Michigan Vacation - Day 2 (July 11, 2021)

  We started day two (07/11/21) a bit later than we hoped. I got up about 7 AM per usual and headed downstairs for coffee but found no one stirring/ So I went back upstairs to brush my teeth, shower, etc. Tom, meanwhile, sat on the bedroom floor and read.

 When we all got moving Ami made poached eggs on bread. She added arugula and guacamole. Quite an unusual and delicious way to start the day.

 Also tangerines, bananas, and a hot sauce for the eggs.

 The day promised to be beautiful.  The sky was crystal clear and the air quickly warmed. Already the loon was calling from the water.

 This shot is on the south side of the house (aimed northeast) with a view of our cars. I left mine in the driveway all night.

 Here's a good view of the deck. Four people had plenty of room.

 And a view of the living room from the second floor loft.

 Today (our second and last day there), Steve offered to drive and our first destination was their property overlooking Lake Michigan. It is northwest of Northport on the Leelanau Peninsula. They own a Mercedes Benz SUV with all the bells and whistles. It's the first car I've ridden in that has some self-driving capability.

 Arriving at the property, we spent some time marveling at the view of the lake. It'll get great breezes in the summer but the winter will be cold here.

Tom(l) and Steve

 Steve is having  the bluff reclaimed. Loads of sand are being dumped there and various other landscaping techniques will be tried. Ground covers will be planted and mechanical means applied to hold the sand in place. Steps are being built down to the beach.

 Here's a video of the steps being built:

 Just south is an agricultural area. Lots of cherry trees still held fruit. I understand this was once an asparagus farm.

 This is the area where a "garage" will be built first. It'll have a living area above the cars. The idea is to have a place under roof where they can vacation while they wait for the house to be built. Both are in their mid-50's so their retirement date is not yet set.

Peterson Park is just north of the Orr's property. At the moment it offers the only safe path to the water's edge. I found this tree quite unusual. It's near the parking area. What causes the trunk to form a circle?

Looking south

 Once we reached the beach we began hiking south so we could see their property from the lake.

Looking north

 On our drive back south we stopped in Northport for lunch. We ate pizza and drank beer from a local brewery. The pizzas were fired in an outdoor wood-burning oven. They were $35 (both).

Tom (l-r), Bill and Ami (and Roscoe) - Credit: Steve Orr

 This is the G. Marsten Dame Marina (also called Northport Harbor)

 Later, back on Long Lake, we drank more wine as Ami prepared dinner (poor Ami!). She had grilled veggie burgers, corn on the cob and watermelon. Did I mention wine?

Bill (l-r), Tom and Steve

Ami (l-r), Tom, Steve and Bill

 Thus ended our stay in the Traverse City area. The next morning Steve and Ami had an appointment in Traverse City and Tom and I headed south to Bear Lake.

Michigan Vacation - Day 1 (July 10, 2021)

  We left Farmersville early on Saturday (07/10) and arrived at Long Lake, south of Traverse City, just after 5 PM. We're staying with Dr's Steve and Ami Orr at a house they rented.

 It was at 1335 W Outer Drive, Traverse City, MI. See it here on Zillow.

Tom (l) and Steve Orr

 The house was spacious and modern and situated at the apex of a peninsula on the eastern side of Long Lake. A massive deck faces the water.

 Two glass-topped tables offered more than enough room to eat and enjoy conversation. I haven't seen Steve or Ami in probably a dozen years. They both practice in Findlay, Ohio ... Tom's hometown.

 The forecast didn't look good early in the week but the day turned out quite beautiful. And it got better the longer we were there.

  Because of the fine weather we were able to enjoy every meal outside. Ami made veggie lasagna, a favorite of both Tom's and mine. They had crusty bread which we drizzled with olive oil. Salad and wine. Dessert was apple pie ala mode,

Roscoe

 Since all four of us had driven a great distance that day, we didn't stay up late. Well, Tom read in a third bedroom but I hit the  sack. We opened one window - it got down into the lower 50's - and I was able to listen to a loon laughing on the water.

Mennonite Coconut Cookies

  I don't have a cookie in the house but I made a note on next week's grocery list. That didn't help me one bit today so I pulled out Mom's 1950's-era cookbook and started looking through the recipes. Many that I'd like to try I didn't have the ingredients for.

 But these Coconut Cookies I did.

 Even so I only had half the needed coconut so I cut the recipe in half. It made just 17 cookies, hardly enough for Tom and I but it'll take the edge off till we get to the store (or until I make something else).

 These cookies aren't macaroons - not even close - and that's what I think of when I think of coconut. The flavor is very muted (but my coconut has been in the freezer for months and that's likely the reason. Even so, the delicate taste is just what I was looking for today. I could have made chocolate chip cookies but I wanted something lighter.

Coconut Cookies

1 cup margarine
2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups shredded coconut
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 I melted the margarine in the microwave and added everything except the coconut and flour. I mixed this very well.

 Then I added the coconut into the liquid and let it absorb the moisture for a few minutes.

 Finally I added the flour.

 Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes (mine took about 13 minutes).  Makes 3-1/2 to 4 dozen.

 It's a super easy recipe and one I'll return to. Apparently Mom never made this one. When she made a recipe she often left notes about modifications and also dated when she tried it. This recipe was blank.

Later:

 Tom suggested that these would be good with the addition of chocolate chips. So yesterday he brought home a bag of shredded coconut and I knew I had several bags of chocolate chips (10 ounce size)/ So I made a full recipe today.

 I used a small ice cream scoop to portion out the dough (that' what I always do). The full recipe made just 33 cookies, clearly quite a bit larger than the recipe calls for. I adjusted the bake time up to 15 minutes. That leaves them soft and chewy.

 I like them both ways but both Bob and Tom seemed to think them "too plain". I don't always want the extra richness of chocolate. But the cookies work well this way and I'm sure most people would prefer the addition of chocolate chips.

A Larger House ... [quote]

 

Another High Altitude Balloon Launch

  Tom and I arrived at Brubaker Field behind Valley View  Junior High early enough to watch many of the preparations for a second balloon launch in a month (see 04/27/21). The launch was set for 10:30 AM and we arrived about 20 minutes early.

 The wind was more from the west today. But when I did my laps earlier I paid attention to the clouds moving generally north. It turns out that by the time the balloon launched it was being pushed slightly north of east.

 You can watch the balloon inflating with helium in this sequence of shots.

 Two professional photographers seemed to be covering the event. I didn't know the man on the right but the lady on the left is Carly Smith, a meteorologist with WDTN in Dayton.

 Carly moved her camera around the field getting various views of the preparations.

 About 10:20 AM a number of classes at VVJH came out of the building to watch the launch.

 The balloon is pretty much at maximum fill at this point. There will have to be plenty of room left for the gas to expand as the balloon rises into the stratosphere. It carries a parachute along with the instrument package to bring everything safely back to the ground.

 Besides the electronic instrumentation carried along, students placed scientific experiments aboard. These include, according to science teacher Jill Weaver "Martian soil simulant, seeds, UV sunscreen experiments, Orbeez [a toy], fortune telling fish [ditto] and more!"

 By 10:40 AM the countdown was made and it was off ...

 The balloon exited towards the east dangling the instrument package and parachute below. Even at great height, the stacked items could be seen moving ever higher.

 Science teacher Jill Weaver is the one we all wish we had.

 Weaver is interviewed by Smith.

 When I got home I quickly looked up the tracking website but no data was being shown. Weaver said (at 11:53 AM), "I am only picking up my SPIT tracker. We are at 47,000 feet near New Carlisle."

Credit: VVJH

Results:

 It is estimated the balloon reached an altitude of 17 to 19 miles and traveled a straight-line distance of 55 miles. It was recovered in Mingo, Ohio (just NE of Urbana).

For video from the balloon click here.

For a GoPro launch video  click here.

For a local TV story click here.

For Unreal Aerial Productions LLC video click here.

For a Wright State University story click here.

Brood X Cicadas Emerging

  It's been 17 long years but now the Brood X cicadas are emerging. I saw the first a couple of days ago and yesterday I heard the first tentative songs. When we left the house yesterday we saw a nymph working to remove himself (herself?) from his exoskeleton. It appears to be a slow and laborious process.

 This one was on our bell post and he was pulling himself out the top back of the exoskeleton. Looking into those red eyes, he seems to almost be straining. I stood there and watched him for several minutes. His movements were minute but purposeful. There was no jerking, just a slow, steady "ooze" up and away. For seconds there was no movement at all.

 A view from atop and at  an angle shows him mostly free. I wonder how his legs (those ivory-colored stringy things) can be pulled f rom the chitin legs that are so much smaller? In fact his whole body was expanding quite quickly. As he pulled out, there was no way he'd even fit back in. The case he exited was much smaller than his body now.

 A view from directly above and the cicada takes on the appearance of a small flower getting ready to open. The process is perhaps similar. I was under the impression that it was a bit of a wet, sticky process but I'm wondering now whether the threads of stickiness I seemed to observe were not just long white body parts?

 This picture was taken today (a day later) of another cicada, already free of his exoskeleton and drying himself on the back of one of our rockers. The body quickly darkens and the wings change from milky white to transparent. We found the drying time of the cicada in the first three pictures to be something less than three hours. When we returned from an excursion, he was gone. Only the case remained.

 So how do cicadas know when their 17 years are up? I have not read anything to that effect but I'll take a guess. It is not timekeeping at all but rather a series of stages that finally, after 17 years, result in "birth". There may be 17 stages or there may be many more but when they're completed, 17 years have passed and it's time to sing. The seasons are surely the background  clock.

 In 2004 both Dad and Mom were still living. In 2038 will I be? I'd be 88 (going on 89 that July). I have my doubts so I suppose, as raucous and annoying as they are I should enjoy the rare party of these noisemakers.

 It's going to be a noisy few weeks ahead.