Mostly Muskegon

In spite of published government regulations mandating that on July 4…

…all citizens shall remain in bed until such time as it is deemed appropriate to devour numerous foodstuffs of indeterminate origin, especially those which shall be named as both hot dogs and hamburgs. The consumption of said foods shall officially mark the time at which the citizens shall begin the celebration of our country’s founding with the expenditure of much of our nation’s treasure on really cool Chinese fireworks…

…Chris still got up early for a hike over to Duck Lake. It was just as well that she did, as we are still hoping to get out of here soon for a day trip on the Little Manistee.

The walk into the park was awfully dark, but, luckily, Chris knows the trails very well, especially the one to her favorite swimming spot. We got to the lake just in time for the dawn to start to break over the eastern shore of the lake.

It took Chris only a few minutes of dragging me through some very tall and very wet weeds to get to her swimming spot. It was well worth the soaked jeans to enjoy the view.

Heading across the Muskegon High School campus this morning, the old chimney off of Sanford seemed even more imposing than usual.

Friday morning found us at White Lake sans dog. It offered an opportunity to skip the usual lovely walk and partake in a lovely paddle instead.

The lake couldn’t have seemed more different. It was probably a combination of the long shadows of the sunrise and total absence of other boats.

This was the view heading out towards the White Lake channel at about 6:30 of marker 7.

Chris decided that this morning would be a perfect time to explore the southwestern shore of Duck Lake. Her instincts couldn’t have been better.

As we turned the corner from Duck Lake Road onto Scenic, the sun finally made it’s first appearance of the day and made up for sleeping in by putting on quite a show for us.

When Chris finished her swim, we headed down some seemingly impassable trails that she insisted were otherwise, we came upon these Dwarf Irises (Iris lacustris Nitt).

We understand that these are endangered. This makes sense having never run across them before - and not finding many this morning either.

According to “Michigan wildflowers in color” by Harry C. Lund, these are found almost exclusively on the sandy or gravelly shores of Lake Michigan or Huron and the boggy areas adjacent. He list it as “a threatened species do not disturb”.

The Richard Hunt sculpture, Muskegon Together Rising, on the morning of June 24, 2008.

The boat docks at the Hartshorn launch frame the sunrise over Muskegon on June 23, 2008.

Rain clouds and their reflections frame the eastern shore of Muskegon County’s Duck Lake on June 22, 2008.

This is one of our dog Chris’ favorite places to wander. If you are tempted to try it with your hound, remember to keep an eye (and leash) out for encounters with the resident skunks. Just this morning, we had two separate meetings that worked out fine, but could easily have gone otherwise.

If in spite of that, you are still tempted, here’s more info on the park from the DNR website.

Duck Lake State Park is a 728-acre day-use park, located in Muskegon County. Featuring a towering sand dune, the park stretches from the northern shore of Duck Lake to Lake Michigan. The terrain is a mixture of open brush land to mature hardwood forest, with some pockets of open meadows mixed in.

The land was purchased by the Nature Conservancy from two Boy Scout organizations, and acquired by the state in 1974. Remains of the old scout camps were removed and access roads were constructed.

The park was officially dedicated in the spring of 1988.

A new entrance off of Scenic Drive was completed in May 2005.

Waking up during last night’s big storm, we found that the rocking chairs out front were quite moved by all of the wind and rain. Indeed, for a while it looked as if some sort of ghostly tea party was underway.

Rumor has it that the real origin of the margarita cocktail involved a woman named not Margarita, but Daisy. And yet, she is said to be the inspiration for the name. It just so happens that one of the species name of the flower is…margarita!

This morning’s sunrise over White Lake seemed more dramatic than usual. It was almost as if the sun couldn’t get any closer.

Happy Solstice!

The rebirth of downtown Muskegon made a major stride with the recent reopening of Carmen’s Cafe. In addition to having our old friends back cooking wonderful food for us, the new cafe means that Muskegon once again has a regular venue for local musicians.

The music nights at Carmen and Scott’s old restaurant were one of the real highlights of living downtown. They offered the opportunity to play and hear tunes, but, more importantly, to meet others from around town and to get a much richer appreciation for our community.

Oh, and to eat way too much of that really good apple pie.