Transitions

The seasons, they are a-changin'.

This week saw the farewell of the pop-up camper and the kayaks. Tim came up with the brilliantly simple idea of just strapping the kayaks into their racks on top of the pop-up and storing them that way. As gorgeous as last weekend was, and as lovely as a kayak outing would have been with such warm temps and colorful leaves, unfortunately I had to work. Leaving no time for such outings. So we said buh-bye to another camping season. It passed all too quickly. Every year we think we are going to get in an autumn camping trip. And every year we don't quite manage it. The weather in Michigan is just an unbelievable roulette wheel this time of year. We could have as easily had snow as the 70's and even 80 degree temps and sunny days we've enjoyed (with grateful disbelief) the last 2 weeks. So if we'd planned a camping trip, what would the odds be of having weather this nice?

I guess I never posted anything about Ludington State Park, our post-Labor Day camping trip. We see why people had such good things to say about it. I thought often of Mary Ann and Dennis, who said they liked this park so much. We discovered it for the first time ourselves this year. It's got everything we would have loved as kids: lots of water shallow enough to wade in. Mud to play in. Snail and clam shells. Boardwalks and bridges over the water. Trees perfect for climbing, including white pines tumbled in some long-ago storm, and actually growing horizontally over the water. Sand dunes. Miles of hiking trails to get lost on. As adults, we enjoyed all these things (with the single exception of the mud)along with the proximity to Lake Michigan. The convenience of nearby Ludington (should we happen to need anything from Meijer's or Wally-mart).




View behind our site (#316...a good one to shoot for on future visits). You can barely see the boardwalk back there.




Shallow water in Lake Michigan from the breakwater




Great Blue Heron/Lake Hamlin from our kayaks


This week also saw the departure of the hummingbirds. We had a female hanging around until October 8th, which beat the latest day I've seen them here by a week. When I hadn't seen her in a couple days, I finally took the feeders down and washed them. I haven't put them in the basement for storage yet. I hosed all the crap out of the regular birdfeeders, and they await being filled with seed for the other birds who insanely hang around here all winter.

It's getting a little chilly in the mornings when we wal out of work. A coworker and I were discussing our sheepswool steering wheel covers we purchased at the Frankenmuth Woolen Mill. She's already put hers on. Me, I just can't. Not yet. We haven't even had any frost yet, which is unbelievable. It got into the 30's at night while Bryan was here, but it didn't freeze. We covered the basil and flowers up with sheets and tarps, but they probably would have been fine. So now I have red petunias and geraniums spilling out of my windowboxes and baskets, while most of the leaves are off the trees, I have summer flowers that are actually making a comeback. It's a weird look, but hey: my ancestors would be proud. I'm getting the most 'flower value' out of these plants I bought back in early June.