In "Summery"!

 We've taken a bit of a blogging break this summer.  So much to do and so little time to write!  I don't have time to even write a summary, but I wanted to update with a quick "summery"--a brief hello before I submerge back into our summer.

We built a new back deck--all by ourselves using mostly child labor.  Just kidding!  The kids only did about half of it.  But we all learned a lot about letting things go.  The original project was to repair the deck!

We've been doing art projects, and when I say "projects," I mean "things we really need and can use."  Like books.  Tony has taught himself the art of bookbinding through watching videos and trying different things. His goal is to bind his brother's drawings into a large book (or books) for safekeeping. 

Beau has been mastering the fine art of cartooning.  He's figured out how to make things look like they're in the process of moving.  He also has become pretty good at copying famous cartoonists.  He can draw a mean Bugs Bunny, can do most of the Peanuts characters, and is taking some cues from Maurice Sendak's work.  Check out this chicken:  Doesn't it look a little like the chicken in "A Kiss For Little Bear?"

We've also been studying clouds.  We've been visiting the Cloud Appreciation Society web site, and bought their fieldguide, The Cloud Collector's Handbook for cloud identification.  The upshot is that we've been looking up a lot.

On July 14, we were on the way back from the hardware store, having gone to purchase paint brushes so we could paint clouds on the largest mural we've ever attempted, when we saw this in the sky:

It looks like a double upside down rainbow, doesn't it?  We had the distinct impression that the sky was smiling at us.  We did a little poking around and found out that the bottom "rainbow" is actually a "circumhorizontal arc" which is quite common in the US in summer, and we just happened to catch a 22 degree circular halo around the sun at the same moment.  Here is Tony's picture of the halo using a pair of sunglasses as a filter.

It looks like the halo is doubled or something, but truthfully we don't know much about all this sky phenomena, and are just learning ourselves.  It's possible it was a trick of the lens, but I don't know.  Any way you slice it, it was an interesting sight. 

And of course, we've been taking lots of nature walks, and creating lots of images.  This dragonfly was injured, and Tony gathered it off the pavement and placed it into the grass so it could recover. 
It's not often that we get this close to a live dragonfly. 

But the big event of the summer (so far) has been Tony's 18th birthday!  He's finished his high school work and is focused on his future.  Now if he can only figure out which way to point the camera. . . .

That's all for now.  We want to thank everyone who has been supportive of Jim's Etsy shop! 

Tree frog!

We finished planting our new gladiola bed about a week ago, and were looking for something, anything to emerge, but we were delighted to find something altogether different from a gladiolus: a tree frog!  Here in Michigan we don't see too many of those, at least in our area.  (Or perhaps we don't know where to look!)  But we have never seen one in our backyard before, so this was quite a big deal to us.

According to the Michigan DNR, there are only about 13 species of frogs and toads in Michigan.  With all of our lakes, rivers and wetlands I would have thought that number would be much higher.  And of those 13 species, only two of them are tree frogs: The Eastern Gray Tree Frog and the Cope's Gray Tree Frog.  The only sure way to tell them apart is the number of chromosomes, the size of their red blood cells or the sound of their calls.  Since our little guy never let out a peep, we have no way of knowing which one he was.

Of course, he was a little wary of us, but never showed a moment of panic even when he got into some really strange positions.  He stayed in this particular pose for almost a full minute!  At one point he jumped into a small arbor vita and played the part of a "real" tree frog.

But he was just as happy clinging to the front of Tony's T-shirt. . . 

 . . .I was a lot more worried about him falling than he was!

There is something amazing about the way little creatures like this one are so calm around us; perhaps they're not completely at ease, but they're certainly not as frantic as if they believed that we meant them any harm.  Every time this happens, we become more resolved to be the good stewards of the earth that humans are meant to be.  Maybe then we'll have more species of frogs and toads living in Michigan, eh?  It could happen!

We're not looking under rocks anymore

Well--maybe not as much!  I wrote last about the destruction we've seen in the trees as a result of the ice storm combined with high winds.  But the violent rearrangement of nature has brought some interesting opportunities as well.

We were recently at Beechwood Nature Preserve in Indiana, enjoying a bright spot of warm weather in the early spring.  We didn't find many insects (except for midges) until we came to a wonderful opportunity right next to the trail.  A very large tree had fallen, exposing the underside of the roots, and offering an impromptu pond.

It was interesting to see the roots of the tree; for some reason I have this persistent belief that tree roots grow straight down, like the branches, underground.  But of course they don't.  The roots fan out around the base of the tree, near the surface, to soak up rainwater.  This is one reason why trees offer such good protection against erosion.

But I digress.  Both boys immediately dropped to the ground and began looking for signs of life.  This spring we've spent several days around wetlands, photographing life in those areas.  Some of the reason for that is because we're desperate for wildlife, and life seems to begin in the water.  But also because we haven't explored wetland habitat much before--and the mosquitoes aren't out yet!

So speaking of mosquitoes, we found plenty of their larvae, squirming around in the water spasmodically.  They look like very tiny white worms.  They make a jerking motion, then sit perfectly still and sink a little bit, then squiggle around again frantically.  I wish we could take underwater pictures (movies) because they look so funny.

But aside from the mosquitoes, Tony got some pictures of water bugs that had taken up residence in the "pond."

Water bugs rest on the surface of the water and wait for a meal, sometimes living, sometimes not.  Not sure what kind these are, but we think they are some kind of water strider, possibly genus Limnoporus.  (Thanks Bugguide.net!)

Sharp-eyed Tony also found a millipede next to the boardwalk.

He moved really fast.  Jim put a shoe in front of him to slow him down, but he just went up and over as quick as you please, not hesitating for a moment.

Back in the water, Tony also found what appears to be a queen ant, but she wasn't having a good day.

She may have been unable to fight the water tension.  It is amazing to realize that even ants, which are renown for their strength, struggle against the force of that tension.  When you watch an ant drink from a drop, they literally have to push the water away to avoid getting sucked in.  (For some awesome close-up pictures of insects reacting to water in the environment, watch the wonderful French documentary Microcosmos.)

Tony then found another possible queen ant, in some kind of interaction with a smaller, darker ant.  Not sure if this was love or war.

As a side note, we didn't even get close to going through the whole preserve.  If you are in the area, and are looking for a nice hike into the wilderness, this one is really fun.  It's very hilly and combines meadows, forest and wetland habitats, so something for everyone.  A few years ago, hikers spotted bobcats in the preserve.  Bobcats were previously endangered, and are now "of special concern", so their numbers are coming back up.  Here's a link to the story.

Our finding on April Fool's Day was no joke

April first was such a beautiful warm day that we decided to take advantage of the weather and visit one of our favorite places, Goll Woods, in northwest Ohio.  We've written several times about this place, celebrating the wildness and beauty of it.

But what we found on our last visit was sobering.  I'm not sure if the damage was from the February ice storm, or if tornado winds did some of the damage, but many, many trees were on the ground.  Here's a sample of what we saw.

As you can see, it looks as if some of the trees were just snapped off pretty high off the ground.  Some of the trees were rather large in girth.

It's a little awe-inspiring to know that wind and water did this kind of damage.  But not all the trees that were stressed were killed.  I found this younger tree that  braced against a neighbor and appears to still be living.

All in all, every tree fall gap in the forest provides a way for new growth, as more sunlight reaches the forest floor.  And even more inspiring was the view straight up--thousands of trees are still standing, still purifying the air and and water and providing homes to a vast population of wildlife. 

A piece of living history

This week, while in Auburn, IN, we stopped by the movie theater to see what was showing.  Boy, did we get a show!  We forgot all about watching a movie and circled the "main attraction":  A 1947 Hudson Commodore eight!

None of us had ever seen one of these in person, so seeing it in a parking lot was quite a thrill.  We spent some time just looking at this beautiful automobile: It's a piece of living history.

The first thing I thought of was the character of  "Doc Hudson," from the movie Cars. But then I thought about how seldom I see any Hudsons on the road, and I decided to do a little digging. 

I discovered that the Hudson Motor Car company was started in 1909 in Detroit, MI by Joseph L. Hudson, founder of Hudson's Department store.  He provided the capital, and thus the car company was named after him.  Eight Detroit businessmen formed the company with the goal of producing a car that would sell for under $1,000.   The Hudson 20 was one of the first lower-priced American cars and sold 4,000 the first year. 

The Hudson claims a number of "firsts," including a balanced crankshaft, which allowed the Hudson straight-six engine ("super six")  to work at a "higher rotational speed while remaining smooth, developing more power for its size than lower-speed engines."  (Thanks Wikipedia!)  Hudson also was the first  to introduce dashboard warning lights for oil pressure and generator (alternator).  Dual brakes were also first introduced on the Hornet.  Hornet also made innovations in the shifting system, introducing the "electric hand," an electro-mechanical automatic shifting mechanism, and an optional vacuum-powered automatic clutch.

And then, of course, there's racing.  In 1948, Hudson introduced their famous "step-down" bodies, which sat below the level of the chassis, allowing passengers to sit inside the frame.  This was much safer, and provided a lower center of gravity and much tighter handling.   Thus, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, with a smooth six-cylinder engine, competed with eight-cylinder models and won. 

Hudson also gave an opportunity to the first American woman automotive designer.  Betty Thatcher Oros, a graduate of the Cleveland School of Arts, designed exterior trim with side lighting, interiors, trim fabrics, and the instrument panel on the 1941 Hornet.

At the start of World War II, Hudson stopped producing cars and began to produce parts for airplanes, including the "invader" engine, which governed landing gear.  I also found a wonderful site with a vintage advertisement detailing Hudson's contributions to the U.S. Army's Marauder Bombers, which were famous for not being shot down. The ad was titled "Nazi's shot her up, but they couldn't shoot her down!"

Cars were produced under the Hornet name from 1910 to 1957.

Taken by surprise!

This past weekend, we were walking through the woods to look for more wonderful spring surprises.  What we found was that the air temperature was much too chilly for the flying things to move about, and the frogs could only be heard at a distance, quickly falling into silence at our approach.  As a result, we moved much faster than our usual gait, covering almost two miles in as many hours.  After the first hour, we were simply trying to find our way out of the wood.  The trail was covered by leaves the same as the surrounding forest land, and most of the markers made no sense to us.  We seemed to be traveling along one called "4" only to find another called "2" or something.  The sun was getting ready to set, we were cold, and it was with great relief that we saw the roof of a building through the bare branches and were able to orient ourselves so that we could find the path out.

We were  no longer looking for anything but a warm vehicle as we rounded the next to the last bend in the trail before we came to the parking lot, when I stopped suddenly.  I had the distinct impression that I was looking at a large hornets' nest which had been thrown to the ground and was partly torn open.  With my hands in my pockets, I asked everyone else what it was, and when I turned back, I noticed that the "nest" had an eye that blinked.

"Don't move."  I said.  But they had already frozen.  We stood there like four statues and stared at the thing on the ground, trying to work out what it was.

Experienced outdoorspeople probably already know what this is.  But we had no idea.  It took a great deal of effort and focus to even see it realistically.  It kept turning into something else that looked almost like an animal . . . but those markings, the long needle-like beak/bill thing, the lack of a neck . . . we had no idea.  Jim pointed out that if you took away the beak and added long ears, it looked a little like a rabbit. 

We stared at it for quite a while and exhausted our picture-taking abilities from the angles we could photograph.  Then we decided to try to get it moving so we could get some idea of what it was.  Jim walked around behind it and tried to flush it out while Tony and I got ready to take a movie.

We expected it to bolt up and fly, but it just sat there for a long time, completely still.  If I hadn't seen the slightest movement of its eyes, I would never have know it was even alive.  Finally, it began to move away, slowly, in a way that baffled us. It kept its head perfectly still, rose to its feet, keeping its eyes upon us at all times, then put one foot out and felt the ground.  The foot was similar to a chicken's foot, but it was infinitely thinner and more delicate.  It began to rock back and forth in a roundish fashion: up, forward, down, backward, repeat many times.  Its head was remarkably still the whole time, its eyes never leaving us.  It bobbed away, freezing and nearly disappearing right from under our noses, then resumed, finally getting too far in the undergrowth for us to follow.

We took our pictures and movies home, warmed up, got some supper and did some research.  Immediately, we found a flood of information and even some videos that showed exactly what we saw.  This is the American Woodcock, and we interrupted its mating dance.

The First day of Spring!