A special birthday

Today is Susan’s final birthday in her 60s. We started the day getting breakfast at Village Kitchen. A wonderful breakfast, as usual. We saw Rosy, Helen, Victor and John. Then walked home. Helen gave Susan a large piece of carrot cake to celebrate the day. This mural was done in 2002. We’ve been going thereContinue reading “A special birthday”

The hackberry ecosystem

Northern hackberry is an interesting tree. We have found them all over Ann Arbor. Over the years we often found nipple galls, caused by Pachyscylla larvae. But the trees also are home to several species of lichens as well. Here are some Pachyscylla galls on hackberry leaves. But this tree had a series of surprisesContinue reading “The hackberry ecosystem”