10/09/08 GREAT LAKES, GREAT CONFERENCE, GREAT TRIP

Wednesday, 7:30 AM, Bayfield. 39 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is mostly calm, the sky partly cloudy. The barometer predicts more rain, and there is an inch in the rain gauge. The colors across the UP were magnificent, but hard to photograph. They were of course not so advanced in lower Michigan and northern Ohio. One interesting tree, which I could not photograph from the moving car, was the burnt-orange fall color of the sassafras, prevalent in hedge rows in northern Ohio but disappearing about at the southern border of Michigan. The colors in the Bayfield area should be at their peak this weekend, and with any luck will last a couple of weeks, beautiful even as some species loose their leaves and others reach peak color.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is unique in that it is surrounded by the waters of both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, and one can view both these inland seas traversing it. And, it is always a thrill to cross the beautiful and amazing Mackinac Bridge, which opened in 1957.
The America in Bloom meeting was a great success with 30 cities from across the United States receiving recognition for their beautification and environmental efforts. The group toured a number of Columbus gardens, including neighborhood vegetable gardens, which are a terrific way to revitalize urban communities. We had a great if short visit with daughter Greta and her retrievers, and a fine visit and Sunday dinner at the home of her friends Lorena and Michael and second grade daughter Gabrielle.
It was a busy, rewarding nine days, but we are happy to be back at home and plunge into the work which awaits us. This is daffodil planting time, and this morning I will transport 2400 bulbs from where they are stored in the Hauser Orchard barn to the Chamber office where folks who have purchased them at a discount will pick them up to plant in their yards (in a few days we will plant 5,000 more bulbs along Hwy. 13 through Bayfield). We also have a donated tree to plant in the new playground park on 7th and Mannypenny Ave. And, our lawns need to be mowed once more before leaves fall as well.
The photos are random shots of the lakes, the view from the great bridge at sunset and some of the activities in Columbus. Photos just do not do justice to the sights we encountered.

9/30/08 OFF TO COLUMBUS

Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 41 degrees, wind WNW, moderate. The channel is wrinkled, the sky partly cloudy and the barometer predicts rain.
It looks like it may be a blustery trip across the UP on our way to Columbus, Ohio for the annual America in Bloom meeting and a visit with daughter Greta and her two field trial dogs.
All the house plants are in, and everything else is in its own until we get back. It has been a good, colorful summer but all things, good or bad, must come to an end. It looks like it will be a spectacular fall. Back in about eight days.

9/29/08 A FAREWELL CAMP BREAKFAST

8:00AM. Wind W, calm. The channel is slightly wrinkled. The sky is overcast and it rained 1.5 inches last night.
We leave shortly for a camp breakfast with Andy and Judy, as they will be gone back to Cedarburg by the time we return from Columbus and we may not see them until maple sugaring time in March.
Later: the breakfast was delicious, cooked over a smoky open fire; bacon, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, cheese, and tomatoes. The morning was wet and chilly and the fire felt very good. We talked for a long time but failed to solve the financial crisis, and made very little headway on the political and social problems, but at least we tried. Maybe we should have had the Bloody Marys. I have no photos, because although I brought my camera I forgot to take the battery out of the charger. Just picture four tough old customers and their dogs carrying on and having a tolerably good time in spite of all the dire news. Maybe Wall Street and Congress should have the same attitude. Maybe they should have Bloody Marys all around.

9/28/08 A HOT FALL DAY THIRST QUENCHER

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 45 degrees, wind SW, light. The channel is crawling slightly and the sky is mostly overcast, but the barometer predicts sunny skies.
A bear has enjoyed most of the shaggy mane mushrooms on Manypenny, and has left his calling card on the road.
The fuzzy fruits of the female stag-horn sumac, Rhus typhina, in the cashew family, are now fully ripe. They are not actually edible, but if placed in the mouth produce a tingling, pleasant, lemony taste. They are a good thing to quench one’s thirst with on a hot fall day a-field when no water is available. This plant has exhibited strong antiseptic qualities, and decoctions were once used as mouthwash for sore and bleeding gums and for skin problems. I think the berries would make a very nice tea but I have not read of them being used in this fashion.
In ingesting any plant, one should always keep in mind the properties of its close relatives, and the sumacs are in the same genus as poison ivy and poison oak, and the poison sumac, Rhus vernix, is highly toxic. The latter cannot easily be confused with other sumacs, however, as it has waxy white fruits and the other sumacs have fuzzy red fruits. It is also usually found in swamps, and other sumacs in drier locations.
Our guests have left. We had a fine visit and they leave for Milwaukee laden with apples and driftwood.

9/27/08 NAME THIS PLANT

Saturday, 7:30 AM. 50 degrees, wind WSW, calm. The channel is calm. The sky is clear with lingering storm clouds in the east. We got one and four-tenths of an inch of rain last night, a real gully-washer. The barometer predicts more rain. Just what was needed.
We and our guests dined by candlelight on the porch, an elegant setting with a large iron pot of Joan’s excellent chili on the table. The after dinner entertainment was the presidential debates, a snoozer we thought, but the Brewers beat the Cubs, and will probably go to the playoffs.
Asparagus, pictured here, often grows wild along the roadsides and can be quite spectacular in an air sort of way. It can be harvested in early spring if you remember where it is. I missed its bright red berries sometime this spring or summer, the birds got them I am sure. Asparagus is a strong diuretic and was in the past used for that and treating urinary tract stones. It used to be available only in the spring, but with worldwide markets today it can be purchased almost any time of the year.
So it’s off to breakfast with guests and then to an orchard or two.

9/26/08 CONIFER CONES AND MUSHROOMS

Friday, 8:15 AM. 57 degrees, wind SW, light to moderate. The channel is crawling slightly. The sky is mostly clear and the barometer predicts rain.
The white pine cones have turned brown and opened to release their seeds within the last two days, and the balsam fir in the front yard has shed its seeds and the cones have disintegrated, leaving only the upright pedicels of the cones standing on the upper branches (an easy identification factor).
The last rains have brought on the mushrooms, the shaggy mane (Coprinus comatus) on Manypenny and Ninth Street thrusting up through the grass overnight. They are beautiful and listed as edible, but I vouch for no wild mushrooms.
The yard work is done and we have to get ready for company tonight and over the weekend.

9/25/08 A LAST HURRAH FOR THE HERB GARDEN

7:45 AM. 42 degrees, wind NE, calm. The channel is glassy. The sky is partly cloud and the barometer predicts sunny skies.
The little herb garden is cleaned up and looks nice with sage, rue, a few mums and straggly pansies in bloom. I took a last harvest of tarragon, parsley, basil, sage and oregano and cut a lot of things down, ready for winter, and transplanted two clematis around the iron trellis.
The little garden weed pictured is sheep sorrel, Rumex acetocella, related to the garden sorrel. It has unmistakable hastate leaves (shaped like an medieval halberd) that have, to me at least, a very pleasant, crisp acidic taste. It can be used in salads and sauces like the common sorrel (I don’t know how much the latter is used any more). The sorrels were formerly used as antidotes for scurvy, as diuretics and as spring tonics. Joan doesn’t like the taste but I do, so give it a try.