An Epicurious Fellow

Apparently, I sent Ken a link to some grilling information on Epicurious.com, and although I forgot ever having done so, he read it and applied his new knowledge to a 1" thick ribeye. Olive oil, salt and pepper; charcoal in one layer; bottom and top vents open; rotate steak for criss-cross grill marks; lid closed; four minutes on each side. It worked perfectly.

Last day of September

September 30, 2012, 6:44 p.m.

One of summer's prettiest sights

When conditions are just right, the sun spills diamonds on the lake.

(The sound in this video is one of Jon Tury's solar chimes, sitting in direct sunlight.)

Girls' Weekend II

Melissa and Shaina got drawn into the puzzle. Just as I planned. [evil laugh]

Wally came around from the back of the bar to give hugs. We had the three TVs on our side of the bar tuned into:

1. The Tigers
2. The Ryder Cup
3. The Spartans (vs. Ohio State)

Ken drove up from Dewitt after a trip to the Ryder Cup and met us at the Lodge. He ran a constant color commentary, which was a bit hard to follow as he would switch without warning between sporting events. "All three of them are in the sand trap....oh yeah, now put in a reliever to blow the game....and where was the defense on that play??"

Wally revealed one of his many hidden talents by producing a tiny pair of glasses using a lighter and plastic appetizer swords.

The girls love a bonfire. Wally built this one as evening approached at the Lodge. Soon after, we were on our way to the Dirty Duck for pizza and karaoke.

Melissa clears her throat in preparation for a virtuoso performance of "I Will Survive." The audience did; but after their rendition of "I'm Just a Girl," only barely.

Cherry island

Here's the final product. I like how it turned out. Even though I may decide to change the color come spring, this is a nice warm look for fall.

Fogbow

Learned something new today. Two things, really. I had never seen this phenomenon before - a beautiful arch of mist over the lake, same shape as a rainbow, but pure white. I like this photo because you can see its reflection in the water, which was absolutely still this morning.

I posted a question on Facebook, and two people stated in comments that this was a "moonbow," created not by the reflection of sunlight on mist, but by moonlight. This was a fascinating idea, but since moonset was several hours earlier, I suspected there must be another answer. Googling "white rainbow" and following the clicks, I came upon "fogbow." Bingo. Instead of sunlight on rain, a fogbow is created by sunlight on fog. It's white because the droplets are so small.

When I looked out the window, I saw the fog had completely erased the lake. Quite a contract to last night's photo of the dock. That's what got me outside to begin with, and why I happened to notice the fogbow.

Here's the full arch of the fogbow. 

I like the picture below, too, because you can see the reflection of the fogbow, my shadow, and the rippled sandy bottom of the lake.

The lake giveth, the lake taketh away

For some reason, the sunsets are more beautiful in the fall. I'm sure there must be an atmospherical explanation for this, but I think it has more to do with the emotional impact of this beauty when you know time is running out. The golds and oranges resonate with the turning of the leaves, which is definitely well under way.

The pontoon is out for the season, pulled early because Mark Miller is preparing to spend his winter in Texas. I think the beautiful sunset was our compensation.

But it's still September; the girls are coming this weekend and Ken is hosting a golf tourney next week. Plenty more beautiful sunsets, fires in the fireplace, and laughter before November.

Two coats might not do it

When Ken removed a wall cabinet that was ill-placed over our little stove, we decided to put it in the middle of the room as a way of telling if we had enough visual and physical space to have a kitchen island. Ken made a top out of some found wood in the garage and painted it dark green, the cabinet white, and we've been using it to good effect ever since. I thought it might be interesting to paint the cabinet a color that would contrast with/accent the decor, which is primarily neutrals tones in beige, green, and wood. So, after perusing a number of options in the form of paint chips, I settled on a nice rich cranberry color. The lady at the paint store warned me that dark colors look very different while wet, so I was braced for some variation from the desired color, but this....is pink. 

The second coat improved things, but I'm thinking I may be doing more painting in the near future. Fortunately, I rather enjoyed the act of painting, so the cost of changing the color won't be too odious to bear, either financially or in time spent. This may not be pink any longer, but it sure ain't dark cranberry. With the dark green top on, it looks more like a Christmas basket than anything else.

Hey...change is good, right?

Windy day - good to have neighbors

Showered, dressed, got in the car, drove up the lane, and BAM. Going nowhere fast.

It was a really windy day, and this pine succumbed to conditions.

I backed up all the way down the lane, then stopped the car by the drain field to let Tom and Mark know why I was moving the log between our properties. Of course, Mark offered to get his chainsaw (and who was I to refuse?) and before long, I was on my way.

Three Kammer-Wilderns, two twin lakes, and a horned bunny on the Lodge wall

Surprisingly, we could all move after brunch. We walked down the hill to the floating dock on the twin lake across from the Lodge, and spun wedding stories, past and future.

I took everyone through the Eagle's Nest (the rustic bar at the Lodge) to see where Ken (aka Dr. Oberon) watches sporting events and contributes to the local economy, even though there's a jackalope...in the room.

Beautiful sky, beautiful fire

We took a nice long walk just before sunset, and when we got back to the cottage and walked out on the dock, this was what we saw. Many, many banks of steel blue clouds (Abraham Lincoln put in a brief appearance. He seems to make the cloud scene quite frequently), and bright golden sunlight. A few pink reflections toward the south and east.

Inside, after vying with Harper briefly for the right to brush Nancy's hair, Steve dropped off for another nap. We enjoyed the fire together, as an extended family, once again missing Dante, who would have been our fire master if he had been here.

More drawing, more napping

Steve has a fast-paced life. He works long hours in an environment that calls for him to be on his toes at all times, and ready to play any kind of role leading to the successful presentation of other people's work.*

So it made me happy that he had time to do absolutely nothing while here at the cottage. Our cottage motto is, "Do what you feel like doing," and Steve - the whole Wildern clan, in fact - got it absolutely right.

His nap was also useful to Harper, who was putting the final touches on her colored pencil-drawing of Bennie the dog.

After the drawing was done, the nap continued.

*Steve is theater operations dean for Wayne County Community College district.

Uncommon Flicker

This Common Flicker was shaking off the effects of an abrupt, flight-ending SMACK into the side window of the front porch. He lay face...er....beak down in the dirt for a time, breathing but not moving. After a while, he sat up and practiced turning his head right and left. Ratchet right, two, three; ratchet left, two, three...CHECK. Head and neck still work. A moment later, he had hopped onto the side of the planter, presumably to test his ability to attach to a vertical surface. CHECK.

And not long after, he flew off into the trees between our lot and Mark's. Happy ending. But if birds get headaches, this bird had one.

Serendipity

Funny how things work out. It just so happened that I was up here at the lake all by myself, and it just so happened that Steve suddenly became free this weekend, and it just so happened that Nancy thought to contact me...the result was a spontaneous visit with Harper, Steve, Nancy, and Bennie. Bennie is the blond on four legs.

Wishing Dante were here, too, but a lovely moment on the dock none-the-less.

Shorts and a fisherman's sweater. Tres chic, but what is the fisherman wearing?

Greeeeeen Acres is the place to be...

In this picture, Nancy is working hard to keep Harper's model in place. See the drawing in the cottage book.

Bennie tried out both kayaks, but ultimately stayed ashore with Harper and me.

Nancy made eggs and bacon for breakfast, and after Steve and Nancy's kayak adventure, we all ate pasta salad while collaborating on a big pot of vegetable soup for dinner.

Right now, all four Wilderns are enjoying a favorite cottage pasttime: naps.

Clear for the moment

There was - and still is - a lot of green and yellow on the radar today. About 1:30 we had a severe thunderstorm warning: winds up to 50 mph and quarter sized hail that never materialized. Looking at Intellicast earlier I could see how we slipped through the middle of some pretty serious action in other places around the upper lower. Looking at it now I can see we won't escape the action much longer.

But for the moment, it is clear, and I can see the Milky Way smudged across the sky. And so many stars.

(photo snagged off a random website)

A good day at the ballpark....

Photo courtesy of the guy on the right

Kenny was lucky enough to get to attend a Tigers game with John - sorry, Sharon, too bad you couldn't make it. Here is John's account of the day (on his blog).

Good puzzle, but where's the Coors?

This is a detail view of the puzzle Ken just finished. Notice I didn't say "we" - I wasn't much help. Of course, the subject matter was more him than me, wouldn't you agree?

The puzzle was a good one, with one major flaw: no Coor's label.

Today I started on the puzzle Mark and Rosie Mehaffey gave us, which is a reproduction of one of his paintings.

Trade-offs

When fall comes a calling, there are certain compensations. Although I fiercely insist on labeling this season "late summer," sooner or later there is a cool rainy day, beautiful in its own right, that helps me adjust to the color shift from turquoise and blue to red and gold and remember the benefits of autumn.

In the photo above, at the right, you can see the leather glove of the master fire-maker. "I split some nice dry kindling for you and girls, too" he says.

I just realized that my evening is all mapped out: fire in the fireplace, the last of the birthday wine, and a book on the couch.

Birthday

Kind of a special birthday today - 60 years old in a year when my son turned 30 and my father turned 90. Ken and I celebrated the last leg of the 30-60-90 year at the Hack-Ma-Tack in Cheboygan. Although we didn't get to see Peg Smith (from last year's Hack-Ma-Tack birthday dinner) we had a wonderful time and again marveled at our dumb luck, starting with the day we met and continuing up through the present moment. As we drove back to the cottage in the convertible - top down - I realized I could be hit by a meteor right now and in my last seconds on earth still feel I had it all.

More Privy Progress

Ken has "The Privy" in great shape! This will be a great place to store our yard games, umbrellas, water toys, and hula hoops. The new roof will keep things nice and dry.

Grandpa suggested we dig a hole in the ground under the shed and install a two-holer, but we think we'll stick with storage.

New cedar fascia 

New roof (including new underlayment)

New hooks

New floor boards

New sign