4th Of July

A sunny 4th of July celebration at Otter Lake, a small town about 5 miles from Columbiaville. There's a small beach there, and two stages were set up for local bands.

No beef, thank you -- but Where's the chips?

Still waiting for wood chips. We use them for the garden paths, but sometimes they just aren't available from the local township. Because of the recent rains and lack of chips, some of the paths in the garden are starting to become muddy. This morning I tried cutting cattails and laying them down lengthwise on the paths in place of chips, a method that seems pretty effective thus far. I've also lived places that chop up the cattails and use them for mulching the garden.

Getting Around

This Trek bike is my main transportation at the LSC. I shipped it here, along with some clothes, via UPS, and then I took the train from Pittsburgh, PA, to Lapeer, MI, with an enjoyable 6-hour layover in downtown Chicago. I just heard on the radio that because Michigan is low on funds, some of those Amtrak routes might soon be cut. That would mean I'd have to use Greyhound instead, which isn't nearly as pleasurable as taking the train -- especially if you upgrade and get a sleeper

The Garden Raiders

There they are in the yard again. Earlier today in the garden I saw they ate up more of the comfrey plants, chewed at about a quarter of the young pumpkin vines, and also have the annoying habit of nibbling at the many young sunflowers that are trying to come up. We try low wires around the garden's perimeters (don't really seem to work that well at keeping them out). Star thinks that maybe lobbing water ballons near them will scare them away. I was thinking of buying a compressed-air horn. In town today both stores were sold out of balloons. While in town I was talking with one man in the dollar store about the geese in the garden, and his suggestion was a shotgun.

The Swans

When the two swans that live here are on the lake behind the house the geese keep away, and thus stay out of the garden. Unfortunately, reticent creatures that they are, the swans prefer to remain more hidden, and thus generally reside in the nearby wetlands area instead.

Arabian Nights

The deal here at the LSC is I'm to work in the mornings out on the grounds. This leaves me quite a bit of time to myself after lunch. During the afternoons I like to make a pot of sencha or mecha tea (ie get the mind lubricated with caffeine) and settle in for a couple hours of Arabic studies. I live in Abu Dhabi during the winter but that Gulf city is 95% foreigners so the common language is English, not Arabic. But when I can scrape the money together I go off to nearby countries like Oman and Yemen where I can get a lot of practice speaking Arabic. In October, after I leave the US, I plan to visit Alexandria, Egypt. Every part of the Arab world I've traveled to has used a different dialect of Arabic, so it makes it a difficult language to study.

First of July

It's July 1 today. I just checked the weather in Abu Dhabi where my wife is living and today it was 109F (a low of 84F). Here at the Land Stewardship Center in Michigan it's cool and rainy, and I'll be once again using the down comforter in the cabin tonight.