An Autumnal Equinox Celebration...

Happy autumn blog readers!  The sun is shining brilliantly and warmly in the window near where I type; the goldfinches and crickets are singing amongst the flowers outside and tomato sauce is cooking down on the stove (thanks for these tomatoes, Tim!)...what a poignant time of year.  We spent the weekend celebrating with great friends along the Manistee River Trail in Michigan for our annual equinox backpacking trip.

The trail follows the banks along the clear fast water of the Manistee.

A bridge connects the Manistee River Trail and the North Country Trail allowing for a nice 20 mile loop.  The bridge also offers some great views from above of the crystal clear water and its inhabitants.

Smaller streams feed the Manistee River and carry sediment free water.  Beautiful.

Fantastic sinuous nature of an unstraightened river...

Time to stop and eat and enjoy our surroundings punctuated our hiking.   This particular stop was well deserved by Savannah (the cute pup) after a painful quilling in the mouth by a porcupine.

We observed an American dagger moth scaling down the bark of a tree...no doubt in preparation for a winter slumber.

Kayakers are good indicators of a clean river.

Cool fungus grew throughout the woodlands...

including this yellow fly agaric:

Steve spotted a fruiting Indian Cucumber...

Happy hikers at our camp spot over looking the river...

Late Summer Goodness

Only six days till the autumnal equinox.  This is always a time of mixed emotions for us.  We both love autumn, but we dearly love summer.  I suppose it's right to just appreciate each day, each moment and each season. Here's a bit of the goings on round here lately:

Visits with family...

Time for coffee, scones and little bits of fibery goodness...

Many loads of freshly laundered clothing drying in the cool breeze....

Orange clove soap and homemade smudge sticks from homegrown herbs...

Smartweed Caterpillar sighing...

Hiking at our local Sheedy Sanctuary...

Spotting a Saddleback Caterpillar...

Walking across the edge of a large buttonbush swamp...

 And, enjoying some tea in my sweet little cozy from my sister-in-law (who purchased this for $0.10 from some church ladies who told her they don't need any more money, they just make them for fun!).

Lest you think it's all relaxation round here, take a look behind me in the above photo.  Yep, that's a new door added into our dining room...currently in the midst of finish work (trimming, etc.).  Oh, and did I mention there is a new back door awaiting the same treatment and new basement windows awaiting there own finish work?  The placement of the new dining room doors prompted a shift in space utilization: the dining room is no more and in its place is the library.  More on all this soon!  There's a LOT happening 'round here, but we are making it a priority to slow down and enjoy too.

For the love of tomatoes...of which there is not enough!

We are finishing up the tomato harvest here in Ohio.  We ate lots, dehydrated many cherry and romas and made two large batches of sauce.  Due to the flooding in early summer, our harvest is down substantially.  We still have some tomatoes frozen from last winter so we will see how we get through till next tomato season.

Summertime travels to the Northeast - Acadia National Park

The air is cool this morning.  The sun is shining.  Brilliantly.  The transition of seasons finds us this month and we savor each wonderfully, warm, brilliantly sunshiny moment.  Sitting down at the computer for any extended period at this time of year is difficult, hence our delay in posting Acadia pictures.  Thanks for waiting.  We plan to share much about fall happenings and perhaps now that this massive processing of pictures is over, we will feel less hesitant to sit and write.

Initial thoughts?  The northeast is beautiful....incredibly, lusciously beautiful, but then we think that about most natural places we go.   Vermont gets our vote for favorite state we passed through....warranting it a spot on our 'To Return To' list.  We loved Acadia.  What's not to love about rocky, mountainous cliffs bordered by a watery sea?  Bar Harbor is a hopping town we didn't venture in too much due to way cool natural areas that called to us more strongly.  We did, however, adore this bakery.  Oh my, yum.

Travels inspire many more pictures than is reasonable to share so here is a snapshot tour of our late summer trip to a place new to us and a place that we are grateful to now know, if just a bit.

Some hikes were harder than others...

but the effort proved worth it everytime:

Unicorn Caterpillar

Pool on top of a mountain?!  We were smitten.  Frogs, salamanders and dragonflies called this place home.

We made time to just sit, drink a bit of coffee and honor this place with our time and our admiration...

Sea plantain

Tidal pools are rich, vibrant, ever changing habitats...

Trees bordered the ocean, ponds and bays offering home to many other types of creatures.

Pickerel Frog (in this forest we also saw American Toads and Wood Frogs...good indicators of health.)

White Admiral (Our first!  We also saw our first common ringlet, but missed a great photo due to their flightiness.  What fun anyways!)

And, out of the woods, we found that big body of water that defines Acadia, once again.  Orienting ourselves to islands, inlets, and mountains helped us find our way on paths less frequented...

Black guillemot....

Warblers feasted everywhere.  What an experience to witness many of these birds on their nesting grounds making quick work of abundant caterpillars as they prepared to journey south.

Green-striped Mapleworm

Common Eider

We shared a moment of untempered awe as we witnessed a lone monarch butterfly migrating south over the vast Atlantic.  Nature is endlessly captivating.  We hope you are enjoying your own summer adventures...