Bridge

Oslo called a while ago to talk about the dress that the girl COTU will be wearing to the Homecoming Dance this weekend.... I'll pause while we all weep, and wonder how she grew up so fast, and where did all the time go... and when I said I had just returned from a bike ride, she said, "But Mom, it's cold out there!" She was wrong, but I can see how she might have thought that. After the unusually warm September weather that turned ugly for a few days there, autumn has finally shown up here, in all its glory. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride. 53 degrees when I left, the sun came out during my ride, and the wind was from the NNE/NNW at about 10-15 mph. Perfect for a ride to Hemlock Crossing. There is something about bridges that I find interesting, and the one over the Pigeon River just past the entrance to Hemlock Crossing Park is one of my favorites around here.

The Nature Center inside the park is coming along nicely, but it is obviously not finished yet. It has an interesting exterior, which was about all I could tell from my limited access to it today.

My photos of the other bridge in the park did not come out, but I liked this photo of the Pigeon River, looking downstream from the bridge. The color change is late this year -- the greens have faded, but there are just hints of fall color. Usually the leaves are mostly gone by Halloween. This cold snap should hurry things along -- there are frost warnings tonight here, too. It was a great day for a bike ride.

Lost City

Remember the 'city' built by the COTU and their friend 'D' about a week ago? By around noon yesterday there were only a few stubborn sticks still standing. Wind speeds reported at Spyglass were around 50 mph all day, with gusts in the low 60's. The official highest gust, at the airport, several miles inland, was 52 mph.

The winds have started to die down this afternoon, with gusts at the lakeshore 'only' about 30. But the city was completely gone when I checked this morning. The wise man built his house upon the rock .....

September is going out like a lion, it seems. We're going to continue to hunker down here for a while longer.

Still 70

It was borderline 'too windy to ride' here today. WSW winds in the upper teens, gusting in the mid to upper 20's. Tomorrow doesn't look good, though. Probable power outages, tree limbs down, 60 mph wind gusts near the lake -- I won't be riding in that. As I was crossing Ottawa Beach Road on my way out about noon, I noticed a high volume of traffic (for this time of year) headed towards the State Park. It was the right direction, into the wind, so I rode out that way first. There were at least 4 kite surfers in the near shore waters, with two more getting set up on the beach. I counted just 2 windsurfers -- the conditions must have been just about right for those sports. It was another beautiful, sunny September Sunday, in spite of the wind. The parking lot was about 1/3 full and there was a line of cars at the entrance as I left. No waiting, though. It's free this time of year. I rode north from there -- I decided to voluntarily climb the Idlewood Hill to see if it is easier at mid ride than at the end of one. It is, of course. We'd been out there earlier in the day doing some end of season tasks. We exchanged the screen on the door near the deck for a storm window, and locked all the windows. MSO turned down the heat and turned off the sprinkling system, and we turned off the answering machine and mostly emptied out the freezer. I did a tour of the yard and put away a few stray items before the big storm hits and blows them away. So the bike ride was my second trip out there today.

There was activity going on at the Hendrix Cottage -- the last items inside were being hauled away. Cabinets and all. She had a good sized crew there -- her two brothers, Rick and Denny were helping out, as was her ex, Harry. I hadn't seen Harry in a long while, and I enjoy chatting with her brothers. They're both pretty funny, as it turns out. She was doling out chili, and I've heard tales about sausage elsewhere on the Internet, and it's effect on biking. So I had a bowl before I continued on. I ended up getting a little further north than was probably smart, and had to battle the wind a bit -- the wind shifted to the SSW while I was out, but it wasn't impossible. I eventually found some shelter in the woods --it was a pretty nice ride for the end of September. I concluded that the chili worked, and apparently any form of spicy meat will do. I still need another 5 miles this month to edge into 2nd place (total miles in September), but about 50 to eke out a new personal record. It seems like a personal record should be possible in a year when I am fully retired. But if not this month, then perhaps next month. Historically October has been in the range of 300 or so miles, which sounds like it should be easy to do -- from the perspective of an unusually mild September. It is also the month when the average temperature drops like a rock. From here on out this biking thing becomes very dependent on the weather.

The Calm Before The Storm

This was a pretty serene location yesterday, near the end of my ride, at Tunnel Park. The weather people have been bombarding us all week with predictions of a "November type storm" beginning tomorrow. 12-18 foot waves on the big lake, they say. Gale warnings have been posted more than 24 hours before the event. It will be dangerous to be on the lake, according to the experts. Flooding and beach erosion are likely, they add. 40+ mph winds are enough to sandblast a windshield on a car left out in the open in one of these things. There's nothing anyone can do to protect the beach, so I packed up my stuff and headed inland. Where I took a picture of this very calm stretch of water, with a few kayaks for color. Temperatures topped out in the 60's today, winds were light and variable.

Not to mention that there is no hill to climb at the end of my bike rides here. Not that I would use an impending storm as an excuse for a flatter route. Of course not.

Concessions

I found yet another route to Quincy Park today. The roads I took there were mostly out from under the reach of any oak trees, though there are 5 or 6 of them between the house and the bottom of the hill. I think I managed the whole ride without coming in contact with any tiny green worms. The Concessions stand at the ball field was closed. I brought my own Red Pop. It seemed like I was having another B+ kind of day. Sunset occurs shortly after 7:30 pm at this point. 12 hour days -- the autumnal equinox. It was warm enough for shorts, too cool for short sleeves all day. My favorite kind of weather, and the long sleeves offer protection from any green worms.

I liked the way the sunset hit the shore tonight, so I took my camera out into the yard and took this picture --- from under the oak tree --- Dang. What's that number again? 1-800-Alzheimers?

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What's a Convention?

Gloomy is just another word for dreary, I think. I'm not quite clear what GZ's rule on dreary is, exactly. But today was another gloomy day here -- the roads were damp from rain overnight, and the humidity was high enough that they didn't dry up much until late this afternoon. The sun shone for maybe half an hour during the late afternoon, but otherwise hid behind gray skies. It wasn't raining or snowing , nor was there a gale force wind blowing, and I felt fine. I took a bike ride. A mild northwest wind was blowing -- a direction I haven't seen in a while. Any direction around north works well for me, since that is about the only direction that gives me a guaranteed tailwind on the return trip. This is a pretty representative sampling of the stage we're at in the color change at the moment. Much to my disgust, it is also the season for tiny green worms on silky threads dropping from oak trees. I stopped about every 15 minutes to brush myself off and remove the tiny little pests from my arms and my shirt. I'm glad it was cool enough for long sleeves! I find a helmet liner necessary -- just the thought of them in my hair makes me squirm. In fact, years ago, I had my first 'serious' injury while biking when I ran into a mailbox while trying to brush tiny green worms out of my hair. I bent the front wheel on my bicycle (the Fuji Absolute -- this was a while ago) and did enough damage to my leg to require bandages. I may still have a scar. Anyway, these things are dangerous. Still and all -- I felt good, it was warm enough for shorts, and the number of biking days left in this season is beginning to feel numbered. I give it a B+.

First Ride of Fall

I lifted this photo from my daughter's blog (OSLO), just in case any of my many readers hadn't clicked through on her link on my sidebar recently. As you can see, they passed their test for yellow belt in their Karate class. (Saturday) Way to go, Centers of the Universe!!!! (COTU) We're very impressed, and more than a little bit proud of you. Today the fog was forecast to burn off by 10:00 am. By 11:00 it was still foggy -- but not thick enough to be a problem. I put on my bright yellow vest for visibility, and headed north, then east, then south, then west, pretty much guaranteeing headwinds, crosswinds and tailwinds. Which was sort of the point, really. Though I claim that I don't get bored riding the same routes over and over, I do appreciate that with the beginning of the changing of the seasons, all of the old familiar roads are beginning to look a little bit different on every ride. It is still mostly green, but there's enough color that I can no longer pretend that it is still August. I swung by the Van Buren Dunes Trail since I hadn't been there in a while. The last time I was there I saw a couple of big deer, but the woods seemed to be empty today.

Eventually the fog began to look more like threatening rain, but I hated to head for home. I didn't ride yesterday, and I did not want to waste fresh legs on a short ride. I eventually passed the PSPS and a number of miles later I swung through Quincy Park. (Yes, you can ask how many, and yes, I know how many -- pretty much exactly. That is how it is, as stated here.)

Combining two of my favorite rides into one gave me a bit over 24 miles, and I called that good enough. Even with the fog it turned out to be one of the nicest rides I've taken in a while. Welcome to Autumn.

Mill Pond

My next door neighbor tells me that her Mother used to refer to the big lake as the Mill Pond on days when it looked liked this. Yesterday was one of those rare (east wind) days when it was warmer by the lake than it was further inland. OSLO arrived wearing jeans and changed into shorts after a trip down to the beach. This time of year the water is crystal clear, but too chilly for the COTU to venture into it, although my next door neighbor did. I compromised, as I often do, and got wet up to my knees. I found this tiny piece of driftwood near my beach chair -- from a distance it looked like an arrowhead, but the wood grain was obvious on closer inspection -- old person's leg for scale.

Visitors to the beach often see it in new and creative ways that don't occur to us regular residents. Every time the lad pictured below has been here, he has headed straight for the beach. Yesterday he began to build a city from the driftwood and beach swag he could scrounge up. (He okayed the photo for blogging purposes.) Eventually the COTU became interested in the possibilities and joined in the construction process. They took a break for supper -- pork loin on the grill -- which is really, really good if you know the right cook. And OSLO does. After we ate (too much) the kids went back to their project, but I didn't get down the stairs to photograph the finished city until today. I'm calling this environmental art.

If you blink, you'll notice that there was a distinct change in weather from the previous photo -- yesterday -- to the next one, from today. The weather here is a bit unsettled, with some gusty winds. I decided against a bike ride today and took a short walk on the beach instead. Their city is still intact -- though the lake will swallow it up eventually.

We've scheduled the winterising of the lawn sprinklers, and soon we'll be begin the process of transferring life to a less exposed location. Winding down has begun.

Garage Sale

Seen on my bike ride this morning, at a garage sale along New Holland Street, near where I got my flat tire early this week. Is this what wagons really looked like? Metal rims? That seems like it would make for a very rough ride, even on dirt roads. So I am calling this my odd sighting for today. (Notice the wagon wheels and the metal cut-out of a farmer leaning against the building at the rear of the property.)

Endless Summer

There were two or three of these buzzing the beach about 10:00 this morning -- this guy waved to me as I was taking his picture from the deck. They were taking advantage of another day in a string of warm, late summer days. It was nearly noon by the time I left the house -- and it had warmed up over 20 degrees since sunrise. That should have created some wind, but it wasn't too bad. It was one of those 'shut up and ride' kind of days -- the wind was from the west/northwest along the lake, and from the east/northeast inland. I did some aimless meandering through various neighborhoods, and eventually ended up at Quincy Park. The odd sighting of the day was not the photo above, though. It was the guy in a motorized wheelchair riding down the bike path with a large colorful parrot sitting on his chest. He didn't wave and I didn't get a photo.

Construction projects are still going on at the Park -- there is a new baseball field, and a couple of new soccer fields, as well as a new path through the woods and over a creek linking the two halves of the park together. So far I like what they've done. I've never been there when there have been more than a couple of people there, though. It seems to be one of those 'if you build it, they will come' deals. I took the photo, above, from the path across from the golf course. The cone shaped roof in the back of the picture is where the new ball fields are located. I like the old gates -- I assume they'll eventually be replaced with hurricane fence to match the rest of the park's enclosure.

I stopped in at Tunnel Park on the last leg of my ride. My usual theory that summer ends at Labor Day here, no matter what the weather, seems to be inaccurate this year. I've been to the beach overlook at the end of the tunnel at least three times since Labor Day to get a photo of an empty beach, and each time there have been at least a few summer stragglers soaking up the end of summer rays. Can't say as I blame them.

Faculty Meeting

It is beginning to feel more like fall, with a high today in the upper 60's. We've had several relatively calm days in a row, but there was a real wind today, with some gusts of around 20 mph. I've heard that the high temperatures for the day will be in the mid 50's in about ten days -- a pattern shift, they're calling it. So 60's is good. I ran into these geese in one of the neighborhoods with the artificial lakes, northeast of here. It seems that the birds are just as happy with man made wetlands as they are with the natural ones. I'd made the turn for home by then, and it was a pretty easy ride from that point. Lately I've been making a point of riding during the hours when I would have been teaching if I was working -- just to emphasize to myself that I am making good use of my free time. Under the miscellaneous information heading, I paid my bill at the bike shop. Also, I've ridden twice now and didn't have to use my patch kit or phone a friend, so the tire repair seems to have been successful.

Bike Laura

Armadillo tires are flat proof, until they're not. Then you either change it out on the road, or you phone a friend. I phoned a friend.

Pilot/Pacifica

OSLO has been looking into trading in her van on something less geeky and more dependable than her old van. She found a Chrysler Pacifica that she really likes, and in an unusual alignment of the stars, bought it today -- the same day I bought a replacement for my truck. Maybe you can tell from her expression that she is really happy with her purchase. It has leather seats, a moon roof, and numerous other bells and whistles. It is a very pretty vehicle, and she did a great job researching the options and making her choice. As mentioned here earlier, today was the day I traded in my old truck. While OSLO got a serious upgrade, I pretty much replaced what I had with a newer model.

Still, I am pleased with my purchase. It will take a while for it to feel like mine, and I suspect that I won't know how the windshield wipers work until the first time it rains. I do like a truck, though, and this has all the room I have come to require from my vehicles. TRAM, anyone?

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

On March 5, 1998, we purchased this truck -- it was new-ish (it's a 1996 model) and fully loaded. It has woven itself into the fabric of our stories since then -- it was labelled 'the truck, without which TRAM could not exist,' by a member of staff. It went on all three TRAMs. Emily developed a special fondness for it. It's been ours since before TJ was born -- and Nikki cannot remember when I drove anything else. She and her brother used to love to go to McDonalds and have picnics in the back. The truck and Ruby have had a warm relationship, and Lynne and I have done a number of out of town bike trips with it. Sadly, it has begun to wear out. Rather like myself, the main stuff still works. The engine and transmission continue to work just fine. But it is falling apart around the edges. Last winter the heater, this summer the air conditioner, and most recently, the air ride system. If it looks like it is listing to the left, it is. Finding a replacement has been tough. I didn't appreciate how fully loaded it was until I tried to find another truck with all the same bells and whistles. And in the end, there are still a couple that could not be duplicated. The probable new (newer, a 2007 model) one does not have a keypad entry system, nor does it have automatic headlights. It will get slightly better gas mileage, but it is still, in the end, a truck. I drive a truck -- I am not ready to give that up. It is as much a part of my image as 'I ride a bike' -- or nearly so. So on Monday, assuming all the details work out, I will drive home with a Honda Pilot. If all goes as planned, I will post pictures of the new truck next week. But this may be the last time I utter these words. I love my truck.

Carpe Diem

It is time to enjoy the last of the bright colors of summer -- the first frost is probably only weeks away. Maybe days. I kept seeing geometric shapes in the flowers I saw on my ride today. A table had been set up in a yard on Lakeshore, with flowers for sale. It was on the honor system -- I could have taken the flowers without paying. The cash box was chained to the table, however. Probably wise. The circle of the sunflower seeds, rimmed with the vibrant orange colored petals caught my attention.

Then I saw the star inside the vining petunia blossom hanging in a basket at the PSPS.

This rock garden with the heart shaped leaves is just a block or so from the house. The leaves were what initially caught my attention. The brightly colored impatiens will be some of the first flowers to yield to even a light frost. It was pretty close to ideal conditions -- again -- for a bike ride. Seize the day.

Hemlock Crossing

A brief shower this morning postponed my bike ride until this afternoon. I wasn't sure where, or even how far, I was going to ride when I left the house -- unusual, for me. The wind was mostly from the east, and I ended up at Hemlock Crossing. I know that I have ridden past this park a number of times this summer, but apparently I haven't ridden into it. Today there was construction on the bridge just beyond the park entrance, so I chose to turn around in the park. It turned out that there was construction going on inside the park as well. A good size building has been mostly constructed since I was there last.

It is scheduled for completion this fall. The sign calls it a Nature Education Center. It's a nice location, with the hiking/cross country ski trail system and kayak launching spots. It is also a linear park, with acres of park land on both sides of the Pigeon River. The north section stretches for at least a mile west, towards the big lake. I need to keep a closer eye on one of my favorite parks in the future. The rain stayed away, the sun came out, and it was a nearly perfect set of conditions for a bike ride.

Private Beach

As predicted, the beach is empty of tourists and summer people. The Californians have departed for the other west coast, and there are only a handful of summer residents still hanging on. (That would be us.) Everyone else has gone back to work or to school. Rain threatened on and off all day. We got a couple of showers, including one during my (short) bike ride. The rain only lasted for a few miles, and before returning home I stopped at Tunnel Park, intending to take a picture of the empty beach, but there were a half dozen summer stragglers there. So I passed up that photo, and took one of a freighter leaving the harbor just before sunset, instead.

It is supposed to be symbolic of everyone leaving town, and commerce being the ruling force in peoples' lives once again. Or something. Will the last one to go please turn out the lights?

Another Labor Day

The girl COTU kept remarking all weekend that we were doing each and every activity for the last time this summer. School starts for them tomorrow, so I'll buy that the end of summer is here for them. I felt the same way before I retired. Their last dip in the big lake this summer was short and shallow. As I've mentioned here before, the water has been very cold this week. Nothing like a little ice cream to warm you up. We took our last Captain Sundae run of the summer after supper last night. Here they are pictured with their seldom photographed Grandfather, seated in the pirate ship.

Today OSLO arrived for the last cookout of the summer. She brought the cook, he brought the meat -- marinated pork steaks and barbequed chicken. Both were excellent -- MSO declared the pork steaks to be the best he can ever remember eating.

If you count carefully, you can find all 7 of the people who shared the traditional labor day activities with us. An afternoon at the beach seemed to be a good way to round out their summer. They didn't stay for sunset -- too much to do at home to get ready for starting high school (the girl COTU), and starting the last day of grade school (the boy COTU). We are likely to do some of these same things next week -- for the first time this fall. (Here's an odd little fact, barbeque chicken is spelled with a 'q' but barbecued chicken is spelled with a 'c', according to Google -- personally, I'm not buying their rule.)

Mornings

The current full moon is called the corn moon, I'm told. It's probably better known as the harvest moon, but a little trivia is good to know. This was my view of it shortly after I got up this morning. The clouds kept me from getting a good, full shot of it. Once the moon had set and the sun had been up for a while, I pointed Ruby into the wind and rode over to Quincy Park. There's been an ongoing construction project there over the summer that has been roped off from the rest of the park. The barriers are down, finally, and I could get into the new area. This bridge is part of the new stuff, and the link to the new park section -- mostly a parking lot and two more baseball fields. It looks sturdy enough to be a real bridge, but it just crosses a small creek. Pine Creek, I think. The steel is a special type that gets rusty fast and somehow that's a good thing. There were workmen there when I was taking the picture, and I overheard parts of the conversation. It reminds me quite a bit of the bridge at Hemlock Crossing Park.

I was home by 11:00-ish, having ridden my usual 20+ miles. It was a lovely morning for a bike ride.

Wrapping It Up

Quote from MSO (My Significant Other). "That was the worst breakfast since Jimmy Carter." Okay, maybe that isn't funny to my usual readers, but it cracked me up. It was cold this morning, but promised to be plenty warm later, so we ventured out in search of a new place to eat breakfast. We found one, but alas, the food was pretty awful. His pancakes were burned, and his 'over easy' eggs were hard. My veggie omelet was okay, but the toast was tough, as though the bread had been toasted earlier and reheated in a microwave. The only good thing about it was that it killed enough time that when I headed out on my bike ride it was warm enough for shorts and a short sleeve jersey. It's been a while since that has been true. When I returned (PSPS) there was some obvious activity going on next door. Those California people are always up to something. We were gone for a while this evening, but when we returned we saw a photographer and a wedding party on the front steps of the house, so apparently someone got married there today. By 8:00 p.m. all of the people and all of the chairs were gone. Off to the reception, I assume.

They missed a nice sunset. It's the last weekend of traditional Summer -- the COTU start school on Tuesday. Even with water temperatures in the 50's, I'm betting that there will be crowds of people on the beach all three days. And then they will all go home, and I will have the entire lake to myself.

A Beach With No Name

There is a beach about 11.6 miles from here that is sort of a secret. Only the locals seem to know it is there. It's quite a pretty beach, and I rode there today and took a few pictures. The path from the parking lot goes up over a slight rise through the dune. The big lake was nearly dead calm today, but the water is still cold enough to cast a chill over any land within a half mile of it. This is from the crest of the little hill in the previous photo. It's really a very nice white sand beach. The couple nearly hidden in the dune grass on the left were the only other people there.

Looking south you can see the piers that protect the entrance to Pigeon Lake, or Port Sheldon, as it is known to boaters.

This one was taken looking north. There are a few houses up in those dunes -- still, this beach is in a very secluded spot.

The fact that it sits in the shadow of that tall smokestack may be the reason that it is fairly lightly used. Or maybe just the fact that there are no signs anywhere to tell you that there is a public beach down that road.

I think GZ may have been on a ride with me that went past this point, but I don't think anyone else has. It was an easy ride, half way between the PSPS and Kirk Park. And if a lake breeze had kicked in, I wasn't going to be caught 7 miles inland. My neck and shoulders are still sore from Monday's long ride, so it will be at least a little while before I make that mistake again.