Life at a snails pace

Snail and toad are friends, originally uploaded by Goyo P.

Slowing down is natural as we grow old.  But I feel like I was born for a slow pace.  I have always preferred canoes, bikes and hikes.  Expressways make me nervous.  I told my Dr. about it.  He asked what I did about it?  I told him, “ I drive country roads instead”.  It’s true.  One day a few years ago I decided I would permanently avoid them whenever possible.  When I tell people this they look at me funny.  Society is all about cars and living fast.   But I chose a different path and I don’t regret it.

Living sans interstate turn my trips into journeys…not destinations.  Lately I’ve put a lot of miles on country roads.  When my art festival season ended I decided I needed to spend more time with nature.  Actually, my last art festival was a birding festival.  I participated in the Crane and Art Festival in Marshall, MI.  I had a great weekend selling art.  But what I really enjoyed was the experience of watching the Sandhill Cranes come in to roost at night.  The weather was great.  Each night I would spend the evening sitting on the observation hill under the moonlight to listen to the cranes in the Baker Sanctuary.  I soaked in the changing colors of the night sky.  Each morning I woke up early, made coffee and took off to watch the sunrise burn through the morning fog.  I drove the back roads to enjoy the fall colors.  Every now and then I would pull over and watch the cranes fly overhead as they left the sanctuary for their day time feeding grounds.

After the festival I drove the back roads to Dexter, MI to canoe/flyfish the Huron River with my friend Sherm.  We didn’t catch much but we did see plenty of birds.  My favorite bird along the way was an Osprey with his piercing call.  The Huron Metroparks are great sanctuaries in southern Michigan for nature lovers.  I particularly enjoy the Dexter Huron Metropark with it’s variety of Oaks along the river.  My favorite thing to do there is to look for Burr Oak acorns. 

The following weekend I drove the country roads to Thorn Lake in southeastern Jackson County.  Along the way I pulled over a half dozen times to photograph Sandhill Cranes in the local farm fields.  I stopped to look at old barns, small ponds with Kingfishers and the occasional Kestrel on a wire.  Thorn Lake is a sanctuary in itself with waterfowl numbering in the thousands.  I was even fortunate to see a pair of Bald Eagles hunt and catch an unlucky Coot for dinner.  To really see or ID the birds you need a scope.  I’m putting a scope on my Christmas wish list.

On a drizzly day last week I spent an hour or so walking through Furstenburg Park along the Huron River in Ann Arbor.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets were bouncing around in all the trees like pinballs.  I like this park in the winter too.  It’s a great place to see Pine Siskins as they feed on Black Alder trees along the river.  The paved trail from Gallup Park to Nichols Arboretum is also nice.  Warblers hang out along the river during migration.  I saw my first Cape May Warbler there this Spring.

The other day I drove the country roads to the Haehnle Sanctuary near Jackson, MI.  Birders are showing up in large numbers to get a view of the Sandhill Cranes as they fly in to roost for the night.  Some leave disappointed because of the low numbers.  Before they hop back on the interstate to head home I want to tell them to take the country roads home.  They may find them in large numbers along the way in the fields.  The water levels at the marsh are not ideal this year.  Weve had a lot of rain this fall.  So most of the Sandhills have been bypassing the marsh.  But it’s still pretty awesome to see them fly directly overhead. 

This past weekend was the best weekend of all this month.  A friend invited me over to her property in southwest Lenawee County.  Being a Lenawee County resident I love to go birding here.  Birders are hard to come by in Lenawee.  Lenawee is a farming community.  As Leopold stated in his Sand County Almanac, bread comes before conservation in hard times.  And Lenawee has seen some very hard times lately.  Hard times made it easier for the mineral industry to come in and drill.  Hard times push farmers to maximize the crop acreage which reduces riparian buffer zones and grassland habitat.  Hard times bring in industrial farmers and CAFO’s.  Hard times have been bad news for clean water and bird habitat.  It’s been so hard I’ve considered writing off Lenawee County as too far gone.  The conservation battle seems too great.  The constituency here does not support conservation.  But there are passionate people here willing to work for conservation.  Lynn Henning is one.  And, my friend Janet is another.  She broke the drain tile in her farm field and reestablished some old wetlands that were previously drained for farming.  She invited me over to go birding on her “farm”.  It’s true that it used to be a farm.  But it’s a sanctuary now.  It’s not just a sanctuary for birds, trees, wildflowers and amphibians.  It’s a sanctuary for those who cannot live without pasque flowers, according to Leopold.   It’s for those who love to fall asleep to the sound of Chorus frogs, those who still remember the sound of a Northern Bobwhite and those who prefer Gentian to Garlic Mustard.  My day with Janet on her “farm” renewed my hope for Lenawee.   It is not “too far gone” as I once believed.  There are conservation efforts in Lenawee.  You just have to get off the interstate and look for them. 

To see some of Janet’s work visit her youtube channel.

The Little River, washing the spirit clean.

Little River, GSMNP, originally uploaded by Goyo P.

John Muir said go to the woods to wash your spirit clean!  I like the words of Muir so that’s what I did for two weeks in July.  I wanted to say something about the Little River because I think it’s a magical place.  The Little River runs along the northern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It’s the closest trout stream to my parents house so I have become familiar with it.  My favorite stretch is the East Branch by the Elkmont campground.  I like this area because it offers some seclusion.  Of the millions of visitors per year that pass through the Smokies only a small percentage get out of their cars.  An even smaller percentage hike further than a mile into the woods.  Conservationist Aldo Leopold said some people can live without nature, and some people cannot.  I’m one of those who cannot.  The Little River trail is an easy hike.  It’s an old road with a gradual incline.  But for a fisherman like me, “easy” may not be the best choice of words.  This is Copperhead country.  You wont find many on the trail but you’ll see plenty basking in the sun on the boulders along the river….exactly where I pass to cast a fly to native Brook Trout.  And, then there are the Black Bear.  A woman was killed a few years ago by a black bear as she rested on the rocks.  And, there are still “aggressive” bears along the trail.  The NPS is pretty good about posting signs to warn people about them.  There are a few of these warning signs along the trail.  Anyway after a few days of fishing with Copperheads and Black Bear you begin to understand the meaning of Muir’s words….”washing your spirit clean”.  It’s hard for me to get too entangled in life’s problems when it takes all my concentration and focus to stalk a wary mountain Brook Trout without stepping on a Copperhead.  It parallels Buddhist meditation.  Buddhists meditate by focusing on their breathing.  It is impossible to think about the past, present and future all at once.  Bringing the mind to the reality of the present washes away all worries of the past and anxiety of the future.  Furthermore, researchers claim that exposure to high levels of negative ions created by waterfalls improves health.  Muir would have said, “no duh!” to that.  It’s pretty obvious there are benefits to spending time in nature.  More importantly it helps me to understand that everything in nature has purpose.  Without Copperheads, Black Bear, chiggers, mosquitos we would not be able to focus on the present.  We need wild animals, insects, plants and trees of all varities to wash our spirit clean.  Some of us need it more than others.  I need it daily.

A Fierce Green Fire

Some people wonder why I spend so much time in the woods?  Some people tell me I go to the woods to escape reality.  Some people say I must be in search of something.  Some people just think I’m weird.  The truth is there is a “fierce green fire” inside me.

“A Fierce Green Fire” is the name of a book by Marybeth Lorbiecki about environmentalist Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac.  Leopold isn’t the reason I spend so much time in the woods, but he helps me understand why I do.  I’ve been going to the woods all my life.  I grew up along Beaver Creek just outside of Adrian.  It’s where I spent my summer days; catching frogs, building tree forts, and playing in the creek.   When I was 12 we moved to another home along the River Raisin.  I learned to shoot an air rifle in the flooded woods along the Raisin.  My dad said I was only allowed to shoot blackbirds; which we considered raucous vermin who stole food from his feeders.  But one day I broke his rule.  I accidentally shot a Robin.  I remember vividly seeing it fall from the tree.  When I walked up to the robin it was twitching and watching me.  I only had to watch it for a minute or so before the twitching stopped.  Then I watched a fierce green fire leave his eyes.  I buried that Robin in the woods beneath a Maple Tree.  Aldo describes this same experience in his younger days when he first shot a wolf.

When I was a kid I went fishing a lot.  Most kids love to fish.  But I really loved it.  When all my brothers were chasing girls I chased fish.  I studied them.  I learned all I could about new techniques and gear.  I caught a lot of fish too, learned to clean them and loved to eat them.  I still love to eat them.  But nowadays I rarely keep them.  I don’t keep fish for a lot of reasons.  When I was a kid I was the Josie Wales of fishermen.  All I cared about was how many fish I could catch.  Some days I just left them on the bank.  Like the outlaw Josie Wales I would say, “buzzards gotta eat” and spit on their heads.  Later on in life when I was working my way through college I got a part-time job at the Spring Valley Trout Farm just west of Dexter, MI.  They also had a catfish pond.  My main function was to assist the customers, keep the gear in good shape and clean fish.  I remember one hot summer day when a father and child came in to get their catfish cleaned.  The kid wanted to watch so they stood there while I pounded the catfish’s head with a mallet, cut the throat and ripped it’s skin off.  After that the father skurried the son outside to go find mother.  I have to give the father credit for allowing his son to see that process.  It’s good to know where your food comes from and how it’s processed.  Most animals we eat are deprived of their lives horrifically and violently.  So I don’t kill fish anymore.  If I do I say a prayer thanking God for the food that sustains me.  I think everyone should go to a chicken farm, or a CAFO or any food processing plant to see the ugly truth of where our food comes from.  Every person needs to see the fierce green fire leave the eyes of the creatures we eat.  It would do them good.

I go to the woods because I feel God more in a pine cone than sitting in a pew.   I dont work for humans anymore.  I work for nature.  Leopold said that we are “the meanest flower that grows”.  This is most obvious in our voracious appetite for new and shiny things.  We destroy everything in our path for them.   And most Americans are blind to it.  We chop off our feet to buy a new pair of shoes.  Progress is not bad.  I am comfortable.  I owe that comfort to progress.  But I refuse to give up any more of my wilderness chapel in the name of greed.  Recycle your old abandoned buildings that you left to rot in the city.  Leave my chapel alone because I would rather listen to the chorus of frogs than an iPod, smell the sweetness of morning dew on a Big Bluestem than expensive perfume, feel the cool Lake Michigan breeze on my face than spend a day in air conditioning, or float down the Au Sable than spew smog with a jet ski.  That’s just me.  Those are my joys.  I need wilderness to do that.  It has nothing to do with politics.  It has everything to do with a fierce green fire.

Faith and Physics

With the power outage that occurred last week I had an opportunity to catch up on some reading. I finished “The Complete Angler” by Izaak Walton and “The Grand Design” by Steven Hawkings. These books are polar opposites in content. The first, a poetic book of fishing and religion. The second a book of physics and science. I am a little biased towards fishing so you can probably guess which one I liked better. But I do enjoy reading about science occasionally.  I was particularly interested in The Grand Design because intelligent design intrigues me. Hawkins slowly worked his way to it throughout the book. In the process he described the history of science, philosophy and religion. I’m no physicist so reading about quantum theory and other scientific concepts took a lot of concentration. Hawkins went on to discuss a possible universal law called “M Theory”.  Even after reading the book I can’t say I understand it completely.  But physicists are looking for a universal law to tie up their loose ends and come to a complete understanding of the universe.   I may have this all wrong but apparently the laws of physics in the tiniest sub atomic particles of life do not apply to the laws of the entire universe. It’s now believed that there are infinite universes, each one having their own set of laws. M-Theory is supposed to tie them all together somehow. I wish them luck on that quest.  I’m not looking for answers to creation. They say that we are here by chance and it can be mathematically proven. They say that God does not exist because the universe must remain in balance and something cannot be created from nothing. They have faith in their mathematics. They admit that life evolved due to a number of fascinating probabilities.  One change in the process and life would not exist.   Some call it “intelligent design”.  But they still believe that it happened by chance and we are just a roll of the dice. Well I may believe them some day when they solve all the mysteries of the universe. But I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. The further we dive into the mysteries of the universe the more we encounter more mysteries. That’s the only constant I see.  Not everything in life is logical.  As long as there are mysteries there will always be room for Faith. Faith can coexist with science.  Faith doesn’t need proof. Faith is not looking for answers but accepts life as a gift. I admire physicists who unravel the mysteries of life.  It would seem to me they could either feel closer to God from their discoveries or further from God.  It all depends on their Faith in my opinion.  Anyway, I probably won’t read many more books on solving the answers to life. Life is too short and I’ll find out soon enough when my time comes.  So I think I’ll stick to poetry and fly fishing.

Celebrating Winter

Fishy cropped, originally uploaded by Goyo P.

I love my little town of Tecumseh. Why sit around and sulk about the cold? I love that we have the Ice Sculpture Festival. I love that the City built a rink in Adams Park. I love that somebody sculpted this leaping fish. It’s my favorite piece. I’m a flyfisher. I spend my winters tying flies in anticipation of the first Spring hatch. But I cant tie flies all winter long. I need to get outside and enjoy the crisp cold air. Snow is not always available for skiing so I have to mix it up….ski a little, bird a little, hike a little. There’s always something to do. After a cold day walking around downtown yesterday I opened up a bottle of “Fireside”. It’s a mulled Cabernet Franc made by Pentamere Winery here in Tecumseh and it’s delicious. Wine and cold weather go together nicely in my opinion. The festival continues today with a celebration of chocolate. So I’ll be downtown again today….with long johns on, carhardts, and warm gloves.

Six Days, Six Parks

Starting on January 12, 2011 I began a “one park a day” adventure.  I didnt premeditate it.  It just sort of happened.  It happened because of two things.  I like to go birding and I love cross country skiing.  Skiing has been one of my favorite things to do in Winter for almost 20 years.  I’m not the kind of person who sits home and complains about boredom.  When I was a kid, me and my brothers went outside to play…no matter how cold it was.  I dont think Winter keeps people from going outside.  Like the Pennsylvania Governor said about the cancellation of a recent NFL game, “I think were becoming a nation of wussies”.  You dont have to be a tough guy to make that statement.  Nah, you just have to know a thing or two about Winter.  Most importantly…respect it.  Dont go outside with a t-shirt and sandals and then tell me winter sucks.  That’s just stupid.  Here’s how I have fun in Winter…

January 12th, 2011:  Got off work, got home, changed into my ski clothes, and headed out to Heritage Park.  Here’s what I wear.  Wool or Synthetic socks, biking tights under REI ski pants or jeans, leg gators if I’m wearing jeans (it keeps the snow out of your boots), polyproplyene undershirt (synethetic material to wick away the sweat), fleece mid layer, windbreaker, fleece hat, fleece gloves.  Avoid cotton clothes in the winter because it does not stay dry and being wet in the cold is bad.  I also carry a backpack which contains; bird guide, binoculars, water, fruit.

January 13th, 2011:  I planned to attend an Audubon lecture in Jackson at the Dahlem Environmental Center.  The DEC has some nice trails so I wanted to hike a few before the meeting.  I wore the same gear (washed overnight of course).  In my backpack I carried an LED headlight, binoculars, bird guide, and a trail map.  Also, I wear gore-tex (waterproof) hiking boots.  To make snow hiking more enjoyable I purchased a set of “microspikes” for my boots.  It’s like putting chains on your car tires.  You can hike without them, but it feels like walking in sludge.  The microspikes gives you better traction…less slipping on ice and snow.  I like that.

January 14th:  I headed out to Ramsdell Park to ski.  Ditto on the clothes.  When I got there and put my skis on something felt wrong.  I had a fatal boot failure.  Not a problem because I brought my hiking boots and microspikes just in case.  My point is that it’s always good to have a plan B.  I did some birding instead.

January 15th:  I planned to go to Hidden Lake Gardens.  Saturday was very cold and very windy.  I had the usual gear on but the wind was wicked.  The hike was short because of it.  The lesson here is know your limits.

January  16th:  I needed to go to REI to get new ski boots.  They hooked me up quick.  Since I was in Ann Arbor I did some exploring.  I visited Gallup Park and Furstenberg Park.  I had heard reports that Pine Siskins were in Furstenberg Park.  I heard them but never saw them.  After that quick birding/photo outing I headed over to Matthaei Botanical Gardens.  I knew they had trails but had never hiked them before.  I headed inside to grab a trail map and took off.  The trails there are super slick and relatively flat…good for beginner skiers…or for people who like to go fast.  MBG is a beautiful place and well worth the drive.

Today, January 17th:  I wanted to do a super long, all day ski at HLG today.  I found some new trails there which are very secluded.  The sun was out when I started but as the day progressed it got cloudier and colder.  After three hours of skiing I had enough.  I explored some new territory on the southeast side, I made it through the hilly Hiker Trail without colliding with any trees and I skied the new unnamed trail on the west side.  The new trail has more ups and downs than the hiker trail.  There are no scary downhills through the trees.  BUT there are two or three hairpin turns that are impossible to take on xcc skis.  Side stepping was needed to get down the hill in those locations.

Tomorrow I’m taking a break.  It’s fly tying night at a friend’s house.  I had a great six days, but I’m looking forward to the rest tomorrow.

Birding in January

 

Snow Bunting in foreground, originally uploaded by Goyo P.

What’s the point of birding in the Winter?  Well, besides the fact that I enjoy being outdoors there’s a scientific benefit to counting birds.  After I count birds I record my findings at Ebird.org Ebird states, “Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales”  For an even more detailed explanation go to their website and check it out.

I took a day off work yesterday to do an all day bird count.  My objective was to find some Arctic variety birds.  Specifically, I was looking for Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks.  My objective was to drive the country roads to Ramsdell Park near Devils Lake, go for a quick ski, and then take the country roads home.  Well I didn’t have to drive one mile out of Tecumseh before I spotted a flock of birds circling the Dairy Farm on Russell Road.  I pulled over, got out my binoculars and started counting.  I counted approximately 100-150 birds.  While I was counting the farmer came out on his John Deere tractor to see if I was ok.  We had a brief conversation.  I told him about the birds and he looked at me like I was crazy…ha!  Story of my life.  Anyway, he let me walk in his field to get some close-up pictures.  That’s where I took the picture above.  In this picture there are several Longspurs, a few Horned Larks and one Snow Bunting in the foreground.

I spotted a few other flocks of Horned Larks on my way to Ramsdell Park.  But the most exciting sighting was a flock of 92 Wild Turkeys crossing the road.  They were skittish when I pulled up.  I got a few out of focus pics before they exploded into the sky, half running, half flying, wings crashing into the woodland trees.  In an instant they were gone…disappeared…vanished like ghosts.

When I arrived at Ramsdell Park I wasnt planning on counting birds.  I was planning on skiing.  But when I clicked into my binding something felt wrong.  I looked down and noticed my shoe has peeled away from the sole…total boot failure.  I swore a little but then realized I had my hiking boots in the car and my snow cleats.  So instead of skiing I hoofed it into the park with my camera and binoculars.  I didn’t expect to see much.  Half of the park is prairie grass, all of the water was frozen and it was snowing.  But, it is a great place to see woodpeckers in the woods.  When I did get to the woods I heard some very loud drumming and that perked me up a bit.  It sounded like a Pileated.  The trail seemed to be heading right towards the drumming sound.  I walked slowly.  But by the time I got to the end of the trail the drumming stopped.  He must have seen me.  So I turned around to head back, but as soon as I did he started to call….that loooooong kak, kak, kak which goes on for about a minute.  I turned around and sat on a bench and waited.  Suddenly he flushed, I raised my binoculars and saw him flying deeper into the woods which happens to be private property.  I wouldn’t chase him anyway.  Pileated Woodpeckers are very skitterish.  They always flush and fly away before I spot them.

Today the plan was to head to Hidden Lake Gardens to see if I could spot the Purple Finches.  I just recently spotted my first Purple Finch there about two weeks ago.  Others have also seen them.  So I headed down the old Munger road on the east side of the property.  There’s a cold front moving through.  It’s windier today than it was yesterday.  It’s harder to find birds on windy days…harder to see movement…harder to hear the birds…and I’m not as patient.  I get cold standing around too much.  I have to keep moving to stay warm.  I didn’t see any Purple Finches and I wasnt seeing too many birds in general so I decided to do some bushwhacking.  I took a deer path into the woods and came upon a hidden little grassy knoll.  It was beautiful even in the winter.  I made a mental note to return there in the Spring.  Eventually I made it back to an “official” trail.  I wasnt having much luck so i just decided to head back to the car.  But then I heard some Barred Owls calling in the distance.  That was pretty exciting.  I was half temped to see if I could go find them, but I was getting chilled.  I was pretty much done for the day but that’s usually when you see good birds…when you least expect it.  When I entered the north parking lot I saw a solitary bird fly in front of me.  It looked like a Junco but it was too big.  I wandered over to the bush it went into and spotted an Eastern Towhee….figures I didn’t have my good camera.  I could have gotten some nice pics since he let me stand 20′ away to watch him.  Oh well, that’s usually the way it goes.

All in all I’ve seen some good birds the last two days.  Highlights being the Arctic varieties, the large flock of Turkeys, the Pileated, the Barred Owls and then the Eastern Towhee.  I got some good exercise and lots of fresh air.  Now it’s time to relax.  I picked up some Ann Arbor Brewing Co Stout on my way home.  Time to chill and get back to my kindle.