Score

Every fall I scour the stores and markets looking for Haralson apples. These are the species of apples we  had in our back yard. No apple tastes as good as a Haralson. I found a big bag at Midtown Market today.

 

Northern Catalpa

Today was my second class at Winona State University about their arboretum. I left my place at noon and was walking there when I came upon this house that I have walked past numerous times before without noticing this figure on the chimney. To me I see a devil with horns and a short tail holding the head of a male human. What kind of person chooses such a bizarre chimney attachment? How had I missed it before?

We met at the gazebo. Our class held about 25 people, all retired. We were given a booklet, paper, a clipboard and crayons. Our assignment was to commune with a tree we thought was interesting. From my seat in the gazebo I spotted the tallest, greenest tree around so that is where I went. This is a northern catalpa tree. This tree has elongated seed pods. This tree brings back fond memories. When Offspring #1 was in fifth grade I volunteered to help on a field trip. His teacher was in her last year of teaching and physically she couldn't keep up anymore. We had 3 women chaperones. One kept wandering off to smoke but the other mother and I kept to our duties. One girl's camera kept falling apart. I think I put that thing together six times. Once we noticed a couple of kids had been walking on top of a wall. They kept going and now they were inside the animal enclosure. We yelled at them to come back and they did safely. For lunch we had a picnic under a catalpa tree. I had never noticed one before. I opened the seed pod to find beautiful brown, shiny, waxy beans inside. I stuck the bean in my pocket. When I got back to work I put the bean in my desk drawer. Every once in awhile I took it out and rubbed it. Why? I don't know. The bean gave me pleasure I guess. I kept that bean until my retirement and I had to clean out my desk. I like catalpa trees!

 

WSU Arboreteum

Today I went to Winona State University for a class in the University for Seniors. This class was about the WSU arboretum. On campus they care for every native tree that grows in Minnesota. Many of the trees have a sign at the base of the tree and also a QR code so you can get more information from your phone. We have another class next Friday which will be outside looking at the trees. I am looking forward to that.

 

Chimney Rock

 I was super excited to come back to Winona because a lady had a 1 bedroom house available for rent for only $800 and it was RIGHT ON THE RIVER! Turns out she listed it as available before the current tenant decided to move. And he's not moving now. I should be glad I didn't get it because I would not like her as a landlord. Shucks. Maybe I'll return in May and look again. In the paper I read about a Festival of Trees at the Winona Hospital. I got there about 9:30. Fifteen older women were just setting up. The festival starts tomorrow. I looked around anyway. Since I was parked next to the lake I decided to go for a walk around it. I always like to carry a leaf or a stick or a pine cone in my hand when I walk. I walked into the grassy area next to the lake where the lotus flowers grew. I was real happy to get a lotus seed pod to hold. It rained some but I had a rain coat on. I thought about all the cool animals or birds I have seen this year. I saw manatee in Crystal River. I saw a black bear in Tamarack Park. I saw a weasel right on this path in Winona. I saw a golden winged warbler at Maplewood State Park. I saw a green anole in Little Rock. In a couple weeks I need to go to Duluth to get my teeth cleaned. Maybe I will take Highway 1 into Ely and hopefully see a moose. By the time I got back to my car I needed to use the restroom so I went back to the hospital and saw the festival of trees. Then I drove over to Levee park to see the Mississippi. Both the Winona University research boat and the tour boats were out in the water out of sight. I did see one tug boat. I drove over near the library to read the Winona paper and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Tomorrow I will scoot over to Minneapolis to vote with Offspring #2.

You can see chimney rock across the lake. The yellow tree on the left in a gingko which is one of my favorite trees. My former friend, Monica, had gold earrings shaped like gingko leaves and I always admired them.

Pinnacle Mountain

Today I went to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. I asked the ranger if I could make it to the top. He said I could. He said the second half is rockier so even if I made half way up I'd be doing good. Did you know that state parks in Arkansas and Pennsylvania charge no admission? I wish all state parks would do that. I really didn't like it when Anoka County charged admission. People with low incomes and families need parks too! That is my right knee in the lower right hand corner. Got up to 86 today. Beautiful weather for hiking.

I saw 3 of these lizards. I think they are anole.

As I started my hike this lady with white hair admired my skirt, my hiking sticks, my shoes and my hat. We talked for 30 minutes. We were both married for 19 years. We were both vegetarians for 40 years. We both worked in social services. Our children were very much alike. I was about to ask for her contact information until she asked who I was voting for. I am so glad I didn't ask for her contact information. In hindsight, I think she was probably mentally ill. Finally I had to be the one to say I should move on. Sheesh!

This is a beautiful state park.

I didn't make it to the top. I made it a little more than half way. I sat on a rock to drink some water when I saw this rock in the tree. Someone wrote a Bible verse on it.

I was still looking at the rock when five Latino men and women came down. I told them to look at this rock. I thought it grew with the tree. They thought someone put the rock into the tree later. How disappointing!

This is my favorite view. I sat here and read 3 chapters of my book before heading down again. When I did reach the parking lot I used the bathroom and filled up my water bottle. People in Arkansas are very friendly. I ended up reading for a time before making a short walk on concrete on the Kingfisher trail that runs next to the Maumee River.

 

Largest And Oldest Oak

Today I met a kind friend in Coon Rapids for lunch. (The minestrone soup at Olive Garden is to die for). Afterwards I went for a walk on the Brooklyn Park side of the Coon Rapids dam. This oak tree is near the visitor center.

This is the largest and oldest tree in the park, the tree is more than 350 years old! I am glad no other oaks are near it which would put it at risk for oak wilt.

 

Hallaway

I have only been to Maplewood State Park once before. The time of the year was autumn and we thought we could snag a campsite. Wrong. Despite the rainy weather we waited 30 minutes in a line of cars full of people determined to enjoy the fall colors. There was no empty parking spaces so we could not stop to hike. We drove the 5 mile wildlife loop and left. Today I got to enjoy the park. This is our view from the top of Hallaway Hill. On our hike we saw yellow warblers, golden winged warblers (a first for me), turkey vultures, a bald eagle, American Robins, and chestnut sided warblers. We also saw a dog tick perched on a leaf of grass below a park bench waiting for a human to come close. Dog ticks wear either a necklace (female) or suspenders (male). Both male and female ticks bite. I knew females had to bite to reproduce but I guess I just never thought about what the male ticks would feast on. Maplewood State Park is on the edge of the prairie biome and the big woods biome so it is possible to hear a Eastern Meadowlark and an Indigo bunting at the same time. We took the wildlife loop. At the end of our trip we visited the sugar shack. This park, with assistance from the "Friends of Maplewood State Park" group, collect maple sap and process it into syrup for the local school kids to participate. Each kid gets a bowl of ice cream with maple syrup on top. Any left over maple syrup is packaged by local professional syrup processors and sold in small bottles in the fall at the leaf day celebrations.

 

Smoky

 

Today was a rainy day and it was fun to watch the smoky clouds move over and through the trees on the mountains.

Sea Turtle Rescue

We toured the sea turtle rescue operation on Jekyll Island in Georgia. If turtles get too cold they loose all energy and wash up on shore. This organization examines them, gives them IV fluids, warms them up and sends them on their way.

We also biked around the island mostly on a very nice bike trail. Biking through all these live oaks with Spanish Moss (which is neither Spanish nor moss) blowing in the breeze and grazing the top of my helmet was a lovely experience. 

 

Bonsai Tamarack

Check out this beautiful bonsai tamarack. There is a customer at the YMCA who brings in his bonsai every once in a while. Last week a beautiful red maple tree adorned the desk. This week it is a tamarack. The view out the window is of First Avenue.

 

Those Tamaracks Though

 Today I drove to Hinckley to have lunch with a friend from Saint Cloud. We ate at Tobie's. I took the scenic road home on Highway 23 driving through Askov, Bruno, Kerrick, Duquette, Nickerson, Fon du Lac, and New Duluth. As I drove the sun shined down on the trees. The tamaracks were very noticeable and easy to identify as I drove. Here is a photo taken at sixty miles per hour.

First Frost

 Last night we got the first hard frost. The growing season is officially over. I was glad I  picked all the unripe tomatoes off the vine Friday night. I wonder why the people living up the hill have not harvested their cabbages and apples from their garden yet. Summer is definitely over and winter is around the corner.

Those Aspens Though

Walking through the woods this week I am struck by the beauty of the aspens this year.

The aspen leaves are so beautifully yellow, tawny, yellowish orange, orangish yellow, buttery, butterscotchy, golden, maize, wheat, amber, flaxen, and cheesy.

 

Wildflower Garden

 Today I met three other friends who are also Master Naturalists at the Eloise Butler Wildflower garden in Minneapolis. We spent a couple of hours slowly walking through the garden, forest bathing, identifying birds and trees and wildflowers and mushrooms. We identified plants on I Naturalist. We enjoyed the scenery and each other's company. I am so grateful to the woman who organized this meeting of four friends from Northfield, Duluth, Minneapolis and Ramsey. Afterwards we had lunch at a Thai restaurant. We plan to see each other next may at the conference in Detroit Lakes.

Fall Colors Near Me

 

Close Call With Chipmunk

 

Yesterday I had a plan. After my classes were finished at UMD I was going to drive to Gooseberry State Park and camp with my cousin. Her reservation fell apart so instead she came to my house. This morning, after breakfast, we drove in separate cars to Gooseberry with a stop at Hawk Ridge and a drive down 7 bridges road. We arrived at Gooseberry around 11. We took out our E-bikes and headed toward Beaver Bay. We ate sandwiches and apples at Beaver Bay and then headed back toward Gooseberry. We stopped at Split Rock Lighthouse and we toured the premises.

This is a view out of the lighthouse facing west toward Duluth. On our drive back I came within a half inch of riding over a chipmunk. We put on 30 miles. By the time we came near Gooseberry Falls my battery was at 20 percent. I learned that when the battery is at 20 percent, it gives 20 percent of assistance. I ended up having to walk my bike up hills twice. All in all, I walked the bike about a total of 15 minutes which wasn't too bad. My legs are feeling the exertion. Once back at Gooseberry we took a walk down to the shore. Her campsite has a space for her camper van right under two Mountain Ash trees. The trees were full of robins and Cedar Waxwings gobbling down the bright orange berries. After our walk we had a dinner of chili and cornbread. I left her to enjoy her campsite. Since I have another class early tomorrow morning I decided to drive home so I can get to class on time tomorrow morning.

Fifty Years Of Driving Each Other Nuts

 Today I traveled a couple of hours south to attend an event. Driving through northeastern Wisconsin in the rain the fall colors were muted at first by the rain but more noticeable as time went on. The colors are more vivid when some of the leaves are still green. My favorite trees had branches that were red at the tips followed by orange and then yellow yet still green by the trunk. The rain had stopped for the last hour of my drive. As I pulled into the driveway and parked the rain decided to come back and pour on my head. I tucked my plate of deviled eggs under my rain coat and headed to the party. I set my food down on the table and headed over to look at the pictures. This celebration was a booya but also a 50th wedding anniversary of my "closest to my age" cousin. There I see a picture of the bride with her 3 bridesmaids, my youngest sister as a junior bridesmaid and another cousin as the flower girl. Fifty years of marriage makes my cousin and her husband good role models. When she got married it was a time of change in society. Prior to her marriage most people got married between 18 and 20 years of age. After her marriage people waited longer to tie the knot. My cousin and her husband wore matching black t-shirts with squirrels and in large print were the words "50 Years Of Driving Each Other Nuts." Her younger brother and his wife got married 49 years ago. He was there on stage playing classic rock with his friends from high school. Their joy in making music was obvious on their faces. This is music that is hard to listen to without dancing. They had a great party.

Botany At Minnesota Point

Today the native plant group gathered at Minnesota Point. We parked at the airport and walked to the shore of Lake Superior to talk about the plants and how the sand is swept here from the North Shore and the South Shore. We looked at the dune grass and the poison ivy. There is an abundance of poison ivy. Walking east we took a path through the dune grass. One section of dune grass was taller and denser that the first section. The second section was a restoration effort done more than twenty years ago when they incorporated dune grass seeds from a location in Michigan. Turns out the Michigan dune grass does very well here at park point but it is genetically different from the native species. Perhaps they made a mistake but based on the information they had at the time they did what they thought was best. Invasive baby's breath is moving in here. We saw many mounds of baby's breath. People at the Park Point Community Center are planning to dig it out. The area at the water's edge is not stable. Water, wind, and ice change the shapes of the dunes. Even sand dunes under the water are being reshaped every day. When the dune grass comes in it slows down the transfer of sand and makes the area slightly more stable. As we walked farther east juniper bushes mingled in the beach grass which makes the area more stable. Finally we hiked along into the red and white pine forest which makes up the  Minnesota Point Scientific and Natural Area. These trees are estimated to be between 120 and 200 years old.  Research with core sample and stump samples show that this area was intentionally burned about every ten years ending in 1854. There is talk of burning this forest again. There is a danger in burning poison ivy but I guess there are ways around the hazard of breathing poison ivy oils into your lungs. For two and a half hours we walked on Minnesota point talking about trees and plants and shrubs.

 

Gnome Moon

This morning I walked to the mailbox to mail a a birthday card to a nephew. On my street are ginormous maple trees that are crowded between the street and the sidewalk. The maple roots turn the concrete sidewalk sections in all directions making it very difficult to walk and impossible for strollers or wheelchairs. Somebody got creative and painted a gnome showing a half moon and I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. This gnome wasn't here the last time I walked to the mailbox.

 

Pulling Pigweed

Today a dozen of us gathered to pull winged pigweed on Wisconsin Point. We were helping the piping plover project. Piping plovers are critically endangered. At one point, in the 1980's, we were down to only 13 piping plovers. Last year we had 75. This year we have 80. Piping plovers used to inhabit this area and also on Minnesota point. The project is improving the beach hoping the plovers will return. The piping plovers visited in May but they didn't stay. We spent two hours pulling pigweed.

The area is fenced off to keep predators at bay. Occasionally deer swim over. Beaver and otter visit too. A couple bald eagles live in the pine tree across the bay. Most of the driftwood is removed or burned so as to deprive the eagles of a place to perch while hunting.

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Last year when I was here the planted plugs of dune grass were new. This year the dune grass looks great and some of it has even produced seed heads. You can see the fencing in the background.

Piping plovers nest on Long Island which is one of the Apostle Islands. There they line their nest with tiny white pebbles. Pebbles and cobblestones have been trucked over to this beach. In Green Bay piping plovers have adapted to the lack of stones by using the shells of zebra mussels. The plovers prefer to nest in the same area year after year. Once an area gets filled up they might consider moving. When a plover is nesting boxes are put over the nest to protect it from predators yet allow the plovers to come and go as they please.

Unlike Minnesota point, there are no houses on Wisconsin point. The area is wild and beautiful. The road is narrow and curves between large pines.