Explorers

 

Superior

 

Point Iroquois Lighthouse

 

Rest

 

Libby, Abel, Cyrus and I  headed north for an adventure in the UP this past weekend. It was at least a three mile round trip trek from the plowed parking lot down to the lower parking lot to the trail, across the bridge and around the island at the Lower Tahquamenon Falls. The boys did a great job with the hike, though Cyrus did tell me his legs got tired and he took a short rest on the way back.

Lower Tahquamenon Falls

 

Orange

 

Boiling sap

 

Red

 

Green

 

Evaporator

 

Libby has quite the new (old) set up for boiling sap this year.

Unthawed

 

Sap time

 

Grin

 

Texture

 

Ice

 

Landscape

 

Once in a very great while, the light is so dramatic you feel like you're in a Thomas Cole painting. 

Frozen sandcastle

 

Tawas Point Lighthouse

 

(picture from my visit a couple of weeks ago)

Brown

 

drain

 

Sunrise

 

Pastie

 

Frost

 

Tea of Sadness

 I have sipped the tea of sadness,

its leaves infused with jasmine.

I had tasted a hint of it before, blended and subtle.

Now, after the death of my sister,

I drink its pure, undiluted emotion.

I did not buy this tea–it was given to me,

regifted several times and almost discarded.

I thought I would not like it, so I left it

unopened and forgotten 

in its black lacquer package.

It is aromatic and delicate,

brewed in boiling water, tempered with cool

so that it does not become bitter;

steeped to infuse the deepness of its flavor

but if left unattended, overpowering. 

I find the pale, green liquid strangely comforting

its language as unfamiliar to my tongue

as the Chinese characters printed on the tiny canister.

Yet, it soothes the turmoil deep within,

this tea that tastes of sadness. 

Brothers

 

Ocqueoc Falls

 

Lower falls

Tahquamenon Falls

Texture

 

Sand