Lavender blue, dilly dilly

A couple of weeks ago 3 photograpically-inclined friends and I took a day trip over to San Juan Island, the largest island in the San Juan chain, to vis1t Pelindaba Lavender Farm. (http://pelindabalavender.com/)  Fabulous place--the fields are open to the public and you can walk through them to your heart's content.  You can even cut your own lavender.  I had no idea there were so many different varieties of lavender to be found!  After moseying through the fields and inhaling all that lovely fragrance for a couple of hours, we were a group of happy mellow campers!

I love the contrast between the plants in bloom and those that have already been harvested.

Billows and waves of lavender surround you

Variations in color show the different varieties, and make the fields look like a glorious patchwork quilt.

Look at the abstract design going on here!

I kept coming back to these...my eye immediately captured by the abstract fan pattern that the bloom stalks created, and the way the light hit them. 

A small overview...inhale, please.  Ahhhh, don't you feel better already?

And, across the road from the farm was a little pond, complete with sailing lessons being given.  How fun!!

Watchers in the Woods

I enjoy hiking because of the quietness, the ability to immerse myself into the rhythm of the woods, and the chance to see who lives there.

These cygnets are past the ugly duckling stage, but not too far past.  They are awkward adolescents!

This little guy found himself a fresh mushroom and was enjoying a nice mid-morning meal.

I have a soft spot for chipmunks.  Growing up, they were all around, and we trained the ones near our cottage to eat out of our hands.  It is so funny to see those cheek pouches crammed with peanuts! 

Not seen, but the evidence is there.  Beavers hard at work--the tree on the right had already been downed, and they have been working on the larger tree on the right.  I looked for their lodge/dam, but couldn't see it anywhere nearby.  Who knows how far they will have to take this one for their construction?

Underfoot and along the trail

A hollowed out tree trunk, with a magic window

Acorns.  Bliss.

Whorls of shelf fungus on a downed tree.  I love the colors and patterns, and all the implied motion in these static growths.

Details along the trail

I took my macro lens with me on vacation, and there it sat in the camera bag, unused.  There was so much "big picture" to see that I never got around to switching out lenses.  I did, however, try to shoot some quasi-macro with my zoom...

This isn't a macro by any means, but I love the reflection and line of the buoys, as well as the combo of bright orange and deep green.

Sand at the bottom of the lake.  I just love the patterns the waves form, and how clean and clear the water is!

The water lilies were blooming at the park.  Small ponds and inlets were almost choked with the lily pads and blooms.  When I was a kid we used to canoe over to the "lily cove" on the lake where our cottage was, and pick huge armfuls of the white and yellow waterlilies for bouquets.  The Conservation Police would be on you in a heartbeat if you did that today...

These never open very far.  They are just a wonderful little yellow ball atop a stiff stem.

A burst of yellow-orange underfoot as I hiked led me to these wonderful mushroom caps.  I love the designs on the top of them.

Beach Therapy

"It's hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much.  Everything about it is renewing to me, almost like therapy...Beach Therapy."     Amy Dykens



Everyone has a different idea of their ideal form of Beach Therapy.  Mine is hiking along the shore, looking for treasures, listening to the waves and gulls, smelling the fresh air, and occasionally hopping into the lake to cool off.  A good book isn't a bad idea, either.

Others choose a good book, a good view, and lots of sun.

Or, find the perfect sand dune to jump off.....

and then run down.  It's always more fun with a friend.

Find a swim ring that is just right, and a good friend, and play in the water all day.

Or, jump repeatedly into the water...

making as big a splash as possible.  Extra points for getting everyone else wet.

Of course, you may choose to chase the sea gulls along the shore.

Even better is taking a walk down the beach with your best friend.

And when all is said and done, everything tastes better when you eat your lunch on a beach towel by the lake.

The Fine Art of Drip Castles

"...reminders of carefree days, building castles in the sand"  D. Morgan

The sand on Lake Michigan beaches is perfect for sand castles.  Anyone can make the conventional castle, using buckets and molds, and shovels.  As a kid I made drip castles.  Dig a hole at the edge of the water, and get a handful of watery sand.  Hold it in your hand and carefully let it drizzle through your fingers, creating a stalagmite of sand.  Keep adding more and more layers.  Build a wall.  Build a tower.  Build a courtyard.  Watch out for the moat, or your castle will be undermined and crash down.

I taught L how to make drip castles when she was little, at this very same beach.  The tradition now passes to the next generation.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see this.

Master builders...

Even B got in on the fun.  He was great at it!

The finished castle, and the proud builders.

Hiking The Park

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

Rachel Carson

The day I hiked out at the State Park was the one day it was overcast.  A blessing in that I didn't get too hot, especially hiking across the dunes, but I really would've liked some blue skies for photos.  I did get caught in a shower, but managed to make the Big Point Sable lighthouse before it started raining hard.  I love the State Park--the topography is so diverse.  There are woodlands, a large inland lake, a river with outlet to Lake Michigan, dunes, and shoreline.  You can put yourself in whichever environment you prefer, or you can hike like a fool (I did nearly 12 miles) and sample as much of it as possible.  I so want to go back in the fall; this place is stunning when Mother Nature pulls out her fall finery and dresses up.

I love the Island Trail--one of my favorites hikes.  Tie it in with the Lost Lake Trail, and it's a perfect hike.

Ok, isn't this just the best beach lean-to you have seen?  WHO could resist wanting to play in that fort, perched on a dune, overlooking the Lake Michigan?

And a curvy path leading right to it?  How perfect is that??

The interdunal ponds, or swales, were hit and miss this year.  They dot the interior dunes, but the water level depends on how high Lake Michigan is, and how far the swale is from the Lake itself.  They provide fresh water for the deer, racoons, and other animals that venture through the dune areas.  This swale was low, but there was a wonderful bloom of delicate yellow flowers, thriving in the shallow water.

I am in love with drift fences. I love the way they dip and bend and conform to the shape of the dune, and how the wind manages to customize them.

 They are scattered strategically in places in the dunes to help with the drifting sand and stabilize areas until the beach grass can take hold. You will occasionally find an old drift fence, nearly completely buried, peeking through a stand of beach grass.


 In the winter, these are set up along the edge of the road, between the road and the lake, to prevent sand from drifting across the road during the winter storms.  Snow melts; sand requires massive amounts of plowing. 
                  

Oh Michigan, my Michigan....

Had an absolutely wonderful week's vacation in Michigan.  L, B, the kidlets and I rented a house near Ludington, where I grew up.  A week of bliss, on the beach, in the woods hiking, eating Blue Moon ice cream at the House of Flavors, taking the kidlets to the places where I played when I was their age.  It was so wonderful to see that some of the choicest places hadn't changed, or changed significantly, in the many many years since I was little, or since R and I took our kids back there.  The beach is still the same.  Our cottage still stands, the same except for a new coat of paint.  The woods are still the same, and the Ludington State Park and its miles and miles and miles of trails is just as magical as ever.

The Little Point Sable lighthouse, near Silver Lake.  Yes, it tilts, like the Tower of Pisa.  It stands 107' high, and you can climb 139 steps up to the top, which L, E and I did.  It was built in 1874, and in 1890 it was painted white so mariners could see it from off-shore.  In 1977 the tower was sandblasted to reveal the original brick, and to save having to whitewash the tower yearly.

The view from the top of the Little Point Sable light.  It is 66 miles across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.  The lake is still clear and clean, and the color was glorious this day.

The North Breakwater lighthouse in Ludington, the lighthouse I grew up listening to on foggy days and evenings.  The foghorn would sound so mournful as it sounded to warn ships and to guide them to harbor.  The light was built in 1871, is 57' tall, and it's structure in part of the steel and reinforced concrete pier.  The base, which is prow-shaped and makes the light look like it is leaning, is designed to break waves, which can be huge during winter storms.

Th Big Point Sable light in the Ludington State Park, one of my favorites (especially on a sunny blue day.  It rained the day I hiked out there...)  It is located on a hazardous stretch of the Michigan coast line; in 1855, prior to the building of the light, 12 ships were wrecked.  The light was built in 1867 and was the first light in the area.  It stands 112' tall, and was originally built of yellow brick, similar to the Little Point Sable light which was built to be a twin.  Due to eroding brick due to weathering, the light was encased in steel plating in 1900.

A rest shelter in the Ludington State Park, built by the CCC in the 1930s.  There are still a few of these along some of the trails in the park.

The Beach House at the State Park, which was also built in the '30s by the CCC.

Big Red, the Holland, Michigan lighthouse.  The original lighthouse was built in 1872; this structure was built in 1907.  It stands 32' tall.  The gabled roof is indicative of the Dutch influence in the area.

The end of a beautiful day from our rental.  What a view to go to sleep with, listening to the waves and the breeze.  Bliss.