, bought some sketching how-to books and more art materials, but schoolwork often intruded on free time and the class was not offered the following Summer. I began sewing as a hobby shortly thereafter, so there was just no time for artwork. On occasion I’d think about reviving the sketching but the pastel crayons weren’t good anymore and we used the sketchbooks to make diagrams where to hang the pictures and knickknacks in the same location as before the house was painted and wallpapered.

Back when there were bird feeders in the backyard and we watched the beautiful jays and cardinals feasting on sunflower seeds in the Winter, Mom suggested that I get interested in sketching again. As an incentive she bought me this book for Christmas.

It has been on the coffee table since 2005, and occasionally I’d pick it up and page through it, marveling at the beautiful sketches of birds and waterfowl.

I promised Mom that birds would be my first subject to tackle when I began sketching again, but I would wait until I retired. Back in 2005, that was a promise that was easy to make.

So, fast forward a few years … I registered for this event, figuring that even if the $5.00 fee was a waste of money, I wanted to visit Oakwoods Metropark anyway. I even invested in a sketchbook and some number two pencils. Woo hoo – I was all in.

While on that 20-mile drive to Oakwoods Metropark yesterday morning, I envisioned sketching a pair of mallard ducks or a Canada goose, the likes of what I’d seen in A Sketchbook of Birds. I even kicked it up a notch and fancied myself being one of those women painters who sit on a short stool, watercolor paints at the ready, their sketchbook balanced on their knees, as they sketch and paint one of the many flower gardens in the historical area of Heritage Park. Every time I’ve seen those women I am envious, while thinking “I want to be that girl” … even if being “that girl” will be in my retirement years.

So I went to this gig with that mindset ….

My first mistake was assuming “Walk, Talk & Sketch” was a class, combined with a follow-up interpretive walk. I’ve gone on several interpretive walks at Lake Erie Metropark and they are enjoyable programs to learn about the Park’s natural resources.

We assembled in a room where paper, clipboards, number two pencils and erasers were available; however, we all arrived with our own sketchbooks and pencils. Then Paula, our interpretive guide, showed us a few of her sketches she’d done in the past.

She then announced “we’re off to explore and sketch!” (What? Wait a minute – with no tutorial, or no sketching instructions first?) Logically, I next assumed the sketching instructions would be at each point we paused on the walking trail – ah, yes … that made sense. So the six of trailed behind Paula as she picked a place for us to sketch, then chitchatted about the park.

(Note to self: next time re-read the program and reach out with questions beforehand.) I chastised myself inwardly … “well, silly me for thinking instructions may be Paula peeking over our respective shoulders and offering some guidance.”

Nope, that didn’t happen either.

Only one person in our group had any drawing experience and that was a preteen who’d taken some art classes in middle school and dabbled in pen-and-ink drawings as a hobby. Her mom was eager to show pictures on her phone of her young prodigy’s artwork. The rest of us, another mother/daughter combo, plus a woman my age, obediently stood where Paula stopped, making quick sketches of what we saw. We learned what tree or berries we were sketching. My eyes glanced over to the others’ sketches which looked about the same as what I’d accomplished.

My sketches are pretty simple, but I am putting them here anyway to go with the post. I made sure to label them as you’d likely never guess what they are – we had about seven minutes to sketch each one.

**Long Bark Trail: Raggedy Tree and Pond Lilies**

**Long Bark Trail: Split Rail Fence with Knothole**

**Long Bark Trail: Mushroom and Dead Oak Leaf**

My next “real” stab at drawing will have to wait until I take an organized class, or even after watching some videos like this on YouTube on sketching basics and that’s because I still aspire to be “that girl” … (using the moniker “girl” loosely here), but when I have more time to play.

What the hay, it was a beautiful day, a trek to a new venue and I added more miles to my tally. I had a really early evening as I was worn out from the long walk and all the fresh air and kept nodding off when I finally got online. 🙂

Posted in nature, walk | Tagged nature, sketching, walk, walking | 136 Comments

Purposeful strides.

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Linda Schaub

Look at this Canada Goose go! You’d think he had a walking goal with all those purposeful goose steps he’s taking.

He was pretty funny to watch while he was stomping along and it reminded me of being a kid and going to the shoe store just prior to heading back to school. I’d be parading back and forth in those uncomfortable shoes to ensure they fit properly, hoping to avoid blisters once the socks were on and slipped into those new Mary Janes, after a summer of easing my bare feet into running shoes or flip flops.

Watching this goose and his brethren, including a mess o’ mallards at Coan Lake, gave me the “waterfowl fix” that I needed. I’d already been at Heritage Park for several hours checking out the Taylor Conservatory & Botanical Gardens and that City’s Community Garden. Then I decided to meander over to lovely Coan Lake and check out the “wildlife” there.

As you may recall from prior posts, once our Canada Geese at Council Point Park begin moulting, they lose their flight feathers, so they must find a safe haven to stay until they are able to fly and escape land predators once again. They are absent from this venue for many months, as our City dissuades their return to graze and live on site by applying a distasteful substance on the fields where they graze. This is so Park patrons may enjoy amenities like the soccer field, baseball diamonds, inline skating, playscape and walking paths because people are either fearful, or even resentful, of the often-fractious Canada Geese that wander about. The geese hiss and flap their wings, especially when their goslings are in tow, but as long as you don’t feed them, they’ll often simply glare at you, and it is up to humans to take the high road here, and just give them wide berth and move on. They’ll return in September.

The mallards in the Creek are similarly missing as they are moulting as well. But don’t fret, all this Park’s fine-feathered friends are enjoying their Summer vacation at larger lakeshore locales where they gather in abundance. Even man-made and fish-stocked ponds, like Coan Lake at Heritage Park, provide a safe haven for these waterfowl during this annual moulting process which takes from four to six weeks.

These are some of the mallards I saw that day. They were in “eclipse phase” which happens during moulting, because they, just like the geese, lose their wing or flight feathers. The eclipse phase plumage means while moulting, the male and female mallards look alike. The usually beautiful drake, (or male mallard), with its elegant, teal-colored head, white neck ring and striking plumage, now looks like the drab-colored female mallard (sorry girls, I don’t mean to diss you). It was quite peaceful at Coan Lake since the seagulls, which are usually squawking and disturbing the peace, were absent and the heron who has quite a screechy call himself, was also MIA. The barn swallows flitted about and the mallards either snoozed or paddled in this lake.

So, it’s been forever since I reported on how I’m progressing toward my ultimate goal of 1,242 miles/2,000 kilometers walked in 2019 … May 31^st to be exact. I usually do mention my end-of-month tallies, but early June began ten weeks of mishaps and mayhem here at this house and at work. Then, when my primary computer had a disk issue and I could not remote into work, I had to abandon it and its contents and have finally retrieved my walking miles document to merge with my handwritten daily steps tally I’ve been keeping the past month. Sigh. This Summer’s been full of fits and starts; don’t even get me started on the weather, but all these events hampered my progress and I am hopeful to still reach my ultimate goal by December 31^st.

One month from tomorrow is the first day of Autumn – well, that makes me think that I’d better hustle a little more because I have walked 732 miles (1,178 kilometers), but still have 510 more miles (821 kilometers) to walk before yearend; the sun is rising later, so soon I’ll decreasing my daily miles from five to four miles, but will keep the longer treks for the weekends or holidays, weather permitting. We’ll see how it goes, but once we get to late October, there is often black ice on the perimeter path and last year we had our first snowfall in early November. I’ll keep walking my socks off and report again by the end of this quarter.

I also want to update you on Mike Posner’s progress. You may remember I profiled Mike’s ambitious walk across America earlier this year. Click here if you missed it.

Mike had an ambitious agenda when he set out from the Jersey shore on April 15^th, as he aimed to plunge into the ocean in California before year end. I’ve followed Mike’s daily progress on Twitter since his journey began. He was averaging 24 miles a day and already walked a whopping 1,797 of his 2,833-mile goal when he crossed into the state of Colorado. Each time Mike crossed a state line, he launched a new song for his Twitter and Instagram viewers. But the joy of that latest song released became a distant memory after he was bitten by a baby rattlesnake on August 7th. Mike was airlifted from that rural road and received the anti-venom in time but was forced to recuperate at the hospital and released on a rolling walker one week later. Mike is progressing nicely and plans to resume his walk once he can manage six to seven miles a day. What a guy, and I’m complaining about walking in this Summer’s heat and humidity where I have often felt wilted before I even left the house.

Onward and upward to both of us!