Last Weekend of Summer 2009

Last weekend of the summer 2009 up at Long Lake...of course.**Don't forget to click on the photos if you want to see them full size**

Foggy morning. On account of the clear skies and (relatively) warm water, the mornings looked like this as the sun rose above the tree line.

The fog burned off about an hour later yielding the conditions that wakeboarders dream about.

Glassy lake, clear skies...I love this time of year.

Pine trees and blue sky. This looks much better through polarized sunglasses. Actually, this looks pretty good as is.

Beer on head. Truly the wave of the future.

My favorite subject.

Long lake legend, Wild Bill Taylor in his classic '80 American Skier. I remember seeing this boat on the lift when I was a little kid thinking it was the keenest boat on the lake. Wait, did I just type "keenest"?? Is that even a word??

Stuff Near my House

I've been noticing these things near my house lately and decided to take some pictures.

- Laetiporus sulphureus : Sulfur Shelf Fungi or Chicken Fungus. I've been passing this on my runs for the past week. Tastes like chicken...
-Symphyotrichum patens : Late Purple Aster. Blooming all over the place now. This one was down by the lake.
-Channeloccus Pliarti Crustiform : Crusty old channel lock pliars that I found in the lake. Ford Lake has a way of crustifying things rather quickly.
- B A Boatus : Beautiful scene for wakeboarding. I love this time of year.

Exterior Trim Project Completed

Well, my 6 week vacation is winding down and last week I finished painting/replacing all the rotten exterior wood trim around my house. It only took about a year of pulling nails, cutting, scraping, cleaning, painting, fighting with bees, cursing, and beard growing to get it done. It looks much better now.

- The last trim replaced was the second story fascia on the west side. It was the most difficult to access as evidenced by my dual ladder set up.

- Because of the slope of the roof I had to make these ladder holders so I could do my job. I was pretty proud of my Yankee ingenuity (or Polish engineering, if you will).

- View of the neighboring rooftops. I had the urge to go running across them like they did in Mary Poppins...but, I would definitely fall and get hurt bad...not a good idea.

- View across the street from my house. This is not too exciting but I already uploaded the photo...sorry for wasting your time.
- Our house is crawling with spiders on the outside. This is the biggest one I've seen (abdomen was ~ 1/2" in diameter). From what I can tell it's an Araneus Marmoreus or Marbled Orb Weaver.
-Hair Clog. This has nothing to do with my exterior trim project, it's disgusting, and Emily asked me not to post it. But, part of being a married man means you have to deal with these from time to time. So, suck it up and be a man!!

What's Up Dummies!?!?

What's up dummies!?!?! Inspired by my good friend Albert Bot and the rainy weather I decied to give this interweb business a shot.

Starting with Labor Day 2009 in Hillman, MI.

-Obligatory shot of my boat, "Denise". I have a million of these photos but she just looks so dandy geared up in the sunlight that I can't resist one more.

-Treasure from the past few trips. We spend a lot of time picking up junk from the bottom of the lake. The goal is to clean up and hopefully find something good...as seen at left. Obi-wan had nothing to do with it...

-Shadow fun. "Can you photograph shadows??"..."Duh....of course, you can..."

-Belle's Oberon. The label says something like "...with the color and scent of a summer afternoon...". I agree. Do yourself a favor and drink some.

- Mystery mushroom. I dare you to eat it...

-Seagulls on swim platform.

-Emily. My wife and inspiration for many things...like this photo...she thought this partial face next to the cabin would look good...I agree.

-S is for snake...dead snake...

-Crayfish in a can. About 1/3 cans we pull out of the lake has some sort of "passenger" inside. This guy was about 4" long and not too happy about losing his home. In situations like this I wonder if it is better for the crasyfish to keep his home or for the trash to be out of the lake...hmmm...