Author Archives: makielb

As we sit back and enjoy our morning coffee, looking out at the snow it is hard to not think about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Northern Ukraine seems as though it is back in the hands of Ukrainian forces. But the Russian troops left the country devastated. Physical damage to buildings, executions, mass burialsContinue reading “Whitefish Point and the world”

Starting out trip north across the Mackinac Bridge. Almost at St. Ignace. Now, on to King’s in Moran for some whitefish then to the cabin. We stopped at the post office to collect out mail. There was a strange little sticker on the boxes the “R” of Paradise. Blowing up the sticker it appears toContinue reading “Whitefish Point where it’s still winter”

It seems that small villages have taken over all around us. Fairy towns, gnomes, and other themed spots have popped up in large numbers. The one above is dominated by Winnie-the-Pooh characters, along with animals and dinosaurs. Another larger town at the base of a tree, as are most. A small castle to the leftContinue reading “Small town Ann Arbor”

Birdwatchers are familiar with chasing a rare bird. Over the years I have chased many birds, some dragonflies and even butterflies. Last year was the first time that I chased a moth with Susan. What could go wrong it was near Emu Dr. Was that the Drive named for a bird or Eastern Michigan University.Continue reading “Chasing an unusual moth”

Susan, Linda and I went downtown for the start of Fool Moon night. We spent a few hours walking around downtown watching events that would precede the luminary parade. Walking around I managed to take photos of some fairly new businesses and street art. A street angel and a cinnamon roll shop, how had IContinue reading “Ann Arbor – Fool Moon”

Tonight and on Sunday. Great fun. Sunday is especially fun for kids. Now, on to the garden. The garden is still awaiting planting, which won’t happen until mid-May. We’re still getting kale for meals. Lots of garlic emerging. We’re still using garlic and squash (mostly butternut) from last fall. We should have another bumper-crop ofContinue reading “The garden, FoolMoon and more”

First the weekly report on the pandemic, where Europe and Asia are still seeing large numbers of new cases driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant. The data is from yesterday. This little gnome village was empty of gnomes or fairies and disturbed. This one nearby was also lacking residents with things knocked over. Then weContinue reading “The cold weather woke up a hungry monster”

The best way to start a dreary day is with humor, in this case bird humor. Then we were off on a walk with trees and more coated with ice. The eave of our garage as seen from the back porch. Trees were lightly coated with ice which was already starting to melt while weContinue reading “Rain, ice and bird humor”

The current situation with the pandemic. The driving force in the increase in numbers worldwide is the Omicron BA.2 variant. Fortunately, while it is easily transmissible the course of the infection is much more mild in people who are vaccinated. Now, on to nature. I’m ready for plants and fungi to start appearing in southernContinue reading “North vs. south, I’m torn but trying to do it all”

The global situation over the past week with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. I expect numbers in the US to start rising by the middle of April. Currently the pandemic in the US is one of the unvaccinated. Somebody posted this on the Internet yesterday. This really hit the mark with me since there is a neurotransmitterContinue reading “Odds and ends with birds”