Category: Life and Living

August 28, 2018. Tawas Point Michigan. Monarch Migration!

Posted on by Pete Schloss

Tawas Point State Park is a birder’s paradise. It lies on a primary migratory flyway and thus provides respite for many avian species, not the least of which are Whip-poor-wills, Redheaded Woodpeckers, Trumpeter Swans, and migrating Warblers. It is reported that over 280 separate bird species have been sighted on Tawas Point.

On a good day I might be able to distinguish a Bald Eagle (saw one today) from a Crow (saw more than one today). But I will leave it to the “birders” to identify the bird in this picture as a Heron or a Crain.

The eye candy of the day were the flocks of Monarch Butterflies. They too are a migratory species that passes through Tawas Point flying thousands of miles south to Florida and Mexico. It amazes me that these seemingly fragile creatures are capable of such a feat.

The Monarch feeds on the ubiquitous Milkweed, the sap of which is poisonous to most other wildlife. The consumption of the sap by the Monarch renders them very unappetizing to erstwhile predators. The brilliant black and orange markings of the Monarch give an unambiguous warning that better eating can be found elsewhere.

Butterflies may be the only insect that brings a smile to human observers… although I am rather fond of the Preying Mantis. One large one once spent the better part of an hour watching me work on our house. He/she would cock its head and repeatedly focus from my task to my face in a fashion that mimicked curiosity.

Today was also a good day for a swim in Lake Huron…

For observing the relatively rare Black Squirrel (at first I thought one was a strange cat when it scampered by)…

Walking the beach…

Watching an unusual Kite-Surfer from Austria expertly maneuver and levitate his flying wing board upon and above the water…

And finally to contrast the utilitarian features of the modern navigational light station and fog-horn with those of the more romantic Lighthouse of the past.

At dusk the darkening sky to the west warned of the approach of thunderstorms. We secured our campsite just in time before the downpour.

Here inside our fiberglass Casita we thought we were being pelted by hail… but it was only hundreds of acorns being shake loose from the Oaks towering above us. I wonder how the Monarchs are fairing?

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. We are off in the morning south to Port Crescent State Park for another night as guests of the Michigan State Parks. Thursday will see us crossing into Canada.

August 27, 2018. Tawas Michigan. Solo Camping Is Rarely Solitary.

Posted on by Pete Schloss

The majority of our time “on the road” is spent together. However as I have previously observed, Christine and I have “travel libidos” that are slightly out of sync. She is often ready to return home a week or two before me and I am usually ready to leave home a week or two sooner than her. To address this I typically take a couple of short (7-10 day) solo outings each year. Such was the case a few weeks ago when I spent a week at Stockton Lake in Missouri.

Solo camping has its virtues. I find that I am more aware of my thoughts, I tend to be more focused on relaxing, and my appreciation for Christine becomes heightened. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

Solo camping rarely turns out to be solitary camping. While at Stockton Lake I was visited by a camper Kathleen, and a sailboater, Craig. Each of those encounters was memorable. I detailed those meetings in my posts which were published at that time. However, I neglected to include another of those camping friendships.

Another Casita pulled into the campground. Casita owners often seek one another out, so it was not unexpected that the owner would wander my way to say “Hi”. It was a bit unusual that he and his wife would invite me to dinner. It was totally unexpected that dinner would include sautéed squid on a stick, huge sautéed prawns on a stick, and a large Pacific Ocean fish that was roughly the size and shape of a 14” cast iron skillet.

David and his wife Badeth spend 4 months of the year at their home in Missouri and the remaining 8 months of each year at their beautiful beach home in the Philippines. David was born and raised in the States and Badeth is a native of the islands. They were joined at camp by her sister Josephine and nephew Ian. David could not have known of my love of squid, shrimp, and eating “the unknown”. The women presented a feast and I was the beneficiary. The women also cooked a large inviting steak… it seems that in spite of his extensive time spent in the Philippines, David is not particularly fond of squid, shrimp, or eating “the unknown”.

This wonderful family also included me in their breakfast plans for the following morning. Their hospitality and friendship were extraordinary, but perhaps understandable as they explained the welcoming nature of the Philippine people and the fact that David was retired from over 40 years of being the talented handyman, construction coordinator, chauffeur, mechanic… and all around “Swiss Army” assistant to a convent of nuns! Even when camping solo one meets the nicest and most interesting people.

Peace Everyone! Pete

August 25, 2018. Bay City Michigan. “The Rest of a Story”.

Posted on by Pete Schloss

Many of you are aware that this last Spring Christine and I spent 3 months in Europe. That journey included an eleven day 250km hike from Porto Portugal to Santiago Spain. This was the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago. On April 27th we encountered a number of memorable German pilgrims who were also walking the Camino. There was physician Reiner Vogt and his wife Ina Massing. Ina manages a firm specializing in manufacturing and fitting prosthetic limbs. Faris Abu-Naaj is an internet expert who had rescued his health by losing nearly 200 pounds. A month after we met Faris he would lead a group of people struggling with obesity on a 100km Camino pilgrimage. Stanislaw Mowinski is a German citizen originally from Poland. Each of these good people became dear to us in the span of an afternoon.

We were joined later that evening by Grzegorz Polakiewicz from Poland. “Greg”, an intensely spiritual young man and a stranger to all of us, spoke no German. He is an amputee who was walking his second Camino with one leg, carrying his backpack, assisted only by his two crutches. Discussions at table that evening, interpreted by “Stanley”, resulted in a proposal for Greg to travel to Germany where Ina and Reiner would arrange for him to receive a prosthetic leg and the physical therapy necessary to use it. I would have called this encounter an amazing coincidence, but I was continually reminded during our journey, “In life there are no coincidences”.

“The Rest of the Story”: I have remained in contact with all of these folks through Facebook. Last week I received a link from Ina to a story broadcast on a German television program, something like our “60 Minutes”. Initially, the link would not work until I redirected my browser to a German IP address. As the program played out it featured Greg’s arrival in Germany, his fitting of a prosthetic leg, courtesy of Ina and Reiner, and the physical therapy necessary for its use. I captured some screenshots from the program that I share with you.

It is worth remembering that every miracle has two parts… that it occurred, and more importantly that it was noticed. “Greg” noticed, and so did I.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS: Christine and I are back on the road again. We will be traveling to Canada and the New England States over the course of the next 5 weeks.

August 10, 2018. Stockton Lake and the Next Thing(s).

Posted on by Pete Schloss

It has been nearly 10 years since I last held a sailboat’s tiller or adjusted a main sheet. Today Craig from the nearby town of Stockton took me out on the lake in his homemade 14 foot gaff-rigged catboat.

It was a dangerous passage, not in the sense of sailing conditions or personal risk, but because I felt perilously close to being once again bit by the urge to sail. My thoughts processed through the possibilities… we have an empty garage bay… a small sailboat would be easy to take out when the whim strikes… Christine’s Highlander has a hitch and tow package… is it legal to tow a camper that in turn is towing a boat? OK, that last one is a bit over the top, but I have actually seen it done… most recently while traveling from Kansas City to this campground.

The idea of another sailboat is appealing but not practical, especially with the evolving plans that we have for the rest of this year and 2019. There may come a day for another sailboat, but not right now.

Before I get to next year: Once the celebration of Christine’s father’s 100th Birthday is in the books we will be packing “Rigel” for a 5 week outing that will take us to Michigan and the shores of Lake Huron, Ottawa Canada, and then on to New England. Highlights will be a visit with my mother as we pass near Chicago, camping on Huron’s western shore, and then on to visit our Canadian friends Tom and Nanci who we met while walking from Porto Portugal to Santiago Spain last April. Of course, New England is its own special highlight. We camped there in 2016 and knew that return trips would be a must.

Later in 2019 we hope to travel back to Canada and camp in the remote Province of Labrador and Newfoundland. Nanci and Tom have expressed an interest in a one-week Fall cruise from Montreal to Les Îles de la Madeleine. It is an idea that intrigues us. The “cruise ship” is actually an ocean going ferry with spartan accommodations by typical cruise ship standard. The destination is an island archipelago located where the Atlantic Ocean meets the St. Lawrence seaway. These small islands sit upon an ancient salt dome. European explorer Jacques Cartier landed there in 1534, hundreds of years after the Mi’kmaq First Nation people had made the islands a seasonal hunting ground. Some modern inhabitants trace their ancestry to sailors marooned as the result of the hundreds of shipwrecks that have occurred on the islands shores.

Here is a link to the cruise company website:

https://www.croisieresctma.ca/en/

Well, I have danced around and thus avoided talking about what I consider the most captivating “Next Thing”. It will take place in April, 2019 and it deserves a separate post. However, I will leave off with a picture that more than hints at what is coming.

Peace Everyone! Pete

August 9, 2018. Stockton Lake. Under a Magnifying Glass.

Posted on by Pete Schloss

Yesterday I mentioned my challenges with relaxation and solitude. That remark drew thoughtful comments from good friends. Before I delve further into that… first about today.

Within a radius of 5 miles my bicycle carried me to a number of remarkable (and memorable) sights. The Stockton Dam, constructed in 1963, featured a state of the art hydroelectric turbine. The original turbine now stands on display. In 2009 one of its huge blades failed, breaking off from the unit and then discharged into the lake. It was retrieved, welded back in place, and the turbine was restored to service in 2010. However, the handwriting was on the wall and a new more efficient turbine was installed in 2013.

Near the sight of the turbine monument are huge rock cores that were excavated at the time of the dam’s construction. These cores provided engineers with valuable information regarding the stability of the underlying strata to support the dam structure. Moreover, the cores gave geologists a remarkable window into Earth’s past. The cores exposed layers of rock that date back 450 million years, a time before vascular plants and vertebrate life forms existed. The cores could not only be examined on the surface, but the holes that the cores left were large enough in diameter to allow geologists to descend the 200 foot depth and closely examine the strata in-situ.

Perhaps the most unexpected encounter on my exploration was a small out of the way cemetery founded by Issac Lyons Hembree (1796-1865). He had settled 1600 acres of Missouri wilderness in 1852 and determined to be buried in a place where he could watch over the work in his fields below. His gravestone is weather worn, but a bronze emblem gives testament to his service in the War of 1812. Other monuments to his descendants speak to service in the “Indian Wars”, and most poignantly to the service of Thomas Wilson Hembree, USN, who died on December 7th, 1941… “a date which will live in infamy”.

I had the good fortune at camp to meet Katherine, a retired educator originally from Kansas City. She and her partner moved to Stockton Lake, attracted to the natural beauty of the area and the favorable cost of living. Initially there was some concern whether they would find acceptance in the rural society. Those concerns were quickly forgotten as they not only were embraced by their neighbors, but Katherine’s partner was elected Mayor of their town.

Katherine introduced me to her neighbor Craig, a 59 year old retired hydrologist. Craig found a new passion in retirement, hand building wooden boats. He brought to camp a kayak and a gaff-rigged catboat. They are both sea-worthy works of art. Tomorrow, weather willing, Craig and I are going to sail the catboat together.

Back to my starting reflection: My friend of 50 years, Maxine, suggested that I sit beneath a large tree and with the aid of a magnifying glass (or bifocals) engross myself with the close examination of the wonders to be found in a square foot of the ground. She touts this as a meditative exercise to embrace both solitude and relaxation. I intend to take her up on this suggestion. However, my first impulse was the thought of what others might think of a 66 year old white haired guy playing detective with blades of grass. Mind you, as an adult I have hugged trees in order to “feel” the life of those stately creatures… I have laid upon the grass to contemplate the endless universe above and the 8,000 miles beneath that separates me from those on the other side of the world. In these and other similar actions I have found a tension between my proper “adult self”, and the childlike wonder that occasionally motivates me.

Childlike wonder reveals what adult propriety suppresses. We knowingly smile at a child’s play with imaginary friends. We gently discourage a child’s “overactive” imagination… and eventually we drive that free spirit into compliance with the norms that we ourselves were taught to observe as the price of our adulthood. What if the unfettered imaginations of a child or an adult nearing the end of life, are able to perceive what we have become blind to? “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” (attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche among others)

Today was a journey not measured in distance but certainly as experienced in its depth.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. Perhaps tomorrow will be about “The Next Thing”.