Author Archives: makielb

Walking to the museum we spotted this Cardinal, which excited Oscar. Somehow, I always believed that cardinals belonged at church. Camilla, Oscar and their cousin Isaac riding a puma outside of the museum. The kids with a woolly mammoth tusk. Here’s everybody with the whole beast. As expected the T. rex skull was a bigContinue reading “A day with fossils”

We took the kids down to Art Fair again today so that they could see David Zinn do a chalk drawing. We arrived early and the kids enjoyed music with a bubble machine. David Zinn’s sidewalk art is well known. Since they are done with chalk they are ephemeral, gone with the next rain. CamillaContinue reading “Ann Arbor Art Fair, Day-2”

We all went down to not one, but all three of the Ann Arbor Art Fairs today. Unlike the prediction for tomorrow, it was warm and sunny. here was live music scattered all over town. Here’s Alexis, SImon, Camilla, Oscar and Susan charging into the first fair. An interesting elephant and Simon pointing out aContinue reading “Ann Arbor Art Fair 2022”

The day started with wonderful looks at a Green marvel before we started south. We stopped just north of Tahqua Trail where we know there are some Purple fringed orchids and were not disappointed. There were over 60 plants, most in full blood. Among the 60+ plants, many were completely normal, like the one onContinue reading “Plants and insects heading south to Ann Arbor”

It was two years ago (2020) on 20 July that I gave Susan her own copy of Field guide to moths of Northeastern North America, with the Pandemic Doctors approval. Yue sent me this cartoon today and I thought that it was worth sharing. Now, on to the beach. We went down to a friendsContinue reading “A day at the beach”

Photos of Camilla and me that Alexis took seven years apart. I am really glade that she still wants to hold me hand when we go out for a walk. Today we went to the Lower and Upper Falls. There was a bit of a light rain. But we didn’t let that slow us down.Continue reading “Tahquamenon Falls”

While we had Oscar and Camilla outside looking at moths, Alexis sat and enjoyed a peaceful few minutes with a cup of coffee. A large lace-border moth and a porcelain gray, two of the more attractive “white/gray” moths at the cabin this morning. It’s hard to believe that the caterpillars of the painted lichen mothContinue reading “Moth Monday with the family”

A cicada killer that nested at our driveway in 2017 on this date. These huge wasps are perhaps the most docile of the wasps and I equate finding them with when Art Fair happens in Ann Arbor, which is next week. On July 17, 2019 I photographed this Harpy Eagle in Panama. This was aContinue reading “Past and present”

After a long flight, Alexis, Simon, Camilla and Oscar arrived in Detroit at 9:30AM. Here’s Oscar eating one of his favorite foods – pickled green beans (I have four jars that I prepared especially for him. And Camilla listening to a story on her iPad after dinner. We all sat outside for a while whenContinue reading “Family has arrived”

This one really hit home. I still have a reel-to-reel tape recorder/player. Not a fan of Starbucks, or pumpkin-spiced latte or I am a serious consumer of coffee. Anybody who has lived with a dog knows that their concept of supper time can be rather rigid. Doonesbury once again strikes a nerve with reality. TheContinue reading “Cartoons, the virus and a pie”