A Stroll At Crockery Creek Natural Area

2010 12 08  The snow and cold weather came to Grand Haven on December 1st,  late for Michigan.  We had a long lasting autumn and that was good.  It always takes a little getting used to the snow and cold.  The snow brings quiet, a certain tranquillity, I think.


My sister Marie and I went on a good adventure to Crockery Creek Natural Area  (Ottawa County)  located on the north side of the Grand River at Wren Drive.  This visit we were able to walk in new (to us) areas accessible because the water level is low.


Even though we have been here before it is like a new place.  This comes from a combination of things like, visiting in different seasons, exploring the park boundaries to the limit, and our somewhat poor memories.  Exploring is always fun with Marie.  Since we see no blooming wildflowers now, she is teaching me about trees.


Crockery Creek Natural Area



Field At Crockery Creek Natural Area

Crockery Creek

There was ice on Crockery Creek.   Temperature  was 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

 We also stopped by the Grand Haven Pier.

The lighthouse is on the south pier, you can see just a bit of the north pier in this picture.  We did some research at my house and called it a day.

Puppy Love Or Temporary Insanity?

Last February we lost our 15 year old "puppy dog" to a stroke.  It was a hard thing to go through, and really got to me even though she was just a dog.  A while after she was gone, I got rid of all doggy stuff in the house.  Took back the sun room as a place to sit with no smelly dog bed or dog dishes.  There was so much less dog hair in the house, we could go away and not have to worry about the dog.  I enjoyed not having that responsibility.  Life was plenty full with kids, grandkids, husband, and siblings.

Then someone  (daughter of mine) started sending me pictures of available puppies.  She worked on me for weeks but I was firm - I really did not want a dog!  I'm actually quite lazy, so it was just easier without a dog. 

I started to weaken, only because she was so persistent!  Then one day I was a bit weak and we made plans to go to Montcalm County to meet this cute puppy named Hannah. But Hannah was adopted  by a family with 5 young girls.  Aw, good the puppy will live happily ever after and I don't have to have a dog! 

I stated clearly to this daughter of mine that I just did not want the responsibility of a dog, or the expense, or the heart break in 10 or 15 years when the dang dog dies.  She openly admitted she did not want full responsibility of a dog either, but she still wanted me to get one. 

And then out of the blue my reasoning and common sense left me.  Black Lab/ Terrier mix puppies were available right here in Grand Haven.  Just 8 weeks old and adorable.  Well I thought, and this is where common sense was lost,  LIFE IS SHORT (or can be).
My daughter is the sweetest daughter in the world, and she wanted a puppy.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring...

So in the end we went down to check out the puppies available at Puppy Breath Rescue, we walked into this house and 3 or 4 puppies came tumbling at us.  Jumping, nipping, licking, bundles of fluff.  We picked out "Kia", she is mostly black with one white paw.  I paid the fee of $100 to Brenda, then it struck me.  I had met Brenda before, she was the same nice girl in the room at the vet when we had Tilly put to sleep!

So now we have a  puppy, we renamed her Clara.  And yes the first ~ six weeks I regretted adopting her!  She is full of energy, with snapping jaws!  She bites my pant legs when I walk! She does not usually listen, but she can hear just fine. Maybe she isn't the cutest puppy ever, but now after three months, I'm coming round to her.

She is this little bundle of energy from morning until night.  She is very cute and can be sweet.  Now she is so excited when we come home to her, with her tail wagging full speed.  She is our dog now.  This is her home.

 Clara First Day Home August 17 2012  About 8 1/2 weeks old.

    Clara in the garden with our granddaughter, Vivienne.

 

Hawthorn Natural Pond Area and Farview Nature Park and Horse Trail

2011 11 01 Back to Hawthorn Pond Natural Area, a 40 acre site, south of Adams Street on Black River Court in Holland Township.  It contains a five-acre freshwater pond that is ringed with a path, also has lookout sites, a kayak launch ramp and fishing stations.  
We were here on August 22 of this year, then there were machines working to make this place into a park.  Things are still scarred from the machines but next spring it will look better. 

We walked counterclockwise part way around the pond until we came to a bit of a trail heading over to the Macatawa River.  I have to say I'm not overly impressed by this river, the water is brown and cloudy. 

Of course we came to a deer trail and continued on it along the river, heading south then west towards highway
US 196 also known as the Gerald R. Ford Freeway, near exit 52.  Along the way we found some great trees, sycamores, paw paws, maples, oaks.

We walked north toward the pond and went through some very wet woods.  We even found smartweed blooming.

We came across this old car, Marie did some research and found out it is probably a 1955 Pontiac Chieftain.
Here are some maps, first map Hawthorn Pond is at the number 1.

The red line is where we walked, sort of, about 1 mile total.
Next we drove down the road southwest 13.5 miles to Farview Nature Park and Horse Trail (6257 138th Avenue Allegan County Michigan).  We were here last on August 23, 2010.

               Horse trail sign.

                More signage.

Historic Wait-Station for Electric Interurban Railroad.

Entrance to Farview Park

Bench at the pond.

Through the woods...

to the lake, Farview Lake.  The shrub with red berries is Winterberry (or Michigan Holly).  We found Nodding Ladies' Tresses but the petals were brown, far past their prime.

A few wildflowers still blooming!  Queen Anne's Lace, goldenrod,  and Spotted Knapweed  were blooming yet, along with this aster.

At the "top" of the lake we rested in a sunny, sandy spot.  Did some research in the tree books, Marie had a red dragonfly land right on the open book.  Nice.

Walking around the lake, we saw a Common Buckeye butterfly, a pintail duck, a yellow butterfly, Bayberry bushes, Blue Jays, and sunfish.

Top is the first Common Buckeye we saw, then 20 minutes later down the trail, another one.

Back to the car at 2:12, it was 62 degrees beautiful day for this late in the fall.

A Lighthearted Day!

2010 11 29  Last week's adventure, dreary (except for the sister visit), this week's adventure, lighthearted.  I say lighthearted because I wanted the opposite of dreary.  Lighthearted =  free from care, anxiety, or seriousness.  Don't get me wrong, last week was still fun but we weren't outside as much. 

This week we played and explored in Little Black Creek (above), we found crayfish(below), some other unidentified squiggly creatures, a sort of quicksand, ice, and things to float down the creek.  All carefree FUN!

We went to P.J. Hoffmaster State Park (6585 Lake Harbor Road Muskegon, Michigan).  Approximate size 1200 acres, three miles of pristine beaches on Lake Michigan,  more than 10 miles of trails,  sheltered valleys between the wooded dunes and dense stands of hemlocks, 293 campsites each equipped with electrical service, Gillette Visitor Center, and Little Black Creek.  



Foot bridge on trail at Hoffmaster State Park

Goldenrod still Blooming!

Along the trail at P.J. Hoffmaster

Little Black Creek where it comes out of the woods to meet Lake Michigan.

               

              Beautiful Lake Michigan

After having fun at the beach we wandered into the woods and hills. We were up high on the wooded dunes.

Cool ravine we walked through.

We also added to our park/places list with a quick stop to Water Tower/Tank Park in Spring Lake Township.

We went back to my house, had a cup of lemon tea then went on a walk through our woods.  We saw three Great Horned Owls!  And what different calls they made!  The usual hoot - hoo-hoo hoooooo hoo-hoo we didn't hear, more whistles and a whaaa whaaaaaa-a-a-aarrk sound, Wow.

 I think the weather is going to change this week. It has still been 50 degrees here, that's warm for the end of November in Michigan.  We did enjoy this day!



A Dreary Day

2010 11 22 It was cloudy and raining, so my sister Marie and I visited our sweetest sister, Sugar.  It was nice to visit indoors on a day like this. 

We also hung out at the Spring Lake Library, we had stacks of books on the table.  Books about trees, wildflowers, Michigan history, insects, shrubs, pods, and more.  While we were here there was lightning flashing outside the windows, and thunder booming.  It was so dark it looked like night.

After a bit the sun came out so we found a park to explore.  We have been to Rycenga Park before, it is in Spring Lake Township, Michigan.  It has trails, a creek, ball fields, playground, and a  disc golf course.  We walked the trails, it was wet but not raining.  Then we dove down to the creek to have a closer look.

Here is what we saw.

We saw lots of dandelions on the ball field.  Not much for wildflowers but it felt good to be outside.

Still Lost or ... Found?

2010 11 15    Off we go in search of the missing scarf,  Grand River Park here we come! 


Still nice weather, 40's and sunshine.  We arrived at the park at 9am, geared up with boots and backpacks.  I took a quick scan for the purple scarf at picnic tables, playground equipment, map signs, nothing.  But we didn't expect it to be hanging out there, right.


We headed to the trail where we thought we had ducked into the underbrush near the stream that takes us to the Paw Paw patch.  Mostly browns, leaves and trees.  Remember we are looking for purple.  Marie and I had split up taking separate deer trails so we wouldn't miss THE SCARF.


It wasn't long before I heard her whoop then "I found it!  I found it!".  Of course the scarf was cold and damp from being alone on the riparian forest floor for four long days. 

Found!

We spent almost 4 hours in the woods!  How did that happen?  Marie found a Common Blue Violet still blooming! 

                                  Nice, a blooming violet so late in the season. 
Plants amaze me!              

We also saw Hoary Allysum, a dandelion, a speedwell, and some asters still blooming.  We found beautiful strawberry plant leaves. A pleasant day at the park.

After Grand River Park we drove to Grand Haven to celebrate at Ray's Drive-In with French fries and a rootbeer shake then back home to do research on things we had found at the park.  We identified a Slippery Elm, Nannyberry, looked into beechdrops, and Highbush Cranberry.  We are explorers.  FUN!